Coming to VOD soon are new indie films ranging from horror films, to documentary and an LGBT drama. Indie films include Country of Hotels, Makeup, Exorcism in Utero, Sapiosexual, Aliens Uncovered: Origins, Out and About, Killer Kites, Famous, Pillow Party Massacre, Cracked, Crescent Gang, South Beach Shark Club, Velvet Jesus, Peppergrass and Nightmare Fuel.
PILLOW PARTY MASSACRE
Two years after a tragic April Fools prank, a group of friends return to their childhood vacation home to reconnect and heal old wounds. As strange things begin to happen, and girls turn up missing, it’s clear that someone or something is out for revenge.
Laura Welsh, Chynna Rae Shurts, Allegra Sweeny, and Jax Kellington star in a devilishly wicked throwback to classic ’80s slasher films.
Directed by Calvin McCarthy, Pillow Party Massacre is available on digital platforms now!
CRACKED
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in Cracked, a terrifying new Thai horror film, an inherited painting may be worth a thousand screams…
Ruja (actress/model Chayanit Chansangavej) returns to Thailand from New York with her young daughter Rachel to settle her late father’s estate. Included in her inheritance are two mysterious portraits of a bewitching woman that she is told are worth a fortune, if only they weren’t damaged. Desperate to sell the paintings, Ruja hires Tim (K-pop star Nichkhun), an art restorer, to prepare the canvases for sale. But the cracks in the paint have begun to reveal long-hidden secrets, and as strange phenomena begin to emerge around them, Ruja and Rachel quickly realize their lives are in grave danger.
Directed by Surapong Ploensang, Cracked, will be released on VOD / digital on May 26.
Crescent Gang
Valeria Camero (Dear Diary), Mariah Tavares (Abbott Elementary), Kira Marie (The Higher Spirit), Zenja Dunn (Criminal Minds) star in family, multi-cultural indie film Crescent Gang.
In the film, seven foster kids are heartbroken when they learn that their group home has been sold and they are to be separated. A successful family attorney assigned to them, having grown up in the foster system herself, questions whether she is using her skills and talent for the right reasons. When their paths are brought together, they find that there is always help and hope for those daring enough to seek it.
Directed by Onyx Keesha, Gino Raphael Payne, Crescent Gang will be released on VOD on June 13, 2023.
South Beach Shark Club
Directed by Robert Requejo Ramos, the winning documentary South Beach Shark Club, delves into the history and legacy of Miami Beach’s South Beach Pier in the 1970’s and the band of brothers who made shark fishing all the rage.
Featured in the documentary are Rene De Dios, James “JD Hammer” Fuqua, Shannon Bustamante, William Fundora, Albert Poledri, Jorge Ramos, Kevin Pagan
In 1970s Miami Beach, a group of teenage outcasts bond together on a rocky sport fishing pier, one-upping each other for bragging rights to the biggest shark catch of all time. The epic endless summers of surfing and skating ultimately remind us that sport and craft can be the cornerstones to teaching life lessons bigger than just fishing. A film about lost legends, a band of brothers, and the greatest fish stories told on screen since Jaws, with a galvanizing blend of jaw-dropping archival footage and interviews with original club members who recall stories ranging from uproarious to riveting.
Being released on the anniversary of JAWS’ 1975 debut, South Beach Shark Club will be released on VOD on June 20, 2023.
Out & About
Maggie Lacey, Tom Nelis, Bridget White, Matthew Boston, and Daniel Stewart Sherman star in Out and About, an indie film about a middle-aged man trying to come to terms with his life over the course of an afternoon walk through his hometown.
Distinctive in both style and substance and told virtually in real time, the story weaves together the protagonist’s inner monologue with conversations he has with the people he encounters along the way. Raw, brutally honest, poignant and funny, Out and About explores the contrast between our inner and outer selves, the conflict between old dreams and new realities, and one man’s search for meaning as he wrestles with aging, success and failure in America, and his ultimate place in the world.
Directed by Peter Callahan Callahan, Out and About will be released on VOD on May 16th, 2023.
VELVET JESUS
Ernest Harden Jr, Jensen Atwood, Melvin Ward star in the LGBT drama Velvet Jesus, the gripping story of a man’s desperate journey to discover the truth about his past. Along the way, he uncovers secrets about himself that will forever change the course of his life.
Directed by Anthony Bawn, Spencer Bollins, Velvet Jesus will be released on VOD/digital on May 9, 2023.
MAKEUP
An aspiring male burlesque dancer and an introverted French food critic begin their rigid journey toward compatibility in the award winning comedy film Makeup.
Starring in the film are Hugo André, Will Masheter, Kent Goldfinch, Zak Watson Smith, Adam Starkey, Lloyd Mundell, Julia Anwuli Sydenham, Stuart Wolfe-Murray, Maria Lidze, Pete Inskip, Adele Marie, Charlie Baker, Ezekiel Martin, Lawrence Visconti, Louis Circé, Edward Saunders, Jorge Field, Daisy Hirst, Shaelyn Newmarch, Guillaume Trouson, Dorian Semencic.
When two people are brought together from completely different walks of life, it can make for awkward circumstances, especially when they both have their secrets. Sacha (André), an introverted French ex-chef, moves to London to begin his new life as a food critic. Moving into a rented room in a house belonging to Dan (Masheter), a well-respected London stockbroker, the pair are forced into an unlikely friendship. As time goes on and events unfold, Dan attempts to hide his aspirations of becoming a burlesque dancer from the people who perceive him as an alpha male. Despite their differences, can Sacha and Dan become pillars of support in each other’s lives?
The film has received numerous accolades including: “Directorial Debut by a Young Film Maker” at London International Film Festival (2021), Winner of “Best Film” at Paris International Film Awards (2021). Makeup has also won “Best Young Director” at Lonely Wolf Film Festival (2021), as well as being a finalist for “Best British Film”, “Best Queer Film”, “Best Actor” (Hugo Andre) at Lonely Wolf Film Festival (2021). In total, the film has won 15 awards, received 5 nominations and 2 honourable mentions.
Directed by Hugo André, the film Makeup will be released on VOD / digital on June 27th.
Famous
Interracial brothers in the music business are opposites at life, love and sobriety. Music artist Famous struggles with addiction while his seemingly perfect stepbrother and producer, Plain Wayne, is adored by the media for being his savior. Yet away from the cameras, Plain Wayne may be the one responsible for Famous’s many relapses, wanting to keep Famous under his control. As Famous gets a new chance at life and love, he begins to see the truth about his brother.
Famous stars Brendan Jeffers (“Degrassi: The Next Generation”) and Brian Bisson (“Clarice”). The film features Toronto rapper Friyie’s music, including international hit, “Money Team,” which became Floyd Mayweather’s theme song, in addition to new music Friyie created for the film about brothers.
Famous was written, directed and produced by Martha McGrath, whose award-winning debut short also featured the hip hop and R&B sounds of another Toronto artist: Leila Dey.
Famous screened at Shenzhen International Film Festival where it won Best North American Feature, and at the Boston Independent Film Festival where it was named Winner of Best Experimental Film and Best Cinematography.
Gravitas Ventures will release Famous on digital platforms on May 9, 2023. The film has a running time of 70 minutes and will not be rated by the MPAA.
ALIENS UNCOVERED: ORIGINS
Before Area 51, hidden deep in the desert, the military discovered a hidden gem that helped them create Project Bluebook.
Phoenix, Arizona wasn’t supposed to be the city we know in present day. Before Area 51, hidden deep in the desert, the military discovered a hidden gem that helped them cover up the UFO wave of 1947. Roswell was not the only event that took place. Arizona was home to three major UFO events that the public hardly knows about. These events helped create Project Bluebook.
From writer/director Clive Christopher, the truth might just be out there in Aliens Uncovered : Origins, now on digital platforms via Breaking Glass Pictures.
COUNTRY OF HOTELS
A new horror-mystery-thriller from director Julio Maria Martino, Country of Hotels tells the stories of the desperate souls who pass through the doors of 508, a room on the fifth floor of an anonymous, decaying hotel.
Siobhán Hewlett, Matthew Leitch, Adam Leese, Michael Laurence, and Charles Pike star in the film.
We are taken on a surreal and blackly comic journey down its lonely corridors and behind its outdated furnishings and stained surfaces. The story plunges us into the ever-turning carousel of haunted lives who check in and out of this sinister establishment.
Country of Hotels will be released on VOD and digital platforms on May 26.
KILLER KITES
Manon Pages, Austin Naulty, Carter Simoneaux star in the horror film Killer Kites.
When Abby’s grandma dies, the only thing she inherits a stupid kite – after giving it to her brother; he is mysteriously killed and the kite disappears. While searching for the truth, she is tangled in a strange supernatural plot, where this killer kite continues to kill! Now, Abby must string together a way to stop the kite before it blows us all away. Kites may not be the scariest monster ever, but they’re up there.
Directed by Alan Dale and Austin Frosch, Killer Kites will be released on VOD/digital on May 26.
SAPIOSEXUAL
Starring Deborah Twiss (Hannah), David Edwin (Freddie), Nick Hardin (Liam), Sapiosexual follows three people as they gather for an “uncoupling celebration” arranged by the aging narcissist Liam. Both Hannah and Freddie, Liam’s guests as well as victims, have dark ties to his past and plenty of their own secrets. When the power goes out during a thunderstorm, the deepest truths are revealed, changing each person’s life forever.
Directed by Deborah Twiss, Sapiosexual will be released on VOD/digital on May 16, 2023.
EXORCISM IN UTERO
Sam Bangs, Leonard Hoge , Steve Larkin, Stephanie Leet. Calvin Morie McCarthy star in the horror film Exorcism In Utero.
In the film, Herma Frigg, a pregnant woman running from a bad relationship, becomes possessed when she puts on a magical ring she discovers in the basement of the house where she is house sitting. Haunted by stranger dreams, she sleepwalks next door to visit Peter O’Neill, the pre-teen horror movie buff living next door in her sleep. As Herma’s body transforms and her mind deteriorates and Peter deals with family drama, these visits lead to an unusual bond between the two. But can Peter find a way to help Herma find a way out of her predicament and save her unborn baby?
Directed by Erik Skybak, Exorcism In Utero will be released on VOD on May 23, 2023.
PEPPERGRASS
Starring Chantelle Han, Charles Boylan, and Michel Copeman, the horror film Peppergrass will be available on digital platforms beginning June 16, 2023 from Terror Films.
During the pandemic, a pregnant restaurateur tries to rob a priceless truffle from a reclusive World War 2 veteran in a new revenge horror-thriller from award-winning filmmaking duo Steven Garbas and Chantelle Han, Peppergrass.