The ever prestigious Fantastic Fest returns next week for its seventeenth edition featuring 21 World Premieres, 14 North American Premieres, and 21 U.S Premieres.

The press release teases killer teddy bears, man-eating sharks, elderly zombies, cocktail-serving robots, and Park Chan-wook… all under one roof.

But this year’s fest is even more special to us.

Bloody Disgusting is beyond excited to share not one, but SIX feature films that we’re directly involved in, all screening at the Fantastic Fest, which runs from September 22nd – 29th. Our coverage, presented by The Callisto Protocol, also begins during this time.

Here’s what’s premiering:

Terrifier 2

Before opening in theaters nationwide on October 6, Art the Clown will be terrorizing the Fantastic Fest crowd on opening night, September 22.

Terrifier 2 is a sprawling follow-up that horror fans quite simply aren’t ready for. Art the Clown is more brutal than ever with Terrifier 2 delivering some of the most jaw-dropping kills we have ever witnessed. In fact, Terrifier 2 ups the ante in just about every way and is going to quite literally blow minds this Halloween season.

From Writer/Director Damien Leone (All Hallows’ Eve), the highly anticipated sequel to the cult-favorite slasher film, welcomes back David Howard Thornton as the demonic killer, Art the Clown. Terrifier 2 also introduces Lauren LaVera as Sienna, who will become an instant fan favorite. Also returning is Samantha Scaffidi who will reprise her role as Victoria Heyes. Horror icon Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp) also makes an appearance. 

Terrifier 2 has Art the Clown up to his old tricks once again. Following his gruesome demise in the first film, a sinister presence has brought Art back to life to rein terror on the residents of Miles County. On Halloween night, he returns to the unassuming town and sets his sights on fresh prey: a teenage girl and her little brother, portrayed by LaVera and Elliott Fullam, respectively.  

More details here.

V/H/S/99

Shudder is about to hit play on the fifth installment in our V/H/S franchise, with the Bloody Disgusting-produced V/H/S/99 set to have its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest following its massive Toronto International Film Festival World Premiere.

In V/H/S/99, the follow-up to last year’s hugely successful V/H/S/94 – #HailRaatma – a thirsty teenager’s home video leads to a series of horrifying revelations.

V/H/S/99 harkens back to the final punk rock analog days of VHS while taking one giant leap forward into the hellish new millennium.

Directors include: Maggie Levin (“Into The Dark: My Valentine”), Johannes Roberts (Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City), Flying Lotus (Kuso), Tyler MacIntyre (Tragedy Girls), and Joseph & Vanessa Winter (Deadstream)

You can read about all of the filmmakers here.

Kids vs. Aliens

We here at Bloody Disgusting are massive fans of Jason Eisener, the Canadian-based filmmaker who has recently been kicking ass with the astounding “Darkside of the Ring” series. However, horror fans know Eisener as the director behind the ridiculously awesome holiday short “Treevenge” and also the grindhouse-inspired Hobo with a Shotgun. He would then go on to get behind the camera on the emotional V/H/S/2 short, “Slumber Party Alien Abduction”.

Bloody Disgusting was blessed to work with Eisener once again, teaming with the Hobo with a Shotgun crew on the sci-fi horror Kids vs. Aliens, which follows Gary and his older sister Samantha as an all-time rager of a teen house party turns to terror when aliens attack, forcing the two warring siblings to band together to survive the night.

It stars Dominic Mariche (“Are You Afraid of the Dark?”), Calem Macdonald (“Moonshine,” “The Umbrella Academy”), Emma Vickers (“Diggstown”), and newcomers Phoebe Rex, Asher Grayson, Ben Tector, and Isaiah Fortune.

Produced by Bloody Disgusting with Cinepocalypse, Yer Dead Productions, and Studio71, Kids vs. Aliens will be released in 2023 from RLJE Films and Shudder.

Missing

Dark Star Pictures recently acquired the North American distribution rights to the crime thriller Missing as part of its ongoing collaboration with Bloody Disgusting.

After screening at several prestigious festivals including Busan International Film Festival, Fantasia, and the forthcoming Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, Missing will open in theaters on November 4, 2022, before making its way to VOD platforms on November 18th and Blu-ray on December 6th.

In the film…

“Depressed and in debt following the death of his wife, Santoshi (Jiro Sato) tells his young daughter he has found a way out. Pointing to a reward note, he vows to find the infamous serial killer ‘No Name’ (Hiroya Shimizu) and cash in, claiming to have seen the man in the flesh a few days earlier. Kaeda (Aoi Ito) cannot take her aloof father seriously. But when he goes missing without a trace, she starts to fear the worst—and must begin looking for him.”

Missing is written and directed by Shinzô Katayama. The filmmaker crossed paths with Bong Joon-Ho while shooting TOKYO! (2008) and served as his assistant director on Mother (2009). In 2019, his debut feature, Siblings of the Cape was selected by numerous domestic and international film festivals. He now is one of the most promising, emerging directors in Japan, and his second feature, Missing will be his commercial film debut.

All Jacked Up and Full of Worms

Worms… it’ll get you fucked up!

After having its World Premiere at Fantasia, Alex Phillips’s avant-gutter psychedelic freakout All Jacked Up and Full of Worms is heading to Fantastic Fest.

It was announced ahead of the premiere that Cinedigm acquired the indie, which will join the Bloody Disgusting-powered horror streaming service SCREAMBOX this fall, followed by an exclusive window on Cinedigm’s indie discovery platform Fandor.

In the film described as “a flamboyant, darkly outrageous new vision that mashes together retro grindhouse thrills with the squirmy depths of underground cinema”…

“Working at a seedy motel, maintenance man Roscoe (Phillip Andre Botello) is always searching for his latest fix. When he stumbles upon a powerfully hallucinogenic worm, his days of dime-store drugs are over. Along with his new love interest (Dawkins), the pair embark on a delirious odyssey of sex, violence, and becoming one with the dirt.”

The transgressive splatter comedy also stars Trevor Dawkins (“Easy”) and Betsey Brown (The Scary of Sixty-First), with Mike Lopez, Noah Lepawsky and Eva Fellows. The film was produced by Georgia Bernstein and Ben Gojer.

Keep up with everything All Jacked Up and Full of Worms at the official website.

Deep Fear

Cinedigm also acquired North American rights to the Belgian survival horror film Deep Fear, which will have its World Premiere at Fantastic Fest before streaming on the Bloody Disgusting-powered SCREAMBOX on October 18.

Directed by Grégory Beghin (Losers Revolution) and set in the 1980s, three students set out on the adventure of a lifetime as they decide to celebrate their recent graduation in Paris. Eager to do something more exciting than visit the local tourist spots, they decide to descend into the capital city’s cryptic catacombs.

Safe within the underground, they find the escape they’ve been searching for, unaware that they are not alone in the darkness…

When they discover a bunker created during the Nazi occupation, they have no way of knowing the danger that lurks within. Something, someone, is hunting them! Trapped deep underground, the group needs to get out before it’s too late…

The Catacombs are scary as it is, but inject a heavy dose of claustrophobia, an undead Nazi and his dog, and you’ve got yourself a nightmare deep under the streets of Paris.

Dark, dank, and bloody, French horror is making a comeback and Deep Fear delivers the goods.

Lori Donnelly writes for Fantastic Fest: “An atmospheric horror full of old-school jump scares and claustrophobic cinematography, Deep Fear puts a unique spin on subterranean horror films like The Descent and As Above, So Below. Deep Fear intelligently combines the conventions established by the earlier films with classic slasher elements into an entertaining ride that feels both nostalgic and contemporary.”

Get all the Fantastic Fest info here.

Bloody Disgusting’s Fantastic Fest coverage is presented by The Callisto Protocol. Fight to survive the horrors locked within the walls of Black Iron Prison in this immersive, next-generation take on survival horror – The Callisto Protocol. Pre-order now to be one of the first to experience this terrifying new story-driven, single-player, survival horror game. https://bit.ly/BD-TheCallistoProtocol