The Witch’s Robert Eggers Curates a Horror Collection for Shudder
Debi Moore
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Shudder, the diabolical horror streaming service backed by AMC Networks, has unveiled a new way to bring the best horror content to genre fans. As part of Shudder’s “guest curator” initiative, which launches today, horror filmmakers Robert Eggers (The Witch), Karyn Kusama (The Invitation, Jennifer’s Body), and Alexandre Aja (High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes [2006]) will personally curate collections of top horror films based on their personal taste for the benefit of Shudder members.
Shudder, which houses a variety of films that span all decades and sub-genres of horror, already provides detailed collections from lead curators Colin Geddes and Sam Zimmerman to promote easy discovery. For example, Shudder’s “Love Sick” collection — which presents tales of love gone horribly awry and hit the service just in time for last weekend’s Valentine’s Day celebrations — includes films like Audition, Nekromantik, and Let The Right One In.
The new guest curator program will permit horror experts and world-renowned genre filmmakers like Eggers, Kusama, and Aja to develop their own lists and share their picks with Shudder members.
“Shudder prides itself on providing carefully selected horror films that speak to all types of horror fans,” said Colin Geddes, lead curator for Shudder. “Including the filmmakers we respect and admire in this process is a natural evolutionary step for our service and a way of celebrating the breadth and overall excellence of top creative voices in horror.”
The full collection by Robert Eggers, now available on Shudder, is detailed below (with comments from the filmmaker).
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
“For me, this is the most iconic of the German Expressionist silent films. The design is immaculate and incredible; the strange stylized performance by Conrad Veidt is mesmerizing. I’m getting chills remembering the close-up of his awakening as I write this.”
Kill List
“Ben Wheatley continues to be one of the most original voices in contemporary film. I love all of his work and look forward to his next film. This is one of the few horror films in recent years that actually scared me. And the performances are fantastic.”
Magic
“Anthony Hopkins is so good in this film, it’s hard to believe. He’s one of the greatest actors of the century, and it’s a pleasure to see him younger and raw. And man, he is creepy.”
Nosferatu
“It was an indie horror in its day, a bit rough around the edges ; yet, it’s one of the greatest and most haunting films ever made. The newly restored color-tinted versions are really impressive, but I still prefer the poor black and white versions made from scraps of 16mm prints. Those grimy versions have an uncanny mystery to them and helped build the myth of Max Schreck being a real vampire.”
The Snowtown Murders
“One of the best debut features I have seen. The light, the atmosphere, the fantastic naturalistic performance, and the uncompromising truth make for a film that is more horrific than horror. It is not to be missed and impossible to be forgotten.”
Collections from Karyn Kusama and Alexandre Aja will be announced in the upcoming months. Further details on the guest curated collections and the program can be found at shudder.com.
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