IFC Films, one of the leading foreign and independent film distributors, today launches a new genre label called IFC Midnight. IFC Midnight will offer the very best in international genre cinema, including horror, sci-fi, thrillers, erotic arthouse, action and more. Four new IFC midnight films will premiere each month on video-on-demand; select titles will also be released in theaters at the same time as their VOD premiere. In addition, an IFC Midnight branded line of Blu-ray and DVD product will be released via a distribution arrangement with MPI Media Group. Titles include The Human Centipede, Doghouse and many more! See full details below.
President of IFC Entertainment Jonathan Sehring said: “Many of our most successful VOD titles are those that might fall under the Midnight label – not just films that are straight up horror, erotic arthouse or genre films but also ones that shock audiences, push boundaries and stir up controversy – so officially creating IFC Midnight was the logical next step. While we as a company continue to focus on a diverse range of films, this is one particular area which we are going to heavily brand and promote.”

The IFC Midnight label will continue to build on the company’s past successes with films such as Lars Von Trier’s controversial drama ANTICHRIST, Kim Jee Woon’s THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD, the Nazi zombie film DEAD SNOW, the supernatural thriller DARK MIRROR, the envelope-pushing erotic dramas THE EXTERMINATING ANGELS and A L’AVENTURE, and Larry Fessenden’s environmental thriller THE LAST WINTER. Some of the titles that will play or premiere under the IFC Midnight label in the next few months include the following:

The Human Centipede (First Sequence). Written and directed by Tom Six, the film is a truly one-of-a kind horror film about a mad scientist who achieves his sick lifetime fantasy of creating a human centipede. Entertainment Weekly wondered if this may be “the most disgusting horror movie of all time?” The film — a winner at Fantastic Fest for Best Horror Film and Best Actor, and a winner of Best Film at Screamfest LA — premiered theatrically on April 30 and will premiere on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning this month.

Cell 211. Directed by Daniel Monzón and winner of 8 Spanish Goya Awards, including Best Picture, this taut prison drama tells the gripping story of a rookie prison guard who becomes trapped in a cell during a violent riot and must convince the prisoners he is one of them. The film, an official selection at the Toronto and San Sebastian Film Festivals, will premiere exclusively on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in June.

Doghouse. Directed by Jake West, this riotous British horror comedy follows ravenous, blood-thirsty female zombies as they wreak havoc on a group of guys trying to enjoy a male-bonding weekend. The film, which premiered at last year’s Edinburgh Film Festival, will premiere exclusively on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in June.

Don’t Look Back. From director Marina de Van (IN MY SKIN) comes this tense psychological thriller about a beautiful, best-selling author (Sophie Marceau) who loses her grip on reality as she slowly morphs into the body of another woman (Monica Bellucci). The film, an official selection last year at the Cannes Film Festival, will premiere exclusively on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in June.

Valhalla Rising. Director Nicolas Winding Refn (BRONSON, THE PUSHER TRILOGY) delivers an action-packed epic about a savage one-eyed Viking warrior and a young runaway who embark on a dangerous odyssey. Starring Mads Mikkelson, the film — an official selection at Venice and Toronto last year and a featured selection at the upcoming BAM Cinemafest — will premiere in theaters and on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in July.

Exam. In this gripping thriller, director Stuart Hazeldine follows eight strangers as they enter a ruthless competition to get the job of a lifetime, where the stakes soon become life or death. The film, which screened at Fantastic Fest last year, will premiere exclusively on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in July.

The Horde (La Horde). Directed by Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher, this French zombie movie follows a posse of crooked cops, malevolent gangsters and a horde of walking dead through an action packed story of escape and revenge. A hit at the Venice Film Festival, London’s FrightFest Film Festival and at this year’s COLCOA (City of Lights City of Angels), the film will premiere in theaters and on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in August.

Vengeance. From acclaimed director Johnnie To (ELECTION 1 and 2, EXILED) comes his first English language film starring French superstar Johnny Hallyday along with To regulars Anthony Wong, Simon Yam, and Lam Suet. The film, a revenge thriller, was screened in competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, and screened as an official selection at last year’s Toronto and San Francisco Film Festival. In the film, Hallyday plays François Costello, a Parisian restaurant owner who is in Macau at the request of his daughter–to avenge a savage attack on her family. The film will premiere in theaters and on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in August.

Enter the Void. Filmmaker Gaspar Noe’s long awaited follow up to the controversial IRREVERSIBLE is a cinematically audacious exploration of the connected nature of sex, drugs, life, and death that was one of the most talked about films on the festival circuit in the past year – playing at Cannes, Toronto, Sundance and SXSW. Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, the film follows Linda (Paz De La Herta of THE LIMITS OF CONTROL) and her brother Oscar (Nathan Brown) on a spiritual journey through the city of Tokyo where the past, present and future merge into a hallucinatory maelstrom. The film will premiere in theaters and on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in September.