The Fantasia International Film Festival kicks off its 28th edition this week, running from July 18 through August 4, 2024, at the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screens and events at Montreal’s Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée. That means multiple weeks of dense genre programming, buzzy premieres, and more.
The festival is set to debut Chuck Russell’s Witchboard remake, the Mike Flanagan-presented found footage Shelby Oaks, the latest from La Llorona filmmaker Jayro Bustamante, Steven Kostanski’s Frankie Freako, and more, but there’s a wealth of titles beyond the high profile titles worth seeking out.
Here are five horror movies to keep an eye out for at this year’s fest, from festival darlings to fresh debuts.
The Beast Within
The narrative debut of filmmaker Alexander J. Farrell explores the duality of werewolves with a Grimm fairy tale-like twist. Stopmotion’s Caoilinn Springall stars as Willow, a sickly child who discovers that her parents (Kit Harrington and Ashleigh Cummings) harbor a dangerous secret when she follows them into the woods one night. Farrell applies an almost fevered dream quality to this horror fairy tale, with loose shades of Pan’s Labyrinth and The Company of Wolves. That means that The Beast Within is more interested in its monstrous metaphor than a conventional werewolf horror movie, from the eyes of a young child discovering disturbing truths about her family.
Cuckoo
Writer/Director Tilman Singer continues his streak of experimental high-concept horror with his sophomore effort, Cuckoo. Cuckoo introduces seventeen-year-old Gretchen (Hunter Schafer). The moody teen wears her disdain plainly as she’s dragged by her father, Luis (Marton Csókás), stepmother Beth (Jessica Henwick), and her mute 7-year-old stepsister Alma (Mila Lieu) to the Bavarian Alps resort where Alma was conceived. Gretchen is warned to stay inside after dark for a good reason; there’s something prowling the area, and it wants her. There’s inventive worldbuilding on display that sets this high-concept horror movie apart, and a few intense horror cat-and-mouse scenes that deliver palpable tension. But Singer approaches it with a playful sense of humor that only further nudges Cuckoo into the realm of weird cinema.
House of Sayuri
The latest from J-Horror master Koji Shiraishi (Noroi: The Curse, Sadako vs Kayako) takes aim at the haunted house, blending his distinct style of horror with humor. The plot centers around the Kamikis, a large family of seven who’ve just landed their dream home after a lengthy search. It’s too bad the house also has a pesky, vengeful ghost problem. A series of unfortunate tragedies and supernatural events forces Grandma to step up and take matters into her own hands. Based on a lesser-known manga by Rensuke Oshikiri, expect comical surprises in store as House of Sayuri transforms from a spooky haunted tale to playful supernatural revenge. Moreover, expect Koji Shiraishi to deliver memorable moments and horror-comedy imagery.
In Our Blood
Directed by Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Pedro Kos (Rebel Hearts, Lead Me Home) in his first narrative feature, In Our Blood follows filmmaker Emily Wyland (Brittany O’Grady) and her cinematographer Danny (E. J. Bonilla) as they set out to create a documentary about Emily’s estranged mother. When her mother suddenly goes missing, possibly succumbing to the addictions that first tore her family apart, Emily and Danny uncover horrifying truths in their search. Kos gives an innovative update to a well-worn corner of horror, using the vlog format to maintain mystery and suspense.
Wake Up
The filmmaking trio collectively known as RKSS (François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell) taps into the current state of rage for their conventional slasher set at a big box furniture store. Six Gen Z activists hide in the labyrinthine store, biding their time until it closes for business to deface the property in protest. But they don’t account for the pair of security guards, one with an acute sense of anger that spells disaster. Written by Alberto Marini (Summer Camp, Sleep Tight), based on an original idea by Martin Soudan, it shakes up the archetypes and makes it trickier to discern the kill order. RKSS makes excellent use of the setting, offering plenty of hiding places for the cat-and-mouse thrills and endless tools at the characters’ disposal. It’s a lean, mean – emphasis on mean- horror effort that scratches that slasher itch.
The post Five Horror Movies to Watch at This Year’s Fantasia International Film Festival appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.