Panic Fest 2026 is still not quite over yet. As I dash to the finish line (I have a few films to watch, as of this writing), numerous reviews and interviews in the can confirm that this year’s festival might be the best in a long time. Various short blocks have been particularly rich with writers and directors making profound statements about being human, life, love, happiness, and eventually death. A horrifying treasure trove!
In the second volume of short films, you’ll find sci-fi, crime/thriller, body horror, and everything else in between. Keep these on your radar!
UN-DEAD
Directed by Bo Webb
These days, your zombie flick has to be really special to stand out. Bo Webb’s Un-Dead emerges out of the festival circuit as a real treasure that possesses not only a heartfelt story about human connection but some damn good zombie action—with lore you’ve probably never seen before. Jane (Kelley Pereira) is new at her job and just wants to fit in. Little does she know that a contagion has infiltrated the building and infected numerous co-workers. While it’s clearly commenting on the 9-to-5 hustle, that’s not what makes Un-Dead unique. As the dead army swells, an unexpected discovery leads to our band of survivors learning what it means to take a bite out of crime. Un-Dead is silly fun, and that’s all we need sometimes.
Forever, Liam
Directed by Guillermo de la Rosa
It doesn’t get better than Guillermo de la Rosa’s Forever, Liam. The crown jewel out of Panic Fest, the film tells the story about a Venezuelan family that harbors a deep, dark secret: their patriarch is very much dead, but they keep him very much “alive” (like a stuffed bird). But there’s something even more sinister at play, or is there? De la Rosa twists a haunted story about the burden of death and humanity’s desperation to live in the past. Forever, Liam is a relentless mind-fuck packed with some of the best scares out of any horror movie this year.
Interview on YouTube
The Recluse
Directed by Matt Webb
Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Matt Webb’s The Recluse toys with perceptions, expectations about certain kinds of people, and how we, as a society, are doomed for destruction. An old man finds two women and a child at his doorstep one night. It’s way past curfew, and they’re desperate for a place to wait out the darkness. Whatever that means is only hinted at through a dialogue-driven story that examines relationships and our dynamic when backed into a corner. Another man arrives soon after, throwing a wrench into the whole night. The Recluse only features horror in small doses but zoomes out to engage with the world’s suffocating blackness, rotting us from the inside out. Sharing a kinship with Knock at the Cabin, expect the unexpected with this one.
Pearls
Directed by Alastair Train
Alastair Train’s Pearls follows a young couple struggling to have a baby. When Tony (Rory Murphy) meets a fisherman who claims his oysters have magical virility, he scoops up several oysters and takes them home to his wife. Surrounded by candlelight, Tony and Linda (Helen Jessica Liggat) enjoy a lavish oyster spread. What they don’t anticipate is that the oysters also carry an evil so ancient that cosumes human flesh. Pearls contains some of the best body horror you’ll ever witness. You may want to grab your puke bucket for this one.
My Severed Arm
Directed by Casey de Fremery
Slasher hive unite! My Severed Arm lives in the same realm as Hatchet and Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. Writer/diretor Casey de Fremery shows a great adoration for slashers. He knows all the tricks, but supplies some very special treats. As a young woman runs for her life, she finds a disassembled gun and seeks out a YouTube tutorial on how to reassemble it. The only trick is she’ll have to sit through ad breaks. My Severed Arm hilariously combs through digital life and constantly being fed advertisemets in every corner of the internet. Of couse, De Fremery doesn’t skimp on all the slasher-y bits. It’s gooey, gruesome, and a real guffaw.
Wrathbone
Directed by Steve Flavin
Love the ’80s and gummy hair-metal pop? Then, Steve Flavin’s Wrathbone is just the thing for you. A mockumentary style film, the musical horror/comedy features talking heads and, more importantly, full blown music videos. Flavin plays both Nigel Wrathbone, the lead singer of an iconic ’80s group, but his pop rival, Frankie Ecco, who bares a striking and eerie resemblance to Rick Astley. Nigel appears to be stuck in one of those VH1 Behind the Music specials and must learn the truth about his superstar past in order to break the curse. But at what cost? And what is the truth, really? Do we even want to know? Wrathbone addresses these questions, but at the root of it, it’s a damn good time.
Like Father, Like Son?
Directed by Josef Embring & Philip Sterner
Death, time, and reality collide in Josef Embring and Philip Sterner’s Like Father, Like Son? In the vein of Dead End, the Swedish short guides the audience through a haunted hallway of perception. You never know what the truth is until the very last second, and the journey to get to that enlightened place requires a bit of patience. The film tells the tale of a young man driving on a desolute highway one foggy night. He picks up an older gentlemen, and they get to talking. Their conversation weaves in and out of the present and past with prickly precision. Below the surface, there’s a truth clawing to break free. Like Father, Like Son? is a character-based horror/thriller that brims with mood and atmosphere so intoxicating that it’ll give you a contact high.
Closing Shift
Directed by M-Alain Bertoni
M-Alain Bertoni’s Closing Shift will hit very close to home for anyone who has worked retail, hospitality, or any other public-facing position. Late one evening at the local movie theater, a group of moviegoers cause a ruckus during a screening of a little-known B-movie. The mother is a real Karen (you know the type), provoking her daughter and her weak-willed husband to “take care of” those who stand up to them. Bertoni perfectly captures the entitled customer and how they’ve come to completely obliterate the movie-going experience. A young woman and her boss must fight against the little army of Karens in order to survive until morning. Closing Shift would make a perfect double-feature with last year’s standout indie film, We’re So Dead, with wit and charm all its own. Honestly, we just don’t have enough movie theater-set horror these days.
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