Movies
‘New Religion’ – SCREAMBOX Acquires Stunning Sci-Fi Body Horror Debut Out of Slamdance
Fans of David Cronenberg and body horror get ready for the stunning sci-fi horror New Religion, acquired today by Cinedigm out of the Slamdance Film Festival.
Cinedigm plans to release New Religion on its horror streaming platform, SCREAMBOX, which is powered by Bloody Disgusting, later this year as a SCREAMBOX Original.
New Religion is a Japanese surrealist body horror film written and directed by Keishi Kondo.
In the film, “After her daughter’s death, divorced Miyabi begins working as a call girl. One day, she meets an unsettling customer who wants to take pictures of her body parts. Soon, she realizes that every time she allows her body to be photographed her daughter’s spirit gets closer. She must decide how far she is willing to go to connect with her daughter once again.”
New Religion stars Kaho Seto, Daiki Nunami, Satoshi Oka and Saionji Ryuseigun.
The film had its North American premiere last month at the Slamdance Film Festival and was nominated for Best Narrative Feature. It previously screened at festivals around the world to rave reviews with Horror DNA calling it “a powerful debut.” This includes its World Premiere at Arrow Video Frightfest, Osaka Asian Film Festival (Nominee Japan Cuts Award), the Warsaw International Film Festival (Best Film Nominee) and MotelX – Lisbon International Horror Film Festival.
“We are extremely excited to work with the Cinedigm team for the release of New Religion,” said Matteo Lovadina, CEO of Reel Suspects. “Their lineup reflects their passion in bold and audacious films. We are thrilled that Keishi first film will be brought to the Screambox audience. It’s the right spot.”
The deal was negotiated by Brandon Hill, Director of Acquisitions, on behalf of Cinedigm and Lovadina on behalf of the film.
Before updating the video nasty Faces of Death, director Daniel Goldhaber and writer Isa Mazzei explored the dangers of online life in tech-thriller Cam, their feature debut that was acquired by Netflix in 2018 after making waves on the festival circuit.
At the end of last year, the Netflix exclusive quietly departed from the streaming platform, left without another streaming home.
It’s not an isolated story; Mike Flanagan’s Hush also left streaming entirely for a period until it was finally picked up on both physical media and other streaming services.
While the tech-thriller currently isn’t available to watch on Netflix, Tubi, Hulu, or any other platforms, that’s not a problem for Cam thanks to a very cool move by Goldhaber: the director has made his breakout film accessible to watch online for free via his website.
As his site notes: “CAM is unfortunately not currently available to view on any platforms, so you can watch it here if you like :).“
No subscriptions or fees necessary, just hit play.
Cam follows Alice (Madeline Brewer), who works as an online cam girl obsessed with her ranking on the cam site. The higher her ranking goes, the more it draws unwanted attention, and Alice soon finds herself replaced on her own show with a doppelganger.
Written by Mazzei, a former camgirl, it uses the horror thriller premise to examine the life of a sex worker; Alice’s career ambition is directly at odds with the shame it brings to her family, and how she tries to spare them from it by keeping them in the dark. It only compounds her danger when the doppelganger enters the equation in Goldhaber’s engaging thriller.
For a deep dive into the treacherous world of Cam, listen to Horror Queers’ episode on it now.
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