A messy millennial gets knocked up by an extraterrestrial, and nobody believes her.

MUM, I’M ALIEN PREGNANT, the feature debut from New Zealand directing duo THUNDERLIPS, drops on digital and VOD October 27th via XYZ Films. The film follows Mary, an underachieving twentysomething who accidentally becomes alien-pregnant and has to navigate skeptical doctors, a useless baby daddy, and her oversharing mother just to survive.

The film expands on THUNDERLIPS’ 2024 short HELP, I’M ALIEN PREGNANT, with Hannah Lynch (The Rule of Jenny Pen) returning to play Mary. She’s joined by Yvette Parsons (What We Do in the Shadows), Arlo Green (Shortland Street), and Jackie van Beek, co-creator of the Australian version of The Office.

MUM, I’M ALIEN PREGNANT premiered in the Midnight section at Sundance earlier this year and earned strong reviews, currently sitting at 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s a wild mix of body horror and comedy that puts a millennial spin on alien invasion tropes.

For indie filmmakers working in genre, this is proof that a strong concept and fresh voice can carry a feature, even when scaling up from a short. THUNDERLIPS took a weird idea and ran with it all the way to Sundance.

An all-girl heavy metal band fights for survival against vampires, cannibals, a werewolf, and a warlock in the supernatural horror film Devour, hitting select theaters October 9 and digital platforms October 13.

The film stars Heidi Shepherd, vocalist for metal band Butcher Babies, alongside KateLynn E. Newberry, Gus Langley, and Alex Lucchesi. After a disastrous gig leaves them stranded, the band encounters a woman in danger and gets trapped in a remote town controlled by a powerful warlock. To survive until morning, they’ll have to tap into dark powers of their own.

Director Scott B. Hansen, who previously made the festival favorite Bad Candy, went heavy on practical effects. The creatures were created by Wayne Anderson, whose credits include Stranger Things, IT: Chapter One, and Avatar: The Way of Water. Anderson and the OX FX team built the film’s vampires, werewolves, and cannibals using creature suits, prosthetics, makeup, and animatronics instead of relying on digital effects.

Devour has already racked up over a dozen festival selections and won Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Vampire Feature at the Freakshow Horror Film Festival. It also got a shoutout on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast.

Hansen, who’s directed music videos for Meshuggah, Willie Nelson, and Motionless in White, brings his music roots into the film, where the band’s identity and the supernatural horror are closely intertwined. For genre fans looking for practical creature work and metal energy, this one’s a bloody ride.

A cult-like mentality spreads through a Japanese high school, turning gymnastics routines into a dance of death. That’s the premise of NEW GROUP, a body horror film from writer-director Yûta Shimotsu that streams on Shudder starting November 6th.

The film follows high school student Ai as people around her become mindless followers capable of transforming everyday exercises into something deadly. Shimotsu, who studied mechanical engineering before moving into filmmaking, co-wrote the script with Momoko Sahara. The cast includes Anna Yamada, Yuzu Aoki, and Pierre Taki.

Critics are calling it more than shock value. Rue Morgue praised its “underpinning of social commentary,” while Bloody Disgusting called it “an incredible, unpredictable body horror masterpiece that doubles as an indicting satire of Japan’s society.” MovieWeb noted its “daring and utterly confident trip into the pitfalls of societal norms.”

Shimotsu made his feature debut with BEST WISHES TO ALL in 2023 after years directing commercials and shorts. NEW GROUP screened at Fantasia International Film Festival and Sitges before landing on Shudder.

At just 82 minutes, it’s a lean slice of social horror for anyone tired of conformity.