Horror filmmakers and fans descend upon New Orleans in eight days! The 2026 Overlook Film Festival takes place in person and remotely from April 9-12. Tickets are currently on sale, and the lineup looks to be supplying some of the bloodiest and most deranged stories of the year.
Scrolling through the full lineup, there are countless films just waiting to frighten you (perhaps literally) to death. Ahead of the festival later this month, here are the 10 most anticipated films of the event. What are you most excited to see?!
Obsession
Director: Curry Barker
Hopelessly paralyzed by his unrequited crush on one of his closest friends, a lovelorn 20-something makes a wish on a mysterious novelty toy, only to find out that his dreams are far worse than any nightmare he could imagine in this bone-chilling relationship horror.
Leviticus
Director: Adrian Chiarella
Two teenage boys must escape a violent entity that takes the form of the person they desire most — each other.
Hokum
Director: Damian McCarthy
When novelist Ohm Bauman (Scott) retreats to a remote inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, he is consumed by tales of a witch haunting the honeymoon suite. Disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance forces him to confront dark corners of his past.
Exit 8
Director: Genki Kawamura
Based on the global hit video game, a man trapped in an endless sterile subway passageway sets out to find Exit 8. The rules of his quest are simple: do not overlook anything out of the ordinary. If you discover an anomaly, turn back immediately. If you don’t, carry on. Then leave from Exit 8. But even a single oversight will send him back to the beginning. Will he ever reach his goal and escape this infinite corridor?
Ugly Cry
Director: Emily Robinson
An actor’s desperate determination to break in Hollywood leads her down a frightening spiral of obsession, delusion and augmentation in this darkly comedic, Repulsion-esque thriller from first time writer-director and star Emily Robinson.
The Holy Boy
Director: Paolo Strippoli
Deep in the Italian mountains lives a village of some of the happiest people on earth. Their serenity is about to be broken by the arrival of the new PE teacher who is haunted by his past and determined to uncover the secret of how all of the townspeople are healed weekly by the touch of a 15-year-old boy with special powers.
CRAMPS! A Period Piece
Director: Brooke H. Cellars
In a fanciful technicolor town full of dueling beauty shops, drag queens and midcentury flair, a young woman’s quest to defy her family is upended when her menstrual cramps manifest themselves as actual monsters. At once gory and campy, Overlook alum (and previous Grand Jury Prize winner) Brooke H. Cellars makes their feature debut with a film that’s as fun as it is horrific.
Over Your Dead Body
Director: Jorma Taccone
Pitch-perfectly directed by Jorma Taccone (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, The Lonely Island), this action-comedy remake of Tommy Wirkola’s The Trip follows a husband and wife (Jason Segel and Samara Weaving) who take a remote weekend getaway as an opportunity to secretly plot to kill each other.
Buddy
Director: Casper Kelly
From the unique and twisted mind of iconic writer-director Casper Kelly (Too Many Cooks, Yule Log) comes the tale of a courageous girl and her friends who must fight to escape the sinister clutches of a kid’s television show.
Buffet Infinity
Director: Simon Glassman
Told entirely through a series of fake commercials, Simon Glassman’s cutting-edge creepshow is the story of rival restaurants competing through local TV marketing for their town’s business… and maybe more. What is going on in Westridge County?
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