Anna Daniels
Blood Quantum: Shudder Surprise Drops Acclaimed Canadian Indigenous Zombie Thriller
In light of widespread cinema closures, Shudder has rerouted from their planned Spring release for Blood Quantum and is excited to spontaneously launch it at a moment in history where it could not be more significant. Written and directed by Jeff Barnaby (Rhymes for Young Ghouls), you can check out the red band trailer for the movie below and stream it now on Shudder!
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It’s 1981 and a virus infects earth and turns its inhabitants into undead hordes with only one community spared and left to fight in this distinctive and relevant spin on the zombie siege horror.
“We knew the film was important and timely when we acquired it last year, but given recent events, Blood Quantum’s themes of isolation, fear of contagion, and humanity struggling with the ramifications of a global virus have only grown more relevant,” said Shudder General Manager Craig Engler. “When a theatrical release became untenable due to the real-world pandemic, we decided to accelerate the launch of Barnaby’s film so it would reach the biggest audience possible.”
The dead are coming back to life outside the isolated Mi’gmaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants who are immune to the zombie plague. Traylor (Greyeyes), the tribal sheriff, must protect his son’s pregnant girlfriend, apocalyptic refugees, and reserve riffraff from the hordes of walking white corpses.
The movie stars Michael Greyeyes (True Detective, Fear the Walking Dead), Forrest Goodluck (The Revenant, The Miseducation of Cameron Post), Kiowa Gordon (The Twilight Saga), Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open), Olivia Scriven (Degrassi: Next Class & The Next Generation), Revered MMA trainer Stonehorse Lone Goeman, Brandon Oakes (Rhymes for Young Ghouls), William Belleau (Frontier, Scalped), Devery Jacobs (American Gods, The Order, Rhymes for Young Ghouls), and Gary Farmer (Dead Man, Jimmy P).
Barnaby is a First Nations filmmaker born on the Mi’gmaq reserve, where both Blood Quantum and his debut feature, the cult-hit Rhymes for Young Ghouls, take place. He is the writer, director, editor, and composer of Blood Quantum, which opened TIFF’s Midnight Madness program in 2019 to both audience and critical acclaim. His films frequently cast from within the Indigenous community and paint a stark and scathing portrait of post-colonial Indigenous life and culture – in this case, painting it in blood.
Blood Quantum is produced by Quebec-based production company Prospector Films as well as John Christou & Robert Vroom, and executive produced by Todd Brown, Nate Bolotin, Gabe Scarpelli, Ryan Shoup, Adrian Love, and Noah Segal.
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AMC Networks’ Shudder is a premium streaming video service, super-serving members with the best selection in genre entertainment, covering horror, thrillers, and the supernatural. Shudder’s expanding library of film, TV series, and originals is available on most streaming devices in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, and Germany. New members can enjoy 30-days free with the promo code SHUTIN when signing up at Shudder.com.
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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvt-KHsOd0M]
Written by: CS
