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With Oscar-nominated films like The Substance and A Different Man released last year, it appears that satirical body horror is experiencing a renaissance. The body horror subgenre hasn't seen this much interest since its peak in the '80s, but horror fans seem to be remembering that this is one of the most exciting, thought-provoking horror subgenres. This year has picked up where 2024 left off with another body horror satire released just this month on Shudder. Sasha Rainbow's Grafted doubles as a coming-of-age horror movie about a Chinese immigrant who was born with the same birth defect on her face as her father.

2/5

GraftedHorrorRelease DateSeptember 12, 2024Runtime93 minutesDirectorSasha RainbowWritersHweiling OwProducersMurray Francis, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Fraser Brown, Daniel NegretCast

Joyena Sun Wei

Jess Hong Angela / Wei

Jared Turner Paul

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After winning a scholarship to a prestigious university in Auckland, Wei (Joyena Sun) moves...

The following contains spoilers for Grafted, which hits Shudder on January 24th. It also contains descriptions of horror violence.

Shudder continues to be a haven for horror fans, featuring both tried-and-true classics, blood-spattered blockbusters and all manner of independent fare. The latest in this growing selection is Grafted, directed by Sasha Rainbow and starring Joyena Sun, Jess Hong and Eden Hart. Originally premiering in September 2024 and now making its Shudder debut, Grafted is a scathing satire and social commentary on the contemporary obsession with unnatural beauty, conformity, corruption, obsession, and the lengths people will go to in order to fit in or keep up appearances. An unholy fusion of Mean Girls and Face/Off, Grafted has a lot to say about society, teenagers, culture, and the current state of beauty trends. However, in 90 minutes and with an audience of bloodthirsty horror fans to please, Grafted can only cover so many of...

Sasha Rainbow's superficiality satire Grafted feels like a J-horror inversion of Coralie Fargeat's breakout body-horror stunner The Substance. Shudder's latest original plays in a sandbox with titles like Sion Sono's Exte: Hair Extensions, where cosmetic alterations lead to unsettling results. Rainbow pulls from traditional mad scientist frameworks to tell a coming-of-age struggle from a Chinese immigrant's perspective, but in doing so, creates push-and-pull friction between a host of thematic intentions. Grafted deals in body-horror squeamishness, slasher heartlessness, and university ecosystems, but it's not always the steadiest execution. Highs are high, but they come at a cost.

Joyena Sun stars as Wei, a shy, reclusive daughter who watches her father die during a skin-replacement experiment gone Twilight Zone-y. He tries to cure them both of genetic facial birthmarks by inventing a self-healing patch using regenerative Corpse Flower cells—but the mind-of-its-own flap spreads over his mouth and nostrils,...

The body horror genre has been making a mainstream name for itself recently with the success of The Substance. Now comes Sasha Rainbow's feature debut Grafted, clearly tapping into similar themes about feminity and body-image issues with gory glee. This take on the subgenre follows an exchange student's quest to make herself conventionally beautiful. Born with a unique skin condition that she seemingly inherited from her father, Wei (Joyena Sun) takes up his detailed scientific research into grafting new skin onto a body to smooth out imperfections.

'Grafted' Crafts a Bloody Revenge Story

2/5 Grafted Horror

An ambitious yet socially inexperienced exchange student strives to elevate her status in pursuit of popularity.

Release Date September 12, 2024Director Sasha RainbowRuntime 93 minutesCast Joyena Sun, Jess Hong, Jared Turner, Mark Mitchinson, Ginette McDonald, Benjamin HudsonWriters Hweiling OwStreaming Service(s) Producers Murray Francis, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Fraser Brown, Daniel Negret ProsSome nasty,...

Plot: A bright but socially awkward exchange student takes her craving for popularity to horrifying heights.

Review: With The Substance getting all sorts of accolades since its release, it feels like we’re in a different era for body horror. No longer is it relegated to the dark corners of cinema and instead can be treated for what it truly is: a way to showcase metaphors/themes through the usage of truly disgusting images and transformations. And it’s why the subgenre has always appealed to me as we often get a story that makes you think combined with gooey goodness. Shudder’s Grafted throws subtlety out of the window in a way that may not appeal to all but it was right in my wheelhouse.

Grafted follows a young girl named Wei who witnesses the death of her father as he’s doing some experiments with skin grafting. Years...

In a dingy lab somewhere in China, a young girl named Wei (Mohan Liu) watches her father, Liu (Sam Wang), go about his work. He’s developing a new kind of skin graft procedure that he hopes will rid both of them of the large purple birthmarks adorning their faces. And like your average B-movie scientist with a little too much on the line, Liu decides to use himself as a guinea pig. He applies a strange, fleshy substance to his face and then grins triumphantly as it wriggles into life, replacing his birthmark and melding perfectly with the rest of his skin. But Liu’s delight quickly turns to horror as he discovers—like, well, so many B-movie scientists before him—that his invention works a little too well, and with deadly consequences.

Grafted is full of spluttering effects that look and sound wet and nasty, and they’re...

The first teaser trailer for Spartacus: House of Ashur has entered the arena! Starz‘s sequel series welcomes a new era of gladiatorial combat drama to the stage, along with an autumn release window.

Here’s the official synopsis for Spartacus: House of Ashur courtesy of Starz:

“What if Ashur (Nick Tarabay), hadn’t died on Mount Vesuvius at the end of ‘Spartacus: Vengeance?’ And what if he had been gifted the gladiator school once owned by Batiatus in return for aiding the Romans in killing Spartacus and putting an end to the slave rebellion?”

Created, written, and executive-produced by Steve DeKnight, Spartacus raised its sword and shield on Starz in 2010 with its first season, Spartacus: Blood and Sand. A prequel series followed called Spartacus: Gods of the Arena in 2011, with Spartacus: Vengeance dropping in 2012 and Spartacus: War of the Damned in 2013. The original series, Blood and Sand, revolved around the life of Spartacus,...

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If you are a horror fan then there is a big chance that you might have heard about the horror streaming service Shudder, and if you have its subscription you might be wondering what’s in store for you in January 2025. Don’t worry there is a host of new and old horror movies coming to the service in the upcoming month and we have listed the 10 best movies coming to Shudder in January 2025.

The Others (January 1) Credit – Dimension Films

The Others is a gothic supernatural psychological horror film written and directed by Alejandro Amenabar. The 2001 film follows Grace as she moves in a Jersey house with her three children but she soon begins experiencing strange occurrences and becomes convinced that the house is haunted. The Others stars Nicole Kidman, Fionnula Flanagan, Christopher Eccleston, Elaine Cassidy, Eric Sykes,...

Lee Cronin's The Mummy: With a release date of April 17, 2026, we now have an official title for the latest horror film from Evil Dead Rise's Lee Cronin, who is is writing and directing the film, produced by Atomic Monster, Blumhouse and Doppelgängers, for New Line.

"This will be unlike any Mummy movie you ever laid eyeballs on before. I'm digging deep into the earth to raise something very ancient and very frightening," said writer/director Lee Cronin.

As previously announced, Atomic Monster and Blumhouse are co-financing the film. James Wan, Jason Blum and John Keville are producers on the film. Michael Clear, Judson Scott and Macdara Kelleher are executive producers. Alayna Glasthal is the executive overseeing the project for Atomic Monster.

Lee Cronin is represented by CAA, Brillstein Entertainment and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hynick Jaime LeVine Sample & Klein.

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Grafted: "Chinese...

"A malicious cosmetic cocktail." Yowza! What a quote. Shudder has revealed an offiical trailer for an indie horror film called Grafted, which has been playing at festivals the last few months. It premiered at the New Zealand Film Festival, Monster Fest, Sitges, and stopped by the Chicago Film Festival. "Re-Animator meets Mean Girls." A bright but socially awkward exchange student takes her craving for popularity to horrifying heights. A Chinese university student arrives in New Zealand thanks to an exchange program to finish the work started by her father, a renowned biologist. When she begins her research, she discovers that she needs human bodies to conduct bloody experiments. Sitges describes it as "a new example of body horror with nods to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein that brings new freshness to this subgenre." Scary! Grafted stars Joyena Sun, Jess Hong, Eden Hart, Jared Turner, Sepi To'a, & Xiao Hu. Yep this looks...

Mister Smith Entertainment has revealed further sales of the body horror feature “Grafted” to multiple territories following this weekend’s Spanish premiere screening at Sitges Film Festival, and the announcement of Shudder’s North America and U.K. and Ireland acquisition of the film.

“Grafted,” the directorial debut of Sasha Rainbow, whose short film “Kamali” was nominated for a BAFTA and long-listed for an Oscar, was acquired by Twelve Oaks for Spain, Front Row Entertainment for the Middle East, Blitz for Ex-Yugoslavia, Forum Film for Poland, The Film Group for Greece/Cyprus, Active Cinema Group for Cis, Baltic States and Ukraine, Superfine Films for India, and Ricochet Digital Media for Airlines.

“Grafted,” which uses the horror genre to expose and subvert the current obsession with beauty, body image and social acceptance, stars Joyena Sun, Jess Hong, who recently starred in Netflix’s “3 Body Problem,” Jared Turner, Eden Hart and Sepi To’a,...

Shudder has just announced that it acquired the North American, UK, and Ireland rights to Sasha Rainbow’s feature debut, Grafted. The streaming giant also announced that it will be releasing the film on its platform early next year. This news comes ahead of the movie's Spanish premiere at the 2024 Sitges Film Festival, which is happening this weekend.

Grafted is described as a satirical body horror film. Rainbow, who has previously helmed short films, directed this movie from a script she co-wrote with Mia Maramara, Hweiling Ow, and Lee Murray. In addition, Murray Francis and Leela Menon are signed on as producers with Fraser Brown executive producing.

Rainbow expressed her excitement about partnering with Shudder via a Shudder press release:

Partnering with Shudder is a dream come true—for those of us who like our dreams dark and full of twists, and there’s no better place to unleash Grafted...

Bloody Disgusting has learned of an upcoming body-horror movie titled Grafted this week, with Variety reporting that Sasha Rainbow (Kamali) will be directing the feature film.

The UK’s Mister Smith Entertainment has picked up international rights to the upcoming movie, Variety also reports, and they’ll be launching sales next month in Cannes.

“The film tells story of a Chinese student who travels to New Zealand to complete the scientific work of her deceased father only to find a new way of achieving popularity, one body at a time.”

“I am incredibly excited about playing in the body-horror space for such an incredible, surprising, female-lead-project like Grafted,” Sasha Rainbow said in a statement.

Joyena Sun, Jared Turner, Jess Hong, Eden Hart, Sepiutaruth To’a, Ginette McDonald and Mark Mitchinson star in Rainbow’s feature debut.

“We loved Grafted from the first page and after hearing Sasha’s pitch we...

U.K.-based sales agent Mister Smith Entertainment has picked up international rights to “Grafted,” a New Zealand-set horror film which marks the feature directing debut of Sasha Rainbow. The film is now in production. Mister Smith will launch sales next month in Cannes.

The film tells story of a Chinese student who travels to New Zealand to complete the scientific work of her deceased father only to find a new way of achieving popularity, one body at a time.

“I am incredibly excited about playing in the body-horror space for such an incredible, surprising, female-lead-project like ‘Grafted.’ I can’t wait to unleash it to audiences around the world,” said Rainbow. She previously directed 2018 short film “Kamali,” about a mother fighting for her daughter’s rights through skateboarding in India, which was nominated for a BAFTA and long-listed for an Oscar.

The cast of “Grafted” is headed by Joyena Sun,...

Production underway on Yamc’s first title ‘Grafted’ from Sasha Rainbow.

Head Gear Films’ Phil Hunt is partnering with Australia-New Zealand horror distribution specialists Monster Pictures on (Yet) Another Monster Company (Yamc), a New Zealand-based label for developing, distributing and financing horror and genre titles.

Yamc has an investment partnership with Hunt’s UK firm Head Gear, and is looking for projects from writers, directors, producers and creative teams. Operating out of New Zealand, Yamc has plans for an Australia-based version in the future.

The company is already in production on its first title Grafted, a coming-of-age body horror from New Zealand filmmaker Sasha Rainbow,...