With today’s third and final wave of announcements, (almost) the full slate of films playing Fantastic Fest has been revealed. The festival gets its fifteenth year underway next week, and Modern Horrors will be there to bring you all the details. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek at a handful of films that I’m excited to finally get my eyes on.

Synchronic

(Directed by Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, US Premiere)

unique, intelligent, and enthralling

Benson & Moorhead continue to create unique, intelligent, and enthralling genre cinema. Their follow-up to 2017’s stunning Moebius strip head-trip The Endless promises to continue the streak, this time setting the action in New Orleans.

Plot Synopsis

Two paramedics find their world ripped apart when they start encountering deaths linked to the otherworldly effects of a new designer drug called Synchronic.

Koko-di Koko-da

(Directed by Johannes Nyholm, Texas Premiere)

said to blend comedy and horror

Koko-di Koko-da is a film I’d hoped to cover earlier this year, but it just didn’t happen. When it was announced for Fantastic Fest, I immediately added it to my must-see list. The film is said to blend comedy and horror into a tale of folklore and a meditative piece dealing with the nature of grief. 

Plot Synopsis

When a disconnected couple takes a camping trip in an attempt to mend their marriage after tragedy, they find themselves tormented by a peculiar band of misfits.

The Lodge

(Directed by Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala, Texas Premiere)

evocative of Hereditary

It seems like The Lodge has been on my radar for quite some time now, and I was excited to see it announced for Fantastic Fest. I know very little about the story other than what has been glimpsed in the trailer. I’ve heard multiple times that it’s best to go in as fresh as possible. The trailer is somewhat evocative of Hereditary, and that Hammer logo always bodes well for me. 

Plot Synopsis

Five years after Goodnight Mommy stunned Fantastic Fest audiences, Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala are back with another disturbing psychological twister about a brother and sister spending Christmas with their shadowy soon-to-be stepmother.

The Mortuary Collection

(Directed by Ryan Spindell, World Premiere)

moving through time from the 1950s to the 1980s

The Mortuary Collection was part of today’s announcements. The film’s description and the few stills shared immediately had me hooked. A four-story anthology moving through time from the 1950s to the 1980s, The Mortuary Collection is said to deftly balance variety in its tone and stories with narrative cohesion.

Plot Synopsis

A young girl enters a secret room in a mortuary and learns the backstory of the mortician’s favorite deaths in this twisted anthology by Fantastic Fest alum Ryan Spindell.

Our preview continues on the next page…