Movies
‘Vampire Hunter D’ 40th Anniversary Streaming Premiere and More Head to Shudder Next Month
Shudder has announced its May 2025 streaming highlights today, revealing the exclusive Vampire Hunter D streaming premiere date along with new originals, exclusives and catalogue titles headed our way next month.
The cult classic anime, based on the novel series by author Hideyuki Kikuchi and illustrator Yoshitaka Amano, turns 40 this year. The remaster of the 1985 anime finally makes its streaming premiere next month after receiving a special re-release in theaters earlier this month.
Read on for Shudder’s May lineup:
THE UGLY STEPSISTER
Shudder Original Film
Directed by Emilie Blichfeldt
Streaming On Shudder May (Date TBA)
Available in US, CA, AU, NZ, UK&I
Synopsis
A sinister twist on the classic Cinderella story, The Ugly Stepsister follows Elvira as she prepares to earn the prince’s affection at any cost. In a kingdom where beauty is a brutal business, Elvira will compete with the beautiful and enchanting Agnes to become the belle of the ball. (Our review)
THE SURRENDER
Shudder Original Film
Directed by Julia Max
Streaming On Shudder May 23
Available in US, AU, NZ, UK&I
Synopsis
A fraught mother-daughter relationship is put to a terrifying test when the family patriarch dies, and the grieving mother hires a mysterious stranger to bring her husband back from the dead. As the bizarre and brutal resurrection spirals out of control, both women must confront their differences as they fight for their lives – and for each other. (Our review)
VAMPIRE HUNTER D
40th Anniversary Exclusive Streaming Premiere
Directed by Tayoo Ashida
Streaming On Shudder May 30
Available in US, AU, NZ, UK&I
Synopsis
In the year 12,090 A.D. technology and the supernatural have overtaken the world, leaving the land desolate and despotic. The remnants of humanity are scattered into small communities and live in fear of vampires who compose the ruling Nobility. When Count Magnus Lee tastes the blood of Doris Lang, she is forcibly chosen to be his next wife. In an effort to escape her ill-gotten fate she hires a mysterious vampire hunter known only as D, who comes from a peculiar lineage.
THE LAST DRIVE-IN WITH JOE BOB BRIGGS
Shudder Original Series
New Episode Premieres LIVE Friday, May 2 on Shudder TV Beginning at 9pm ET;Debuts on-demand Sunday, May 4; Double Features Premiere the First Friday Every Month
Available in US and CA
Synopsis
Lock your doors and crank the volume for a brand-new season of The Last Drive-In. Join Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy the Mail Girl the first Friday of every month for all-new, bone-tingling double-features sure to delight horror buffs and video hounds alike, proving once again that the drive-in will never die.
Shudder Repertory Titles:
May 1
‘Overlord’
Overlord
A small group of American soldiers find horror behind enemy lines on the eve of D-Day.
Jacob’s Ladder
Mourning his dead son, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions and perception of death.
They Call Her Death
Molly Pray is on a bloody crusade against the criminal forces who have wronged her. Her mission strikes at the myth of manifest destiny, but for Molly with the embodied specter of Death on her side, this isn’t political. This is personal.
Tremors
Natives of a small, isolated town defend themselves against strange underground creatures which are killing them one by one.
The Devil’s Business
At the horse of their target, two hit men bide their time waiting for the kill, only to find the death already arrived in the shape of black magic, devilish spirits and the occult.
Itim (The Rites of May)
During a return to his provincial home, a young man gets involved with a woman who is ultimately possessed by her sister’s spirit, paving the way to revealing the painful truth about her unsolved disappearance.
May 3
City of the Dead (1960)
A young college student arrives in a sleepy Massachusetts town to research witchcraft; during her stay at an eerie inn, she discovers a startling secret about the town and its inhabitants.
*Elvira’s 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Specia Special episode featuring City of the Dead is also available.
May 5
‘Pieces’
Venom (1981)
Terrorists in the process of kidnapping a child get trapped in a house with an extremely deadly snake.
Pieces
The co-eds of a Boston college campus are targeted by a mysterious killer who is creating a human jigsaw puzzle from their body parts.
*The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs episode featuring Pieces is also available.
Cannibal Holocaust
An anthropologist ventures into the Amazon rainforest on a rescue mission, where he recovers footage shot by a film crew documenting their disastrous encounters with local cannibal tribes.
*The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs episode featuring Cannibal Holocaust is also available.
Cannibal Ferox
Three friends embark on a trip through the Amazon jungle to disprove cannibalism, where they meet a pair of fugitive drug smugglers forcing a vicious cannibal tribe to harvest cocaine.
A Night of Horror Vol 1
Ten filmmakers. One night of horror.
Contracted
After being drugged and raped at a party, a young woman contracts what she thinks is an STD; but, it’s actually something much worse.
May 12
‘Eyes of Fire’
Rust Creek
An overachieving college student gets lost on her way to a job interview. A wrong turn leaves her stranded deep in the Kentucky forest.
Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched
A thorough overview and dissection of the subgenre of ‘folk horror,’ with contributions from many of the major creators and clips from cinema all over the world.
Eyes of Fire
A preacher is accused of adultery, and he and his followers are chased out of town. They become stranded in an isolated forest, which is haunted by the spirits of French colonists controlled by evil.
The White Reindeer
A newlywed woman goes to the local shaman to get some help with her love life, but instead she gets turned into a white reindeer vampire.
Litan
Married couple Jock and Nora visit the town of Litan during its Carnival celebration. After having a nightmare of Jock’s death, Nora sets out to find him but encounters strange people and dangerous event erupting all over town.
Blood on the Stars
Shadrach Smith and his school choir do their best to ensure that the local celebrities hired to appear at a concert in a village hall don’t make it to the stage and slaughter anyone they believe is getting in their way.
Coda
A maniac is stalking and killing female students at a university.
Lady Stay Dead
A young woman is looking after her sister’s house, unaware that her sister and neighbor have been murdered by their handyman who also happens to be a serial killer.
Pontypool
A radio host interprets the possible outbreak of a deadly virus which infects the small Ontario town he’s stationed in.
May 19
‘Sympathy for Lady Vengeance’
Lady Vengeance
After being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
A recently laid off factory worker kidnaps his former boss’ friend’s daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister’s kidney transplant.
The Whip and the Body
The ghost of a sadistic nobleman attempts to rekindle his romance with his terrorized, masochistic former lover, who is unwillingly betrothed to his brother.
Dead End Drive-In
In a dystopian future Australia, a health nut and his tag-along girlfriend become trapped in a drive-in cinema that has become a concentration camp for delinquent youths and refugees.
SHUDDER TV HIGHLIGHTS
Watch Parties Every Friday at 9pm ET – featuring new premieres and curated double features including:
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- Friday, May 2: The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs Season 7 New Episode Premiere Watch Party – Films TBA
- Friday, May 9: Body Horror Watch Party – THE UGLY STEPSISTER and STARRY EYES
- Friday, May 16: Irish Folk Horror Watch Party – FRÉWAKA and THE HALLOW
- Friday, May 23: Resurrections Watch Party– THE SURRENDER and BIRTH/REBIRTH
- Friday, May 30: Shudder’s Scariest Watch Party– THE DARK AND THE WICKED and TERRIFIED
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This week kicked off with the release of hippo horror movie Hungry at home, and four more horror movies have arrived for at-home viewing as we head into the final weekend of June.
Here are the new horror movies that released on Friday, June 26, 2026!
The Halloween season can no longer be contained to the months of September and October, with “Summerween” becoming a thing in recent years. Essentially, it allows for Halloween to bleed into the warmer Summer months, and the first ever Summerween movie has arrived.
The Asylum released Summerween onto Digital outlets today.
In the film from writer/director Ryan Ebert, “On Summerween, a former circus clown escapes a mental institution to return to his abandoned mansion and hunt the teens partying there.”
Cole Chapleski, Chase Breithoff, Logan Roe, Sophia Sabol, and Clint Morrison star.
Director Ryan Ebert is the man behind a string of recent indie horrors we’ve covered, including Shark Side of the Moon, The Jolly Monkey, Jurassic Reborn, and Predator: Wastelands.
A witchy coming-of-age story from Dark Sky Films, Camp is now playing in select theaters.
Check your local listings to find a theater near you.
Camp is from writer-director Avalon Fast (Honeycomb, The Serpent’s Skin).
“Emily is the root cause of two devastating tragedies very early in her life, and she feels the weight of these accidents as though cursed. At her father’s suggestion, she takes a position at a summer camp for troubled youth to ease her guilt. When Emily arrives, she is welcomed by the other counselors, who accept her as she is and surround her with peace and forgiveness.
“As Emily begins to believe in a new kind of life, she starts to hear a voice whispering from deep in the woods — one that urges her to go home, and one that may be impossible to ignore.”
The film stars Zola Grimmer in her screen debut alongside Alice Wordsworth, Cherry Moore, Lea Rose Sebastianis (Castration Movie Part 1 & 2, In A Violent Nature), Ella Reece, Austyn Van de Kamp (This Too Shall Pass), Sophie Bawks-Smith (Honeycomb), Izza Jarvis, and Aiden Laudersmith.
Producers Tyler Perry and Jason Blum have joined forces for Peacock Original Strung.
The film is now streaming only on Peacock.
“A talented violinist takes a prestigious job as a music tutor for the gifted daughter of an influential and enigmatic family. As she becomes entangled in their opulent world, unsettling secrets begin to surface, forcing her to question her safety, her dreams, and even her sanity.”
Malcolm D. Lee (Scary Movie 5, Space Jam: A New Legacy) directs from a script written by Alan B. McElroy (Wrong Turn, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers).
Chloe Bailey (“Swarm“), Lynn Whitfield (Jaws: The Revenge), Lucien Laviscount (“Scream Queens”), Anna Diop (Us), Coco Jones (Vampires vs. the Bronx), Langley Kirkwood (“Banshee”), and Romy Woods star in Peacock’s Strung.
Produced by Diablo Cody, director Meredith Alloway’s Forbidden Fruits brought a new coven of witches to the big screen earlier this year, and it’s now streaming on Shudder.
Lola Tung (“The Summer I Turned Pretty”), Victoria Pedretti (“The Haunting of Hill House”), Alexandra Shipp (Tragedy Girls), Gabrielle Union (Breaking In), and Emma Chamberlain star in Forbidden Fruits, released by IFC and Shudder.
Free Eden employee Apple secretly runs a witchy femme cult in the basement of the mall store after hours. But when new hire Pumpkin challenges the group’s ‘girl boss’ ways, the women are forced to face their own poisons or succumb to a bloody fate.
“Forbidden Fruits grabbed me by the neck the very first time I read it,” Diablo Cody said. “It’s one of the craziest, most creative, beautifully bonkers projects I’ve ever worked on.”
Meagan Navarro writes in her review for Bloody Disgusting, “Forbidden Fruits may not necessarily forge new terrain in the teen satire space, but Alloway brings so much style and energy to her well-cast single-location stage play adaptation for the Gen Z crowd.”
The film is an adaptation of playwright Lily Houghton’s stage play Of the Women Came the Beginning of Sin and Through Her We All Die. Alloway and Houghton co-adapted.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by HUNGRY.
All aboard the swamp tour from hell – this hippo isn’t playing games…
HUNGRY is now available on Digital. Watch it now!
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