Exclusives
Vincenzo Natali Constructs Terror on ‘High Rise’
Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival this weekend is Vincenzo Natali’s Splice, his highly anticipated sci-fi thriller that looks like a modernized Species. We caught up with Natali (made famous by his mind-bender Cube) prior to the event where he revealed to Bloody Disgusting that he’s developing a thriller that takes place in the “perfect High Rise.” Read on for the scoop.
“Yeah. At certain times, it’s necessary to develop and kind of juggle a bunch of projects all at once,” Natali tells us when asked about future projects. “There’s a whole roster of things, but one thing that’s public knowledge and which is very exciting for me is an adaptation of a J.G. Ballard novel called HIGH RISE.”
“Essentially, HIGH RISE is a book – I guess it was written over 30 years ago – that was very much ahead of its time because it posited a sort of vertical city, a super high rise, where everything you could ever possibly want or need is in the building, and there’s really no requirement to leave at all. And here we are in 2010, at the opening of the Burj building in Dubai, which is the world’s tallest building, which I think in many respects mirrors what J.G. Ballard was writing about. Essentially, the story of HIGH RISE is how that insular society ultimately collapses, and how even in luxurious, beautiful surroundings, human beings are still capable of reverting to the worst kind of savagery. (Laughs) So it’s another feel-good film.”
Sounds very similar to George A. Romero’s themes in LAND OF THE DEAD. I look forward ot seeing what Natali delivers.
Exclusives
Katharine Isabelle Battles Cosmic Horror in Exclusive ‘Junction Row’ Teaser Trailer [Fantasia 2026]
Among Fantasia 2026‘s massive final wave of programming this morning is Raven Banner’s Lovecraftian creature feature Junction Row, starring Canadian horror icon Katharine Isabelle, and we’re exclusively unveiling the teaser trailer.
Junction Row will celebrate its World Premiere at Fantasia on July 28.
Watch a housing compound fall under siege from Lovecraftian creatures more dangerous than drug dealers in the trailer below.
Junction Row follows “Juno, a recovering addict who leaves a fringe housing compound for a better life, leaving her beloved Ruby behind. When she learns that Ruby has gone missing, Juno returns, only to find Junction Row has become a hotbed of criminal activity, but she encounters much more than menacing drug dealers on her mission to find Ruby.”
Isabelle stars as Juno, with Natalie Brown (FX’s The Strain) as Ruby.
The creature feature marks the feature debut by director Ashlea Wessel, who has directed festival-favorite shorts like 2018’s “Tick” and 2020’s “Weirdo”.
Wessel co-writes Junction Row with Clown in a Cornfield author Adam Cesare and Matt Serafini.
Katharine Isabelle is coming off a brief appearance in Kane Parsons’ Backrooms, and more recently appeared in holiday horror It’s a Wonderful Knife. The horror icon is arguably best known for her turn as the eponymous werewolf in Ginger Snaps and for her roles in American Mary and Freddy vs Jason.
Fantasia teases that Junction Row tells “a story where the fear of the unknown isn’t confined to what lies above, but what waits beneath.”
Stay tuned for more from Fantasia as the festival gets underway later this month.