(Shudder)
As the saying goes, when one door closes, another opens. In this case, that door is opening very slowly with a menacing creak.
Shomi may be shutting down at the end of November, but horror fans can rejoice as Shudder—AMC’s specialty horror streaming service—is officially open for business in Canada. And just in time for Halloween, to boot.
Originally launched last year in the United States, Shudder aims to deliver quality horror movies not found elsewhere.
The $4.99-a-month service is curated by Colin Geddes, a Torontonian who has served as the programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival’s “Midnight Madness” series, and former Fangoria editor Sam Zimmerman.
When I spoke with Geddes last year, he talked about how there’s a bright future for specialty and niche-oriented streaming services.
“Netflix isn’t necessarily serving up quality,” he said. “They’re like Walmart, we’re like a boutique store.”
With more than 200 titles, Shudder’s library is considerably smaller than the thousands of shows and movies available on Netflix, but the service does boast that 85 per cent of it is exclusive.
Among its upcoming exclusive titles are Japanese ghoul film Sadako vs. Kayako, Rob Zombie’s 31, and We Go On, from writer-directors Andy Milton and Jesse Holland.
Unlike Rogers’s and Shaw’s Shomi and Bell’s CraveTV, Shudder has the benefit of having big U.S. dollars behind it in the form of AMC. (Rogers Communications owns Canadian Business.)
By launching in the U.S. first, the network has also been able to fine tune the experience before expanding internationally, which is why Shudder is available on the major platforms–iOS, Android, Apple TV, Chromecast and Roku–except for game consoles.
MORE ABOUT STREAMING VIDEO:
- Why Netflix has stumbled, and what to do about it
- Rogers gambles on a standalone digital streaming sports channel
- How Netflix is dragging Hollywood into a global, one-market future
- Netflix CEO Reed Hastings on the power of doing one thing well
- Canada’s most popular viral YouTube ads of 2015
- Here’s how much people love sharing video and photos on their phones
- Even after its price hike, Netflix is undercharging Canadians
- How the digital age turns competitors into collaborators
