The Overlook Film Festival is back, and Overlook 2025 is shaping up to be a blood-curdling beast! Returning to New Orleans’ Prytania Theatres from April 3 – April 6, this ninth annual celebration of all things horror has unveiled its first wave of terror: 47 films—25 features and 22 shorts—spanning 10 countries. From fresh nightmares to resurrected classics, Overlook 2025 promises to sink its claws into every horror fan’s soul. HorrorFacts.com is peeling back the coffin lid on every cinematic ghoul announced so far—let’s dive into the darkness!
Opening Night: Drop Kicks Off Overlook 2025
Overlook 2025 explodes into life with Drop, a 2025 U.S. thriller from Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day), backed by Blumhouse and Platinum Dunes. Starring Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, and Violett Beane, this nerve-shredder follows a widowed mother whose fancy dinner date turns sinister with a flood of anonymous phone drops. Landon will haunt New Orleans in person to present this opening salvo, followed by a Shudder tenth-anniversary bash that’ll resurrect the streaming service’s creepiest hits with a horror-laced second line parade.
Feature Film Presentations: New Terrors at Overlook 2025
Overlook 2025’s feature lineup is a fresh batch of nightmares ready to stalk your dreams. Here’s every title unveiled:
- 40 Acres (2024, U.S.): R.T. Thorne unleashes a post-apocalyptic gut-punch with Danielle Deadwyler as a matriarch battling cannibals to protect her farmland. Michael Greyeyes and Kataem O’Connor join this savage survival tale.
- Abraham’s Boys (2025, U.S., World Premiere): Natasha Kermani adapts Joe Hill’s story, with Titus Welliver as Abraham van Helsing fleeing Dracula’s legacy with sons Judah Mackey and Brady Hepner—only to find horror follows. Jocelin Donahue and Aurora Perrineau co-star.
- Chain Reactions (2024, U.S.): Alexandre O. Philippe dissects The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s 50-year reign of terror through the eyes of Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Stephen King, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, and Karyn Kusama.
- Clown in a Cornfield (2025, U.S.): Eli Craig’s Shudder slasher pits Katie Douglas against a grinning killer in Kettle Springs, with Kevin Durand and Will Sasso amplifying the bloody mayhem.
- Dead Lover (2025, Canada): Grace Glowicki writes, directs, and stars as a lovesick soul reanimating her beloved from a severed finger, joined by Ben Petrie and Leah Doz in this grotesque, surreal romp.
- Good Boy (2024, U.S.): Ben Leonberg’s debut, shot from a dog’s POV, follows Indy sniffing out evil in a countryside retreat, with Shane Jensen and Larry Fessenden facing the shadows.
- Hallow Road (2025, U.K.): Babak Anvari (Under the Shadow) crafts a tense chase with Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys racing to save their daughter, alongside Paul Tylak.
- Ick (2023, U.S.): Joseph Kahn’s sci-fi satire sees Brandon Routh and Mena Suvari battling a gooey alien parasite, fueled by 2000s emo jams. Malina Pauli Weissman joins the fight.
- It Ends (2024, U.S.): Alexander Ullom traps four grads—Phinehas Yoon, Akira Jackson, Noah Toth, Mitchell Cole—in a hellscape of existential dread and unseen terrors.
- Monster Island (Orang Ikan) (2024, Singapore/Indonesia/Japan/U.K.): Mike Wiluan’s WWII chiller strands Dean Fujioka and Callum Woodhouse on an island with a fanged Orang Ikan, featuring Alan Maxson.
- Redux Redux (2025, U.S.): Kevin and Matthew McManus helm a sci-fi revenge epic with Michaela McManus crossing parallel universes, joined by Jim Cummings and Grace Van Dien.
- The Shrouds (2024, France/Canada): David Cronenberg’s body horror stars Vincent Cassel as a widower watching the dead decay via his own tech, with Diane Kruger and Guy Pearce.
- The Spirit of Halloweentown (2024, U.S.): Brett Whitcomb and Bradford Thomason explore St. Helens, OR—the Halloweentown filming site—with locals like Chris Cannard and Colleen Ohler.
- Touch Me (2024, U.S.): Addison Heimann’s wild horror pairs Olivia Taylor Dudley and Lou Taylor Pucci with a narcissistic alien ex (Paget Brewster) in a cosmic clash.
- The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick (2025, U.S.): Pete Ohs’ shocker sees Zoë Chao facing grotesque fallout from a tick bite, with Callie Hernandez and Jeremy O. Harris.
- The Ugly Stepsister (2024, Norway): Emilie Blichfeldt’s body horror twists Cinderella, with Lea Myren mutilating herself to outshine Thea Sofie Loch Næss, alongside Ane Dahl Torp.
- Zodiac Killer Project (2025, U.S./U.K.): Charlie Shackleton resurrects a failed true-crime doc into a chilling commentary on our bloodlust, starring the filmmaker.
Flying Lotus Curates Retro Horrors for Overlook 2025
Flying Lotus, Overlook 2025’s inaugural Guest Curator, brings his twisted vision with personal intros to these classics:
- Ash (2024, U.S.): FlyLo’s own sci-fi nightmare stars Eiza González as an astronaut waking to a slaughtered crew, with Aaron Paul battling cosmic dread.
- Death Becomes Her (1992, U.S.): Robert Zemeckis’ dark comedy pits Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn against death, with Bruce Willis in the crossfire.
- The Descent (2005, U.K.): Neil Marshall’s cave crawler traps Shauna Macdonald and Natalie Mendoza in suffocating terror.
- Lost Highway (1997, U.S.): David Lynch’s neo-noir, a tribute to the late master, stars Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette in a surreal abyss.
Retrospective Screenings: Overlook 2025 Honors the Past
Overlook 2025 digs up these timeless terrors:
- The Phantom of the Opera (1925, U.S.): Lon Chaney’s 100th-anniversary silent classic gets a live score by Think Less, Hear More, with Norman Kerry and Mary Philbin.
- Re-Animator (1985, U.S.): Stuart Gordon’s 40th-anniversary 4K restoration, presented by FANGORIA, stars Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton (in attendance).
- Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995, U.S.): Ernest Dickerson’s 30th-anniversary screening comes with his Master of Horror Award.
More Than Movies at Overlook 2025
Beyond the films, Overlook 2025 summons Joe Hill for a live chat, immersive chills like Spooky Tales with Cowboy Dale, and a promise of more horrors to come. Co-founder Michael Lerman calls it a clash of “old and new guard,” while Landon Zakheim hails it as a “spectral summer camp” with its first audio-animatronic. Which Overlook 2025 film will you brave? Let us know in the comments as we count down to New Orleans’ darkest weekend!
