IFC Films Unveils New Genre Line: IFC Midnight

Along with their partnership with The Criterion Collection, it looks like IFC Films is set to jump into an even bigger portion of the video-on-demand world, with a brand new, genre friendly brand, IFC Midnight.

The brand will bring horror, sci-fi, thrillers, erotic films, action and any other film of that ilk to televisions nationwide. Midnight itself also has a special distribution deal with MPI Media Group, so it is more than likely that these films will have little to no chance of making the jump to the Criterion Collection (sorry for all those Human Centipede fans craving a “C” to appear on the corner of the film’s DVD cover art, it just isn’t going to happen).

If there is one thing that IFC has been able to do since its inception is bring some of the best and most envelope pushing films to the mainstream, or at least to those who have an interest in it. They have the rights to films like Lars von Triers Antichrist and the upcoming Gaspar Noe film Enter The Void, and that’s just their recent fair. For those who have an interest in genre films, this will be music to your ears. At least I know it is to mine.

Some of the films showing in the next few months on their service:

The Human Centipede (First Sequence). Written and directed by Tom Six, the film is a truly one-of-a kind horror film about a mad scientist who achieves his sick lifetime fantasy of creating a human centipede. Entertainment Weekly wondered if this may be ‘the most disgusting horror movie of all time?’ The film ‘” a winner at Fantastic Fest for Best Horror Film and Best Actor, and a winner of Best Film at Screamfest LA ‘” premiered theatrically on April 30 and will premiere on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning this month.

Cell 211. Directed by Daniel Monzón and winner of 8 Spanish Goya Awards, including Best Picture, this taut prison drama tells the gripping story of a rookie prison guard who becomes trapped in a cell during a violent riot and must convince the prisoners he is one of them. The film, an official selection at the Toronto and San Sebastian Film Festivals, will premiere exclusively on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in June.

Doghouse. Directed by Jake West, this riotous British horror comedy follows ravenous, blood-thirsty female zombies as they wreak havoc on a group of guys trying to enjoy a male-bonding weekend. The film will premiere exclusively on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in June.

Don’t Look Back. From director Marina de Van (IN MY SKIN) comes this tense psychological thriller about a beautiful, best-selling author (Sophie Marceau) who loses her grip on reality as she slowly morphs into the body of another woman (Monica Bellucci). The film, an official selection last year at the Cannes Film Festival, will premiere exclusively on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in June.

Valhalla Rising. Director Nicolas Winding Refn (BRONSON, THE PUSHER TRILOGY) delivers an action-packed epic about a savage one-eyed Viking warrior and a young runaway who embark on a dangerous odyssey. Starring Mads Mikkelson, the film ‘” an official selection at Venice and Toronto last year and a featured selection at the upcoming BAM Cinemafest ‘” will premiere in theaters and on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in July.

Exam. In this gripping thriller, director Stuart Hazeldine follows eight strangers as they enter a ruthless competition to get the job of a lifetime, where the stakes soon become life or death. EXAM premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival and had its US debut at the Santa Barbara Film Festival (where it won the top award), The film will premiere exclusively on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in July.

The Horde (La Horde). Directed by Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher, this French zombie movie follows a posse of crooked cops, malevolent gangsters and a horde of walking dead through an action packed story of escape and revenge. A hit at the Venice Film Festival, London’s FrightFest Film Festival and at this year’s COLCOA (City of Lights City of Angels), the film will premiere in theaters and on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in August.

Vengeance. From acclaimed director Johnnie To (ELECTION 1 and 2, EXILED) comes his first English language film starring French superstar Johnny Hallyday along with To regulars Anthony Wong, Simon Yam, and Lam Suet. The film, a revenge thriller, was screened in competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, and screened as an official selection at last year’s Toronto and San Francisco Film Festival. In the film, Hallyday plays François Costello, a Parisian restaurant owner who is in Macau at the request of his daughter’”to avenge a savage attack on her family. The film will premiere in theaters and on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in August.

Enter the Void. Filmmaker Gaspar Noe’s long awaited follow up to the controversial IRREVERSIBLE is a cinematically audacious exploration of the connected nature of sex, drugs, life, and death that was one of the most talked about films on the festival circuit in the past year ‘“ playing at Cannes, Toronto, Sundance and SXSW. Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, the film follows Linda (Paz De La Herta of THE LIMITS OF CONTROL) and her brother Oscar (Nathan Brown) on a spiritual journey through the city of Tokyo where the past, present and future merge into a hallucinatory maelstrom. The film will premiere in theaters and on VOD under the IFC Midnight label beginning in September