Shudder Curator Sam Zimmerman Talks Celebrating Halloween With the Streamer

Whenever the spooky season approaches, movie fans start to scour all of their favorite streaming services to find tales of terror to help them get into the Halloween spirit, with fans being lucky if a service has even a few dozen appropriate titles. For Shudder subscribers, however, it’s an embarrassment of riches, as the streamer not only has hundreds of horror titles to watch all year, but they even have original titles that are exclusive to the service. Even though fans can dive deep into Shudder’s vast library all year, October still brings with it some exciting additions to the streamer, as confirmed by VP of Programming Sam Zimmerman.

While fans can stream movies like Evil Dead 2, The Lords of Salem, Halloween, and The Babadook all month long, the coming weeks will see all-new and exclusive titles appearing on the service, like V/H/S/85 and When Evil Lurks, a new season of Creepshow will also debut on the service and later this month, as will the surprise double feature will premiere live on Shudder TV thanks to Joe Bob’s Helloween. And if all of these choices feel overwhelming, Zimmerman himself will be manning the Halloween Hotline, where you can call in on Friday, October 27th to get personalized recommendations to satisfy your thirst.

ComicBook.com caught up with Zimmerman to talk October programming, celebrating Halloween, and more.

ComicBook.com: I haven’t really talked to you since you had your son. As a horror fan, how has this changed your connection to horror? Or has it changed your connection at all?

Samuel Zimmerman: Honestly, that’s a good question, because I don’t know if it has yet. I know people who had a baby and then were incredibly sensitive to certain things in horror films. Obviously, many of them involving children. I haven’t reached that threshold yet unless it’s … When it’s wanton killing, killer-kid silliness, it doesn’t bother me. When there’s very sensitive things about babies, that’s gotten to me a little bit. 

The thing I’ve become most conscious of is, I don’t want to force loving horror movies onto him, because I feel like that will be immediately reactionary. He’ll be like, “It’s not cool. You like it. You’re my dad.” So I feel like I have to figure out an Inception-style way to have this child appreciate horror in his life. 

On the more genuine level, I’m sure for you it’s, there is no differentiation between how you are as a horror fan as a dad, in that, how do you enjoy pizza as a dad? Everything about you is fundamentally, slightly different because you are a dad, so how are you going to know how that has impacted you? And then the other part of me is thinking, I’m glad that your son is, what, eight months? And you’re already wondering, “How am I going to get him into horror?”

Or get him into it in a way that he likes it. I’m so conscious of … Pop culturally, I feel like we live in a world where everything is so fandom-based, and people base a lot of things they do around their fandom. I don’t necessarily want that to be the way I’m a dad, I want him to find the thing he appreciates and loves. And if it’s horror, that’s great, but if it’s something else, then I’ll learn something else about the world. 

Just don’t be upset if he’s more into Peppa the Pig first, before something like Possession.

I would hope so. We do have a cool alphabet book called B Is for Boo. That’s a fun one. There’s a lot of ghosts and candy and Frankensteins and Draculas, and trick or treating.

Have you read the children’s book adaptation of Halloween?

No.

It is shockingly good, because it is not one of those things where it is adapted into a cutesy Little Golden type of book. It is all of the plot points of Halloween including the deaths and the murder, but in a rhyme scheme, and with more playful illustrations. Maybe when he gets closer to six or eight, that’ll be more appropriate. But keep that in mind.

Stewart Thorndike, who directed Bad Things, which we released just a few weeks ago, and Lyle, has children, and Stewart sent me a book about a bear who wants his hat back, and I think eventually murders to get it back. And that was a pretty incredible children’s book to get in the mail.

We are officially in October. It’s official. Since you and I, horror all year long is our love. So for you, when it does come to October, when it comes to Halloween, there’s so much exciting, awesome stuff to do. But for you, what is your, “It’s not Halloween unless I do this, it’s not Halloween unless I watch this,”? What are your Halloween traditions, Halloween staples?

I say this just because we watched it last night. My wife hadn’t seen it, but I’ve seen it many times, we watched Hell House LLC last night. And I think that’s becoming a bit of a Halloween staple for me because it’s so pure in the way it works. It really is like, “Here’s something that shouldn’t be able to move,” the camera comes away, “Oh, it moved.” And that never gets old. It feels like you’re walking through a fun house. So Hell House LLC absolutely.

Ghostwatch, the BBC film is one of my favorite annual Halloween watches. I think it’s maybe one of the best movies ever set on Halloween, and is so much fun and hopefully will be returning to Shudder in 2024.

I’m, of course, a big fan of all things autumnal, being from New York and the New England area, so I want to do things that involve cider and donuts and apples and sweaters and hayrides and people in grim reaper costumes jumping out at you. So all of the things that I think we think of as classically Halloween are important to me, and hopefully that extends into what the programming on Shudder is like in October, because I think yourself, me, Shudder is 24 hours a day, all year-round horror. So what does October mean when you are like that? To me, October is a feeling and it’s like Halloween’s in the air, it’s crisp, it’s mischievous. That’s hopefully what the V/H/S films are doing and When Evil Lurks is doing. And Evil Dead 2 is on the service as of October. So I think to me it’s about the feeling of October carrying through what I do but also what’s on Shudder. 

Speaking of Shudder, this month, is Jennifer Reeder the curator?

Jennifer Reeder is currently one of our guest curators, and we’re going to have another one, which I think maybe you’ll appreciate, though I know you have very intense opinions on hardcore music. But yes, Jennifer Reeder is currently our guest curator. And Jennifer Reeder directed Perpetrator, which we love and admire, and her taste is just as stupendous as her filmmaking skill.

And did you have to withhold a scoop there about hardcore music?

I don’t know if it’s much of a scoop, we just haven’t announced it yet. And when the collection is up, you’ll see it.

How dare you bait me like that! But it’s nice to see that the frontman of Disturbed is curating some selections on Shudder.

The most hardcore man alive.

So going along with guest curation, if you, Sam Zimmerman, were to select the five titles that you are most excited for fans to watch on Shudder in October, what would be the things that are like, “If you sign up for Shudder right now, check out these five movies,”?

Okay, I’m going to do a mix of new and previous Shudder films. 

I think maybe one of our most essential movies to watch this month on Shudder is When Evil Lurks. It’s in theaters on Friday on October 6th, that comes to Shudder on October 27th. It is by Demián Rugna, who made Terrified, which is also known as Aterrados. He is a filmmaker from Argentina. I think he is a legitimate new-school master of horror. And When Evil Lurks is so terrifying and grisly and provocative and exciting, I think it’s one of the best horror movies of the year. We’re so proud of Demián, we’re so proud of the film. I think it is an essential watch for the season. A hundred percent. By extension, but not an official selection of mine, Terrified. If you’ve not seen Terrified, I highly recommend it. It is one of the most perfect spooky, scary, bump-in-the-night films you can watch.

So, When Evil Lurks, then I’m going to highly recommend an Irish film called Caveat, which I love, that we released I think in June of 2021, but I may be mistaken. This is a film by a director named Damian McCarthy. We don’t only work with Damians, but when we do, we’re very excited by the work they do. This is Damian’s first film. He did it really independently in Ireland. It’s about a young man who comes out of a halfway house situation, is hired for a strange job to oversee his boss’s niece as she grieves her father in a strange house. And then there are several things he has not been told about the house until he gets there. It’s on an island, it’s incredibly dilapidated, and he has to wear a strange harness that prevents him from going in certain rooms. This film is so unique and scary, and I, again, blow out the candles on a Friday night, perfect watch.

So When Evil Lurks, Caveat … Deadstream, which we released last year, and to me is the perfect idea of what a horror-comedy is and can be, it’s as funny as it is scary. It has that Halloween spirit of being mischievous but creepy, and this amazing mythology of all the weird guys going on around the house. There’s the tall gentleman, and the demonic possession aspect of it. And I think Joseph and Vanessa Winter who created it are going to be perfect horror filmmakers. I adore them. By extension, their segment in V/H/S/99 is incredible. It’s so funny, and I think it’s wild that it took five films for someone to say, “We should send the camera to hell.”

So we got Caveat, When Evil Lurks, Deadstream. I am going to also suggest V/H/S/85, because it comes out this weekend. And it is our third V/H/S production with a really astonishing lineup of directors. Scott Derrickson, David Bruckner, Natasha Kermani, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Mike Nelson. They all bring such individual perspectives to what they’re trying to do within the framework of a V/H/S film in the ’80s. And every segment is operating on a really high level. Every segment is its own thing, but they all work together beautifully and structurally surprisingly. So I think V/H/S/85 is really special, I’m very excited for the folks to see it. And then I’m just going to throw one that is not a Shudder original, but it is now on Shudder, and I think it’s in my top five of horror films from 2000 to now, and that’s Lake Mungo. 

There’s five.

There’s my five.

I mean, because you slip Terrified in there…

By extension.

Fair enough, fair enough. Now, fans don’t only have to hear what you would curate, because we have the Halloween Hotline where fans can call in and speak to you directly. What is the most rewarding aspect for you to get to connect with fans, and getting to connect them with movies that maybe they hadn’t heard of and just learn from the Shudder community what they’re interested in?

It’s those two things. I mean, the actual act of getting to talk to our members around the country is always just so nice. Everyone is so kind and cool. And through the course of doing the hotline over a few years, we’ve had so many repeat callers and folks I’ve gotten to know a little bit better than just talking to them for two minutes once. So it’s really nice to hear about their lives, and what they’re doing, and how they’re progressing, but also how Shudder is playing into it. So, A, just the general connection of talking to our members and hearing what they’re into is really nice, and B, the joy of putting something on someone’s radar that they have not seen yet but really loved is the coolest. It’s something that I feel really grateful for when someone puts me onto a movie that I’ve never seen before and then it blows my mind. I only hope I can do the same. 

And when it comes to, let’s say someone calls and you’re listening and you’re like, “This person has terrible taste. They have awful taste”–

Never do that.

But, are you ever like, “I personally don’t like this movie, but I think they will like it”? Or in your mind, are you like, “You’re in the right direction, but let me push you towards something I, Sam, am more of a fan of,”?

No, I think Shudder, as a concept, has to do and showcase everything that the genre can. What I hope is that in doing so and in finding every nook and cranny of the genre and every subgenre, we’re programming things that we’re enthusiastic about. So when I speak to someone and maybe our tastes don’t quite align, my job is to put myself in their shoes and say, “I hear what you’re into, and I want to point you in the direction, because I think something else that you’ll be into that you’ll be excited by.”

I think working at Shudder and being a part of Shudder has just made me generally more open. I think maybe some years ago you might’ve heard me say things like, “Oh, I’m not really into zombie movies,” but that’s a limiting perspective because there’s always great zombie movies and something’s going to come along and surprise you. So, I always try to be open. Also, the biggest lesson of my life is that I’m a huge Halloween III fan, and for so long the tide was not turned on Halloween III, people hated it. And when I was a kid it was just getting roasted a little bit for loving that movie. So I try not to roast others. 

Also, how nuts is it that you and I bought matching Halloween III patches a decade ago?

Yeah. In Austin. I also bought an Alucarda shirt that day.

Absolutely did. But I was like, “How long? Oh, my God. I’ve known Sam for so long.”

And we’ve appreciated Halloween III for so long, and it’s so nice to see people come around on it. 

Not to put you on the spot, but I’ve got my top four favorite horror movies. I like to keep the fifth pick rotating, so we’re just going to stick with four. So I’m going to hit you with my top four and I want to hear what’s a good double feature, what you think I should check out on Shudder. So, number one: Creepshow.

The Mortuary Collection. It’s an anthology we released by Ryan Spindell. It’s stylish and fun in the way Creepshow is. It’s very arch in the way Creepshow is. And then also Creepshow is one of those rare anthologies that all comes from one director, and Mortuary Collection is as well. So I would line those up pretty quick. 

And, as an extension, Creepshow, the TV series.

Well, that of course as well. Sometimes you don’t want to be as obvious, but Creepshow the TV series. The way to go.

Number two: now streaming on Shudder, Possession.

Possession … There are not many films in the world like Possession. However, I think one of the modern horror films that actually captures the spirit of someone like Andrzej Żuławski is Resurrection, which came out last year with Rebecca Hall. I think the psychological distress and paranoia of that film, and then the shocking place it goes in its second half, gives me that sense that, here is someone who is operating on a similar level. 

And Rebecca Hall also gives the most captivating, tortured performance. So they’ve got that in common also. Number three: Rosemary’s Baby.

Rosemary’s Baby … I mean, there’s a lot of films we have I think that are Satanic in nature in some respects. And so there’s quite a few to choose from, but you know what I would say, in not a direct correlation because of pregnancy or anything like that, but we have a Bryan Bertino movie called The Dark and the Wicked. I think it’s the nature of something that feels legitimately demonic. And I know Rosemary’s Baby has an absurd sensibility, but I think a demon being visited upon your family, I would point someone toward The Dark and the Wicked. 

I didn’t have prepared answers for any of these, but as soon as you started ruminating, I jumped to Watcher with Maika Monroe.

That’s great, yeah.

In that paranoid “is there something sinister, is it all in her head?” slowly paced world.

And I think there’s something you’re onto there about the general contemporary paranoia of being a woman, right? Rosemary’s Baby is so much about, “I’m experiencing something and no one believes me.” And Watcher is very much about that as well.

I might be misremembering, but I also think the opening title of Watcher is a pink, cursive font. Honestly, that could be all it was. It’s like, “Oh, the words look the same. So watch those together.” Lastly: Suspiria.

She Will. This is a witch film that came out last year that’s also executive-produced by Dario Argento, so maybe the connection was made very quickly for me. But Alice Krige is in it, and she’s incredible as this woman who goes to this resort, this wellness resort in the Highlands in the UK, and is manifesting witchcraft and witch power. And I think like Suspiria, it’s kaleidoscopic, and it is sensual, and it is overall something really cool to be experienced. 

Lastly here, I remember sitting with you when you were in talks to get this job at Shudder back in L.A., and you telling me, “It’s a streaming service, and it’s going to be just horror movies. It could be this really cool thing.” And since then, not just you, but also just Shudder itself has become so unique compared to all of the other streamers out there, that it seems to be the only streamer whose focus is on quality and building a brand and building a connection with audiences. Between the originals, the various acquisitions, the TV shows,the Ghoul Log, The Core, Shudder TV, so many awesome things have come out of Shudder, do you have a dream project at Shudder that just hasn’t quite come together yet that you are still working towards that you would like to see? Whether it is a programming thing or an interface thing?

The answer is not anything specific, but it’s my general ambition, and what I try to say every year is I believe, if we can, and we should try, is that every year we should release the scariest film of the year. That is a very general ambition I have for Shudder. I think we may have done it this year with When Evil Lurks, and I look forward to all the work to do to make it happen in subsequent years. 

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This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.