Fantastic Fest 2025 has released its film line-up, which includes highly anticipated horror films such as Black Phone 2 and Strangers – Chapter 2.
Fantastic Fest Announces An Epic 2025 Feature Programming Lineup And More For Its 20th Anniversary Edition!
Hear ye, hear ye! Step forth and feast thine eyes upon Fantastic Fest’s 20th anniversary lineup! Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s Fantastic Fest is celebrating its 20th edition by bringing you a treasure trove of highly anticipated cinematic wonders from around the world.
Featuring 45 World Premieres, 15 International and North American Premieres, and 13 U.S. Premieres that are guaranteed to delight and surprise you, complemented by unforgettable events and magnificent special guests. Celebrate with us at the legendary Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, TX, from September 18th-25th, 2025.
“Fantastic Fest is turning 20, and we’re turning the fest into an 8 day celebration of cinematic excellence and excess,” says Festival Director Lisa Dreyer. “We’re bringing our audience an unprecedented number of world premieres this year, from highly anticipated titles to brand new discoveries, and supporting independent filmmakers even further with an exciting new pitch competition. The fest has grown immensely over the years, and we are proud to find new impactful ways to champion genre cinema and bring our audience the best of the best.”
“We’re excited to celebrate 20 years of Fantastic Fest at Alamo Drafthouse,” says Alamo Drafthouse CEO Michael Kustermann. “Fantastic Fest was created by Alamo Drafthouse Cinema to celebrate genre and horror films. We’re thrilled that these films continue to perform well at the box office and are honored to be the launchpad for our studio partners and independent filmmakers.”
Fantastic Fest 2025 opens spectacularly, featuring the world premiere of Paramount’s PRIMATE, from Director Johannes Roberts, in which a group of friends’ tropical vacation turns into a terrifying, primal tale of horror and survival. Featuring an incredible ensemble cast led by Johnny Sequoyah and Oscar®-winning Troy Kotsur, PRIMATE is an unbelievably entertaining horror film, filled with gory mayhem, in theaters January 9, 2026.
The closing night film will be the world premiere of Independent Film Company and Shudder’s crowd-pleasing horror film WHISTLE, from director Corin Hardy (THE NUN) and writer Owen Edgerton. A group of high-school students discover an ancient Aztec death whistle that unleashes a deadly curse upon their town. As the teens are hunted down one by one to meet their deaths in spectacularly gruesome ways, it’s a race against time to discover how to stop the demonic force before it’s too late.
Fantastic Fest is also thrilled to launch Fantastic Pitches this year, a new initiative to support filmmakers by providing $100,000 in funding and a global distribution deal from new genre-label Chroma. Finalists will pitch their projects live at the fest, in front of a jury composed of notable industry professionals, including director Matt Johnson (NIRVANA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE).
Major studio films include the world premiere of Sony Pictures’ Stage 6 Films & Screen Gems’ SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE, the world premiere of Paramount Pictures’ chilling new horror film from writer and director Bryan Bertino, VICIOUS, the world premiere of Universal Pictures and Blumhouse’s highly anticipated BLACK PHONE 2, the U.S. premieres of NEON’s SHELBY OAKS and Cannes jury-prize winner SIRÂT, the world premiere of Lionsgate’s THE STRANGERS – CHAPTER 2, the world premieres of Shudder’s latest installment of their popular franchise V/H/S/HALLOWEEN, and two episodes from the fan-favorite series THE CREEP TAPES SEASON 2, the Texas premiere of A24’s kinetic IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU, and the world premiere of Shudder’s CRAZY OLD LADY from producer J.A. Bayona.
An esteemed jury of filmmakers, creatives and industry insiders will join us to bestow awards in four categories: Main Competition, Horror, Next Wave, and Shorts. Notable jurors include actor Patton Oswalt, director and musician Fred Durst, author Otessa Moshfegh, filmmakers Aaron Schimberg and Mercedes Bryce Morgan, producers Brandon Hill of Lionsgate, Lars Knudsen of Square Peg, Jose Cañas of Ghost House Pictures, and Shams Mohajerani of 75East, and festival notables Lisa Ogdie of Sundance, Mònica Garcia Massagué of the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, and Matt Pifko of Kanopy.
Other notable Fantastic Fest 2025 World Premieres include:
- Ryan Prows’ NIGHT PATROL starring Jermaine Fowler, Justin Long, and RJ Cyler.
- COYOTES, a survival thriller by Colin Minihan starring Justin Long and Kate Bosworth.
- HAUNTED HEIST, Lil Rel Howery’s directorial debut, with Tiffany Haddish leading a hilarious all-star ensemble cast.
- DOLLY, a terrifying slasher with unbelievable kills from Rod Blackhurst, shot on film.
Fantastic Fest 2025 Events
Fantastic Fest has a variety of spectacular special events this year, including:
- Castle Rat will bring their medieval heavy metal antics for the opening night party, presented by Shudder.
- A celebration of the 20th anniversary of The Masters Of Horror, featuring Mick Garris, Don Coscarelli, and Ernest Dickerson in conversation.
- A fundraiser for The Transgender Film Center, with exclusive merch from Super Yaki.
- Live events throughout the week including a Ghoulish Book Fair, a medieval drag show hosted by the legendary Louisianna Purchase, Doug Benson’s Movie Interruption, an exclusive collection of video oddities from The Found Footage Festival, and more.
- And finally, Fantastic Fest classics like the Fantastic Feud, the Fantastic Debates, and an epic Closing Night Party at a secret location to close out the week.
Rapturous Restorations and Other Rarities
Once again, we are partnering with our friends at the American Genre Film Archive to bring a selection of restorations to the festival, including the world premiere of the preservation of the bloody slasher EMBALMER, with visionary Director S. Torriano Berry in attendance, a screening of the newly restored greatest shark film of all time CRUEL JAWS, and a 35mm screening of the Thai action thriller CHOCOLATE.
Formed in 2009, the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to preserving the legacy of genre movies through collection, conservation, and distribution.
Fantastic Fest is proud to work with distributors dedicated to the art of preservation, and the lineup includes world premieres of the new 4K restoration of THE BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR from Eagle Rock Pictures, Chroma’s 4K restoration of BEFORE THE FALL from alumnus F. Javier Gutierrez, the French oddity FOLIES MEURTRIÈRES from Bleeding Skull, the new digital preservation of Doris Wishman’s DILDO HEAVEN from Muscle Releasing, the 4K restoration of HIDE AND GO SHRIEK from Graveface Films which is a subsidiary of Terror Vision Home Video, and the 4K restoration of FREAKED starring Alex Winters from Drafthouse Films. More notable restorations include the 4K restoration of the cult classic animation ANGEL’S EGG from GKids.
Burnt Ends, Fantastic Fest’s sidebar dedicated to micro-budget outlier cinema, is back for its third year with an animation block that features the world premieres of the stop-motion masterpiece THE SHRINE OF ABOMINATIONS from Skinner & Ross Kennedy, a hand drawn wonder ANIMAL MATH from Robbie C. Ward, and the comedic GIRLS NIGHT OUT from Ashley Sengstaken, world premieres of the horror comedy THEATER IS DEAD, and the inventive thriller DINNER TO DIE FOR, and TIE MAN, a pulpy and offbeat crime thriller.
We are grateful to our partners at Shudder for supporting Fantastic Fest this year including sponsoring the opening night party. As they celebrate their 10th anniversary, they have screened films and/or acquired films every year out of the festival, truly ringing in a decade of screams in the heart of the genre festival community.
Fantastic Fest is proud to present 78 feature films, as well as a variety of short film selections to be announced at a later date — all showcasing World, North American, U.S. and Regional Premieres. See below for the full lineup of feature film programming at this year’s festival.
For more details and to purchase your badge to attend go to FantasticFest.com.
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Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.