Starring: Karin Leklou, Visalia Pons

East Coast premiere

In Stéphan Castang’s absurdist dark comedy Vincent Must Die, a bizarre assault at work ignites a sudden new nightmare reality for an average man in which people – from colleagues to strangers – suddenly attack him with murderous intent. Confused and lonely amongst the chaos that is now his life, he tries to make connections and make sense of these occurrences while also trying to survive. – Caryn Coleman

Starring: Suzy Kendall, Tina Aumont, Luc Merenda, John Richardson

With a masked killer picking off college students in Perugia, Italy, four co-eds head to a lavish countryside estate to escape the danger. Unfortunately for them, the killer has followed them there, turning their getaway villa into a slaughterhouse. Widely considered to be one of the first slasher films, this excellent and quite lurid giallo from the great Sergio Martino, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, is a masterclass in both white-knuckle tension and tightly orchestrated murder set-pieces. —Matt Barone

Starring: Zafreen Zairizal, Deena Ezral, Piqa, Shaheizy Sam

Twelve-year-old Zaffan lives her life with uber-confidence, stealing the daily show at school and being the alpha in her friend group. But when she has her first period, the young girl undergoes physical changes that may or may not be turning her into a monster and cause those around her to make her feel like some kind of freak.

Using body horror, Asian folklore, and a propulsive energy to remix the coming-of-age narrative, first-timer Amanda Nell Eu’s Tiger Stripes cleverly shows how growing up can be a waking nightmare. —Matt Barone

Starring: Lauren Last, Lewi Dawson, Toshiro Glenn, Etcetera Etcetera, Lisa Fanto

To make an additional $10 donation to Advocates for Trans Equality, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.

Alice Maio Mackay gives us the transgressive, queer, meta, political and gooey horror film we need with her third feature film (at just 19!), T Blockers. When dangerous parasites begin to take over the body and minds of men, the queer community in a small Australian town must fight back…again.

Centering on filmmakers Spencer and Sophie, along with their team of bigot fighters, Mackay gets to the reality of our reality in which the queer community is repeatedly threatened with new horrors by those in power. T Blockers is low budget fun, destined to be a cult classic. – Caryn Coleman

Preceded by:
MONSTERDYKË (Kaye Adelaide, Mariel Sharp, 2021)
A transgender sculptress who is unhappy with her experiences dating men, has a lesbian awakening when a monster sculpture she is making comes to life and rocks her world. 4 min.

New York premiere

Mommy issues are only the beginning of the darkness plaguing Ella Blake (Aisling Franciosi), a stop-motion animator whose desire to make something truly special has her on the edge of sanity. When the right idea finally strikes, though, it sets off a chain of psychologically disturbed and homicidal events that she can’t stop.

Blending haunting stop-motion animation with excellent character work, acclaimed short film veteran Robert Morgan graduates to features in grand fashion with this bleak and powerful horror debut. —Matt Barone

Starring: Debbie Harry

New York premiere

Back when the Internet introduced itself to the world, American filmmakers quickly embraced its possibilities in a long string of cyber-minded films, most of which used genre tropes to show the Internet’s darker sides. Covering everything from popular entries like The Net and TRON to lesser-known sci-fi/horror examples like Brainstorm, avant-garde filmmaker Amanda Kramer uses her first foray into documentary filmmaking to give that moment in time a transfixing and hypnotic evaluation, anchored by essayistic narration from pop culture icon Debbie Harry. —Matt Barone

Intimate body horror, wild forays into the supernatural, and a first-class giallo homage fuel this year’s edition of Brooklyn Horror’s popular queer horror celebration.

Ringing Rocks, dir. Gus Reed (USA)
High Fun, dir. Adesh Prasad (India)
Pool Party, dir. Ellie Stewart (Canada)
In Your Hands, dir. Luigi Sibona (UK)
The Angels, dir. Abby Rae Cornelius, Cheri Green (USA)
La Vedova Nera, dir. Fiume, Julian McKinnon (France)
Vibrator Girl, dir. Kara Strait (USA)

Starring: Chris Galust, Laura Benanti, Dylan McTee, Mariel Molino, Germain Arroyo, Brendan Sexton III, Manny Dunn, Charlotte Stickles

World premiere

A malevolent entity that once plagued his older brother is now tormenting Ryan. Already hurting from the tragic loss of their patriarch, the grieving Beckman family must fight like hell to discover the root of this corrosive evil and put an end to a cycle of suffering.

An outstanding debut that does for mental illness what Relic did for dementia, Tyler Chipman’s The Shade gives tangible shape to the darkness that so many suffer from in silence. —Joseph Hernandez

Starring: Mena Massoud, Olivia Scott Welch, Chloe Levine, Gus Kenworthy, Madison Baines, Derek Johns, Laurent Pitre, Georgia Acken

New York premiere

Jenn Wexler gets into the home invasion holiday horror spirit with her sophomore feature film set in the 1970s, The Sacrifice Game. It’s Christamastime at the Blackvale School for Girls and everyone has gone home except for students Samantha and Clara and their teacher Miss Tanner. All are prepared for an uneventful Christmas with their teacher, Rose, at their deserted school when supernatural evil knocks on the door. Like her first feature, The Ranger, Wexler gives revelations in the power of teen girls but in The Sacrifice Game there’s more at play than just the evils of humans. Expect a good old bloody Christmas story…with a demon.