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FrightFest · 2026

FrightFest 2026

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25 films · 10 reviews

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Alien (The Eighth Passenger)

Review preview for Alien

Scott wrings out every last drop of suspense from the film.

Scott Macdonald · 5 out of 5
Ridley Scott's fabulously frightening grimy spaceship classic.

(Country: UK; Year: 1979; Director: Ridley Scott; Writer: Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett; Stars: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Ian Holm, John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto, Veronica Cartwright)

Full review

Big Baby

As more nightmares, visions, and real life terror begin to challenge a writer's sanity, he finds himself in a desperate struggle to control his work, his reality, and who will be Big Baby's next victim.

(Year: 2026; Director: Spider One; Stars: Krsy Fox, Brandon Scott, Adam Marcinowski, Catherine Corcoran)

Colony (Gun-Che)

Review preview for Colony

Throughout, Yeon’s directorial skill and Byun Bong-sun’s stylish cinematography grip viewers’ attention.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
A biotechnology professor is among those trapped at a biotech conference after a rapidly mutating virus is released.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2026; Director: Yeon Sang-ho; Writer: Yeon Sang-ho, Choi Gyu-seok; Stars: Gianna Jun, Koo Kyo-hwan, Ji Chang-wook, Shin Hyun-bin, Kim Shin-rock, Go Soo, Kim Hyeong-mook)

Full review

Dead Reset

Trapped in an underwater research facility, surgeon Cole Mason is forced to operate on a mutating, parasitic creature. The catch? He’s trapped in a brutal, blood-soaked time loop and must relive his own violent demise over and over again.

(Year: 2026; Director: Stewart Sparke; Stars: Daniel Thrace, Lyndsey Craine, Dennis Rasaq, Andrina Carroll)

Drag

Two sisters with a contentious relationship decide to rob a rural home in upstate New York. The simple robbery turns into a nightmare when one of them throws out her back and becomes immobilised on the second floor. The night spirals out of control as they embark on a painful journey to make it out before the homeowner returns.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Raviv Ullman, Greg Yagolnitzer; Writer: Greg Yagolnitzer, Raviv Ullman; Stars: Lizzy Caplan, Lucy DeVito, John Stamos, Christine Ko)

Frostbite

On the foggy summit of Canada’s Mount Killgore, high-ranking investors want proof that the area can become a prestigious winter sports destination. But when a controlled avalanche blast goes wrong, a former skating pro, a geologist and her daughter are trapped in a crashed cable car beneath the ice. Even worse, something is trying to get in.

(Country: Denmark, Germany; Year: 2026; Director: Lukas Rinker; Stars: Zoe Boyle, Kris Hitchen, Andrew Scarborough, Lily Curley)

Gator Face

Review preview for Gator Face

It’s edge of your seat stuff. It’s also unabashedly exploitation cinema.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A group of friends’ sun-drenched Florida vacation curdles into a nightmare after they stumble upon a remote cult devoted to an ancient alligator deity.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Padraig Reynolds; Writer: Padraig Reynolds; Stars: Tabitha Brownstone, Amariah Dionne, Nikolas Kolasinski, Kiara Mitjans, Bella, Big Mack, Ella Mosca, Barron Regan, Scot Scurlock, Ellie Shaddix, Iain Smith)

Full review

Ghost In The Cell

A high-security prison run by a tyrannical warden is rocked by a spate of gruesome murders with bodies put on morbidly spectacular display.

(Country: Indonesia; Year: 2026; Director: Joko Anwar; Stars: Abimana Aryasatya, Endy Arfian, Bront Palarae, Morgan Oey)

The Glorious Dead

A small-town sheriff and her deputy awaken to a changed world where blood drips from taps, people vanish, creatures roam the woods, and the dead rise as the town descends into chaos.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: John Adams, Toby Poser; Writer: John Adams, Toby Poser; Stars: John Adams, Lulu Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser, Judith Roberts)

Grind

Review preview for Grind

We move from one subject and set of characters to another, but the pacing, energy, horror and humour are perfectly in key, and the whole is a perfect delight.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
A horror anthology tackling the modern work landscape through four timely perspectives – the hustle culture of an MLM, the endless repetitiveness of a food delivery driver, the online horrors of a content moderator, and the unionisation of a coffee shop.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Brea Grant, Ed Dougherty, Chelsea Stardust; Writer: Brea Grant, Ed Dougherty; Stars: Rob Huebel, Barbara Crampton, Vinny Thomas, Jessika Van, Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette, James Urbaniak, Courtney Pauroso, James Paxton, Ify Nwadiwe, Aubrey Shea)

Full review See: Interview with Brea Grant, Ed Dougherty and Chelsea Stardust about Grind , Interview with Barbara Crampton about Grind

Hungry

When a group of tourists ventures off the beaten track in the vast swamplands of the Louisiana Bayou, they find themselves trapped with a hippo.

(Country: UK; Year: 2026; Director: James Nunn)

Hyena (Hy3na)

Review preview for Hyena

Ninaber makes cautious, conscious choices throughout.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
After a brutal breakup, Nicole finds herself drawn into the world of online sex work, where a series of murders turns everything upside down.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2026; Director: Matthew Ninaber; Writer: Jannah Kitzman, Matthew Ninaber; Stars: Storm Steenson, Kristen Kaster, Jeremy Ninaber, Matthew Ninaber, Jordan Policicchio, Ardavan Taraporewala)

Full review

Imposters

After a couple’s baby boy is taken, the desperate mother learns of a way to bring him back. However, her husband begins to suspect that what she has returned with isn't their son.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Caleb Phillips; Writer: Caleb Phillips; Stars: Jessica Rothe, Charlie Barnett, Yul Vazquez, Bates Wilder, Luisina Quarleri, Thomas Parobek, Ian Lyons, Taylor Karin, Lee Bennett, Declan Bennett)

Ithaqua

Review preview for Ithaqua

Made in close consultation with the people whose ancient lore it borrows, this is a film rich in detail, so solidly grounded and astute in its observation of real world horrors that viewers will find it easy to accept its more fantastical aspects.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
American mercenary Cole Franklin is recruited as a hired gun at the remote outpost of Fort William, struggling to survive the decline of the fur trade. With dwindling supplies, the keepers of the Fort blackmail Cole into leading a trading party to a nearby Indigenous village, where they discover a massacre.

(Year: 2026; Director: Casey Walker; Writer: Pascal Trottier, Peter Scott Vicaire, Casey Walker; Stars: Luke Hemsworth, Kevin Durand, Michael Pitt, Leenah Robinson, Pamela Matthews, Aaron Poole, Mara Pasley)

Full review See: Interview with Casey Walker about Ithaqua

Labyrinth

A group of strangers are brought together under mysterious circumstances by a nefarious leader to be judged for their past transgressions in a facility designed to test their mettle against a gauntlet of deadly challenges.

(Year: 2026; Director: Ryuhei Kitamura; Stars: Mekhi Phifer, Alexxis Lemire, Chris Klein, Shane West, Tommy Flanagan)

The Last Temptation Of Becky

Review preview for The Last Temptation Of Becky

Lulu Wilson’s impatient energy and Wexler’s panache are perfectly matched.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Now a CIA field agent, Becky goes undercover in Poland to infiltrate a family running an inn at The Wolf's Lair, one of Hitler's WWII bunkers. When she learns the father, Wilhelm Reuss, plans to spark the Fourth Reich, Becky must stop him.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Jenn Wexler; Writer: Jenn Wexler, Matt Angel, Suzanne Coote; Stars: Lulu Wilson, Neil Patrick Harris, Kate Siegel, James Urbaniak, Brandon Flynn)

Full review

The Nameless Ballad

Under pressure from his record label, a young musician in crisis takes refuge in an isolated Italian villa to find inspiration for his next album. But the discovery of an ancient piano and a forgotten diary drags him into a spiral of twisted obsessions, supernatural visions and ghostly presences.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2026; Director: Federico Zampaglione; Stars: Jamie Ward, Alana Boden, Fabrizio Ferracane, Seaumas Sargent)

Nervous

Sarah and her husband Sungsoo move to the Korean countryside in the hope of saving their crumbling marriage. But their new home hides a strange secret - an unmarked vinyl record that plays nothing but silence. After listening to it, Sarah slowly begins to lose the ability to hear men’s voices.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2026; Director: Abner Pastoll; Stars: Sarah Bolger, Ko Asung, Sungsoo Yune)

Oddities

Best friends who inadvertently killed their drug dealer stop at a seemingly sleepy roadside antique shop, only to discover that the owner is not as sweet as she seems.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Tyler Savage; Stars: Adrienne Barbeau, Xander Berkeley, Lovie Simone, Lilimar)

The Pitchfork Retreat

Three genre writers journey to a secluded island for a life-changing competition at the high-stakes horror Jigsaw retreat, but the top prize comes with a price as they realise there is nowhere to hide when the darkness from within comes to light.

(Year: 2026; Director: Gregory Van Voorhis, Nicole Van Voorhis; Stars: Tony Todd, Danielle Harris, Dee Wallace, Adrienne Barbeau)

Ponderosa

When the buffet where Zeke's mom works closes down, he's forced to entertain the wild advances of a rich regular who is weirdly and vehemently obsessed with becoming his father.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Rob Rice; Writer: Rob Rice; Stars: Jack Dylan Grazer, Alexis Bledel, Bill Camp)

Species (Sanguine)

Review preview for Species

Le Coroller’s horror is at its best when it focuses on Margot’s psychological meltdown as she works against the clock.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Margot dreams of becoming a life-saving doctor. But as an intern at the most competitive ER in the country, she has trouble keeping up. Soon, young burnt out patients come to her with unusual symptoms, just as she starts developing a strange metamorphosis…

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2026; Director: Marion Le Corroller; Writer: Marion Le Corroller, Thomas Pujol; Stars: Mara Taquin, Karin Viard, Kim Higelin, Sami Outalbali, Stefan Crepon, Sonia Faïdi)

Full review

Spider Island

Review preview for Spider Island

Although it follows the standard script in terms of its basic outline, Spider Island is more than usually likeable and more than usually fun.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
On a secluded private tropical island, The Oceania Pearl Hotel invites a group of famous social media influencers to its opening party to help solidify its place as the world’s most luxurious new resort destination. But the hotel hides a nightmarish secret… the subterranean caves disturbed during construction have awakened a horde of deadly spiders

(Country: UK; Year: 2026; Director: Christopher Smith; Writer: Ben Jacques, Christopher Jolley, David Quantick; Stars: Rose Williams, Tim McInnerny, Andy Nyman, Divian Ladwa, Avani Gregg, Lena Mahfouf)

Full review

Valley View Motel

Review preview for Valley View Motel

Ignatius and Psinakis know what they want and most of the time, they get it.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
It’s 1977, and after a diamond heist goes seriously awry with multiple slaughters, two small-time crooks attempt to flee the wrath of the hitman put on their tail. Seeking refuge at a motel in the remote foothills of Pennsylvania run by a very peculiar owner and his sister, they make the mistake of thinking that they're safe.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Kevin Ignatius, Nick Psinakis; Writer: Kevin Ignatius, Nick Psinakis; Stars: Kevin Ignatius, Nick Psinakis, Soulo Smith, Melissa Collins, Laura Im, Tom Mesmer, Logan Psinakis, Janie Sharon)

Full review See: Interview with Nick Psinakis and Kevin Ignatius about Valley View Motel

You Are The Film

No details as yet.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2026; Director: Makoto Ueda; Writer: Makoto Ueda; Stars: Riko Fujitani, Takafumi Imai, Kai Inowaki, Gôta Ishida)