The 13th annual Panic Fest runs from March 27 – April 6, 2025, and we’ve got the exclusive info on some exciting new additions today along with the festival’s full lineup. Presented by IFC Films, for starters, Clown in a Cornfield and The Ugly Stepsister will close out the in-person festival on Wednesday, April 2nd. […]
The 13th annual Panic Fest runs from March 27 – April 6, 2025, and we’ve got the exclusive info on some exciting new additions today along with the festival’s full lineup.
Presented by IFC Films, for starters,Clown in a Cornfield and The Ugly Stepsister will close out the in-person festival on Wednesday, April 2nd.
Also joining the lineup; Roadside Attractions’ new Nicolas Cage beach thrillerThe Surfer; Psychosexual horror-comedy from Addison Heimann, Touch Me;Soul Reaper, an Indonesian horror that flirts with being a modern-day Dream Warriors; director Izzy Lee’s nightmare trip,House of Ashes; a twisty found footage film from director Steven Hugh Nelson, Old Wounds; and Hungarian psychological thriller Tomorrow I Diedirected by Nikol Cibulya.
Panic Fest will also be bringing back well-loved events like its signature Friday Filmmaker Mixer and Saturday Night Karaoke in Rewind Video and Dive, presented by Shudder.
The hybrid festival kicks off in person at Screenland Armour Theatre on Thursday, March 27th with a 30th anniversary screening of the weird-as-hell sequel, Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Meyers, and Neon’s summer camp slasher, Hell of a Summer.
Additional highlights for this year’s programming include world premieres for Chad Archibald’s It Feeds, Daniel DelPurgatorio’s Marshmallow, Nick Funess’ The Hedonist and Tim Cruz’ Don’t Let The Cat Out.
Returning for their highly anticipated annual Mystery Movie are filmmakers Joe Lynch & Rebecca Howard, who always bring a deep cut to the festival. Whether it’s their iconic screening of Thank God It’s Friday or last year’s New York Ripper, it’s bound to be an unforgettable experience. Festival attendees enjoying a weekend packed with horror and sci-fi goodness can also sneak away from the action into Rewind Video and Dive Bar. This blast of nostalgia is ripped straight from your parent’s basement in the ’90s! It features a full-service bar, board games, retro gaming systems, a neon-infused atmosphere and shelves of VHS tapes. All podcasts, meet-and-greet events, and after-parties will be held in this unique bar located in the basement of the theater. Come party like it’s 1999! Can’t make it to the fest in person but still want to hang out at the VHS store? Join the virtual attendees on Gather, a 16-bit isometric festival experience. Design your avatar and hop into the virtual theater to network, discuss the films you have seen, or play some board games.
The podcast lineup includes Cult Podcast, Horror Virgin and Nightmare Junkhead.
Read on for the full Panic Fest lineup, featuring 50+ feature films and 80+ short films!
‘Clown in a Cornfield’
FEATURE FILM PROGRAMMING
1978 D: Nicolás Onetti, Luciano Onetti
During the World Cup final between Argentina and Holland, in times of military dictatorship, a group of torturers violently breaks into a home and kidnaps a group of young people to take
them to a clandestine detention center. What begins as an inhumane interrogation turns into a true martyrdom: the wrong group of people have been kidnapped. They turn out to be part of a macabre cult guided by an unknown supernatural force.
40 Acres
D: R.T. Thorne
In a post-apocalyptic world with food scarcity, a Black family of Canadian farmers descended from American Civil War migrants defend their homestead against cannibals trying to seize their resources.
A Desert
D: Joshua Erkman
While on a road trip, a photographer befriends a young couple whose reckless ways turn his world upside down and into a nightmare in this unpredictable and horror-tinged neo-noir knockout.
Abduct
D: Chris Riggi
A woman’s peaceful mountain getaway takes a bizarre turn when her boyfriend disappears, and a random naked man shows up claiming to be him.
Beyond the Drumlins D: Daniel W. Bowhers
The leaves have already started to change, but Professor Jonathan Rust is still woefully ill-prepared for the coming semester. This weekend, he is scouting a suitable location for the archeology department’s fieldwork course. With the help of fellow academics and hired hands, the team heads out at first light. The trip presents a rare opportunity for Jonathan to get his hands dirty and success could mean publication and just maybe – tenure. The expedition is quickly derailed when a Teaching Assistant mysteriously vanishes. Soon, the group finds themselves at the intersection of reality and the afterlife in a haunting descent into madness.
Black Spines D: Jordan Foss
The film follows Cameron, a high school photographer who investigates a series of murders in his small town. But when mysterious video tapes begin to appear leading Cameron to clues about the killer’s identity, he is forced to reckon with the very terrifying possibility that the killer may be closer than he ever imagined.
Black Theta
D: Tim Connolly
Andy is haunted years after his brush with death when a mysterious and murderous cult returns to target him, throwing him onto a rollercoaster of chaos and terror.
The Book of the Witch D: Joshua Sowden
Driven by her fear of death, Victoria hunts a mythical Witch, determined to steal her book that grants eternal life-but at a sinister price.
Carry the Darkness D: Douglas Forrester
In 1993, Travis Baldwin is a misunderstood metalhead teenager amidst a world steeped in the Satanic panic. Lured by a mysterious entity that begins wreaking havoc, can Travis protect himself and his friends while being blamed for the atrocities surrounding him? Besides a few friends and a newcomer detective, the town eagerly accuses Travis while remaining blind to the true evil in their midst.
Chain Reactions
D: Alexandre O. Philippe
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s impact on 5 artists – Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, Karyn Kusama – through interviews, outtakes, exploring how it shaped their art, psyche from childhood trauma.
Chainsaws Were Singing D: Sander Maran
Adventures await when new lovers get separated by a chainsaw killer.
Cover D: Cameron Francis
When a traveling stamp dealer gives a ride to a woman on the run from her abusive boyfriend, he soon discovers that their dark pasts are inextricably linked, and that she isn’t just after a ride–she’s after revenge.
Dead Lover
D: Grace Glowicki
A lonely gravedigger who stinks of corpses finally meets her dream man, but their whirlwind affair is cut short when he tragically drowns at sea. Grief-stricken, she goes to morbid lengths to resurrect him through madcap experiments.
Descendent
D: Peter Cilella
A troubled LA school guard, haunted by family tragedy, experiences strange visions after a mysterious light appears in the sky. As his wife’s due date approaches, he races to face his demons before his growing obsession consumes him.
Don’t Let the Cat Out D: Tim Cruz
A feline-obsessed couple find their next human vessel to transfer the soul of their beloved cat into.
Dooba Dooba
D: Ehrland Hollingsworth
Amna expected a relaxed night of babysitting but when she arrives, she learns that her ward is not only a sheltered sixteen year old girl who goes by Moony, but that she is being watched at all times by in-home security cameras. It quickly becomes apparent that Moony is unaccustomed to socializing and that she has a grave misunderstanding of the term friendship.
For God’s Sake Wake Her Up
D: Wayne Moreheart
In a quest for redemption, Rizz faces a malevolent entity to save April’s life by deciphering the chilling secrets within her video diaries.
Freaky Tales
D: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Four interconnected stories set in 1987 Oakland, CA. will tell about the love of music, movies, people, places and memories beyond our knowable universe.
Frewaka
D: Aislinn Clarke
Follow a student of nursing palliative care, who is plagued by a trauma from her past that has a disorienting effect on her present, her relationship, her career and her ability to function.
The G
D: Karl R. Hearne
A mysterious older woman seeks revenge on the corrupt legal guardian who destroyed her life.
Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (30th Anniversary 4K)
D: Joe Chappelle
Six years after Michael Myers last terrorized Haddonfield, he returns there in pursuit of his niece, Jamie Lloyd, who has escaped with her newborn child, for which Michael and a mysterious cult have sinister plans.
Head Like a Hole
D: Stefan MacDonald-Labelle
In financial dire straits, a man accepts a strange, high-paying job where he must take up residence in a home and measure a hole in the wall of the basement to determine whether or not it’s growing in size.
Hell of a Summer
D: Finn Wolfhard, Billy Bryk
The counselors of a summer camp are terrorized by a masked killer. House of Ashes D: Izzy Lee Grieving widow Mia must survive psychological and supernatural horrors while under house arrest in House of Ashes.
It Feeds D: Chad Archibald
After a young girl bursts into their home psychiatry practice claiming an entity is feeding on her, Jordan and her clairvoyant mother must find a way to stop the force before the girl is taken completely.
Lead Belly D: Stephen King Simmons
Flashback to 1997. LEAD BELLY is a coming of age horror film about two younger brothers visiting their recently divorced and estranged father during summer vacation. With plenty of bumps, twists and terrifying turns along the way. LEAD BELLY will keep the audience guessing until the final frame.
The Lost Episode D: Nick Wernham
Assembled by XPU$HER and made available through the Black-Torrent Release Group, The Lost Episode offers a raw and unsettling look at unaired footage captured during a police ride-along on Halloween night, 2004. The film follows officers Paul Massaro and Terrence Williams as they navigate the sleepy streets of Franklin, uncovering a chain of horrifying events and a disturbing conspiracy rooted in the heart of the small town they swore to protect.
Marshmallow D: Daniel DelPurgatorio
When a once-fabled campfire tale becomes real, a group of campers uncover a profound secret that questions their very existence.
Mr. K
D: Tallulah Hazekamp Schwab
After spending the night in a remote hotel, Mr. K is stuck in a claustrophobic nightmare when he discovers that he can’t leave the building. Old Wounds D: Steven Hugh Nelson A couple on a road trip encounter a mysterious stalker who forces them to confront their past.
The Only Ones D: Jordan Miller
A group of friends’ weekend plans unravel when a string of misfortunes spirals into bloodshed. Trust crumbles and the body count rises as the survivors are forced to confront the truth that sometimes, the deadliest threats come from within.
Play Dead D: Charly Goitia
Alison wakes up in a basement, surrounded by the bodies of dead women. To survive and escape, she must play dead—until she discovers the chilling truth about what’s happening upstairs.
Psyche D: Stephon Stewart
Adrift in limbo, a young woman and computer embark on a quest to uncover the meaning of life.
The Rebrand D: Kaye Adelaide
Nicole, an eight months-pregnant bisexual videographer is hired by a lesbian lifestyle influencer couple to film a redemption documentary after they’ve been publicly cancelled, but Nicole quickly discovers that the couple have nefarious ulterior motives.
Rolling D: Robert Deboucher, Ethan Spotts
After a confrontation with their landlord goes horrifically wrong, two flustered young women find themselves in a dire race to profit from his tragic demise.
Self Driver
D: Michael Pierro
Facing mounting expenses and the unrelenting pressure of modern living, a down-on-his-luck cab driver is lured on to a mysterious new app that promises fast, easy money.
The Severed Sun
D: Dean Puckett
Magpie lives in an isolated church community ruled over by her father, The Pastor. When a man is murdered, paranoia sets in and people start to whisper about a strange ‘Beast’ that lives in the forest.
Shadow Reaper D: Richard Terrasi
William Bradshaw and his film crew embark on a journey to the town of Devensville, Indiana in search of clues for a series of mysterious murders that took place for over two hundred years and its roots of the legendary Shadow Reaper. His search ended in tragedy!
She Loved Blossoms More
D: Yannis Veslemes
Three brothers build an unusual time-machine in order to bring their long-dead mother back to life. When their delusional father comes into the picture, the experiments go awry, and they descend into a psychedelic hellscape where the past and present fuse in a comedic yet deeply disturbing exploration of grief.
The Shrouds
D: David Cronenberg
Karsh, an innovative businessman and grieving widower, builds a device to connect with the dead inside a burial shroud.
The Silent Planet D: Jeffrey St. Jules
An aging convict serving out a life sentence alone on a distant planet is forced to confront his past when a new prisoner shows up and pushes him to remember his life on earth.
Somnium D: Racheal Cain
At an experimental sleep clinic, Somnium, your dreams are made real. Side effects may include: hallucinations, confusion, paranoia, sleep paralysis, detachment from reality, lost sense of self, permanent nightmares.
Soul Reaper
D: Sidharta Tata
A teenager with the ability to enter other people’s dreams. When he witnesses a dark spirit taking people’s lives in their dreams, he quickly realizes that it’s related to the mysterious deaths that are happening in the real world.
The Spirit of Halloweentown D: Brett Whitcomb, Bradford Thomason
After serving as the location for a beloved Disney Channel movie in 1998, a tiny Oregon town grapples with its reputation as the real Halloweentown.
Stalkers D: Paul Thompson
Sometimes a phone call can change your life. Once a small-town girl from Michigan, Kate Swanson ran away as a teen and reinvented herself in California as cult porn star Tabitha Swann. But everything changes when a call from Michigan Child Services reveals that Charlotte, the daughter Kate gave up for adoption in high school, has been orphaned in a brutal double homicide.
Straight on Til Morning D: Craig Ouellette
Two dreamers, small-town musician Dani and waitress Kaitlin, start falling for each other on a spontaneous road trip. The future is bright — until they cross paths with a twisted family, led by matriarch Lilly (Maria Olsen, Paranormal Activity 3, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Lightning Thief), with something much much darker in mind. A unique blend of romance and horror, filled with nail-biting tension and highlighted with original songs sung by Dani, Straight On Till Morning weaves the beautiful and terrible things people do for love into an unforgettable, edge of your seat journey into darkness.
Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire
D: Stuart Ortiz
A faux true-crime documentary about two detectives in pursuit of an infamous serial killer named Mr. Shiny, who terrorized Southern California for almost two decades.
Super Happy Fun Clown D: Patrick Rea
To escape a life of oppressed obscurity, a battered former wunderkind weaponizes her obsession with clowning, serial killers, and classic movie monsters into a night of shocking infamy.
The Surfer
D: Lorcan Finnegan
A man returns to the idyllic beach of his childhood to surf with his son. When he is humiliated by a group of locals, the man is drawn into a conflict that keeps rising and pushes him to his breaking point.
Tie Die
D: Morgan Miller
When a series of mangled bodies begin appearing in the park, Ranger Jones (Lloyd Kaufman, President of Troma Entertainment and creator of the Toxic Avenger) and a state trooper (Joe Bob Briggs, Shudder’s The Last Drive In) are baffled by the attacks. It’s been a long time since a black bear has gone rabid in the park and never to this degree. The timing couldn’t be worse as the area is filling up with young musicians, hippies, and earth children. Can they stop the killings before things get worse, or will Ranger Jones miss the encore?
Tomorrow I Die
D: Nikol Cibulya
Pregnant Irma retreats to their cottage in the middle of the forest. The girl is possessed by strange thoughts: she feels that she will die the next day. The date coincides with the date of his mother’s death – she also died on her 34th birthday. Irma doesn’t want to be alone on the upcoming anniversary, so she invites her half-brother and her best girlfriend. But more and more inexplicable events follow one another, and it’s not so much a fever dream. It looks that something really will happen to Irma.
Touch Me
D: Addison Heimann
Two codependent best friends become addicted to the heroin-like touch of an alien narcissist who may or may not be trying to take over the world.
Ugly Stepsister
D: Emilie Blichfeldt
Follows Elvira as she battles against her gorgeous stepsister in a realm where beauty reigns supreme. She resorts to extreme measures to captivate the prince, amidst a ruthless competition for physical perfection.
What Happened to Dorothy Bell? D: Danny Villanueva Jr
After uncovering disturbing revelations from her early childhood involving her late grandmother, Dorothy Bell, Ozzie Gray sets out to video document her investigation into these past events. Desperate for answers, she attempts to communicate with Dorothy’s spirit but unwittingly awakens something malevolent.
‘Hell of a Summer’
SHORT FILM PROGRAMMING
SHORT BLOCK #1 “Defile” D. Brian Sepanzyk “Faces” D. Blake Simon “Norma” D. Priya Sanghvi, Dan Scott Goldstein “Red Flag” D. Malin Barr, Cleo Handler
“Wake” D. Sean Carter
“Una Volta” D. Joshua BOON
“Mr. Static” D. Mike Williamson
“A Mother’s Love” D. Lisa Ovies
“77” D. Christopher Perna
SHORT BLOCK #2 “Cosmic Crash” D. James Smith
“Follow You” D. Alexandre Mullen “Video Barn” D. Bianca Poletti
“Nervous Ellie” D. David Yorke
“Close Encounter” D. Jeph Porter
“Drop” D. Chingiz Ondasynov
“The Widower” D. Michael Buran
“Manifest Destiny” D. Timothy Gunatilaka
“Rejected” D. Rene Rivas
“Poppa” D. Peter Ahern
SHORT BLOCK #3 “Ensouled” D. Moe Najati
“The Last Thing She Saw” D. Anthony Cousins & Rebecca Daugherty
“Grandma, May I” Gage Zanghi
“A Drive at Dawn” D. Joe D’Ovidio “Bad Mountain” Patrick Murphy
“They Shitty Ride” D. Cole Doran
“Whitch” D. Hoku Uchiyama
“Sundowning” D. Faith Liu
“Devil’s Prism” D. Kika Magalhaes
SHORT BLOCK #4 “Her House” D. Will Lee
“Mimic” D. Thomas Edward Hindy
“Body Worn Video” D. Richard O’Hare “Frankenbabes From Beyond the Grave!” D. Andrew Bowser
“CLAUD_AI” D. Gabriel Furman
“Masks” D. Andre LeBlanc
“Turn It Off” D. Senda Maud Bonnet
“Stomach It” D. Peter Klausner
SHORT BLOCK #5 “Skeeter” D. Chris McInroy
“Slave For Love” D. Michael Shlain
“Orum” D. Adam Davis
“Taboo” D. Almog Avidan Antonir
“Like Me” D. Ashley Lauren Thomas
“Banjo” D. Cameron Poletti “Animas Forks” D. Sam Blacksburg
“Dale’S Killer Car Deals” D. Drew Highlands
“Jon #2” D. Lucas Eubank
“Virgin” D. Ramone Menon
ONLINE BLOCK #1
“Guardian Angel” D. Charles Olsen
“Escape” D. Lorenzo Manetti
“Cold Feet” D. Anna Vecellio
“Umbra” D. Pablo Otero
“Sweet Dreaming” D. Andrew Laudone
“Deadbeat Beer Runners” D. Riley Doyle
“Crystal Galaxy Enforcers” D. Kirk Howle
“Love Eternal” D. Dominic Czarnota
“Outcast Forest” D. Frank Raudsepp
ONLINE BLOCK #2 “As a Rake” D. Amy Whittenberger
“Safe” D. Kyle Baughman
“Wild Animals” D. David B Jacobs
“The Humming Grows” D. Aughbar
“Outside Noise” D. Ethan Evans
“No Escape” D. Leena Kurishingal
“Closed Circuit” D. Karl Redgen
ONLINE BLOCK #3 “The Rug” D. Sean Cisterna
“Shepard Moon” D. Michaela Wadzinski
“The Vocho From Hell” D. Gerardo Onate
“Intrusive” D. Evan Hoon
“Collette” D. Jack Walterman
“The Parcel” D. Jared Tipton
“Inked” D. Kelsey Bollig
ONLINE BLOCK #4
“Sender Unknown” D. Lauren Coggiola
“Convoluted” D. Mohamed Fareed
“Bloody Mary” D. Drew Underwood
“Icebox” D. Patrick Rea
“Kali” D. Esther Smith
“The Visitor” D. Tony Morales
“Pit Stop” D. David A. Flores
ONLINE BLOCK #5
“Choose Your Fate” D. Cora Marie Sfida, Sean Killion
“Clem” D. John Barnard
“Treadmill” D. Sam Krebs
“Trapped” D. Owen Boardman
“Kal-Haven” D. Kal Kociss
“It Draws Closer” D. Joshua Matthews
“Daylight” D. Peter Cornwell “The Path” D. Patrick Guera
LONG FORM SHORTS PROGRAMMING
IN-PERSON BLOCK
“Never Let You Go” D. Alex Domenici
“Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting” D. Alexander Thompson
“Destroyer” D. Judd Myers
“Till Death Do Us Part” D. Jacob Hamblin
“Hold Up” D. Ori Guendelman
ONLINE BLOCK #1
“Mondegreen” D. Linda Mai Green
“Voyager” D. Pablo Pagan
“Stalker” D. David Cholewa
ONLINE BLOCK #2
“Baby Blues” D.James P. Gleason
“El Jacho: A Puerto Rican Legend” D. Adrian Borges
“Party Panda: The Bird of a Serial Killer” D. Uriah Herr
ONLINE BLOCK #3
“They Watch” D. Conrad Faraj
“Rat!” D.Neal Suresh Mulani
“Madness Unplugged” D.David St. Clair
ONLINE BLOCK #4
“Forgive Me” D. Cameron Fei Sun
“Anniversary” D. Paul De Cinque
“Sleepwalkers” D.Bernardo Viotti
“Humanzee” D. Taro O’Halloran
EVENT PROGRAMMING Panic Fest is more than just a film festival. Each year features a curated selection of events and live podcasts! After Hours with Joe Lynch and Rebecca Howard: Secret Screening
Cult Podcast
Horror Virgin Podcast
Nightmare Junkhead Live Game Show Presented by Paramount Scares Rewind VHS Bar and Dive
Panic Fest continues its partnerships with genre leaders Fangoria, Paramount Scares, Neon, Lionsgate Entertainment, Roadside Attractions, Sony Pictures, Shudder, IFC Films, Magnolia Pictures, Dark Star Pictures, Yellow Veil, Dark Sky Films, Bloody Disgusting, WellGoUSA, Rustic Films, and Cinedigm /Screambox.
Panic Fest is presented by Logboat Brewing Company, 4 Hands Brewing Company, J. Rieger and Co, Una Familia, Missouri Film, and KC Film.
