The 2025 Overlook Film Festival announced its first wave of films, with director Christopher Landon’s Drop starring Brandon Sklenar (1923) and Meghann Fahy (The Perfect Couple) set as the Opening Night film. This year’s popular horror film festival will take place April 3-6 in New Orleans and will include 47 films, live performances, interactive events, and special guests.
Attendees will also be treated to screenings of classic horror films including director Ernest Dickerson’s Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight and the 40th anniversary 4K restoration of Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator.
“No matter how many years this festival runs, every time we get to re-open the gates of our spectral summer camp feels like a miracle,” stated Landon Zakheim, co-founder and executive director of the Overlook FIlm Festival. “For all wayward souls and monster kids who gravitate to the macabre, we have something to satisfy your ghoulish cravings thanks to the brilliance of our artists, the passion of our tireless team, our incredible partners and this beautiful haunted city. Hell, we even have our first audio-animatronic this year.”
2025 Overlook Film Festival
Opening Night Film – Drop
Director: Christopher Landon
Cast: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, Reed Diamond, Gabrielle Ryan, Jeffery Self, Ed Weeks, Travis Nelson
United States, 2025
A widowed mother, on her first date in years, arrives at an upscale restaurant where she meets her handsome suitor. But their chemistry begins to curdle when she is terrorized by a series of anonymous drops to her phone.
40 Acres
Director: R.T. Thorne
Cast: Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Greyeyes, Kataem O’Connor, Leenah Robinson
United States, 2024
Danielle Deadwyler anchors this heart-pounding post-apocalyptic genre-blender as Hailey Freeman, a ferocious matriarch and former soldier hellbent on protecting her family and their farmland from a band of marauding cannibals in a world ravaged by plague and famine. Thriving in survival mode, the Freemans must draw blood to secure their future and preserve the legacy of their past.
Abraham’s Boys
WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Natasha Kermani
Cast: Titus Welliver, Jocelin Donahue, Judah Mackey, Aurora Perrineau, Brady Hepner
United States, 2025
Following the events of Dracula, Abraham van Helsing moves his two sons, Max and Rudy, to the US in an attempt to escape their past. It does not work. Based on the spine-tingling story by Joe Hill, fest alum Natasha Kermani (Lucky, Nightstream ‘20) directs a terrifying continuation of a classic tale.
Chain Reactions
Director: Alexandre O. Philippe
Featuring: Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, Karyn Kusama
United States, 2024
For fifty years, Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has terrified audiences by worming its way into their subconscious. In this documentary analyzing its profound lasting influence, director Alexandre O. Philippe (78/52, Overlook ‘17) dives into the memory palaces of five iconic artists whose lives were forever altered by seeing it: Patton Oswalt, Takashi Mike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, and Karyn Kusama.
Clown in a Cornfield
Director: Eli Craig
Cast: Katie Douglas, Carson MacCormac, Aaron Abrams, Cassandra Potenza, Verity Marks, Vincent Muller, Will Sasso, Kevin Durand, Ayo Solanke, Alexandre Martin Deakin
United States, 2025
The residents of Kettle Springs can’t catch a break. Nothing has ever been the same since the treasured Baypen Corn Syrup Factory burned down and now a mysterious, grinning figure has emerged from the cornfields to cleanse the town of its burdens, one bloody victim at a time. In Eli Craig’s (Tucker & Dale vs Evil) newest outing, the real fun starts when Frendo the clown comes out to play.
Dead Lover
Director: Grace Glowicki
Cast: Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie, Leah Doz, Lowen Morrow
Canada, 2025
True, poetic, eternal love conquers all — a gravedigger’s stench, a tragic shipwreck, even death! With only a severed finger as remembrance, a heartbroken romantic embarks on a madcap mission to reanimate the love of her life. Co-written, directed, and audaciously performed by Grace Glowicki, this peculiar tale is, in equal measure, grotesque and delightful, raunchy and surreal.
Good Boy
Director: Ben Leonberg
Cast: Indy, Shane Jensen, Larry Fessenden, Arielle Friedman, Stuart Rudin, Anya Krawcheck, Hunter Goetz, Max
United States, 2024
Indy is a good boy; a faithful dog, he is always by his human Todd’s side. When Todd seeks quiet in an empty family home in the countryside, Indy finds there is a strange, malevolent presence lurking in the shadows — an evil that only he can sense. Shot entirely from Indy’s perspective, Ben Leonberg’s first feature balances bark with bite.
Hallow Road
Director: Babak Anvari
Cast: Rosamund Pike, Matthew Rhys, Paul Tylak, Stephen Jones, Megan McDonnell
United Kingdom, 2025
Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys shine as distraught parents in a race against time as they speed through the night to reach their daughter after a distressing phone call. Lauded director Babak Anvari (Under the Shadow, Wounds) lends his signature tension to this disturbing pulse-pounder.
Ick
Director: Joseph Kahn
Cast: Mena Suvari, Brandon Routh, Malina Pauli Weissman, Mariann Gavelo, Cory Hart
United States, 2023
Has-been science teacher Hank (Brandon Routh) is the only one suspicious of the “ick,” a pervasive gooey growth that has permeated through his town. It is seemingly harmless, until now. Teaming up with student Grace, Hank must fight to stop this parasitic alien and the apathy of the town it is absorbing. Laced with 2000s emo and pop-punk hits, Joseph Kahn (Bodied) brings frenetic energy to this sci-fi/horror satire.
It Ends
Director: Alexander Ullom
Cast: Phinehas Yoon, Akira Jackson, Noah Toth, Mitchell Cole
United States, 2024
Four recent college grads, out for an innocent late night drive, find themselves trapped in a seemingly never-ending hellscape where they are being haunted by mysterious forces. Questions of friendship and existentialism are explored in director Alexander Ullom’s genre-bending first feature, equal parts terrifying and thought-provoking.
Monster Island (Orang Ikan)
Director: Mike Wiluan
Cast: Dean Fujioka, Callum Woodhouse, Alan Maxson
Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, United Kingdom, 2024
In 1942 — deep in the Pacific theater of World War II — a Japanese soldier and British prisoner-of-war find themselves washed ashore on a dangerous deserted island. As these sworn enemies soon discover…they are not alone, as a fanged amphibious creature called the Orang Ikan wishes to kill them even more than they wish to kill each other.
Redux Redux
Director: Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus
Cast: Michaela McManus, Stella Marcus, Jeremy Holm, Jim Cummings, Grace Van Dien, Taylor Misiak, Dendrie Taylor
United States, 2025
Revenge is hard. Doing it again and again is harder. Emmy nominated brothers Kevin and Matthew McManus (American Vandal, Cobra Kai) present a gritty sci-fi thriller that follows a mother on a warpath through parallel universes in a desperate attempt to quench her desire for vengeance.
The Shrouds
Directors: David Cronenberg
Cast: Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce, Sandrine Holt
France, Canada, 2024
All hail! The reigning king of body horror returns with another tale of corruption, greed, conspiracy and technology. Vincent Cassel stars as a grieving widower who develops a device that allows the bereaved to connect with their deceased loved ones in David Cronenberg’s most personal film to date.
The Spirit of Halloweentown
Directors: Brett Whitcomb, Bradford Thomason
Cast: Chris Cannard, Colleen Ohler, Saydra Manning, Darrin Scholl, Holcombe Waller
United States, 2024
What does it mean to live in a place known for Halloween? Set in St. Helens, OR, the filming site of the 1998 Disney Channel movie, Halloweentown, this heartfelt documentary follows the local residents and the impact that the movie has had on their lives and traditions. Steeped in often hilarious communal disagreements and spooky imagery, Spirit of Halloweentown is a colorful love letter to the town’s legacy and dedication to our favorite holiday.
Touch Me
Directors: Addison Heimann
Cast: Olivia Taylor Dudley, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jordan Gavaris, Marlene Forte, Paget Brewster
United States, 2024
In Addison Heimann’s (Hypochondriac, Overlook ‘22) wild and absurd new feature, intergalactic polyamory and one very codependent friendship collide when stoner roommates Craig and Joey have to suddenly move out of their apartment and decide to shack up with Joey’s toxic ex who happens to be a horny, narcissistic alien from outer space. Tale as old as time.
The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick
Director: Pete Ohs
Cast: Zoë Chao, Callie Hernandez, Jeremy O. Harris, James Cusati-Moyer
United States, 2025
Zoe Chao (The Afterparty) stars as Yvonne, a woman reeling from a tragedy, who takes some much needed time away with a group of friends at their home in the countryside. After a walk through the woods, what seems like an innocuous tick bite has grotesquely unexpected consequences in this creepy little shocker from fest alum Pete Ohs (Jethica, Overlook ‘22).
The Ugly Stepsister
Director: Emilie Blichfeldt
Cast: Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, Ane Dahl Torp, Flo Fagerli, Isac Calmroth, Malte Gårdinger
Norway, 2024
In this warped, sinister spin on a Cinderella story, the lens shifts to plain-faced Elvira, who is willing to do whatever it takes to compete with her enchantingly beautiful stepsister Agnes, and win the prince’s heart. No procedure is too gruesome, too bloody, or too painful to achieve her happily ever after, in this visceral body horror from Norway.
Zodiac Killer Project
Director: Charlie Shackleton
United States, United Kingdom, 2025
When a passion project completely disintegrates, most filmmakers give up, move on and mourn their masterpiece that got away. But Charlie Shackleton is not most filmmakers. The wreckage of his derailed attempt at a zodiac killer documentary rises from the dead in Shackleton’s devilish grip as a wry, eerie, post-modern commentary on our cultural fascination with true-crime and collective bloodlust.
Overlook Film Festival Guest Curator Presentations
Ash
Special Screening
Director Flying Lotus in Person
Director: Flying Lotus
Cast: Eiza González, Aaron Paul, Iko Uwais, Kate Elliott, Beulah Koale, Flying Lotus
United States, 2024
Mind-shredding multi-hyphenate Flying Lotus pours the psychedelic contents of his galaxy brain into this sci-fi nightmare starring Eiza González as a sole surviving astronaut awaking to discover her crew has been murdered mysteriously in the night. Psychological space terror ensues, as does a cryptic arrival by Aaron Paul, as they work to survive the neon-splattered horrors of the cosmic unknown.
Death Becomes Her
Introduction by Guest Curator Flying Lotus
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn, Isabella Rossellini
United States, 1992
Some people will go to any lengths to stay young forever.
The Descent
Introduction by Guest Curator Flying Lotus
Director: Neil Marshall
Cast: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, Nora-Jane Noone, MyAnna Buring
United Kingdom, 2005
The scariest movie in Earth.
Lost Highway
Introduction by Guest Curator Flying Lotus
Tribute to David Lynch
Director: David Lynch
Cast: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Blake, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Gary Busey, Robert Loggia
United States, 1997
Dick Laurent is dead.
Overlook Film Festivals Short Film Presentations
Arson, Dir. Erin Broussard, United States, 2024, WORLD PREMIERE
An aging boy band decides to sell their souls for fame and fortune. Unfortunately, not reading the fine print could prove disastrous.
Away with the Fairies, Dir. René Brar, Canada, 2024
Three exhausted sisters attempt to euthanize their violently ill mother on a remote island.
The Beguiling, Dir. ishkwaazhe Shane McSauby, United States, 2024
A burgeoning romance between two Natives takes a sinister turn as one grows suspicious of the other’s Indigenous heritage in this darkly comedic nightmare.
Boy Band, Dir. Benedict Chiu, United States, 2023
A member of a famous K-Pop boy band whose face has been disfigured by an accident must undergo surgery to repair his fracturing image.
Brand New Cadillac, Dir. Stacy Haiduk & Sophia Tatum, United States, 2024
Lana and Strode, a mother and daughter, take to the road for a five-day killing spree.
Call Earl, Dir. Jordan Pfeifer, United States, 2024, WORLD PREMIERE
Eager to make new friends, Kate attends a slumber party, but the night takes a sinister turn when the girls decide to play a strange party game.
Cataratas, Dir. Francisco Bendomir, Argentina, 2024, WORLD PREMIERE
It’s New Year’s Eve, and Catalina is waiting for her girlfriend to pick her up when an unusual incident with a firework threatens to ruin their vacation.
Cruelty, Dir. Sam Das, United States, 2024
A young trans woman is chased into a junkyard while being followed home late at night. There, she must outwit her predator and summon the strength of a goddess.
Deadly Duels XII, Dir. Justine Beed, United States, 2024, WORLD PREMIERE
A deeply religious child suspects that his big sister is possessed, and goes to extreme lengths to save her.
Destroyer, Dir. Judd Myers, United States, 2023
An insecure man’s compulsion to know his partner’s secrets leads him on an underworld descent where he makes contact with something non-human.
Dry January, Dir. C.J. Arellano, United States, 2024, WORLD PREMIERE
When Maya commits to a month of sobriety and takes up sculpting as a hobby, her crab sculptures terrorize her former drinking buddy — her brother Toby.
Easybake, Dir. Sasha Duncan, Canada, 2024
After consuming a clay sculpture, an insecure teen wakes with the ability to sculpt her own body, leading to an obsessive pursuit of “perfection.”
Endzgiving, Dir. Tina Carbone, United States, 2024
This is gonna be Will’s last Friendsgiving.
The Flacalta Effect, Dir. Rochée Jeffrey, United States, 2024
After a drug with anti-aging properties has apocalyptic consequences, two Black sisters fight for their lives—and looks—in this satirical take on toxic beauty culture.
Just Wait, Dir. Blaine Morris, United States, 2024
A young wife fights to be heard by her husband as a hurricane rages outside their house and danger lurks inside.
Last to Leave, Dir. Mary Elizabeth Ellis, United States, 2023
Last to Leave addresses the pandemic of loneliness, our primal need as humans for connection, and a reckoning with the way we treat our home planet.
Mr. Static, Dir. Mike Williamson, United States, 2024
A woman must watch a live video stream of household murders that are mysteriously broadcast to an old television, or face dire consequences.
Los Muchachos, Dir. Alejandro Artiles, Spain, 2025, WORLD PREMIERE
Through a mobile phone and isolated in the La Palma observatory, Fran must face the last thing any parent wants to hear.
Slush, Dir. Ashley George, United States, 2024
Frankie reunites with her toxic community and must tap into her dark side to survive unscathed.
They Come Home to Die, Dir. Zeke Farrow, United States, 2024
It’s 2021. Ten years into the pandemic, Zeke makes a documentary about life in quarantine with Mom.
The Traveler & The Troll, Dir. Adam Murray, United States, WORLD PREMIERE
A traveler stops to rest in a clearing of a haunted forest. Son, they learn they have stumbled upon the lair of a terrifying troll who demands gifts for passage.
Vines, Dir. Luke Zwanziger, United States, 2024
A mad botanist experiments on an unwilling human subject to give plants a fighting chance against climate change.
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