Shudder: August highlights

In August Shudder features Teddy, a disturbing trip to rural France where a young man is overcome by animal urges, and continues with new titles including the legendary David Cronenberg in the Shudder Original event series Slasher: Flesh & Blood; Bleed With Me, a psychological horror exploring intimacy and codependency; Jakob’s Wife, starring horror icon Barbara Crampton; and award-winning thriller Mosquito State.

Teddy
August 5
Twentysomething Teddy lives in a foster home and works as a temp in a massage parlor in a rural French town. Rebecca, his girlfriend, will soon graduate. A scorching hot summer begins. But Teddy is scratched by a beast in the woods: the wolf that local angry farmers have been hunting for months. As weeks go by, animal impulses soon start to overcome the young man. Directed by Ludovic Boukherma and Zoran Boukherma. Starring Anthony Bajon (The Prayer), nine-time César Award nominee Noémie Lvovsky (Camille Rewinds), Ludovic Torrent, Christine Gautier, Guillaume Mattera, Jean-Paul Fabre, Alexis Orlandini, Gérard Pau and Jean-Michel Ricart.

Bleed with Me
August 10
Rowan, a vulnerable outsider, is thrilled when the seemingly perfect Emily invites her on a winter getaway to an isolated cabin in the woods. Trust soon turns to paranoia when Rowan wakes up with mysterious incisions on her arm. Haunted by dream-like visions, Rowan starts to suspect that her friend is drugging her and stealing her blood. She’s paralyzed by the fear of losing Emily, but she must fight back before she loses her mind. Bleed With Me is a psychological horror that juxtaposes tenderness and violence in an investigation of female intimacy and dangerous codependency. Directed by Amelia Moses. Starring Lee Marshall, Lauren Beatty and Aris Tyros.

Slasher: Flesh & Blood
Episodes 1 & 2 Premiere August 12 with a new episode premiering every Thursday
Starring horror legend David Cronenberg (The Fly, Videodrome), Slasher: Flesh & Blood follows a wealthy, dysfunctional family that gathers for a reunion on a secluded island only to learn they’ll be pitted against one another in a cruel game of life and death, all while being stalked. Nothing is what it seems and no one is safe as the tension – and body count – ratchets up. As with past installments of the series, Slasher: Flesh & Blood combines elements of traditional murder mystery with the intensity that audiences have come to expect. The eight-episode event series also features cast members from previous installments of the Slasher franchise in brand new roles, including Paula Brancati (Dark Oracle) Jefferson Brown (Carrie), Patrice Goodman (Sunnyside), Sabrina Grdevich (A.I. Artificial Intelligence) and Christopher Jacot (Going the Distance). New to the franchise are Rachael Crawford (Heartland), Jeananne Goosen (The Walking Dead), Sydney Meyer (Departure) and Alex Ozerov (The Americans).

Horror themes. Lots.

Jakob’s Wife
August 19
Anne is in her late 50s and feels like her life and marriage have been shrinking over the past thirty years. Through a chance encounter with a stranger, she discovers a new sense of power and an appetite to live bigger and bolder than before. However, these changes come with a toll on her marriage and a heavy body count. Directed by Travis Stevens (Girl on the Third Floor). Starring horror icons Barbara Crampton (You’re Next), Larry Fessenden (The Dead Don’t Die), Nyisha Bell, Mark Kelly, Sarah Lind, Robert Rusler, Bonnie Aarons and Phil Brooks (aka CM Punk).

Mosquito State
August 26
In psycho-thriller Mosquito State, obsessive Wall Street data analyst Richard Boca (Beau Knapp) is isolated in his austere penthouse overlooking Central Park and seeing ominous patterns: his computer models are behaving erratically, as are the swarms of mosquitos breeding in his apartment, an infestation that attends his psychological meltdown. Alongside Knapp (The Good Lord Bird, Seven Seconds), the film stars Charlotte Vega (Wrong Turn, American Assassin), Jack Kesy (The Outpost, Deadpool 2) and Olivier Martinez (Unfaithful, Before Night Falls). Directed by Filip Jan Rymsza and co-written by Rymsza and Mario Zermeno, Mosquito State was an official selection of the Venice Film Festival in 2020 where it was awarded the Bisato d’Oro for Best Cinematography.