By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The girls’-school-haunting chiller will be arriving just in time for graduation season.
RJLE Films and Shudder have announced their acquisition of North American rights to SEANCE, the feature directorial debut of Simon Barrett, who scripted Adam Wingard’s YOU’RE NEXT, THE GUEST, BLAIR WITCH and A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE, along with Alex Turner’s DEAD BIRDS. Set for release in select theaters and on VOD/digital platforms May 21, followed by a Shudder premiere later in the year, the film was produced by Dark Castle Entertainment (ORPHAN, GOTHIKA, HOUSE OF WAX) and stars Suki Waterhouse (ASSASSINATION NATION, THE BAD BATCH), Madisen Beaty, Ella-Rae Smith, Inanna Sarkis, Seamus Patterson and Marina Stephenson-Kerr. The synopsis: “In SEANCE, Camille Meadows [Waterhouse] is the new girl at the prestigious Edelvine Academy for Girls. Soon after her arrival, six girls invite her to join them in a late-night ritual, calling forth the spirit of a dead former student who reportedly haunts their halls. But before morning, one of the girls is dead, leaving the others wondering what they may have awakened.”
“I’m thrilled that SEANCE has found a home with RLJE Films and Shudder, who are at the vanguard of releasing unique and original genre films,” Barrett says. “Both companies clearly respect and understand horror fans, for whom SEANCE was made.”
“The Shudder team are big fans of Simon Barrett’s work as a screenwriter,” says Shudder’s Craig Engler, “so we leapt at the chance to be the streaming home for his directorial debut. We know our members will be chilled and delighted by what Barrett has crafted with SEANCE.”
