By GRACE DETWILER
It’s November at last, dear readers! Halloween may be over, but here at Rue Morgue, the horror party never stops. Here are this month’s VOD releases in the horror, thriller, and sci-fi genres.
ALL JACKED UP AND FULL OF WORMS
Available on Screambox on November 8, 2022
Starring Phillip Andre Botello (The Art of Self-Defense), Trevor Dawkins (Easy), and Betsey Brown (The Scary of Sixty-First)
Written and Directed by Alex Phillips
Cinedigm
Genre & Synopsis: Horror. Working at a seedy motel, maintenance man Roscoe (Botello) is always searching for his latest fix. When he stumbles upon a powerfully hallucinogenic worm, his days of dime-store drugs are over. Along with his new love interest (Dawkins), the pair embark on a delirious odyssey of sex, violence, and becoming one with the dirt.
BLOOD RELATIVES
Available on Shudder on November 22, 2022
Starring Noah Segan, Victoria Moroles
Written and Directed by Noah Segan
Shudder
Genre & Synopsis: Horror/Comedy. Francis, a 115-year-old Yiddish vampire, still looks 35. He’s been roaming American backroads in his beat-up muscle car for decades, keeping to himself, and liking it that way. One day, a teenage kid, Jane, shows up. She says she’s his daughter, and she’s got the fangs to prove it. They go on the road, deciding whether to sink their teeth into family life.
THE FRIENDSHIP GAME
Available on Digital and On-Demand on November 11, 2022
Starring Peyton List, Brendan Meyer, Kelcey Mawema, Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Dylan Schombing
Written by Damien Ober
Directed by Scooter Corkle
RLJE Films
Genre & Synopsis: Horror/Thriller. THE FRIENDSHIP GAME follows a group of teens as they come across a strange object that tests their loyalties to each other and has increasingly destructive consequences the deeper into the game they go.
I’M TOTALLY FINE
Available On-Demand and Digital on November 4, 2022
Starring Jillian Bell, Natalie Morales, Blake Anderson, Harvey Guillén, Kyle Newacheck
Written by Alisha Ketry
Directed by Brandon Dermer
DECAL
Genre & Synopsis: Sci-Fi/Comedy. Vanessa (Jillian Bell) embarks on a solo trip to clear her head after the death of her best friend Jennifer (Natalie Morales). But her self-care vacation takes a detour when she finds the recently departed Jennifer standing in her kitchen, claiming to be an extraterrestrial. Together they spend the next 48 hours partying and reminiscing on better days in a comedy that’s out of this world.
NOCEBO
Available on Digital and VOD on November 22, 2022
Starring Eva Green, Mark Strong, Chai Fonacier, and Billie Gadsdon
Written by Garret Shanley
Directed by Lorcan Finnegan
RLJE Films and Shudder
Genre & Synopsis: Thriller. A fashion designer (Eva Green) suffers from a mysterious illness that confounds her doctors and frustrates her husband (Mark Strong) – until help arrives in the form of a Filipino nanny (Chai Fonacier) who uses traditional folk healing to reveal a horrifying truth.
SHADOWS
Available on Digital and On-Demand on November 15, 2022
Starring Mia Threapleton, Lola Petticrew and Saskia Reeves
Written by Fabio Mollo, Damiano Bruè, Vanessa Picciarelli, and Tiziana Triana
Directed by Carlo Lavagna
Red Water Entertainment
Genre & Synopsis: Psychological Thriller. Alma and Alex, two teenage sisters, are survivors of a catastrophic event. They live deep in the woods with their Mother, a strict, overprotective woman who has sheltered them from ominous presences, the Shadows, which live in the daylight and infest the world beyond the river. When they follow Mother out for hunting, Alma and Alex start a series of events which will make them discover the truth about the Shadows and their own reality.
THE SLEEP EXPERIMENT
Available On-Demand and Digital on November 1, 2022
Starring Rob James Capel, Will Murphy, Tom Kerrisk, Barry John Kinsella, Will Murphy
Written and Directed by John Farrelly
Red Water Entertainment
Genre & Synopsis: Psychological Thriller. Two detectives begin an investigation on the ethics involved in the top-secret research facility, Porton Down. One experiment, in particular, stands out to them as the most horrific, The Sleep Experiment, a scientific experiment that took place during the Cold War. The experiment consisted of five prisoners, deemed Enemies of the State, being locked in a sealed gas chamber. An airborne stimulant was continually administered to keep the subjects awake for 30 consecutive days. The prisoners were falsely promised that they would be set free from the prison if they completed the experiment.
