Horror's Hall Of Fame: IFC Midnight |
This is #HouseOfHorrors, where Prahlad Srihari compiles the definitive guide on the modern production houses that comprise the genre's hall of fame. |
This is OTTplay’s House Of Horrors, an 8-part guide to the contemporary production houses that have cemented their places in the genre’s hall of fame. In part 4, we look at IFC Midnight. Check out our previous newsletters on Blumhouse, A24, and Platinum Dunes.
What is IFC Midnight?
Launched in 2010, IFC Midnight is the genre label of AMC Networks’ indie offshoot IFC Films. The company has provided distribution for many unconventional American and non-American horror films, like The Human Centipede, We Are What We Are, Dead Hooker in a Trunk, Berberian Sound Studio, The Babadook, A Dark Song, and more recently Skinamarink.
What is IFC Midnight known for?
As an indie film distributor, IFC Midnight (unlike A24) may not have zealots preaching its name and earning it street cred with each film. But it has been as significant a prime mover of sci-fi, thriller and especially horror films. Picking up North American distribution rights for Tom Six’s The Human Centipede at the 2009 Fantastic Fest was a clear statement of intent. Since then, it has championed many more international sensations (Kill List, The Babadook, Snowtown, Sputnik, The Innocents) and has virtually become the home for potential cult fare (Berberian Sound Studio, Maniac, The Devil’s Candy, Flux Gourmet, Skinamarink).
In terms of box office performance, The Babadook has recorded the best numbers for IFC Midnight so far, amassing $10.5 million worldwide against a budget of $2 million. Last year, Watcher gave the distributor its biggest opening weekend gross. This year, Skinamarink went on to earn 140 times its budget (of $15,000). Some of its other distribution success stories include The Wretched, Ghost Stories and Relic.
The launch of the streaming platform IFC Films Unlimited in 2019 allowed viewers (North American only so far) to discover and rediscover a robust library of films. The platform doesn’t exclusively serve genre films of course. The Autopsy of Jane Doe and The House That Jack Built sit alongside the likes of Boyhood and Blue is the Warmest Colour. Considering the variety of the curation, viewers in India would no doubt love to see IFC Films Unlimited become available as an additional subscription channel on Amazon Prime Video.
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What are the hallmarks of IFC Midnight’s horror productions?
The IFC Midnight library, as established, houses one of the more heterogenous collections of horror films. Committed to bringing non-American features to wider audiences, the company scouts film festivals like Fantasia and Sundance for hidden gems. Not partial to language or country of origin, it has distributed films from Australia (Snowtown, The Babadook, Relic), Canada (Antiviral, Come True, Skinamarink), Mexico (We Are What We Are), Scandinavia (The Innocents, Speak No Evil, Hatching) and Russia (Sputnik).
Some of IFC Midnight’s more notable features could be said to belong to standalone subgenres in themselves. Consider how the things heard prey on the subconscious more than the things seen in Berberian Sound Studio. Consider the disturbing blend of folk horror and hitman thriller served in Kill List. Consider the WTF-ness of The Human Centipede, the lo-fi immersion of Skinamarink, the A/V nightmare of The Den, the heavy metal horrors of The Devil’s Candy and the metaphorical richness of The Babadook.
Who are the directors IFC Midnight has worked with?
IFC has supported the nightmarish visions of Jennifer Kent (The Babadook, The Nightingale), Brandon Cronenberg (Antiviral), Carlo Mirabella-Davis (Swallow), Natalie Erika James (Relic) and Chloe Okuno (Watcher). Kent and Cronenberg have already become vital forces in modern horror cinema, with Mirabella-Davis and Erika James sure to follow. IFC Films and IFC Midnight have also brought films from provocateurs du jour like Lars von Trier (Antichrist, The House That Jack Built), Gaspar Noé (Enter the Void) and Peter Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio, Flux Gourmet) to audiences outside of Europe.
Which are IFC Midnight’s defining horror movies?
In order of release: The Human Centipede (2009), Stake Land (2010), Kill List (2011), The Den (2013), The Babadook (2014), The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016), Ghost Stories (2018), Relic (2020), The Vigil (2020), The Wretched (2020), Watcher (2022), Skinamarink (2023)
As with any distributor of low-budget genre fare, IFC Midnight’s densely stocked catalogue too has a dozen stinkers for every rich and rewatchable feature. One Human Centipede was already one too many. We didn’t need two more sequels. Stay away from Dracula 3D (even if it has Dario Argento’s name attached to it). Feel free to skip Cam2Cam, #Horror, Cabin Fever (the 2016 remake), Don’t Knock Twice and any film not mentioned in the personal recommendation list that follows.
Which are IFC Midnight’s (actual) best horror movies?
In order of personal preference: Berberian Sound Studio (2012), The Babadook (2014), Kill List (2011), Flux Gourmet (2022), Swallow (2019), We Are What We Are (2010), The Devil’s Candy (2015), Évolution (2015), Stake Land (2010), A Dark Song (2016), Relic (2020), Hatching (2022), Speak No Evil (2022), Watcher (2022)
*The films of Lars von Trier and Gaspar Noé were not considered only because they were released by IFC Films, not under the IFC Midnight label. |
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| In which we invite a scholar of cinema, devotee of the moving image, to write a prose poem dedicated to their poison of choice. Expect to spend an
hour on this. |
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