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Fantastic Fest’s Final Wave Includes ‘Southbound,’ Devil’s Candy’ and More!
Joining Fantastic Fest for the first time, Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson will be in attendance to share their wildly inventive world of stop motion animation ANOMALISA, Cannes Grand Prix winner SON OF SAUL is screening in glorious 35mm, the stunning adult fairytale from GOMORRAH director Matteo Garrone TALE OF TALES will unfurl, Jerusalem Film Festival’s top prize winner TIKKUN, and we welcome the World Premiere of the action-thriller CAMINO with Zoe Bell and Fantastic Fest veteran / mayor Nacho Vigalondo as a religious psychopath — a prospect that should fill any Fantastic Fest-er with anticipatory glee.
Presented by Starz’s ASH VS EVIL DEAD, the FF tradition FANTASTIC DEBATES returns, featuring four rock-’em-sock-’em matches between visiting filmmakers, actors, and journalists. Each debate begins with two rounds of verbal conflict before the stage is transformed into a battleground for full-tilt boxing! Past debaters have included Keanu Reeves, Elijah Wood, Michelle Rodriguez, Uwe Boll, Ti West, and dozens of others ferocious fighters from across the globe!
Other hotly-anticipated events see Jonah Ray and Kumail Nanjiani make their triumphant return to Fantastic Fest for another night of stand up as they host a live version of Comedy Central’s The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail. A double helping of Doug Benson serves up a very special Movie Interruption featuring the animal apocalypse extravaganza ROAR and a live recording of his Doug Loves Movies podcast while legendary turntablist, artist and music producer Kid Koala finally joins the Fantastic fray. After nearly two decades of crafting some of the most singularly eclectic turntable creations of all time, Kid Koala will perform live at the Fantastic Fest party as the composer of this year’s genre-bending official selection ZOOM.
“I love the diversity and breadth of programming that the team delivered this year,” said Tim League, Fantastic Fest and Alamo Drafthouse Founder. “In particular I’d like to highlight ANOMALISA, TIKKUN and SON OF SAUL. These utterly-unique, auteur-driven, genre-defying masterpieces are exactly the type of groundbreaking cinema I want to share with the discerning Fantastic Fest audience.”
With FF’s ever-present keen eye on international cinema, Asia is well represented with a diverse array of titles including Hou Hsiao-hsien’s breathtaking Taiwanese martial arts ballet THE ASSASSIN, Japanese wonder-animator Mamoru Hosoda’s THE BOY AND THE BEAST, and two seminal repertory titles from Hong Kong’s legendary Shaw Brothers Studio. Getting the royal treatment are two wuxia masterpieces, Cheng Pei Pei’s COME DRINK WITH ME and Gordon Liu’s EIGHT DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER. The Shaw Brothers Studio screenings are presented by El Rey Network and both titles are being screened in 35mm with COME DRINK WITH ME coming directly from the Shaw Brothers’ archive in China.
Fantastic Fest welcomes back celebrated genre writer Kier-La Janisse to close out the festival’s rep slate with a rare 35mm screening of satanic shocker EVILSPEAK. In support of her new book Satanic Panic: Pop Cultural Paranoia in the 1980’s, Janisse will present some of the most notorious news segments of hellish hysteria prior to the screening.
We have an exclusive first look at A Man in the Woods With an Axe, a blood-soaked, genre-twisting homage to 1980s slasher films.
Spanning four decades, A Man in the Woods With an Axe begins in the summer of 1987 before pushing into the modern era, weaving together timelines and perspectives in a way that builds both dread and intrigue.
Drawing inspiration from genre standouts like Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Hatchet, and The Cabin in the Woods, the film blends visceral horror with moments of dark humor, creating a uniquely balanced experience that honors tradition while carving its own identity.
Writer-director Dillon Brown (Primal Darkness) aims to deliver everything fans crave from a slasher while boldly subverting expectations with a mid-film twist that redefines the story.
“This is an unapologetic love letter to the films that made me fall in love with horror,” Brown tells Bloody Disgusting. “But I didn’t just want to recreate that feeling; I wanted to challenge it. About halfway through, the film takes a turn that completely changes how you view not only this story, but the genre itself.”
Brown describes the vintage-inspired production as “far and away the bloodiest film I’ve ever made,” with practical effects helmed by Cody Ruch (The Mill, Pig Hill), an instructor at Tom Savini’s Special Make-Up Effects Program.
From Horror Dadz Productions, A Man in the Woods With an Axe is currently in production and targeting an early 2027 release.
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