Few word pairings have gained the increase in stature in the horror community over the past few years as “Shudder Exclusive.” AMC’s horror streaming service has quickly become the go-to destination for genre fans, acquiring original films and foreign films at a rapid pace. Last year, several Shudder exclusives made my year-end Top Horror films, including Mandy, Revenge, Terrified, Satan’s Slaves, and The Witch in the Window. After recently acquiring the rights to Japanese zom-com One Cut of the Dead, the network just acquired all the rights to Mexican horror film, Tigers Are Not Afraid by writer/director Issa Lopez.

The Spanish-language film has earned tons of international acclaim, earning nine Ariel Award nominations (Mexico’s Oscars) and picking up two wins. It debuted at Austin’s Fantastic Fest earning Lopez Best Director honors. It has totaled more than 50 major festival awards, including wins for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Editing at Screamfest, and Jury and Audience Awards at Paris’ Fantastic Fest.

The film’s description on IMDb evokes memories of Mexican horror classics Pan’s Labyrinth and The Devil’s Backbone, combining children and fairy tales with grim realities, in this film’s case drugs and cartels, and violence associated with them. Perhaps better than any award, Tigers Are Not Afraid garnered the attention of Academy Award winner and Mexico’s premiere authority on genre films Guillermo Del Toro, of whose work this film has been compared. Calling Lopez, “A fantastic new voice in the genre,” Del Toro is executive producing one her next projects, a supernatural western.

Check out the trailer for Tigers Are Not Afraid here below. The film will premiere on Shudder later this year. Shudder, the best horror streaming service available, is only $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year and comes with a free 7-day trial. Go to shudder.com to sign up now.

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