The next movie from director Steven Kostanski (The Void, Psycho Goreman) is the zany horror-comedy Frankie Freako, which is having its world premiere July 24 at the Fantasia International Film Festival. While you wait, we’ve got the exclusive teaser trailer!

Fantasia describes the film as an “imaginative adventure, saturated with throwback cartoonish fun à la Ghoulies, wildly creative puppets, big laughs, and a helluva good time!”

In Frankie Freako, “After calling a late-night party hotline that promises out-of-this-world fun, uptight yuppie Conor Sweeney must battle the pint-sized forces of evil unleashed through his phone line, led by the maniacal rock n’ roll goblin FRANKIE FREAKO.”

Here’s the full plot synopsis: “Workaholic yuppie Conor Sweeney (The Editor, Father’s Day) has a dilemma: no one in his life respects him! Not his boss, not his coworkers, not even his wife Kristina, who thinks he’s an uptight “square”! Conor sees no way out of this existential rut until one night channel-surfing he catches a bizarre ad for a party hotline hosted by a strange dancing goblin: FRANKIE FREAKO. Conor is entranced by Frankie’s promises of wild and freaky adventures, just a phone call away – could this be the recipe to spice up his flavorless life?

“Home alone for the weekend, Conor works up the courage to dial the number for the Frankie Freako hotline. As soon as the call connects, it unleashes CHAOS into his white-collar world, releasing Frankie and his troublemaker friends from their dimensional prison. It’s a race against time as Conor must defeat the rambunctious ruffians and clean up their trail of destruction before Kristina returns from her trip, all while going on an unexpected journey of self-discovery.”

Director Steven Kostanski previews, “The “little monster” movie is a subgenre beloved by horror fans. Franchises like Critters, Ghoulies and Puppet Master are still immensely popular despite there being no recent entries in the franchises. Frankie Freako is my vision for the next tiny monster franchise, brought to life through a combination of modern visual effects as well as old-school practical puppeteering techniques. Additionally, I envision the film as my personal take on the Evil Dead 2 format: it is a contained story centered around one flawed man fighting an onslaught of tiny terrors, with each set-piece escalating in absurdity and inventiveness.”

“Frankie Freako is meant to be the complete antithesis of the current trend of overly self-serious A24- style horror films, with a tone more akin to early Tim Burton films like Beetlejuice or Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” Kostanski’s statement continues.

Watch the official teaser trailer for Frankie Freako below!