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The 2026 Fantastic Fest 21st edition will present 35 World Premieres, 21 International and North American Premieres, and 14 U.S. Premieres featuring the very best in genre from across the globe, alongside famous events and surprise guests. Celebrate all things spooky at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, TX, from September 17th-24th, 2026. The full lineup is available now at FantasticFest.com.
I’m thrilled to be covering the fest remotely again this year and will be sharing reviews for every film I can get my grubby little hands on, both here on Splatter blog and on @iloveplatter’s Instagram.
Here’s what’s on my “Must-See” List:
THE GLORIOUS DEAD, Directed by John Adams & Toby Poser
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.
AHHHHHH!!!!! The new film from The Adams Family!!!! I’m such a huge fan of this fam. MOTHER OF FLIES blew me away last year, and I cannot fucking wait to see this. They always, always, ALWAYS deliver the most amazing horror.
ROMA ELASTICO, Directed by Betrand Mandico
Marion Cotillard is Eddie: a capital-M Movie Star who may be at the end of her illustrious career. Maybe it’s the burn from international success; maybe it’s the cancer metastasizing inside of her—who’s to say? Wooed to Rome for a brazen French/Italian co-production, Eddie and her gal Friday (a very game Noémie Merlant) dive headfirst into the future, as only a high-powered 1980s mega-production could deliver.
Every new Mandico movie absolutely BLOWS me away! I love his whole filmography of twisted fairy-tale sci-fi madness – and combining that with one of my most admired actresses is just setting this up for me to love it more than anything he’s previously done.
CARRIE (Two Episodes), Directed by Mike Flanagan
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.
I worship at the altar of Flanagan and fucking LOVE all things Stephen King, so this is obvs high on my list.
THE FACE OF HORROR, Directed by Anna Biller
Ah, first love. Eleanor loves Edward. Edward loves her beautiful face, her gorgeous body, her money too, for sure. Her as a person? Probably not. And as for her father, certainly not at all. Which is why he kills him to secure Eleanor’s hand in marriage. Meanwhile, Edward’s squire murders the husband of Eleanor’s sister, Beatrice, to satisfy his obsessive lust. So when the two grief-stricken sisters agree to the marriages, they make one condition: that their father and Beatrice’s husband be avenged—unbeknownst to them, by the very men who murdered them.
A new film from Anna Biller! OMGGGGGGGGGGGGG. CRYING. SCREAMING. THROWING UP. I need to see this one for sure.
VICTORIAN PSYCHO, Directed by Zachary Wigon
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.
Yes, I know – we’ve all seen the trailer! This looks fucking killer. I cannot wait to see blood splash all over (and over, and over) those Victorian petticoats.
RESIDENT EVIL, Directed by Zach Cregger (OPENING NIGHT)
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.
I am not an “all-in” Cregger fan, but IMO Weapons was his best work yet, and I’m curious to see what he does to revive RESIDENT EVIL.
THE BLOOD COUNTESS, Directed by Ulrike Ottinger
Countess Elizabeth Báthory awakens in the modern day with her devoted lover as the leader of an ancient organization of centuries-old vampires. When the group realizes that anti-vampire activists are on the hunt for a mystical book that could end their eternal lives, Elizabeth and her lover agree to find and destroy it first. With Elizabeth’s reluctant nephew, a committed vegetarian vampire, the three will travel across Austria meeting a whole cast of silly characters, exploring 21st-century life, and draining beautiful women of their blood.
The phrase that caught ALL of my attention: “Isabelle Huppert plays vampire Elizabeth Báthory in a gloriously camp comedy…” SOLD. I mean, just look at this film still!
CORPUS, Directed by Corrin Evans
The quietly horrifying cold open of CORPUS is quickly replaced by a REAL WORLD-esque title sequence and the grimy, pulsing late 1990s club scene in NYC.
Sayo, equal parts photographer and coke dealer, and his friends, trust fund baby Ross and the scene’s hottest new model Vince, enjoy a sweaty, sexually-charged night clubbing and reconnecting in Sayo’s dark room, before heading out to an exclusive, secluded modelling industry party at Vince’s insistence. From the blood-soaked opening moments at the remote estate, it’s clear nothing this weekend will be as advertised. The promised industry professionals turn out to be one well-known photographer, Billie, and her sapphic housemates, the elderly Cata and amateur poultry farmer Wren. The awkward introductions quickly become a series of sensual dinners, absinthe-fueled debauchery, midnight skinny dipping, and philosophical conversations around a bonfire.
Gory AND Erotic is 100% my jam. This sounds like it will be AMAZING!
DEATH HAS NO MASTER, Directed by Jorge Thielen Armand
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.
A slow-burn thriller starring Asia Argento?!?! Yeah, I’m gonna love this one!
THE HERETIKS, Directed by Gregg Bishop
Set over the course of a single fateful night, THE HERETIKS follows a disaffected teenager, Ada, forced into an unlikely alliance with a renegade witch when her younger sister, Mabel, is marked for sacrifice by a fanatical coven determined to usher in the apocalypse. As the clock races toward midnight, ancient grudges, forbidden magic, and blood-soaked rituals collide in a relentless fight for survival.
The film channels the kinetic spirit of ’80s horror while delivering a contemporary coming-of-age story about family, identity, and the courage to defy inherited beliefs.
This sounds incredible, and it’s from the writers of the 2022 HELLRAISER and THE NIGHT HOUSE!
THE ONES WHO GRIEVE, Directed by Quarxx
Set in the French countryside at the end of the 19th century, THE ONES WHO GRIEVE follows Jacob, a deeply religious man who works as a soul keeper. Believing he is liberating those afflicted by a mysterious illness, he imprisons them behind wooden masks after sewing their eyes and mouths shut. His daughter, Zélie, lives under his tyrannical rule and dreams of freedom.
Other films that intrigue me: RED SNOW, Directed by Ilja Rautsi about a Twilight-obsessed teen who longs to become vampire and might get her wish thanks to a Santa-vamp; PLAY HOUSE, Directed by Nicolas Jon Curcio which combines horrors of DIY’ing a house flip with found footage VHS nightmares; THE SPIRAL, Directed by Paolo Strippoli about a woman who curses her entire family by making a deal with devil; WHAT HAPPENED TO DORIS, Directed by Nick Simon, about a single mom in the 70s (Heather Graham!) who is tormented by a demonic presence in her home, and NO REST FOR THE WICKED, Directed by Kasper Kalle: queer horror + Cthulhu lore + Pilou Asbæk = YES, YES, YESSSSssssSSS.
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