As the pandemic reached its peak, horror film festivals, like many other events, became a distant dream. However, behind the scenes, a dedicated group of enthusiasts came together to create an online festival that garnered immense acclaim from the genre film community. Now, the much-anticipated NIGHTSTREAM is making its return, but with a twist – it's evolving into a streaming platform that promises to bring a curated collection of both classic and contemporary genre films. Read on for the official press release and discover what NIGHTSTREAM has in store for horror enthusiasts.
The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, in association with the Boston Underground Film Festival and the Overlook Film Festival, announces today the re-launch of Nightstream. The former virtual film festival will re-launch as a transactional VOD platform that will showcase acclaimed genre films. Nightstream enables at-home audiences to have a one-stop-shop for their favorite (and new discovery) genre indies in lieu of scrolling through offerings buried in other more overarching platforms. Viewers can expect the lineup to continue to grow over time, but always remain curated by the festival programmers.
Nightstream was initially launched in 2020, when film festivals were shuttered in the height of the pandemic. These major horror festivals joined forces to satiate their audiences’ appetites for new, exciting titles even while they were stuck at home. Despite the fact that the world is back in action, Nightstream will give genre fans the curated festival experience 24/7.
Terence Krey and Christine Nyland, the filmmaking team behind 2020's indie gem An Unquiet Grave, unveil Summoners as the very first Nightstream Exclusive. The film made its world premiere at Brooklyn Horror Festival last year and debuts exclusively on the platform as a launch title. Co-starring indie icon Larry Fessenden, the film focuses on a former witch who is plunged back into a world of witchcraft far more dangerous than ever before after her childhood friend seeks her help in performing a dark spell.
Spearheading the relaunch is Justin Timms, Director of Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. “Finding a way to support new indie films along with keeping our collective festivals afloat during the pandemic was our priority and I’m thrilled that we can continue that for the long term,” says Timms. “Not only will we be sharing revenue with the films on the channel but a portion of the proceeds will also be split among the other founding festivals. We hope audiences around the country will see the value in supporting this effort and choose Nightstream when renting one of these standout titles.”
As of today’s Halloween launch day, the platform will feature over thirty titles, including those from indie distributors Oscilloscope, Dark Star, Dark Sky, Dekanalog, Utopia, Yellow Veil Pictures, and others. Titles include Jane Schoenbrun’s We're All Going to World's Fair (Utopia), Gaspar Noe’s Lux Aeterna (Yellow Veil), Joel Potrykus’ Buzzard (Oscilloscope), and much more. The full listing of film offerings is available at nightstream.org.
Prices will vary per title, and users will have the option to rent or buy most titles with a default pricing of $4.99 to rent and $12.99 to buy.