Bless Shudder. In recent years, the horror streaming service, owned and operated by AMC Networks, has become the go-to place for the latest and greatest in the horror genre. Regularly, the platform is acquiring festival hits and hidden gems, making them available to a larger audience than ever before. Even with the recent increase in subscription costs, it’s still my top recommendation for horror fans. Heck, I’ve even convinced several non-horror fans to subscribe. There’s a lot of great stuff going on over there.
Last year, Shudder housed In a Violent Nature and Late Night With the Devil, two of the year’s best, and was also for a period the exclusive home for Damien Mc Carthy’s Oddity, Dread Central’s pick for the year’s best scary movie. This year, they’ve already served up several bangers, both old and new, though the best will undoubtedly be Emilie Blichfeldt’s directorial debut, The Ugly Stepsister.
After a festival run and brief theatrical stint, you can now catch The Ugly Stepsister streaming exclusively on Shudder.
Per Shudder: Determined to outshine her beautiful stepsister, Elvira resorts to extreme measures to win the prince’s heart in this dark re-imagining of the Cinderella fairy tale.
The Ugly Stepsister was among my favorites from this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and I sat down with our Managing Editor, Josh Korngut, for a chat about the film you can check out here. Korngut loved the film, and in his four-star review, he wrote, “The Ugly Stepsister, a nightmarish yet darkly comedic fairytale reimagining, serves up Sam Raimi-levels of gut-wrenching mayhem alongside a sharply macabre critique of the brutal beauty standards imposed on women.” It’s a fantastic and confident debut, and it totally recontextualizes a familiar story. You’ll never look at glass slippers the same way again.
Bear in mind, The Ugly Stepsister is not for the faint of heart. It’s pretty gnarly and nasty, and while the gore serves a purpose, it can be pretty challenging to stomach. Literally. Once you’ve seen the film, you’ll know exactly what I mean. Excuse me while I go try not to throw up (in a good way, I guess). It’s one of the year’s buzziest horror titles, and an astonishing debut for Blichfeldt. I encourage you to check it out when you can. Once you do, let me know what you think over on Twitter @Chadiscollins
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