Jordskott
Episodes 3-4 Del III & Del IV
Created by Henrik Bjorn
Written by Frederick Olsen
Directed by Anders Engstrom
Starring Moa Gammel, Stina Sundlof, Johannes Brost, Hans Mosesson, Lia Boysen, Peter Andersson
Shudder
Release date: April 13, 2017

On April 6th, Swedish series Jordskott hit the United States exclusively on AMC’s horror streaming service Shudder. The channel, available online at Shudder.com or on Roku, released the first two episodes of the ten-part series and releases two episodes every Thursday. The first two parts introduced us the strange town of Silverhojd, where police officer Eva Thornblad (Moa Gammel) returned home after her father’s suicide. It’s also the sight where seven years ago her daughter Josefine disappeared by the lake, a presumed drowning. Eva’s return coincides with another small child’s disappearance and her maternal and police instincts are in high gear. Despite sounding like a police procedural, there is a ton of wacky stuff going on in Silverhhojd. Eva’s father was the head of a cellulose factory and according to crazy old man Olof Gran (Hans Mosesson), this “upset the forest.” A girl appears out of nowhere in the middle of the fog and Eva is convinced is Josefine. Except this girl is infected with a parasite and apparently gets nutrients from plants. As Eva digs deeper, her own life is threatened and the conspiracies and mysteries continue to grow”¦

Jordskott
Episodes 1-2
Created by Henrik Bjorn
Starring Moa Gammel, Stina Sundlof, Johannes Brost, Hans Mosesson
Shudder
Release date: April 6, 2017

The Swedish horror series Jordskott made its American debut on AMC’s horror streaming service Shudder on Thursday, April 6th. The first two hour-long episodes (of ten total) are currently available with a new episode premiering each Thursday.

Created by Henrik Bjorn, Jordskott is a hard series to pin down. There are children disappearing and reappearing, strange parasitic illnesses, conspiracies, and ancient legends about the forest. Even the word is hard to translate as a Google search of “Jordskott” yields varied translations, most coming back to “earth shot” or something with “soil.” Whatever it means, the show blends police drama with the supernatural and creates an eerie, atmospheric, and uneasy world. Horror fans should take note of this, as it’s yet another binge-worthy series.

Amazon recently launched Resistance Radio, a digital radio station created as a companion to their award-winning streaming television series The Man in the High Castle, which is based on the book by Philip K. Dick. High Castle‘s story is set in an alternate dystopian world where, after losing World War II, the United States is divided and occupied by two powers — Greater Nazi Reich and the Japanese Pacific States — and its oppressed people live in fear under totalitarian rule. From the country’s lawless neutral zone, a pirate radio station has emerged to keep the memory of the former America alive and to fight back against the current regime.

As io9 discovered, interestingly enough, soon after Resistance Radio was launched, some supporters of U.S. President Trump (the actual current president of the United States of America) took to social media to express their outrage at the new anti-fascism and anti-Nazi propaganda radio station. Not only did they believe that the station was real, but that it was somehow anti-Trump; therefore, they were offended by its existence and what they referred to as its “liberal agenda.”

Sling TV really wants to be your favorite cord-cutting service. It’s spent the last couple of years getting itself on not just Roku, but FireTV and Apple TV (4th generation) for $20 a month with no contract, which is a pretty incredible feat in this Comcast, Time warner, Optimum world. The Meridian, Colorado-based company has been pushing interesting promotions all month long in celebration of SlingTV’s birthday month. What better way to “pull a hobbit” and give gifts for your b-day than to hook geeks up with content.

Last weekend, Sling TV gave their Blue and Orange users free access to HBO’s online content library just long enough for them to take in new series like Big Little Lies and Crashing. This weekend, Sling TV is opening up the Internet tubes to allow their subscribers unlimited access to STARZ, the premium cable network that brought us the smash hit time-traveling period drama, Outlander, based on the novels by author Diana Gabaldon. STARZ is also responsible for Black Sails, a period pirate drama for those looking for a bit more substance than the swashbucklers in Disney’s high-seas franchise.

Sadako vs Kayako
Directed by Koji Shiraishi
Written by Takashi Shimizu & Koji Suzuki
Starring Masahiro Komoto, Mizuki Yamamoto, Aimi Satsukawa, Tina Tamashiro, Maiko Kikuchi, Masanobu Ando, Runa Endo
Shudder
Release date: January 26, 2017

King Kong vs. Godzilla! Frankenstein vs. The Wolfman! Freddy vs. Jason! Horror has always managed to take its greatest antagonists and pit them against one another. In 2017 Japan, the battle rages on in Sadako vs Kayako between the two most popular ghosts of the modern J-Horror scene: Sadako, the villainous ghost from Koji Suzuki’s Ring series, and Kayako, the ghost with a grudge from Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On films. These are the two film series that helped launched J-Horror to the United States signaling a host of remakes, including Gore Verbinski’s adaptation The Ring in 2002 and Shimizu’s own remake The Grudge in 2004. Each of those films were insanely popular, grossing well over $100 million and earning sequels. The third installment of The Ring series, Rings, opens in theaters next week, while Sadako vs Kayako debuts today on Shudder, AMC’s horror streaming service.