Panic Fest is never afraid to show the weirder side of genre film. This year, audiences were treated to a bizarrely charming horror comedy called Cannibal Mukbang. The debut of writer and director Aimee Kuge, the film follows Mark, a shy and awkward guy who by chance meets a beautiful woman named Ash. As the two get closer, Mark is drawn deeper into Ash’s world of sex, mukbang, and cannibalism. For those not familiar with “mukbang,” this is a video trend that began in South Korea in the 2010’s where people would either livestream or upload videos of themselves eating large quantities of food ..read more

While the events are fictional, true crime fans at this year’s Overlook Film Festival had the opportunity to see a bizarre new thriller, Dead Mail. Written and directed by filmmaking duo Joe DeBoer (BAB) and Kyle McConaghy (BAB), Dead Mail transports audiences back to the the 1980’s. A mysterious, blood covered cry for help arrives at a local post office. When the post office’s “dead letter” investigator attempts to track its origin, it leads down a dark path of obsession, kidnapping, and even murder. This film is certainly a slow burn, but with a constant undercurrent of bubbling tension. Th ..read more

Panic Fest audiences had the chance to catch an all new screen-life horror film called Livescreamers. Written and directed by Michelle Iannantuono, Livescreamers is a sequel to her 2020 film Livescreamer. That being said, you do not need to see the previous film to watch this one. In Livescreamers, a popular team of gamers comes together to record themselves playing a brand new indie horror game. What starts off as innocent fun quickly spirals out of control as secrets are revealed, friendships are tested, and the players are picked off one-by-one, both in the game and in real life. Livescrea ..read more

These days, it’s hard to imagine a genre film festival without at least one Nic Cage film. Luckily, this year’s Overlook Film Festival delivered with the latest Cage film, Arcadian. Director Benjamin Brewer (The Trust, Beneath Contempt) and writer Michael Nilon (Braven) craft a story about a man and his two sons trying to get by in a post-apocalyptic world. After surviving for 15 years in a remote farmhouse, the dangers lurking in the dark will test their minds, strength, and love for each other. Arcadian is a surprising and unexpected creature feature that takes place at the end of human civ ..read more

Panic Fest audiences were treated to the feature-film debut of writer and director Zeshaan Younus, The Buildout*. This unexpected dramatic horror film follows two friends as they venture out into the California desert. Meant to be a journey of bonding and healing, things take a turn when they encounter something strange. What makes The Buildout such a compelling film is that every viewer will likely have a different interpretation of what’s on screen. Certain themes are quite apparent. The driving force behind the two friends is their grief and trauma. It’s fascinating to see the different wa ..read more

One of the hottest films currently on the festival circuit is the French horror film, Infested. Overlook Film Festival audiences got to witness it on the big screen in all it’s spidery glory. Kaleb is a misfit with a heart of gold and an affection for exotic animals living in a rundown apartment building. When his newly acquired mystery spider gets loose, Kaleb and his friends will have to fight to survive an eight-legged infestation. Infested is the feature-film debut for writer Sébastien Vanicek, who also wrote the film with Florent Bernard (Jack Mimoun and the Secrets of Val Verde). Infest ..read more

Overlook Film Festival audiences got a dose of Irish folk horror with All You Need Is Death. Written and directed by Paul Duane (Very Extremely Dangerous, Barbaric Genius), All You Need Is Death follows a young couple as they collect rare folk songs across Ireland. When they discover an ancient song not meant to be recorded or translated, they unwittingly awaken a darkness that threatens to devour them. There is no denying All You Need Is Death is a unique, intriguing film. It uses folk music as the seed for many different themes. The most obvious theme being the oral tradition of passing dow ..read more

If you’re looking for something a bit more light and funny at this year’s Overlook Film Festival, the French Canadian film Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person might be just what you’re looking for. It’s the feature-film debut for director Ariane Louis-Seize, who also wrote the film alongside Christine Doyon. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person tells the story of Sasha, the youngest in a family of vampires. She is the black sheep of the family for one vital reason: she refuses to hurt or kill humans to feed. Getting too old to rely on her parents, she finds a po ..read more

This year, The Overlook Film Festival has a host of foreign horror films, many of them French. One such French horror film is Hood Witch, which was recently acquired by MPI Media Group/Dark Sky Films as the distributor. The film was directed by Saïd Belktibia, making his feature film debut, who also co-wrote the film with Louis Penicaut (La plus belle pour aller danser). In Hood Witch, audiences meet a single mother named Nour trying to make ends meet by smuggling exotic animals and performing various healing rituals, even creating an app that connects people with mystics, healers, magicians ..read more

Another year, another Overlook Film Festival. Kicking off my remote coverage of this year’s festival is a review for a sinister slice of indie horror titled Kill Your Lover. The United Kingdom film follows Dakota and Axel, a couple in a toxic relationship on the brink of ruin. Dakota finally gets the courage to end things, but her plans come to a screeching halt when Axel comes home with a strange and rapidly worsening illness. Kill Your Lover was written and directed by filmmaking duo Alix Austin (Isolation) and Keir Siewert (Isolation). The film weaves back and forth between the early days ..read more