Our favorite horror streaming service Shudder gave subscribers a huge surprise gift last night: they released the radical Indigenous horror flick Blood Quantum. To celebrate the release and to let you know why you have to check out Jeff Barnaby’s critically lauded, stylish, and scathing take on colonialism, we’re happy to exclusively reveal this gorgeous poster.
Shudder
With the current COVID-19 crisis currently changing the way we watch new films, we’re excited to see Shudder bring Blood Quantum to a wider audience, even though we would have loved to have seen it on the big screen. Centering on the isolated Mi’gmaq reserve of Red Crow, Blood Quantum follows the Indigenous inhabitants as they attempt to survive the zombie plague to which they are immune.
The authentic and inventive film follows Traylor, the tribal sheriff, who must protect his son’s pregnant girlfriend, apocalyptic refugees, and reserve riff raff from the hordes of walking white corpses. Original and visually striking, Blood Quantum will satisfy your appetite for gore and horror whilst offering a new vision of what a zombie movie can be.
Writer, director, editor, and composer Barnaby told us why he thinks Blood Quantum is an essential watch. “Come for the chainsaws to the faces and homemade battle axes, stay for the dismantling of the colonial construct that is the celluloid Indian, nobody said learning shit had to be boring.”
After seeing the director’s stunning sophomore film, we couldn’t agree more. Blood Quantum brings something entirely fresh to the zombie genre. It expands on the legacy of horror being used as a satirical lens through which to explore oppression, white supremacy, political corruption, and social inequity. It’s the perfect and horror-filled distraction you need from 2020. Plus, it might just creep onto your best of the year list.
Featured Image: Shudder
