Christine Nyland and Larry Fessenden in Summoners.Image: Nightstream
Nightstream began as a virtual film festival in 2020, aimed at film fans hungry for new content during the height of the pandemic. But it’s now shifted its focus to better reflect the current entertainment landscape, and today announced a re-launch as a “year-round curated genre film VOD platform,” with titles available to rent or buy.
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The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, along with the Boston Underground Film Festival and the Overlook Film Festival, are joining forces to guide the rebrand. Deadline broke the news, which was followed up by a Nightstream press release trumpeting the streamer’s first exclusive title: Summoners, which debuted at the Brooklyn Fest in 2022 and is about “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.” It’s directed by Terence Krey, who also co-wrote with Christine Nyland (their previous project, An Unquiet Grave, was a 2020 Shudder original). Nyland also co-stars alongside Larry Fessenden, who’s well-known to genre fans as both an actor (You’re Next) and director (The Last Winter).
The trade further notes that as of today, “the platform will feature more than 30 titles, from indie distributors like Oscilloscope, Dark Star, Dark Sky, Dekanalog, Utopia, and Yellow Veil Pictures. Films include Jane Schoenbrun’s We’re All Going to World’s Fair, Gaspar Noe’s Lux Aeterna, and Joel Potrykus’ Buzzard. As far as pricing goes, it’ll vary depending on which film you want to watch, but “customers will have the option to rent or buy most titles, with a default price of $4.99 to rent and $12.99 to buy.”
Nightstream isn’t exactly filling a void here—there are already well-established horror streamers, including Shudder and Screambox, and there are also plenty of other niche streamers for genre fans. Plus, a lot of FAST options, including Pluto TV and Roku, have deep genre pockets. However, the fact that Nightstream has a trio of film festivals helping steer its content is promising. You can check out Nightstream here.