Roger Ebert refused to use his star system to rate “The Human Centipede,” saying “It is what it is and occupies a world where the stars don’t shine” – and now the film’s distributor, IFC, has created a whole new genre label to showcase that world, and spotlight movies like Tom Six’s gruesome horror tale.
IFC Midnight, a venture from IFC Films, will premiere four new genre films each month on video-on-demand (VOD), while giving some a theatrical release at the same time. The selected films will come from the horror, science fiction, action and erotic genres.
In the press release announcing the new venture, IFC president Jonathan Sehring said, “Many of our most successful VOD titles are those that might fall under the Midnight label – not just films that are straight up horror, erotic arthouse or genre films but also ones that shock audiences, push boundaries and stir up controversy – so officially creating IFC Midnight was the logical next step.”
“The Human Centipede,” which has variously been described as “a stomach-churning joy” and “idiotic, exploitative and sickening,” and has a 48-percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, was released in theaters on April 30 but will premiere in VOD on IFC Midnight this month. Other films to be included in the series in upcoming weeks:
- “Cell 211,” a Goya-winning Spanish prison drama from director Daniel Monzon.
- “Doghouse,” a British horror comedy about female zombies, directed by Jake West.
- “Don’t Look Back,” a psychological thriller starring Sophie Marceau, from director Marina de Van.
- “Valhalla Rising,” Nicolas Winding Refn’s action film about “a savage one-eyed Viking warrior and a young runaway.”
- “Exam,” a thriller from director Stuart Hazeldine about a mysterious, grueling job selection process.
- “The Horde,” a French zombie movie from directors Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher.
- “Vengeance,” a Johnnie To revenge thriller starring French pop star Johnny Hallyday.
- “Enter the Void,” “Irreversible” director Gaspar Noe’s “hallucinatory maelstrom” about “the connected nature of sex, drugs, life and death.”
The idea, says IFC, is to create a brand that extends the success of past IFC releases like Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist” and the Nazi zombie film “Dead Snow.”
