2026 FANTASIA FESTIVAL PREVIEW – 30th FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

The 30th Fantasia International Film Festival, July 16 – August 2, in Montreal, is careening towards us, featuring what looks to be an excellent lineup of movies. Joseph Perry and I have remote press credentials for the festival and decided to let you know the five films we are each looking forward to the most. Of course, we couldn't stop at just five. Check out our discussion on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube Channel!

The following is an abbreviated recap of the films we discussed.

Joseph is excited about:

• CAPTURED! – d. Koichi (YouTuber debut feature)
• SLEEP NO MORE – d. Edwin (Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash, 2021); body horror
• VILLAGE OF EIGHT GRAVESTONES – d. Takashi Shimizu (Ju-on: The Grudge, 2002)
• WHEN YOU OPEN THE DOOR – d. Eriko Katagiri (debut feature, winner of the third Japan Horror Award sponsored by Kadokawa)
• NIGHTBORN – d. Hanna Bergholm (Hatching, 2022), w/Seidi Haarla, Rupert Grint, Pamela Tola

Jeff's trigger trippers:

• COLONY – d. Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan, 2016)
• LOS VAMPIRES – d. Craig Mitchell (fictionalized account of the making of George Melford's 1931 Spanish Dracula), w/Henry Ian Cusick, Daniela Couso, Thomas Kretschmann
• RUBBERHEAD: THE LIFE & MONSTERS OF STEVE JOHNSON – d. Nick Taylor (documentary)
• THE LAST FOOTAGE – d. Arkar Soe Oo (Myanmar's first found footage feature)
• TRAUMA OR, MONSTERS ALL – d. Larry Fessenden; final chapter of his quadrilogy: Habit (1995), Depraved (2019), Blackout (2023); works as a standalone or series finale

But we couldn't stop there. Here are a few more we're looking forward to:

• Ancestral Beasts – d. Tim Riedel; psychological horror centered on two generations of indigenous women
• Drag, d. Raviv Ullman, Greg Yagolnitzer; w/Lizzy Caplan, Lucy DeVito, Christine Ko, John Stamos (producers: Danny DeVito, Jake DeVito, Lucy DeVito)
• Freaks Part II – d. Zach Lipovsky, Adam Stein (Freaks, 2018; Final Destination: Bloodlines, 2025); w/Reznor Allen, Amanda Crew, Audrianna Lico, Lorelei Olivia Mote, Lili Taylor, Stephen Tobolowsky
• Her Private Hell – d. Nicolas Winding Refn (winner of the festival's Cheval Noir Career Achievement Award), w/Sophie Thatcher, Charles Melton, Havana Rose Liu, Kristine Forsyth, Diego Calva
• Home Bodies – d. Casey Walker (producer: The Void, 2016; In a Violent Nature, 2024)
• Hot Spot – d. Agnieszka Smoczynska; w/Noomi Rapace
• Junction Row – d. Ashlea Wessel; w/Katharine Isabelle, Kyle Mac, Julian Richings
• Motherwitch – d. Minos Papas; folk horror
• Mum, I'm Alien Pregnant – d. THUNDERLIPS (Jordan Windsor & Sean Wallace); body horror comedy from New Zealand
• Nameless – d. Hideo Jojo; w/Jiro Sato; based on Jiro Sato's own web-manga
• Penny Lane is Dead – d. Mia'kate Russell; a matriarchal gorefest from Australia
• Recluse – d. Henry Chaisson, writer of Antlers (2021), Servant (2021-2023)
• Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma – d. Jane Schoenbrun; did you think we wouldn't include a slasher?
• The Leader – d. Michael Gallagher; the story of Heaven's Gate; w/Grace Caroline Currey, Vera Farmiga, Tim Blake Nelson, Jim Parsons, Simon Rex
• The Glorious Dead – d. Toby Poser, John Adams; the latest from the Adams family of filmmakers
• The Last Temptation of Becky – d. Jenn Wexler, w/Lulu Wilson; remember Becky (2020) and The Wrath of Becky (2023)? She's back!
• The Mouths – d. Takashi Shimizu; yes, there are two films this year from the director of Ju-on (2002)
• Unholy Night – d. Michael Gabriele; a Christmas horror comedy

Be sure to check out the full lineup at the festival's official website: https://fantasiafestival.com/en/