Shudder announced today that it is acquiring North American and UK/Ireland rights to Flying Lotus’ psych-out nightmare KUSO. The film, which made a buzzy debut at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, will be available on the premium thriller, suspense and horror video streaming service, and play theatrically in New York and Los Angeles from July 21.

 KUSO marks the feature directorial debut from Steve, the filmmaking alter-ego of Steve Ellison, better known as music producer, DJ and rapper Flying Lotus. Ellison’s name has become synonymous with creative innovation, having released five seminal studio albums, a slew of audio-visual marvels and, in the process, gaining two Grammy nominations including one for his work on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly.

Broadcasting through a makeshift network of discarded televisions, KUSO depicts the aftermath of Los Angeles’s worst earthquake nightmare. Viewers travel between screens and aftershocks into the twisted lives of the survived, experiencing a hallucination that is Cronenberg meets Ren & Stimpy.

 Using music, special effects and animation to take a unique look at the dark history of America, KUSO brings different characters and stories to the screen, and features a predominantly black cast. As an artist, renaissance man and auteur in the making, Steve’s work has been compared to the work of David Lynch and Matthew Barney.

 Produced by Eddie Alcazar, and featuring Hannibal Buress (NEIGHBORS, Broad City ), Anders Holm (Workaholics, The Mindy Project), Tim Heidecker (Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Eastbound and Down ), and iconic Funk musician George Clinton, the film also includes an original score and musical collaborations with Aphex Twin and Akira Yamaoka.

 KUSO is the latest all-rights acquisition for Shudder, following recent premieres of critically acclaimed meta-slasher LAKE BODOM, Nordic-noir-meets-woodland-horror series JORDSKOTT, and horror comedy PREVENGE. With multiple exclusives premiering on the service every month alongside a rapidly expanding collection of genre favorites, Shudder is deeply committed to bringing the best of horror and thriller to all of its members.

 Shudder GM Linda Pan commented “KUSO pushes the boundaries of filmmaking and we’re delighted to be working with Steve on this highly unique film, as Shudder continues it’s commitment to bringing new and innovative programming to its community.”    

 “Shudder felt like the perfect home for KUSO”, said Flying Lotus.  “I’m excited for my fans, Shudder fans and just people who still have fun watching movies, to have the opportunity to see KUSO this summer.” KUSO premieres on July 21.