Summer of chills continues on Shudder in July

Shudder continues its Summer of Chills in July, and the upcoming crop of additions includes many old favorites, along with some possible new ones.

Included in the July Shudder schedule is an 80’s film that has been hard to find on DVD or Blu-ray, impossible to stream, and has also been discussed a lot recently in social media horror groups.

Here’s what we have to look forward to next month on Shudder in July

July 1:

Manhunter – Before The Silence of the Lambs introduced us to Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter, Tom Noonan portrayed the killer in this 1986 flick. William Peterson (CSI) portrays FBI profiler Will Graham, who is in search of a serial killer called The Tooth Fairy. During the investigation, Graham is forced to acknowledge his own sociopathic character traits. The film was later remade as Red Dragon, and Graham’s character was incorporated into the television series Hannibal. Incidentally, this is a favorite film of mine.

Near Dark – Horror fans went gaga recently when news broke that this 1987 cult vampire/western mashup may be released soon on 4K Ultra HD. It has been unavailable to stream, making extremely expensive DVDs and Blu-rays the only option for those who wanted to watch it. Shudder to the rescue! Finally, this fantastic horror film, which features Bill Paxton as a traveling vamp bad boy, will be available for subscribers.

Burnt Offerings – This 1976 film features Karen Black, Bette Davis and Oliver Reed, and was directed by Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows and Night Stalker series). A family rents an old mansion for the summer at a bargain price, but they must agree to provide meals to an elderly woman upstairs. As accidents start to happen, the house seems to restore itself slowly.

Creepshow –  This is another dream addition for fans, as the original 1982 horror anthology film joins Shudder’s series of the same name. Five scary tales are presented, each of them an homage to the E.C comic books of the 1950s. The all-star cast includes Leslie Nielsen, Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Viveca Lindfors, Ted Danson, and Stephen King himself. Trivia alert: Author Joe Hill (NOS4A2, Heart-Shaped Box) appeared in this film when he was a child.

Thirteen Ghosts – This is the 2001 remake version, which tells the story of a family who inherits a glass mansion from rich, eccentric Uncle Cyrus. When they visit the home, they find that it is haunted by 12 very angry ghosts. As it turns out, a 13th spirit is needed to complete Cyrus’s mysterious spell.

July 6

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane –Jodi Foster plays 13-year-old Rynn, who supposedly lives with her father, but he is never around. When the land lady’s son (Martin Sheen) pays her an unwanted visit, Rynn’s carefully constructed stories begin to fall apart.

Terror Train – A group of college students plan a New Year’s Eve costume party on a moving train. They are terrorized by a killer in a mask, who may be the victim of a prank gone wrong that was committed three years earlier. This was one of three films Jamie Leigh Curtis appeared in that were released in 1980 (the other two were Prom Night and The Fog).

Death Ship – A cruise ship is rammed by a strange black freighter, causing the ship to sink and most of the crew and passengers to drown. A handful of survivors climbs aboard the freighter, only to find no one on board. Well, no humans on board; it seems our group of survivors are on a Nazi prison ship, and there is an evil presence amongst them.