Award-Winning Zombie Horror 'The Sadness' Coming To Shudder

Following its impressive global festival run, the award-winning zombie horror, 'The Sadness' will premieres exclusively on Shudder.

The Shudder original film from Canadian director Rob Jabbaz will be available on demand in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand from Thursday, May 12.

'The Sadness' has just completed a successful festival run that began at the prestigious 74th annual Locarno Film Festival and celebrated screenings at the Fantasia International Film Festival and Fantastic Fest, where the film took awards for Best First Feature in Montreal and for Best Horror and Best Direction in Austin.

Craig Engler, Shudder's general manager said, "'The Sadness' is a brutal, boundary pushing shocker, one of the boldest and bloodiest we've ever acquired. We anticipate it having a legendary and well-deserved following among Shudder members."

'The Sadness' was shot in Taipei, Taiwan where Canadian writer/director Rob Jabbaz, originally from Mississauga, Ontario, now resides, and follows a young couple, played by Regina Lei ('76 Horror Bookstore') and Berant Zhu ('We Are Champions', 'How To Train Our Dragon'), trying to reunite amid a city ravaged by a plague that turns its victims into deranged, bloodthirsty sadists. Tzu Chiang Wang ('It's Drizzling') and In Ru Chen also star.

The film is produced by David Barker and executive produced by Li-Cheng Huang, while Eunice Cheng associate produced for Machi Xcelsior Studios.

'The Sadness' marks the directorial debut for Rob Jabbaz, who said "it's been such an enjoyably bizarre journey getting 'The Sadness' made and distributed! I'm incredibly excited for everyone out there to finally see it!"

'The Sadness' shocked audiences around the globe and was renowned for receiving trigger warnings from genre festival programmers who had never before felt the need to use such labels. Likened to a return to transgressive '90s Hong Kong Category III exploitation films by Fantasia Artistic Director Mitch Davis, Toronto-based sales and distribution company Raven Banner Entertainment represents the title worldwide and will release it in Canada.

Speaking about the Canadian acquisition, Raven Banner said, "from the moment we first saw 'The Sadness', we knew this was something special. The film reaches heights rarely attained in the horror space. Rob Jabbaz is definitely a talent to watch," said Raven Banner's managing partner, Michael Paszt. He added, "Shudder is hands down the home for 'The Sadness' and we look forward to continuing our partnership with them."

The deal was negotiated by Raven Banner’s Michael Paszt and James Fler on behalf of the filmmakers, and Emily Gotto, VP, Global Acquisitions & Co-Productions on behalf of Shudder.

Shudder is a premium streaming video service that brings fans of horror, thrillers and the supernatural the best selection of entertainment in the genre. Shudder's ever-expanding library of film, television series, and originals is available on most streaming devices with a seven day free trial.