New to Shudder in July

The streaming of a horror film festival and the premiere of a documentary about “sharkploitation” movies anchor the July highlights on Shudder/AMC+.

Sharkploitation (July 21) explores that sub-genre that Jaws spearheaded in 1975, everything from Sharknado to 47 Metres Down and the latest example, The Black Demon (which The Guardian dubbed “daft but fun giant-shark mayhem on Mexican oil rig”).

“The movie Jaws had a massive impact on me becoming a filmmaker, and it began my lifelong fascination with sharks,” director-producer Stephen Scarlata (Jodorowsky’s Dune) says. 

He interviews not only fellow filmmakers, including Sharktopus producer Roger Corman, Piranha director Joe Dante, and veteran Jaws scribe Carl Gottlieb, but also critics, scholars and conservationists.

Etheria Film Night 2023 will stream from July 2-31. The annual showcase of horror, science fiction and fantasy films directed by women marks its 10th anniversary this year.

Also new is Quicksand (July 14), the survival thriller about a couple trapped in a pit of Columbian rainforest quicksand, which was rescheduled from last month.

New library additions include:

Day of the Dead (1985) : As the world is overrun by zombies, a group of scientists and military personnel sheltering in an underground bunker in Florida must determine how they should deal with the undead horde. (July 3)

Baby Blood: When a strange creature crawls into a woman’s uterus, she becomes a killer in order to feed the tiny terror growing within her. (July 10)

The Price We Pay: After a pawn shop robbery goes askew, two criminals take refuge at a remote farmhouse to try to let the heat die down but find something much more menacing. (July 13)

Contorted: A family moves to a quiet and isolated place but suffers from nightmares on their very first day in the new home — to the point that they can hardly tell the difference between dreams and reality. (July 17)

A Bittersweet Life: Things go wrong for a high-ranking mobster when he doesn’t proceed by his boss’s order. (July 24)

Oldboy (2003): After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to learn that he must find his captor in five days. (July 24)

Dead of Night (1945): Guests invited to a weekend in the country share their supernatural stories, beginning with Walter Craig, who senses impending doom as his half-remembered recurring dream turns into reality. (July 24)