Alien Invasion Comedy to Land on Shudder

A black comedy creature feature about an alien invasion of the Mojave Desert will land next month on the horror streaming service Shudder.

In The Seed, three lifelong friends and vloggers — Vikings’ Lucy Martin, Resident Evil: Apocalypse’s Sophie Vavasseur and I Hate Suzie’s Chelsea Edge —  in the Mojave Desert to video an upcoming meteor shower for their social media channels encounter an invasive alien force that winds up in a battle of survival with galaxy-wide implications.

“Taking its visual cues from Society (1989), The Neon Demon (2016) and Revenge (2017), Sam Walker’s increasingly grotesque feature debut is as much a satire of online narcissism and viral toxicity as an alien invasion flick, as these Earth girls prove all too easy in the face of outside influence,” Sight & Sound said.

“Some elements are wildly inventive, but it defaults to overfamiliar stuff (black oil leaking from eyes) and I kind of miss the era of Inseminoid and XTRO where British alien impregnation movies didn’t completely pretend to be American,” veteran film writer Kim Newman said.

“It has a good look, thanks to great locations, and an excellent score by Lucretia Dal which will get her a lot more work.”

The Seed will stream from March 10 while debuting March 31 will be Night’s End, in which an anxious shut-in unwittingly moves into a haunted apartment and hires a mysterious stranger to perform an exorcism that takes a horrific turn.

“Jennifer Reeder is an exciting and bold filmmaker who was an integral part of V/H/S/94, Shudder’s most watched movie ever,” said Craig Engler, general manager of Shudder.

“Night’s End is eerie but human, sharply written and sure to surprise our members this March.”

In the meantime, Shudder’s lined up these originals for February:

Slapface: After the death of his mother, Lucas, a loner who lives in a rundown home with his brother Tom, regularly seeks solace in the nearby woods. With his only “friends” being a group of female bullies, he keeps to himself most of the time. But, after a strange encounter with an inhuman monster, Lucas begins to withdraw from others. When the two reach a tentative trust, a bizarre friendship is born, and Lucas is swept up in a series of primal adventures. Winner of the Best Audience Award for Best Horror/Thriller/Sci-Fi Film at the Cinequest Film Festival 2021.

Hellbender (February 24): 16-year-old Izzy leads an isolated life on a lonely mountaintop. All she’s learned is from her protective mom and the wilderness that swallows them. It’s a gentle, quiet existence — except for when Izzy and Mom bang out loud songs for their band, H6LLB6ND6R. Izzy dreams of a live gig, but her mother thinks she’s too sick and mustn’t be around others. Questioning her illness and starved for companionship, Izzy sneaks down the mountain where she befriends brazen Amber. Izzy is in heaven until a cruel drinking game with a live worm unleashes a new kind of hunger. Winner of Best Actress award at the 25th Fantasia International Film Festival.

This month’s new additions to Shudder’s library include:

• Entwined (February 8): Panos, a city doctor, relocates to a remote Greek village to offer his services to the underserved community. It’s love at first sight when he sees Danae, who lives in isolation and with a mysterious skin condition. Determined to cure her, Panos will soon discover Danae is not the helpless princess he thought she was, and time is of the essence for both.

• Initiation (February 8): Whiton University unravels the night a star-athlete is murdered, kicking off a spree of social media slaying that force students to uncover the truth behind the school’s hidden secrets and the horrifying meaning of an exclamation point.

• The Wretched (February 15): A defiant teenage boy, struggling with his parents’ imminent divorce, faces off with a thousand-year-old witch, who is posing as the woman next door.

• A Night of Horror (February 15):  A collection of strange and terrifying shorts from Australia’s long running A Night of Horror International Film Festival.

• XX (February 15): An all-female helmed horror anthology featuring four dark tales written and directed by fiercely talented women: Annie Clark (St. Vincent), Karyn Kusama (The Invitation), Roxanne Benjamin (Body at Brighton Rock) and Jovanka Vuckovic (Riot Girls), featuring a cast that includes Natalie Brown, Melanie Lynskey, Breeda Wool and Christina Kirk.

• Dawn of the Beast (February 22): A group of graduate students get more than they bargained for while searching for the legendary Bigfoot. Not only is he real, but there’s something far more lurking in the shadows.