There are film festivals I look forward to every year, but Fantastic Fest has always felt like something special. Over the years, I’ve had an absolute blast covering the festival and getting an early look at some of the horror, sci-fi, action, and downright bizarre movies everyone ends up talking about afterward. Fantastic Fest has built an incredible track record of spotting genre favorites early, with past world premieres including "Smile,” "Split," and "Zombieland," among many others. That history is exactly why I get excited whenever a new lineup drops; you never quite know which movie you’re about to discover before the rest of the world catches on. Now, Fantastic Fest is preparing to return to the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas, from September 17–24. The newly announced 2026 lineup already has my attention, with everything from Zach Cregger’s"Resident Evil" to "Beware Boiúna," new "Carrie" episodes, a Walter Hill tribute, and plenty more waiting to be discovered. After how much I’ve enjoyed covering Fantastic Fest in previous years, I’m beyond ready to dive into this year’s movies. If the first lineup announcement is any indication, we’re in for one hell of a festival. Here are the newest horror movies that will be premiering at Fantastic Fest:

“3 WEEKS AFTER” (Director: Miroslav Terzić)

Synopsis: Three weeks after his friend's suicide, a teenager joins his classmates on a school trip. As the bullying escalates and tensions boil over, tongues loosen, forcing the truth out into the open.

“5 MORE MINUTES” (Director: Javier Ruiz Caldera)

Synopsis: A husband and wife in an ailing marriage discover that actions really do have consequences in this darkly funny twist on the time loop motif.

“ADULT SUPERVISION” (Director: Alex Schulman)

Synopsis: When three fathers volunteer to chaperone their teenage daughters’ school trip, the initially idyllic getaway quickly reveals brutal social dynamics that have them in over their heads.

“ATTACK ON PARADISE” (Director: Bob Colaers)

Synopsis: After seven years of no sleep, grief, and nightmares, Suleyman finally reunites with his mother in Paradise—just as henchmen, cops, and one very bad raid drag him back into hell.

“BEWARE BOIÚNA” (Director: Mike P. Nelson)

Synopsis: Deep in the Amazon, a medical mission spirals into a fight for survival when Boiúna, a colossal ancient predator, awakens to reclaim her domain. In the jungle where nature holds absolute power, she decides who lives and who dies.

“THE BIRTHDAY PARTY” (Director: Léa MYSIUS)

Synopsis: Happy biiiirthday to you! Nora is turning 40, and for her birthday she’ll be getting three uninvited guests who claim she isn’t who she says she is, plus the unraveling of her carefully constructed life.

“THE BLOOD COUNTESS” (Director: Ulrike Ottinger)

Synopsis: Elizabeth Báthory, a recently reawakened vampire, pursues an ancient artifact that could destroy her family in present-day Austria.

“BLOOD FEAST” (Director: Herschell Gordon Lewis)

Synopsis: A 4K restoration of the world's first "splatter" film from AGFA + Something Weird.

“BLOODY TENNIS” (Director: Nikias Chryssos)

Synopsis: Sophie’s coming of age gets sweatier and bloodier than expected when she joins a summer tennis academy where the blood-red morning smoothie is by far the least weird thing going on.

“CARRIE“ {Two Episodes} (Director: Mike Flanagan)

Synopsis: After her father’s sudden, untimely death thrusts her into the unforgiving ecosystem of public high school, Carrie is forced to navigate a viral bullying scandal that tears through her community, the relentless pressure and casual cruelty of the social‑media age, and the awakening of mysterious telekinetic powers that rise alongside her adolescence.

“CINEMA RECOMPOSED: SILENT MONSTERS” (Directors: “THE THIEVING HAND” - Unknown Director / “FRANKENSTEIN” - J. Searle Dawley / “DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE” - Lucius J. Henderson / “THE GHOST OF SLUMBER MOUNTAIN” - Willis O'Brien / “HÄXAN: HELL SEQUENCE” - Benjamin Christensen / “HELLS BELLS” - Ub Iwerks / “THE HAUNTED SHIP” - John Foster & Mannie Davis)

Synopsis: A live string quartet plays new scores for seven classic silent horror short films. Seven composers, aged 17 to 24, composed new scores for these films under the mentorship of some of the industry's top professionals.

“COMPLIANCE” (Director: Kyle Mangione-Smith)

Synopsis: A corporate client relations rep pulls a loose string, unraveling a vast conspiracy in this doom-laden found footage stunner.

“CORPUS” (Director: Corrin Evans)

Synopsis: Three friends flee the club scene for an exclusive, steamy party at a remote estate only to find themselves victims of increasingly erotic and violent supernatural attacks.

“THE CYCLE” (Director: Jordan Downey)

Synopsis: When the body of a man missing for thirty-six years is discovered at the scene of a horrific crime, it’s up to his estranged daughter to unravel his dark past.

“DEATH HAS NO MASTER” (Director: Jorge Thielen Armand)

Synopsis: After her father's death, Caro travels to Venezuela to sell the family cacao plantation, only to find it occupied by a mother who refuses to leave—forcing Caro down a path of violence with devastating consequences.

“DEATH OF A YELLOW BIRD” (Director: Cody Calahan)

Synopsis: A dying man returns to his childhood home to film messages for his son when he discovers a supernatural presence haunting the isolated cabin in this emotional ghost movie.

“DOG GOD” (Director: Ing K)

Synopsis: Banned in Thailand for almost 30 years for insulting religion, and maybe the monarchy too, the elusive DOG GOD emerges as a gleefully anarchic critique of blind faith.

“DONKEY PRINCESS” (Directors: Cristóbal León & Joaquín Cociña)

Synopsis: In a kingdom where love has been declared a plague, a princess travels across different realities to find love, confront grief, and attain individuation.

“EXTREME PREJUDICE” (Director: Walter Hill)

Synopsis: Nick Nolte stars as a Texas Ranger engaged in a showdown against his former childhood friend turned drug kingpin, played by Powers Boothe, in this classic neo-Western action film.

“THE FACE OF HORROR” (Director: Anna Biller)

Synopsis: A vain knight, an inconvenient wife, and a marriage built on murder. Anna Biller’s gloriously lurid ghost story proves that killing your wife may only be the beginning of your problems.

“FLAPJAX” (Director: Rocko Zevenbergen)

Synopsis: An annoyingly optimistic, but endearingly earnest, fast food restaurant manager is tasked with relaunching the long-dormant product, Flapjax, and no amount of mysterious warnings or disappearances are going to get in his way in this campy horror-comedy.

“FRISK” (Director: Todd Verow)

Synopsis: Tired of only fantasizing about murdering young, attractive men, Dennis decides to take the plunge and do the deed in this restoration of Todd Verow’s 1995 gay serial killer fantasia.

“FULL PHIL” (Director: Quentin Dupieux)

Synopsis: Tim, Eric, K-Stew, Woody, and Dupieux team up in this feature-length comic romp that’ll leave your belly full o’ laffs.

“FUTURE TENSE” (Director: Jenna Cato Bass)

Synopsis: In a dystopian future, a young couple clashes during their time-traveling vacation.

“GAME MASTER” (Director: Éric Judor)

Synopsis: A joyous celebration of imagination, awkward parenthood, and the transformative power of play that ventures deep into the wonderfully eccentric world of live-action role-playing.

“GHOST IN THE CELL” (Director: Joko Anwar)

Synopsis: Witness Indonesian genre visionary Joko Anwar’s most deliriously ambitious film: a blood-soaked fusion of supernatural horror, prison thriller, martial arts action, and pitch-black political satire.

“GIMME TRUTH” (Director: Brad Abrahams & Simon Ennis)

Synopsis: Delve deep into the world of conspiracy theories in North America in this compassionate documentary by Brad Abrahams and Simon Ennis.

“GIRL IN THE NIGHT” (Director: Luka Marčetić)

Synopsis: In this deadpan Slovenian romp, a lonesome guy desperate for human connection decides to steal the bicycle of the town’s self-appointed vigilante; as the “sole witness” of the crime, he is inducted into joining her nightly escapades.

“THE GLORIOUS DEAD” (Director: John Adams & Toby Poser)

Synopsis: A sheriff and her deputy awaken to a world transformed: bloody chasms erupt from the earth, grotesque flesh-born creatures roam the land, and the recently deceased rise again.

“GODMOTHER” (Director: ohn Veron)

Synopsis: A meticulously planned desert couples' vacation spirals into chaos when family tensions and a pair of mysterious hosts with devilish intentions transform a romantic getaway into a nightmare.

“HALF” (Director: Samjad)

Synopsis: Two half-human, half-vampire siblings are run off the road and left for dead by a gang of scavengers—and they're coming back for bloody revenge.

“HELL HOUSE” (Director: George Ratliff)

Synopsis: A restoration of the essential Y2K-era doc from the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) with director George Ratliff in person.

“HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER” (Director: John McNaughton)

Synopsis: A brand-new 35mm print produced for the 40th anniversary of one of the 20th century's most harrowing films, HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER features a chilling, career-defining turn by Michael Rooker.

“THE HERETIKS” (Director: Gregg Bishop)

Synopsis: When a coven of witches determined to unleash the apocalypse marks Ada's younger sister for sacrifice, she joins forces with a renegade witch in a relentless fight for survival.

“I HAVE PROOF” (Director: James Cullen Bressack)

Synopsis: Alex has proof, and he wants you to see it.

“INTO THE SKY” (Directors: Evan Wolf Buxbaum & Drew Mylrea)

Synopsis: A man’s efforts to win back his estranged wife are derailed by a mysterious extraterrestrial force that keeps snatching him from Earth.

“JANUR IRENG: SEWU DINO THE PREQUEL” (Director: Kimo Stamboel)

Synopsis: Indonesian horror specialist Kimo Stamboel cooks up a deliriously demonic prequel to his box office hit SEWU DINO, as a pair of desperate siblings stumble unwittingly upon a centuries-old satanic ritual orchestrated by their wealthy relatives.

“JIM QUEEN” (Director: Marco Nguyen & Nicolas Athane)

Synopsis: As a virus that turns gay people straight sweeps across the world, Jim Perfect goes on a quest across Paris, with his number one fan Lucien, to find the cure in this animated comedy.

“JOLLYFACE” (Director: Justin Floyd)

Synopsis: A white woman launches her own investigation into her Black fiancé’s violent murder only to find herself hunted in her apartment complex by a killer determined to keep the truth silent.

“KICK ON” (Director: Nick Kozakis)

Synopsis: Four friends trying to keep their late-night bender going end up at the apartment of a reckless mobster; what starts as a casual substance-fueled afterparty quickly escalates into a violence-filled rager.

“KUNG FU DEADLY” (Director: Fergal Costello)

Synopsis: A late-to-launch young man and his even less responsible friend realize they may be the last line of defense between humanity and an ancient Chinese evil. Martial arts and supernatural horror collide in this romp of a buddy comedy.

“KYLGOR IN THE GRISLY ABYSS” (Director: Mason Jeffrey Newton-DeRushie)

Synopsis: Grimdark fantasy, an epic quest, buckets of blood… all puppets. Need we say more?

“LITTLE DOORS” (Director: Anthony Oberbeck

Synopsis: Two socially awkward people find love and then define it for themselves in a barren, post-apocalyptic world before they discover a small, wooden door in the side of her body and decide whether or not to open it.

“MAGICK MTN.” (Director: Hana Mae Lee & Hal Satin)

Synopsis: Ghosts, Goblins, and Crowley. MAGICK MTN. is a rock and roll fairytale set deep in Laurel Canyon using instruments of the occult to dig beneath the soil of a hillside marked by tragedy and death.

“MR. CREAMJEANS’ HIDEY HOLE” (Director: Heath Benfield)

Synopsis: A raunchy series of sexy, horrifying, and hilarious vignettes, MR. CREAMJEANS' HIDEY HOLE is a shocking, disgusting, and ultimately satisfying anthology that’s never afraid to put a man in his proper place.

“NO REST FOR THE WICKED” (Director: Kasper Kalle)

Synopsis: After Baldur is rescued from drowning by a handsome whaler, the two begin a passionate love affair that requires sacrifices to an Elder God to endure.

“NO WAY DOWN” (Directors: Mohamed Chabane & Théo Jourdain)

Synopsis: Fresh out of prison, Idriss enters the derelict Kraken apartment complex to find his ex-girlfriend's brother, only to be dragged back into violence by a ruthless squatter tied to the past Idriss is fighting to leave behind.

“OGROFF” (Director: Norbert Moutier)

Synopsis: Bleeding Skull presents a restoration of the fabled underground slasher from France.

“THE ONES WHO GRIEVE” (Director: Quarxx)

Synopsis: At the end of the 19th century, as a mysterious plague spreads across the countryside, a young woman living under the tyranny of her deeply religious father fights to reclaim her freedom.

“PATHETIC FALLACY” (Director: Adam Egypt Mortimer)

Synopsis: After suffering the devastating loss of his wife, a man embarks on a surreal journey to bring her back.

“PHREAKER” (Director: Adam Yorke)

Synopsis: A blind lonely teen becomes the latest breed of telecom criminal in this crackling dial-up thriller.

“PLATYPUS” (Director: Joshua Gratton)

Synopsis: Kimberly's recurring dreams of a masked killer murdering young people around town progressively close in on her in this Canadian genre experiment.

“PLAY HOUSE” (Director: Nicolas Jon Curcio)

Synopsis: While renovating a dilapidated house to win back his ex, Elliot discovers VHS tapes of an unaired children’s TV show. The show's dark history seeps into his life, threatening his last chance at reconciliation. Winner of the 2025 Fantastic Pitches.

“POSTHUMOUS” (Director: Josh Tanner)

Synopsis: Zoe returns home to her estranged father, seeking comfort from a series of VHS birthday recordings left behind by her deceased mother, and uncovers an occult ritual that upends everything she was told about her mother's death.

“A PRAYER FOR THE DYING” (Director: Dara Van Dusen)

Synopsis: In a rural Wisconsin town in 1870, Sheriff Jacob Hansen—a man still haunted by the Civil War—is pushed to his psychological limits when a deadly plague sweeps through his community and encroaching wildfires close in.

“RED SNOW” (Director: Ilja Rautsi)

Synopsis: A vampire posing as Santa Claus invades the home of a family whose rebellious teenage daughter wants only one thing: to become a vampire herself and escape her miserable life.

“RESIDENT EVIL” (Director: Zach Cregger)

Synopsis: From the mind of visionary filmmaker Zach Cregger (WEAPONS, BARBARIAN) comes a thrilling — and terrifying — reinvention of the RESIDENT EVIL franchise. In an all-new story, Resident Evil follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed, non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos. From TriStar Pictures, Constantin Film, and Davis Films, RESIDENT EVIL hits theatres September 18, 2026.

“RIVER” (Director: Joshua Giuliano)

Synopsis: When three estranged siblings reunite in their hometown after the death of their father, they set out to scatter his ashes at his favorite spot on a remote river. But when their boat breaks down, the trip devolves into a waking nightmare.

“ROMA ELASTICA” (Director: Bertrand Mandico)

Synopsis: French cinema maestro Bertrand Mandico and mega-starlet Marion Cotillard broadcast a daring hyper-pulp transmission straight from 1980s Italian cinema.

“ROY FROM SPACE” (Director: Héctor López Carmona)

Synopsis: An evil space emperor plots to take over the Earth in this restoration of one of the first fully animated feature films from Mexico.

“SCREAMPLAY” (Director: Rufus Butler Seder)

Synopsis: Your new favorite queer horror rediscovery, newly restored.

“SICK” (Director - Agata Trzebuchowska)

Synopsis: Things spiral out of control in more ways than one when two siblings are tasked with caring for their ailing grandma.

“THE SPIRAL” (Director: Paolo Strippoli)

Synopsis: When Alice’s estranged mother arrives with a confession about a twenty-year-old bargain, Alice discovers that the miracle that saved her came with a debt… and the bill has finally come due.

“THE SQUIRREL” (Director: Markus Lehmusruusu)

Synopsis: In a sterile future devoid of nature where emotions are forbidden, a toy designer developing robotic companion dogs rescues an injured squirrel, setting him on a journey of self-discovery and societal rebellion.

“THE SWALLOW” (Directors: Kevin Kölsch & Dennis Widmyer)

Synopsis: A sentient, quicksand-like sludge terrorizes a group of young people in this brutally efficient, effects-forward creature feature.

“TOO MANY BEASTS” (Director: Sarah Arnold)

Synopsis: Transferred to the French countryside, a disgraced cop investigates a rift between the local farmers and hunters, uncovering corruption that runs far deeper than the damage the exploding population of wild boars has wreaked on the region's crops.

“UPIRO” (Director: Óscar Martín)

Synopsis: In the Age of Enlightenment, Ana is sent to a remote monastery to atone for her sins. There, she finds a place plagued by a mysterious blood disease linked to a supernatural being: the upyr.

“ÜREI” (Director: Yerkezhan Baizhan)

Synopsis: When a young girl is left with her aging grandmother in rural Kazakhstan, an ordinary act of familial care quickly turns into an unsettling descent into the unknown where loss can take monstrous forms.

“VERTIGINOUS” (Director: Quentin Dupieux)

Synopsis: Quentin Dupieux offers a delightfully off-kilter take on the simulation hypothesis with early Y2K graphics and his trademark deadpan wit, turning the theory into an absurdly funny mirror of contemporary life.

“VICTORIAN PSYCHO” (Director: Zachary Wigon)

Synopsis: Set in Victorian England, VICTORIAN PSYCHO sees an eccentric governess arrive at a remote gothic manor, where strange happenings stir suspicion that she’s not what she seems.

“WELCOME TO DOLLY’S HOUSE” (Directors: Seven Ych, Rady Fu, & Tree Muta)

Synopsis: Taiwan’s first major rotoscoped 2D animated feature tells the story of a ghost-debunking influencer who begins to question her own identity after entering the mansion of a famously reclusive doll-maker.

“WHAT HAPPENED TO DORIS?” (Director: Nick Simon)

Synopsis: Based on the terrifying true story that inspired THE ENTITY, WHAT HAPPENED TO DORIS? follows a single mother whose violent encounters with an unseen force draw UCLA investigators into one of the most infamous paranormal cases in American history.

“WILD HORSE NINE” (Director: Martin McDonagh)

Synopsis: A CIA mission to Easter Island unravels amid conspiracies, secrets, and Chile's looming coup.

With a lineup this packed, this year’s Fantastic Fest is shaping up to be one of the most exciting yet. I can’t wait to dive into these films, discover a few surprises along the way, and share my thoughts on the ones that leave the biggest impression. Plus, the interviews with some of the people involved in these films are another fun part of covering Fantastic Fest. Stay tuned here throughout the festival for reviews, coverage, and plenty more from Fantastic Fest. If this lineup is any indication, horror fans have a lot to look forward to.

Synopsis: Whether it’s slashers in the woods, ghosts in the attic, or killers in the cornfield, ILHM Reviews brings you the frightful horror flick recommendations worth watching. Follow us on Instagram, be sure to listen to the"I Love Horror" podcast, and remember that if you’re a true fan of horror, every night can be a FRIGHT NIGHT!

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