Starring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Bela Lugosi, Lenore Aubert, Jane Randolph, Glenn Strange

In the first of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello’s horror vehicles for Universal Pictures, the inimitable comic duo star as railway baggage handlers in northern Florida. When a pair of crates belonging to a house of horrors museum are mishandled by Wilbur (Lou Costello), the museum’s director, Mr. MacDougal (Frank Ferguson), demands that they deliver them personally so that they can be inspected for insurance purposes, but Lou’s friend Chick (Bud Abbott) has grave suspicions.

Starring: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel

US premiere

Content Warning: This film contains graphic sexual content and violence

If you’ve experienced Gaspar Noé’s incredible IRREVERSIBLE, you know that it’s an assaultive and brilliant look at the psychological damages caused by sexual violence and blood-lusting revenge, one presented as a backwards narrative that unconventionally reveals its characters motivations. Their actions, as well as the nihilism of the film itself, take on a whole new dynamic here, with Noé presenting the narrative in its proper chronological order, giving an already singularly powerful masterpiece the ability to cause a newfound dose of visceral devastation. —Matt Barone

Starring: Kyle Gallner, Holland Roden, Chris Mulkey

World premiere; Q&A with director Laurence Vannicelli

Emmett (Kyle Gallner, JENNIFER’S BODY, DINNER IN AMERICA) enters into a nightmarish game of therapy with his wife Anya (Holland Roden, Teen Wolf, Channel Zero) who has inexplicably taken on the persona of his estranged and recently-deceased mother. Bizarre and creepy in equal doses, this psychological thriller from director Laurence Vannicelli (co-writer/EP of 2019’s PORNO) will keep you guessing if this is truly possession or just a twisted battle of wills? —Joseph Hernandez

Starring: Jena Malone, Cooper Koch, Mark Patton

Q&A with director Carter Smith

A quick, easy drug run orchestrated by his best friend Dom is supposed to send Ben off to his new life in California with some extra cash in his pocket. They arrive at the pick-up location to find Dom’s cousin drugged up and her intense, take-no-bullshit girlfriend Alice (Jena Malone, DONNIE DARKO, THE NEON DEMON) calling the shots. She insists the only way to get their money is to smuggle the drugs past the state border by way of ingesting them. Then it all goes to hell. A new queer nightmare from Carter Smith (director of THE RUINS), SWALLOWED is a dirty and disturbing, body horror love story featuring a delightfully unhinged supporting turn from Mark Patton (SCREAM, QUEEN! MY NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET). —Joseph Hernandez

Starring: Riley Dandy, Sam Delich, Jonah Ray

East Coast premiere; Q&A with director Joe Begos

All that record store owner Tori wants to do this Christmas is drink and hook up—simple enough, right? Apparently not, thanks to a decorative, human-sized robotic Santa Claus that’s come to life for a nonstop rampage of murder and destruction. Picking up where he left off with his 2019 double bill of BLISS and VFW, modern exploitation maven Joe Begos returns with a relentless and stylish Yuletide adrenaline rush that’s part slasher and part ode to ’80s techno sci-fi/horror like THE TERMINATOR. —Matt Barone

Starring: Casper Van Dien, Elyse Dinh, Vivien Ngô

East Coast premiere; Q&A with director Corey Deshon

Held against her will inside an isolated house deep in the woods, a young woman has no choice but to challenge the interpersonal dynamics and self-imposed rules of her captors, a three-person nuclear family that believes the air outside is toxic and that the apocalypse has arrived. Meticulous with its mix of dread and psychological complexities, writer-director Corey Deshon’s unique debut upends familiar doomsday cinema tropes with intelligence and audacity. —Matt Barone

Starring: Eva Green, Mark Strong, Cathy Belton

East Coast premiere; introduced by co-writer Ara Chawdhury

Successful fashion designer Christine (Eva Green, Penny Dreadful) is plagued by a baffling ailment that causes a myriad of issues including paralyzing muscle spasms, memory loss and terrible hallucinations. Much to her surprise, a mysterious Filipino caretaker named Diana arrives on her doorstep claiming Christine hired her to help with the house. When Diana begins to use traditional folk remedies to heal Christine, she causes a rift between her and her husband Felix (Mark Strong, 1917, THE KINGSMAN franchise) and slowly unravels the disturbing truth behind Christine’s illness.

Brooklyn Horror is proud to welcome back Lorcan Finnegan to the fest, director of eco-horror WITHOUT NAME (BHFF 2016 Best Feature winner) and psychological thriller VIVARIUM. Based on the Nocebo Effect—the idea that negative thinking will lead to negative results—NOCEBO is a mind-bending folk horror stunner with haunting real-world implications. —Joseph Hernandez

Starring: Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, Arash Ashtiani, Nima Akbarpour

In Holy Spider, we follow family man Saeed as he embarks on his own religious quest — to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission.

Starring: Haley Bodell, Cole Devine, Audrey Boos, Gabriella Herrera, Luke Darga, Sam Hernandez

Ham on Rye, a coming-of-age comedy centered on the nervous excitement of youth and the strange horror of entering adulthood, uses an expansive ensemble of over one hundred performers, including non-actors, musicians, 90’s Nickelodeon child stars and more, to explore a suburban community’s relationship with a prom-like ritual and the decay of the human spirit. It begins with the crowd-pleasing spirit of a John Hughes movie and fades slowly into an off-kilter dystopia with the energy of Dazed and Confused.

Starring: Auggi Alvarez, Kathleen McSweeney, Dave Miller, Julie King

A mind-boggling, sprawling, shot on video horror/sci-fi/action/martial arts epic from SOV fan favorite Todd Sheets (Zombie Bloodbath, Goblin) that is one of the most ambitious and offbeat low budget movies of the VHS era.

In a dystopian future, political prisoner Jacob Stryker is transformed into a werewolf super soldier by government scientists. He escapes captivity and searches for his son, who may be the messiah, and joins an army of karate kicking rebellion fighters poised to overthrow the United Nations of America. Along the way, Jacob is hunted by a group of cyborg and mutant bounty hunters as he tries to forget the bomb implanted in his stomach that’s set to explode in 72 hours.