Aurora is a young girl who is afraid of the monster under her bed. When her parents vanish she is all too certain that she knows the culprit. So she teams up with her next door neighbor to vanquish the evil once and for all. Bryan Fuller is back with this whimsical dark fairytale. He teams back up with Mads Mikkelsen, the star of Fuller’s cult classic tv show HANNIBAL for some heartwarming yet horrific fun. —Tori Potenza
Hatched
Blood Shine
Featuring a post-screening Q&A with directors Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks.
Clara is a woman dedicated to strict religious practices. Brighton is a scummy horror filmmaker trying to write his next script. When the two meet they become intertwined in a ritual that will transform them mind, body, and soul. Emily Bennett stuns both in front of and behind the camera. With strong performances and cameos from indie horror favorites like Larry Fessenden and Toby Poser, BLOOD SHINE is a bloody and surreal film to sink your teeth into. —Tori Potenza
Affection
Featuring a post-screening Q&A with director BT Meza, actress Jessica Rothe and additional cast/crew TBD.
Continuously struck with violent seizures that erase her recently created memories, Ellie (Jessica Rothe, HAPPY DEATH DAY films) repeatedly wakes to a life she doesn’t recognize and must fight through an amnesiac nightmare to discover the terrible truth of her affliction. Jessica Rothe delivers an impressive-as-hell viscerally physical performance in this fresh merging of sci-fi horror and time loop narratives, the latter of which Rothe can now definitively be labeled queen. —Joseph Hernandez
Boorman and the Devil
Featuring a post-screening Q&A with director David Kittredge.
On paper, it made a ton of sense: Hire the red-hot John Boorman, who was coming off the successes of POINT BLANK (1967) and DELIVERANCE (1972), to make a sequel to William Friedkin’s critically adored 1973 box office horror juggernaut THE EXORCIST. In practice, however, the resulting film, 1977’s EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC, turned out to be a disaster on every level. In the decades since, though, the tide has shifted a bit and the once-toxic sequel’s reputation has evolved. David Kittredge’s comprehensive and highly entertaining documentary BOORMAN AND THE DEVIL digs deep into the film’s promising origins, troubled production and overall complicated history with joyful aplomb, featuring candid interviews with Boorman and cast members Linda Blair and Louise Fletcher, as well as EXORCIST II apologists Mike Flanagan and Karyn Kusama. —Matt Barone
I Live Here Now
Starring: Lucy Fry, Matt Rife, Madeline Brewer, Cara Seymour
Featuring a post-screening Q&A with director Julie Pacino.
Rose is traumatized by a pregnancy that never should have happened. She ends up waiting to have a procedure in a hotel that feels unstuck from time and space. Surrounded by an eclectic group of guests and staff she falls further and further into a surreal dream world which she might not be able to escape. Julie Pacino creates a stunning vibrant world that is alluring yet maddening in her impressive first feature. —Tori Potenza
It Needs Eyes
Starring: Raquel Lebish, Isadora Leiva, Lydia Fiore
Featuring a post-screening Q&A with directors Zach Ogle and Aaron Pagniano, producer Travis Campbell and cast members Lydia Fiore and Ben Frankenberg.
After a traumatic event, Rowan is forced to live with her aunt in a remote island town. She distracts herself by searching increasingly disturbing videos. After discovering videos from a mysterious girl known as Fish Tooth she is sent down a dark path that she may not be able to pull herself out of. IT NEEDS EYES is an eerie internet horror that is full of creepy pasta vibes. —Tori Potenza
Buffet Infinity
Local businesses duke it out by making increasingly unhinged commercials to outdo their competitors in one of the more bizarre films in the slate this year. If you love the surreal late night humor of Adult Swim, you will love Simon Glassman’s experimental feature BUFFET INFINITY. Watch the world slowly descend into a Lovecraftian fever dream and have a blast doing it. —Tori Potenza
The Holy Boy
Starring: Michele Riondino, Giulio Feltri, Paolo Pierobon, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Sergio Romano, Anna Bellato, Sandra Toffolatti, Gabriele Benedetti, Diego Nardini, Roberto Citran
Mourning his young son’s death, schoolteacher Sergio moves to a small, quiet Italian village to start a new substitute teaching job. Before long, he notices something odd about this town: Its residents have a weekly ritual where they gather around a shy 15-year-old boy named Matteo and pray, thinking he’s a heavenly angel. From that peculiar setup, Brooklyn Horror alum Paolo Strippoli (FLOWING, BHFF 2022) delivers a powerful and wholly unnerving look at how religious fervor and a desperate need to belong can breed dangerous toxicity and, in this case, shocking horror that will get under your skin. —Matt Barone
Abigail Before Beatrice
Starring: Olivia Taylor Dudley, Riley Dandy, Shayn Herndon, Jordan Lane Shappell, Molly Jackson
Featuring a post-screening Q&A with director Cassie Keet.
Beatrice (Olivia Taylor Dudley) lives an isolated life in rural Arkansas, recovering from the traumas of being in a cult. Upon receiving the news that her former cult’s leader has been released from prison, Beatrice contends with past demons and reconcile with her past life’s myriad emotional minefields, including a complicated relationship with fellow cult member Abigail (Riley Dandy). Undeniably dark and unnerving yet also tender and powerful, writer-director Cassie Keet’s ABIGAIL BEFORE BEATRICE is a devastating entry into cult horror, one that’s as interested in generating empathy as it is leaving its viewers rattled. —Matt Barone
Parasomnia
Featuring a post-screening Q&A with writer/director James Ross II.
Riley suffers from disturbing night terrors where a demonic entity hunts her through a hellish maze. When her best friend suddenly goes missing, she fears the demon may have followed her into the real world. Ambitious and certifiably creepy, PARASOMNIA is a smartly structured and visually haunting feature debut from James Ross II. —Joseph Hernandez
