February may be the shortest month of the year, but there’s no shortage of new horror next month on Shudder. Members can look forward to a new Original/Exclusive premiere every week (A Nightmare Wakes, After Midnight, Shook and The Dark and the Wicked), a new Last Drive-In Valentine’s special, new episodes of A Discovery of Witches every Saturday and a bevy of additions to the Shudder library among them the original The Queen of Black Magic (to pair with Shudder’s reboot premiering on January 28), Nicholas Cage favorite Vampire’s Kiss and ‘70s cult classics like Audrey Rose, Psychomania and The Ninth Configuration.
A NIGHTMARE WAKES — premieres February 4
While composing her famous novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley descends into an opium-fueled fever dream while carrying on a torrid love affair with Percy Shelley. As she writes, the characters of her novel come to life and begin to plague her relationship with Percy. Before long, she must choose between true love and her literary masterpiece.
An unsettlingly intimate portrayal of a brilliant artist at her most troubled, A NIGHTMARE WAKES traces the tortured birth of a timeless masterwork and the rightful ascension of its creator to stand alongside her creation.
Starring Alix Wilton Regan (The Wife), Giullian Yao Gioiello (Scream: The TV Series, Marvel’s Iron Fist), Philippe Bowgen (The Mick), as well as Lee Garrett, Claire Glassford, and Shannon Spangler. Written and directed by Nora Unkel. A Shudder Original (Also available on Shudder Canada, Shudder UK and Shudder ANZ)
AFTER MIDNIGHT — premieres February 11
Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival
Ten years into his small-town, storybook romance with Abby (Brea Grant, Lucky), Hank (Jeremy Gardner, The Battery) suddenly wakes up to an empty home. With nothing but a cryptic note to explain why she left, Hank’s charmed life begins to fall apart. To make matters worse, Abby’s disappearance seems to trigger the arrival of a ferocious creature that crawls out of the old grove on the edge of his property. Directed by Jeremy Gardner (The Battery) and Christian Stella (Tex Montana Will Survive). A Shudder Exclusive. (US only.)
SHOOK — premieres February 18
When Mia, a social media star, becomes the target of an online terror campaign, she has to solve a series of tests to prevent people she cares about from getting murdered. But is it real? Or is it just a game at her expense? Starring Daisye Tutor (Guest House), Emily Goss (Snapshots), Nicola Posener (The Bold and the Beautiful), Octavius J. Johnson (Sleepless), Stephanie Simbari (Here and Now) and Grant Rosenmeyer (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend). Directed by Jennifer Harrington (Housekeeping). A Shudder Original. (Also available on Shudder Canada, Shudder UK and Shudder ANZ)
THE DARK AND THE WICKED — premieres February 25
Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival
On a secluded farm, a man is bedridden and fighting through his final breaths while his wife (Julie Oliver-Touchstone, Preacher) slowly succumbs to overwhelming grief. Siblings Louise (Marin Ireland, Hell or High Water) and Michael (Michael Abbott Jr., The Death of Dick Long) return home to help, but it doesn’t take long for them to see that something’s wrong with mom—something more than her heavy sorrow. Gradually, they begin to suffer a darkness similar to their mother’s, marked by waking nightmares and a growing sense that an evil entity is taking over their family. Directed by Bryan Bertino (The Strangers). A Shudder Exclusive. (Also available on Shudder Canada, Shudder UK and Shudder ANZ)
NEW SERIES / NEW SEASONS
A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES Season 2 —New episodes every Saturday
Matthew (Emmy-nominated Matthew Goode, Downton Abbey) and Diana (Teresa Palmer, Hacksaw Ridge) have hidden in time in the fascinating and treacherous world of Elizabethan London where they must find a powerful witch to help Diana master her magic and search for the elusive Book of Life. In the present day however, their enemies have not forgotten them. Returning for Season 2: Alex Kingston (Doctor Who), Valarie Pettiford (Half & Half), Lindsay Duncan (The Honourable Woman), Edward Bluemel (Killing Eve), Aiysha Hart (Line of Duty), Daniel Ezra (All American) Aisling Loftus (War & Peace), Trevor Eve (Waking the Dead), Owen Teale (Game of Thrones), Malin Buska (The Girl King), and Gregg Chillin (Da Vinci’s Demons). A SUNDANCE NOW/SHUDDER ORIGINAL SERIES. (Also available on Shudder Canada)
NEW SHUDDER SPECIALS
Credit: ShudderJOE BOB PUT A SPELL ON YOU — Friday, February 12 at 9pm ET
Love is in the air for the first-ever Last Drive-In Valentine’s Day special! Joe Bob Briggs hosts a double feature of two unusual films about the power (and horror) of love. Dim the lights, pour a glass of bubbly—Dom Perignon or Lone Star, your choice—and join us on the Shudder TV feed for the live premiere Friday, February 12, or watch on demand beginning Sunday, February 14.
ALL NEW TITLES FOR FEBRUARY
February 1
AUDREY ROSE (Director: Robert Wise)
In this haunting, psychological horror directed by a true master of the genre, a happily married couple find their lives thrown into frightening disruption when a stranger appears at their door claiming that their adopted 12-year-old daughter contains the reincarnated spirit of his little girl. Starring Marsha Mason, Anthony Hopkins, John Beck, Susan Swift. (Also available on Shudder Canada)
THE QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC (1981) (Director: Liliek Sudjio)
A woman is accused of being a witch and thrown to her death over a cliff. A strange man rescues
her, nurses her back to health, and tells her that she must master black magic in order to exact
vengeance on her tormentors. Starring Suzzana, Alan Nuari, Siska Widawati, WD Mochtar (Also available on Shudder Canada, Shudder UK and Shudder ANZ)
VAMPIRE’S KISS (Director: Robert Bierman)
After a night of passionate lovemaking in which he is bitten on the neck, a troubled literary editor becomes convinced that he is a vampire and begins to live the role. Audiences in 1989 may not have been ready for Nicolas Cage’s unleashed, expressionistic performance (some in 2021 aren’t either), but the film has become an essential watch among Cage connoisseurs. Starring Nicolas Cage, Maria Conchita Alonso, Jennifer Beals, Kasi Lemmons (Also available on Shudder Canada)
February 2
HEAD COUNT (Director: Elle Callahan)
Newcomer Evan joins a group of teens on a getaway in Joshua Tree. While exchanging ghost stories around the campfire, Evan reads aloud a mysterious chant from an internet site. From that moment, someone—or something—is among them. As unsettling, inexplicable events become more frequent, Evan realizes this summoned shape-shifting creature is targeting them to fulfill a deadly ritual. Starring Isaac W. Jay, Ashleigh Morghan, Bevin Bru, Billy Meade, Hunter Peterson, Chelcie May (Also available on Shudder Canada and Shudder UK)
February 4
A NIGHTMARE WAKES (see above for details)
February 6
A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES episode 205 (see above for details)
February 8
NIGHT TIDE (Director: Curtis Harrington)
In this eerie ‘60s thriller from the director of Queen of Blood, Johnny begins dating a woman who thinks she may be a mermaid. Encounters with a witchy woman and the fact that her exes both drowned slowly convince Johnny that staying with her may be dangerous. Fans of mysterious, mid-century horror like Cat People, The Seventh Victim and Carnival of Souls shouldn’t miss this uniquely moving fright flick, which drew on underground filmmaking styles to create an experience decades ahead of its time. Starring Dennis Hopper, Linda Lawson, Gavin Muir (Also available on Shudder Canada)
THE “WHISPERING CORRIDORS” TRILOGY
A new teacher’s arrival initiates a gruesome series of events at a private school in this acclaimed series of hit horror films based on high school urban legends in South Korea.
WHISPERING CORRIDORS (Director: Ki Hyeong Park)
In this dread-filled debut, a former student returns as a teacher. When she strikes up a new friendship with two students, the bodies begin piling up and ghosts haunt the hallways. Starring Choi Kang-hee, Kim Gyu-ri, Kim Roe-ha (Also available on Shudder Canada)
MEMENTO MORI (Director: Kim Tae Young)
Young student Soh Min-ah finds a diary kept by two senior students, a lesbian couple ostracized for their relationship. When one of the students kills herself, the diary causes Soh Min-ah to experience strange visions and supernatural occurrences as the guilty parties get their comeuppance. Starring Kim Gyu-ri, Park Yeh-jin, Lee Yeong-jin (Also available on Shudder Canada)
WISHING STAIRS (Director: Jae Yeon Yoon)
When best friends Jin-sung and So-hee are driven apart by a ballet competition, Jin-sung visits a magic staircase which grants wishes to those who step on it and asks to win the contest. But when her wish leads to So-hee’s death, Jin-sung returns to the stairs to try to undo her deadly deeds. (In Korean with English Subtitles). Starring Song Ji-hyo, Park Han-byeol (Also available on Shudder Canada)
February 9
CARMILLA (Director: Emily Harris)
Isolated from the outside world, fifteen-year-old Lara lives in seclusion on a vast country estate with her father and strict governess, Miss Fontaine. When a mysterious carriage crash brings a young girl into their home to recuperate, Lara immediately becomes enchanted by this strange visitor who arouses her curiosity and awakens her burgeoning desires. Inspired by the 1872 Gothic vampire novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. Starring Tobias Menzies, Jessica Raine, Greg Wise, Hannah Rae, Devrim Lingnau (Also available on Shudder Canada)
THE STRANGE COLOR OF YOUR BODY’S TEARS (Directors: Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani)
This visually stunning Belgian giallo homage follows a man who returns home from a trip, only to find his wife missing. Seeking answers, Dan visits his nasty neighbors who draw him into a surreal mystery that gets stranger and stranger. Is there a conspiracy at work? How many secret passages does the building have? And where is Dan’s wife? Starring Klaus Tange, Ursula Bedena, Joe Koener (Also available on Shudder Canada)
February 11
AFTER MIDNIGHT (see above for details)
February 12
JOE BOB PUT A SPELL ON YOU (see above for details)
February 13
A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES episode 206 (see above for details)
February 15
BASKET CASE (Director: Frank Henenlotter)
Siamese twins, separated at an early age, avenge their separation by killing the doctors responsible. Starring Kevin Van Hentenryck, Terri Susan Smith, Beverly Bonner (Also available on Shudder Canada)
THE NINTH CONFIGURATION (Director: William Peter Blatty)
A troubled psychiatrist takes command of a military asylum filled with insane soldiers in this creepy only-in-the-’70s oddity written and directed by the writer of The Exorcist. When Kane arrives at an army castle to cure the inhabitants, he bonds with an astronaut who snapped before a mission. But as the two men examine their demons, it becomes clear Kane may be more in need of help than his patients. Blatty’s unsettling mix of psychological horror and Altman-meets-Joseph Heller-esque comedy has fascinated die-hard cult cinema fans since its release in 1980. Starring Stacey Keach, Scott Wilson, Jason Miller, Ed Flanders (Also available on Shudder Canada)
OUTCAST (Director: Colm McCarthy)
Mary harbors a dark history but must confront her past when a hunter with magical powers is assigned to capture her and kill her son. As the terrifying cat-and-mouse game continues, a deadly fear takes hold as locals begin to die at the hands of an unknown creature. Combining dark arts with street-level realism, Outcast is an underseen UK chiller from the director of The Girl with All the Gifts. Starring James Nesbitt, Kate Dickie, James Cosmo, Niall Bruton (Also available on Shudder Canada and Shudder UK)
February 18
SHOOK (see above for details)
February 20
A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES episode 207 (see above for details)
February 22
ONE MISSED CALL (Director: Takashi Miike)
Student Yoko receives a phone message from her future self, ending with her own death scream. Two days later, she dies in a horrific accident. As the mysterious phone curse spreads, claiming more young lives, Yoko’s friend Yumi joins forces with detective Hiroshi, whose sister met the same gruesome fate. But can they unravel the mystery before the clock runs out on the next victim–Yumi herself? Starring Ko Shibasaki, Shin’ichi Tsutsumi, Kazue Fukiish (Also available on Shudder Canada, and Shudder UK)
OPEN 24 HOURS (Director: Padraig Reynolds)
A delusional woman who set her brutal serial killer boyfriend on fire has just been released from a mental hospital. Her vulnerable demeanor helps her get a job at an all-night gas station. However, left alone to her own devices, her paranoia and hallucinations return with furious consequences. Starring Vanessa Grasse, Brendan Fletcher, Emily Tennant (Also available on Shudder Canada)
PSYCHOMANIA (Director: Don Sharp)
In this beloved ‘70s mind-blower, a motorcycle gang burst from their graves to crush a world of psychedelic hippie pleasures under the wheels of black leather occult mayhem. Starring George Sanders, Beryl Reid, Nicky Henson (Also available on Shudder Canada)
February 25
THE DARK AND THE WICKED (see above for details)
February 27
A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES episode 208 (see above for details)
