The 2025 Overlook Film Festival took place April 3rd-6th. The first wave lineup is below. Additional titles and schedule will be announced March 19th.
The 2025 Special Events lineup can be found HERE.
All International Titles are Presented By MUBI
Opening Night – DROP
Director Christopher Landon in attendance
Christopher Landon | 2025 | USA | 95 min
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.
Cast: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, Reed Diamond, Gabrielle Ryan, Jeffery Self, Ed Weeks, Travis Nelson
40 ACRES
R.T. Thorne | 2024 | USA | 113 min
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.
Cast: Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Greyeyes, Kataem O’Connor, Leenah Robinson
ABRAHAM’S BOYS
Filmmaker in attendance
World Premiere
Natasha Kermani | 2025 | USA | 89 min
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.
Cast: Titus Welliver, Jocelin Donahue, Judah Mackey, Aurora Perineau, Brady Hepner
ASH
Special Screening
Director Flying Lotus in Person
Flying Lotus | 2024 | USA | 95 min
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.
Cast: Eiza González, Aaron Paul, Iko Uwais, Kate Elliott, Beulah Koale, Flying Lotus
CHAIN REACTIONS
Alexandre Philippe | 2024 | USA | 103 min
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.
Featuring: Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, Karyn Kusama
CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD
Filmmaker in attendance
Eli Craig | 2024 | USA | 96 min
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.
Cast: Katie Douglas, Aaron Abrams, Carson MacCormac, Vincent Muller, Kevin Durand, Will Sasso
DEAD LOVER
Grace Glowicki | 2025 | Canada | 79 min
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.
Cast: Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie, Leah Doz, Lowen Morrow
DEATH BECOMES HER
Introduction by Guest Curator Flying Lotus
Robert Zemeckis | 1992 | USA | 104 min
Some people will go to any lengths to stay young forever.
Cast: Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn, Isabella Rossellini
THE DESCENT
20th Anniversary Screening
Introduction by Guest Curator Flying Lotus
Neil Marshall | 2005 | United Kingdom | 99 min
The scariest movie in Earth.
Cast: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, Nora-Jane Noone, MyAnna Buring
GOOD BOY
Ben Leonberg | 2024 | USA | 73 min
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.
Cast: Indy, Shane Jensen, Larry Fessenden, Arielle Friedman, Stuart Rudin, Anya Krawcheck, Hunter Goetz, Max
HALLOW ROAD
Babak Anvari | 2025 | United Kingdom | 80 min
When a mysterious curse threatens a prominent family’s newborn baby, a ragtag group featuring two shamans, a feng shui master, and an undertaker are hired to dig up ancestral remains in the hope of lifting the spell, but what they uncover is something far worse… This box office smash hit from Korea, reverberating with the legacy of imperialism, is a truly thrilling creeper.
Cast: Rosamund Pike, Matthew Rhys
ICK
Filmmaker in attendance
Joseph Kahn | 2024 | USA | 92 min
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.
Cast: Brandon Routh, Malina Weissman, Harrison Cone, Taia Sophia, Zeke Donovan Jones, Debra Wilson, Mena Suvari, Jeff Fahey
IT ENDS
Filmmaker in attendance
Alexander Ullom | 2024 | USA | 87 min
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.
Cast: Phinehas Yoon, Akira Jackson, Noah Toth, Mitchell Cole
LOST HIGHWAY
Introduction by Guest Curator Flying Lotus
Tribute to David Lynch
David Lynch | 1997 | USA | 134 min
Dick Laurent is dead.
Cast: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Blake, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Gary Busey, Robert Loggia
MONSTER ISLAND
Mike Wiluan | 2024 | Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, United Kingdom | 83 min
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.
Cast: Dean Fujioka, Callum Woodhouse
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
100th Anniversary Screening
Live Music Accompaniment by Think Less, Hear More
Rupert Julian | 1925 | USA | 92 min
Feast your eyes! Glut your soul on my accursed ugliness! The man of a thousand faces anoints this seminal work of cinema that foretold the age of Universal monsters.
Cast: Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry, Mary Philbin, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Gibson Gowland, Snitz Edwards, Bernard Seigel
RE-ANIMATOR
40th Anniversary Screening
4K UHD Restoration
Presented by FANGORIA
Actress Barbara Crampton in Person
Stuart Gordon | 1985 | USA | 84 min
Herbert West Has A Very Good Head On His Shoulders… And Another One In A Dish On His Desk in this all-time classic from former Master of Horror recipient and founding festival advisory board member Stuart Gordon.
Cast: Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale, Robert Sampson
REDUX REDUX
Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus | 2024 | USA | 108 min
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.
Cast: Michaela McManus, Stella Marcus, Jeremy Holm
THE SHROUDS
David Croneneberg | 2024 | France, Canada | 119 min
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.
Cast: Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce, Sandrine Holt
THE SPIRIT OF HALLOWEENTOWN
Filmmaker in attendance
Brett Whitcomb & Bradford Thomason | 2024 | USA | 91 min
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.
Cast: Chris Cannard, Colleen Ohler, Saydra Manning, Darrin Scholl, Holcombe Waller
TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT
30th Anniversary Screening
Director Ernest Dickerson in Person
Ernest R. Dickerson | 1995 | USA | 92 min
Fasten your drool cups, and ready your vomit bags! We’re going to the movies! Frights, camera, action! It’s time for the full horror debut of the legendary Ernest Dickerson.
Cast: Billy Zane, William Sadler, Jada Pinkett Smith, Brenda Bakke, CCH Pounder, Dick Miller, Thomas Haden Church
Preceding the screening, Ernest Dickerson will receive the 2025 Master Of Horror Award
TOUCH ME
Filmmaker in attendance
Addison Heimann | 2024 | USA | 100 min
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.
Cast: Olivia Taylor Dudley, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jordan Gavaris, Marlene Forte, and Paget Brewster
THE TRUE BEAUTY OF BEING BITTEN BY A TICK
Filmmaker in attendance
Pete Ohs | 2025 | USA | 82 min
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).
Cast: Zoë Chao, Callie Hernandez, Jeremy O. Harris, James Cusati-Moyer
THE UGLY STEPSISTER
Emilie Blichfeldt | 2024 | Norway | 105 min
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.
Cast: Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, Ane Dahl Torp, Flo Fagerli, Isac Calmroth, Malte Gårdinge
ZODIAC KILLER PROJECT
Charlie Shackleton | 2023 | United States, United Kingdom | 92 min
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.
Featuring: Charlie Shackleton, Guy Robbins, Lee Nicholas Harris
SHORTS PROGRAM 1: APOCALYPSE PRETTY SOON
Filmmakers in attendance
JUST WAIT Dir. Blaine Morris | 2024 | USA
VINES Dir. Luke Zwanziger | 2024 | USA
LOS MUCHACHOS Dir. Alejandro Arties | 2025 | Spain
LAST TO LEAVE Dir. Mary Elizabeth Ellis | 2023 | USA
THEY COME HOME TO DIE Dir. Zeke Farrow | 2024 | USA
ENDZGIVING Dir. Tina Carbone | 2024 | USA
THE FLACALTA EFFECT Dir. Rocheé Jeffrey | 2024 | USA
83 Min
SHORTS PROGRAM 2: THE FURIES
Filmmakers in attendance
CALL EARL Dir. Jordan Pfeifer | 2024 | USA
CRUELTY Dir. Sam Das | 2024 | USA
SLUSH Dir. Ashley George | 2024 | USA
DESTROYER Dir. Judd Myers | 2023 | USA
THE BEGUILING Dir. Ishkwaazhe Shane McSauby | 2024 | USA
AWAY WITH THE FAIRIES Dir. René Brar | 2024 | Canada
BRAND NEW CADILLAC Dir. Stacy Haiduk & Sophia Tatum | 2024 | USA
100 Min
SHORTS PROGRAM 3: FREAKY
Filmmakers in attendance
MR. STATIC Dir. Mike Williamson | 2024 | USA
BOY BAND Dir. Benedict Chiu | 2023 | USA
ARSON Dir. Erin Broussard | 2024 | USA
DEADLY DUELS XII Dir. Justine Beed | 2024 | USA
THE TRAVELLER AND THE TROLL Dir. Adam Murray | 2024 | USA
EASYBAKE Dir. Sasha Duncan | 2024 | Canada
DRY JANUARY Dir. C.J. Arellano | 2024 | USA
CATARATAS Dir. Francisco Bendomir | 2024 | Argentina
92 Min