By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The complete lineup has been announced for this year’s event, and it’s chock full of great terrors old and new.
Celebrating its 10-year anniversary, the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival runs October 16-25 at the Nitehawk Cinema Williamsburg. The fest opens with Tina Romero’s QUEENS OF THE DEAD (pictured above) and includes the presentation of the Leviathan Award to Ernest Dickerson with a special screening of TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT. In addition to the many features and shorts, there will be panels, podcasts and other events (including–full disclosure–a live Final Exam Horror Trivia hosted by yours truly and filmmaker Ted Geoghegan).
The lineup of features is as follows:
QUEENS OF THE DEAD
OPENING NIGHT FILM
USA | 2025 | 106 Min. | Dir. Tina Romero
A group of drag queens and partygoers must fight for their lives when the zombie apocalypse interrupts their warehouse party in Brooklyn. (See review here)
CAMP
CENTERPIECE FILM
East Coast Premiere
Presented by Macabre Daily
Canada | 2025 | 111 Min. | Dir. Avalon Fast
After suffering a traumatic event, a girl goes to work as a counselor at a Christian summer camp hoping to find healing and becomes close with a welcoming coven of witches.
KARMADONNA
CLOSING NIGHT FILM
U.S. Premiere
Serbia | 2025 | 116 Min. | Dir. Aleksandar Radivojevic
An omnipotent deity, claiming to be the original creator, calls a pregnant woman on her cell phone and commands her to go on a killing spree or he’ll kill her unborn child.
TALES FROM THE CRYPT PRESENTS: DEMON KNIGHT
LEVIATHAN AWARD
Presented by Arrow Video
USA | 1995 | 92 Min. | Dir. Ernest Dickerson
A ragtag group of misfits must resort to any means necessary to survive the night inside a boarding house when a slick-talking demon and his minions pay them a visit in this raucous cult classic, celebrating its 30th anniversary. This special screening will include a Leviathan Award presentation for and Q&A with director Ernest Dickerson.
1000 WOMEN IN HORROR
North American Premiere
USA | 2025 | 96 Min. | Dir. Donna Davies
Dating back to horror’s earliest days, the genre has thrived on and been exemplified by the work of countless women, a fact driven home in entertaining fashion by this lively and comprehensive documentary based on award-winning critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas’ book of the same name.
ABIGAIL BEFORE BEATRICE
East Coast Premiere
USA | 2025 | 110 Min. | Dir. Cassie Keet
A former cult member’s world is turned upside down when she receives word that her one-time leader has been released from prison.
AFFECTION
East Coast Premiere
USA | 2025 | 85 Min. | Dir. BT Meza
Continuously struck with violent seizures that erase her recently created memories, Ellie (Jessica Rothe, HAPPY DEATH DAY) repeatedly wakes to a life she doesn’t recognize and must fight through an amnesiac nightmare to discover the terrible truth of her affliction.
ANYTHING THAT MOVES (35mm)
New York Premiere
USA | 2025 | 80 Min. | Dir. Alex Phillips
A sex worker with a heart of gold finds himself drawn into a murder investigation when he finds out a serial killer is targeting his clients.
BELLADONNA OF SADNESS
Japan | 1973 | 86 Min. | Dir. Eiichi Yamamoto
A true animation masterwork, this Japanese cult classic uses gorgeous watercolor-style animation to tell the brutal story of a young woman who consults the Devil to get back at the evil overlord who sexually assaulted her.
BLOOD SHINE
East Coast Premiere
USA | 2025 | 90 Min. | Dir. Emily Bennett, Justin Brooks
A filmmaker’s life is turned upside down when a chance encounter puts him at the center of a violent religious ritual.
BOORMAN AND THE DEVIL
East Coast Premiere
USA | 2025 | 112 Min. | Dir. David Kittredge
A sequel to THE EXORCIST, a.k.a. the most successful horror movie ever released upon its 1973 release… What could go wrong? As this hilarious and insightful documentary details, damn near everything for director John Boorman’s infamous 1977 disaster EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC.
BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR (4K Restoration)
USA | 1990 | 96 Min. | Dir. Brian Yuzna
Eight months after the “Miskatonic Massacre,” Dr. Herbert West and his right-hand man Dr. Dan Cain continue their morbid experiments playing God by Frankensteining new life from severed body parts and must contend with a pesky lieutenant following their every move.
BUFFET INFINITY
U.S. Premiere
Canada | 2025 | 93 Min. | Dir. Simon Glassman
Experience a cosmic descent into chaos through a compilation of commercials from competing local businesses.
BUGGED!
USA | 1996 | 82 Min. | Dir. Ronald K. Armstrong
A bumbling duo of exterminators accidentally make a cricket infestation worse when their pesticide is unknowingly switched out for an experimental radioactive chemical that mutates the bugs instead.
THE CREEP TAPES, SEASON 2 (First Three Episodes)
USA | 2025 | 67 Min. | Dir. Patrick Brice
Our favorite murderous filmmaker Peachfuzz is back with the first three episodes of the highly anticipated THE CREEP TAPES Season 2.
CRUSHED
East Coast Premiere
United Kingdom | 2025 | 101 Min. | Dir. Simon Rumley
When his daughter is kidnapped, an otherwise peace-loving pastor is forced to contend with the seediest parts of Thailand’s underbelly, from pedophilia to animal snuff films, testing his faith along the way.
DEAD LOVER
New York Premiere
Canada | 2025 | 82 Min. | Dir. Grace Glowicki
Unable to attract men due to the stench left by her working conditions, a gravedigger finally finds the one guy who finds her aroma intoxicating, but when tragedy strikes, she becomes a reanimator—with wonderfully bonkers results.
DEF BY TEMPTATION
USA | 1990 | 87 Min. | Dir. James Bond III
A minister in training comes to the Big Apple and has his faith tested when he becomes the target of a succubus preying on the men of New York.
DON’T LEAVE THE KIDS ALONE
East Coast Premiere
Mexico | 2025 | 97 Min. | Dir. Emilio Portes
Left alone at their new home by their mother one night, two young brothers pass the time by playing games and fighting as siblings do. But an unseen supernatural force begins manipulating their surroundings, amplifying their sibling rivalry and putting the children in mortal danger.
DUST BUNNY
New York City Premiere
USA | 2025 | 106 Min. | Dir. Bryan Fuller
A precocious young girl enlists the help of her next-door neighbor to kill the monster under her bed who took her parents.
EVERY HEAVY THING
New York Premiere
USA | 2025 | 88 Min. | Dir. Mickey Reece
After witnessing a murder, an introverted office worker finds himself wrapped up in a dangerous conspiracy involving missing women, a tech-savvy serial killer, and a colorful array of eccentric characters in indie stalwart Mickey Reece’s dark-as-night comedy.
HAXAN (with live score)
Sweden | 1922 | 105 Min. | Dir. Benjamin Christensen
The stunning silent film classic chronicling the European witch trials comes to you with a live score from The Flushing Remonstrance.
HEAVY METAL (4K Restoration)
Canada | 1981 | 90 Min. | Dir. Gerald Potterton
Replicating the experience of reading an issue of the revered magazine, this anthology-style film tells the tale of an evil green orb that infects the lives of all who dare to cross its path.
THE HOLY BOY
East Coast Premiere
Italy, Slovenia | 2025 | 117 Min. | Dir. Paolo Strippoli
A teacher relocates to a small Italian village and quickly discovers that the community has a very strange and potentially dangerous relationship with a teenage boy whom they believe is an angel sent down from Heaven.
HONEY BUNCH
East Coast Premiere
USA | 2025 | 112 Min. | Dir. Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli
In hopes of recovering her memory and saving her marriage after a horrific accident, Diana enters a mysterious experimental treatment plan but exceedingly delirious visions lead her to wonder, what the hell is really going on here?
I LIVE HERE NOW
East Coast Premiere
USA | 2025 | 90 Min. | Dir. Julie Pacino
A woman finds herself trapped in a hotel and the longer she spends there, the more her traumatic past comes back to haunt her.
INCOMPLETE CHAIRS
New York Premiere
Japan | 2025 | 85 Min. | Dir. Kenichi Ugana
A motivated and bloodthirsty man has the singular goal of designing the perfect chair.
INFLUENCERS
East Coast Premiere
USA | 2025 | 119 Min. | Dir. Kurtis David Harder
Now living in Southern France with newfound love, CW tries to leave her dark tendencies behind, but old habits die hard when a spoiled IG content creator and a familiar face from her past threaten to destroy her best laid plans.
IT NEEDS EYES
New York Premiere
USA | 2025 | 102 Min. | Dir. Zack Ogle, Aaron Pagniano
A troubled girl sent off to live with her aunt, finds solace in increasingly disturbing Internet videos that lead her down a dark and increasingly dangerous path.
LUCID
U.S. Premiere
Canada | 2025 | 110 Min. | Dir. Ramsey Fendall, Deanna Milligan
Frustrated with being unable to create, an art student turns to a candy-like drug to get the creative juices flowing, only to instead unlock traumatic memories and a plethora of nightmarish hallucinations.
MOTHER OF FLIES
East Coast Premiere
USA | 2025 | 92 Min. | Dir. John Adams, Toby Poser, Zelda Adams
Indie horror luminaries the Adams Family take their DIY filmmaking to new heights with this intimate and unnerving look at a father and his sick daughter crossing paths with a witch who promises healing but delivers something unexpectedly sinister. (See review here)
MOTHER’S BABY
North American Premiere
Austria, Switzerland, Germany | 2025 | 107 Min. | Dir. Johanna Moder
Desperate to have a child, a woman and her husband sign up for an experimental new fertility program that proves successful but also sends their lives into a tailspin of paranoia and paternal nightmares.
NESTING
East Coast Premiere
Canada | 2025 | 102 Min. | Dir. Chloé Cinq-Mars
Plagued by terrifying visions, a new mother battles insomnia and her deteriorating mental health, all of which puts both her and her baby in danger.
NEW GROUP
East Coast Premiere
Japan | 2025 | 82 Min. | Dir. Yuta Shimotsu
The formation of a human pyramid in a high school soccer field portents a deadly city-wide hive mind–groups of people wielding murderous gymnastics formations to swallow up anyone who rebels against the whole. (See review here)
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (Newly Restored Uncut Version)
USA | 1990 | 88 Min. | Dir. Tom Savini
One of horror’s best remakes, Tom Savini’s smart and brutal reimagining of George A. Romero’s seminal zombie classic is back in 4K-restored glory and presented in a Savini-approved uncut version for its 35th anniversary.
OCCUPY CANNES!
U.S. Premiere
USA | 2025 | 89 Min. | Dir. Lily-Hayes Kaufman
Surrounded by costly studio billboards at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, Troma’s signature attention-stealing street-level marketing tactics are now being met with constant opposition by police leaving this found family wondering if their days of championing independent film are over.
PARASOMNIA
North American Premiere
USA | 2025 | 85 Min. | Dir. James Ross
When her best friend suddenly goes missing, Riley fears the demon from her night terrors may have followed her into the real world.
THE PIED PIPER
Czechoslovakia, West Germany, Czech Republic | 1986 | 53 Min. | Dir. Jiří Barta
An infestation of thieving rats throws a Gothic village’s capitalist existence into disarray until the arrival of a mysterious stranger offers them a miraculous solution…if they’re willing to accept the cost. THE PIED PIPER will screen with the following short films: THE GNAWER OF ROCKS, dir. Louise Flaherty (Canada), and PREY, dir. Pax Nelson (USA)
THE SERPENT’S SKIN
Australia | 2025 | 82 Min. | Dir. Alice Maio Mackay
Drawn to each other through mysterious visions and shared telekinetic abilities, Anna and Gen’s blossoming romance is threatened by hellfire when a demon emerges from a cursed tattoo.
SUGAR HILL (35mm)
USA | 1974 | 91 Min. | Dir. Paul Maslansky
Both an underrated Blaxploitation gem and a slept-on zombie film, this slick and sleazy ’70s cult favorite finds the wife of a murdered nightclub owner employing a horde of voodoo-reincarnated ghouls to get her revenge.
THIS IS NOT A TEST
World Premiere
Canada | 2025 | 102 Min. | Dir. Adam MacDonald
Caught within the chaos of a zombie outbreak, suicidal teen Sloane and a small group of her classmates escape their suddenly apocalyptic hometown streets and barricade themselves in their high school.
TINSMAN ROAD
New York Premiere
USA | 2025 | 120 Min. | Dir. Robbie Banfitch
A young man returns to his hometown to solve the mystery behind his sister’s disappearance.
TOUCH ME
New York Premiere
USA | 2025 | 100 Min. | Dir. Addison Heimann
Two best friends become hooked on the drug-like touch of a seductive alien who could be hiding sinister motivations. (See review here)
VIOLENCE
World Premiere
Canada | 2025 | 84 Min. | Dir. Connor Marsden
In an alternate, punk-minded 1980s world, unlikely hero Henry Violence has no choice but to fight his way through a volatile drug war.
For more info and to buy badges (individual tickets go on sale this Friday at 12 p.m. ET), head over to the fest’s official website.
