It’s 1981 and a virus infects earth and turns its inhabitants into undead hordes with only one community spared and left to fight in this distinctive and relevant spin on the zombie siegehorror. AMC’s horror streaming platform Shudder unleashes Barnaby’s gory chiller,Blood Quantum.
In light of widespread cinema closures Shudder has rerouted from their planned Spring release forBlood Quantumand is excited to spontaneously launch it at a moment in history where it could not be more significant. “We knew the film was important and timely when we acquired it last year, but given recent events,Blood Quantum’s themes of isolation, fear of contagion, and humanity struggling with the ramifications of a global virus have only grown more relevant,” said Shudder General Manager Craig Engler. “When a theatrical release became untenable due to the real-world pandemic, we decided to accelerate the launch of Barnaby’s film so it would reach the biggest audience possible.”
Thedead are coming back to lifeh outside the isolated Mi’gmaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants who are immune to the zombie plague. Traylor (Greyeyes), the tribal sheriff, must protect his son’s pregnant girlfriend, apocalyptic refugees, and reserve riffraff from the hordes of walking white corpses.
Blood Quantumfrom writer & director Jeff Barnaby will roll-out on all Shudder platforms as of Midnight EST on April 28th and is expected to fully propagate by midday. New members can enjoy 30-days free with thepromo code SHUTIN when signing up at Shudder.com.
Jeff Barnaby is a First Nations filmmaker born on the Mi’gmaq reserve, where bothBlood Quantumand his debut feature, the cult-hitRyhmes for Young Ghouls, take place. He is the writer, director, editor and composer ofBlood Quantum, which opened TIFF’s Midnight Madness program in 2019 to both audience and critical acclaim. His films frequently cast from within the Indigenous community and paint a stark and scathing portrait of post-colonial Indigenous life and culture - in this case, painting it in blood.
Blood Quantumis produced by Quebec-based production company Prospector Films as well as John Christou & Robert Vroom, and executive produced by Todd Brown, Nate Bolotin, Gabe Scarpelli, Ryan Shoup, Adrian Love and Noah Segal.
