The Overlook Film Festival Announces First Wave of Films for 10th Anniversary Event

The Overlook Film Festival has revealed the first wave of programming for its 10th annual edition, set to take place April 9–12, 2026, at the Prytania Theatres in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The festival will feature 47 films in its initial lineup, including 21 feature films and 26 shorts representing productions from seven countries. Alongside the film program, attendees can expect immersive experiences, live presentations, and interactive events that have become a defining part of the festival.

The opening night selection will be Obsession from writer-director Curry Barker. The film follows a young man whose attempt to win the affection of his crush by breaking a novelty wish object leads to consequences he did not anticipate.

The festival’s Centerpiece presentation will feature Leviticus from director Adrian Chiarella, while the closing night screening will be Hokum from filmmaker Damien McCarthy. The film stars Adam Scott as a writer who travels to an Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes and encounters unsettling stories connected to the property.

Additional highlights include the world premiere of Trauma, or Monsters All from Larry Fessenden, as well as screenings of earlier films from the director’s body of work including Blackout, Depraved, and Habit.

Among the additional titles announced are Chili Finger starring Judy Greer, Bryan Cranston, Sean Astin, and John Goodman; Drag starring Lizzy Caplan, Lucy DeVito, and John Stamos; and Faces of Death directed by Daniel Goldhaber.

The festival will also honor legendary makeup effects artist Rick Baker with its Master of Horror Award. The recognition will include a special 45th anniversary screening of An American Werewolf in London, the film that earned Baker the first Academy Award for makeup.

Additional programming includes immersive experiences such as Eternal from Darkfield, Hag from The Queen’s Fools, and The Mother of Nightmares from E3W Productions and All of Them Witches. The festival will also present a centennial screening of A Page of Madness with a live score performed by a New Orleans-based orchestra.

Opening Night Film
Obsession 
Director: Curry Barker
Cast: Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, Andy Richter
United States, 2025
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.

Centerpiece Film
Leviticus
Director: Adrian Chiarella
Cast: Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Mia Wasikowska, Jeremy Blewitt, Ewen Leslie, Davida McKenzie
Australia, 2026
Two teenage boys must escape a violent entity that takes the form of the person they desire most — each other.

Closing Night Film
Hokum
Director: Damian McCarthy
Cast: Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh, Will O’Connell, Michael Patric, Siox C, Brendan Conroy, Austin Amelio, Ezra Carlisle
United States, Ireland, 2026
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.

Feature Film Presentations – International Titles Presented by MUBI
Boorman and the Devil
Director: David Kittredge
Featuring: John Boorman, Louise Fletcher, Karyn Kusama, Mike Flanagan, Joe Dante
United States, 2025
Hot off the success of his genre defining film, Deliverance, John Boorman takes on his biggest challenge yet – a sequel to one of the most successful horror movies in history, The Exorcist. What could go wrong? This insightful documentary delves deep into the making of one of the biggest bombs in horror history.

Chili Finger
Directors: Edd Benda, Stephen Helstad
Cast: Judy Greer, Sean Astin, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Madeline Wise, Paul Stanko, Sarah Herrman, Sara Sevigny, Dann Florek
United States, 2025
When a down on their luck couple find a gruesome surprise at their favorite fast food chain, they hatch a simple blackmail plot that quickly spins their lives out of control in this bloody, Coen Brothers-esque thriller featuring an all-star cast.

Drag
Directors: Raviv Ullman, Greg Yagolnitzer
Cast: Lizzy Caplan, Lucy DeVito, John Stamos, Christine Ko
United States, 2025
Two sisters. One empty house. A simple burglary plan. If only one of them didn’t throw their back out… Raviv Ullman and Greg Yagolnitzer’s hilarious and twisty horror comedy is a ticking clock crawl to survival as the sibling duo must find a way out or face the dangers of being caught when the owner returns home.

Exit 8
Director: Genki Kawamura
Cast: Kazunari Ninomiya, Yamato Kochi, Naru Asanuma, Kotone Hanase, Nana Komatsu
Japan, 2026
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?

Faces of Death
Director: Daniel Goldhaber
Cast: Barbie Ferreira, Dacre Montgomery, Josie Totah, Charli XCX
United States, 2026
A moderator at a social media platform gets thrown face-first into a macabre mystery when she uncovers a series of visceral snuff videos bearing resemblance to a mythical 1978 cult film. Starring Barbie Ferreira, this New Orleans shot slasher is a thrilling twist on the modern remake.

Goody Goody – WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Raymond Creamer
Cast: Colleen Foy, Samantha Robinson, Zoe Renee, Colby Hollman
United States, 2026
Lulled into a necessary sense of comfort during a long home birth process, expecting parents and their midwife begin to realize that something may be horribly wrong. As labor complications ensue, a blizzard rages outside trapping the family in their home – sitting ducks for whatever sinister presence might be in there with them.

The Holy Boy
Director: Paolo Strippoli
Cast: Michele Riondino, Giulio Feltri
Italy, 2026
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.

Never After Dark
Director: Dave Boyle
Cast: Moeka Hoshi, Kento Kaku, Kurumi Inagaki, Mutsuo Yoshioka, Bokuzo Masana, Tae Kimura
Japan, 2025
A medium for hire, assisted by the spirit of her deceased sister, takes on the case of a grotesque apparition that haunts an isolated country home. As she peels back the layers of the spine-tingling investigation, she realizes that the greatest threats don’t lie in the world of the dead, but rather in with the living people around her.

New Group
Directors: Yûta Shimotsu
Cast: Yuzu Aoki, Pierre Taki
Japan, 2026
From the director of the Overlook 2025 winner for Scariest Feature, Best Wishes to All, comes a terrifying new vision of youth, conformity, and authoritarianism as the students inside a modern high school are violently forced to become part of increasingly disturbing, physically demanding and surreal tasks in order to assimilate.

Parasomnia
Directors: James Ross II
Cast: Jasmine Mathews, RJ Brown, Sally Stewart, Stephen Barrington, Danny Brown, Simon Longnight
United States, 2025
When one of her closest friends goes missing, Riley, a young woman haunted by a lifelong battle with debilitating night terrors, must come to terms with the fact that the demonic entity that’s been stalking her dreams since childhood may have followed her home into the real world.

Saccharine
Director: Natalie Erika James
Cast: Midori Francis, Danielle Macdonald, Madeleine Madden|
Australia, 2026
Looking for a quick weight loss fix, a medical student accepts a mysterious drug, setting her off on a path of unwanted transformation in this goopy, sickening, violent body-horror from the director of Relic.

Trauma, or Monsters All – WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Larry Fessenden
Cast: Alex Breaux, Joseph Castillo-Midyett, Barbara Crampton, Aitana Doyle, Larry Fessenden, Rigo Garay, Steve Heller, Laetitia Hollard, Alex Hurt, Cody Kostro, James Le Gros
United States, 2026
An aspiring author gets more than she bargained for when she writes an article for the local paper about her small town’s dark history, prompting unwanted speculation on what monsters may lie within. Overlook mainstay Larry Fessenden returns with the thrilling conclusion to his quadrilogy, a thoughtful and fiercely independent monster mash that can be enjoyed on its own or marathoned with his three origin stories – Habit, Depraved and Blackout.

Ugly Cry
Director: Emily Robinson
Cast: Emily Robinson, Ryan Simpkins, Aaron Domínguez, Robin Tunney, Andrew Leeds, Heather Morris, Chalia La Tour, Ray Abruzzo, Sophie Von Haselberg, Josh Ruben, and Melinda McGraw
United States, 2026
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.

Retrospective Film Presentations

An American Werewolf in London
45th Anniversary Screening
2026 Master of Horror Award Recipient Rick Baker in Person
Director: John Landis
Cast: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne, John Woodvine
United States, 1981
Beware the moon! Witness the most monstrous of monster transformations, one that cemented Rick Baker’s legacy and earned him his first Academy Award, unfurl on the big screen before your very eyes. Chosen by our 2026 Master of Horror recipient Rick Baker, the screening will precede a conversation with the legend himself.

Blackout
Directors: Larry Fessenden
Cast: Alex Hurt, Addison Timlin, Motell Gyn Foster, Joseph Castillo-Midyett, John Speredakos, Michael Buscemi, Joe Swanberg, Barbara Crampton, James Le Gros, Marshall Bell
United States, 2023
Not your typical werewolf story, Blackout follows a painter, haunted by guilt, who becomes convinced that he is transforming at night and wreaking havoc in his small town in the third of Larry Fessenden’s four-part monsterverse series.

Depraved
Director: Larry Fessenden
Cast: David Call, Joshua Leonard, Alex Breaux, Ana Kayne, Maria Dizzia, Chloë Levine
United States, 2019
The second in Larry Fessenden’s genre-bending four movie monsterverse is a millennial take on the Frankenstein myth in which a PTSD-riddled field surgeon deep in the heart of Brooklyn decides to reconstruct an unsuspecting man out of spare body parts.

Habit
Director: Larry Fessenden
Cast: Larry Fessenden, Meredith Snaider, Aaron Beall
United States, 1995
Indie icon Larry Fessenden’s first feature, about an alcoholic New Yorker who falls for a mysterious woman with vampiric qualities, is as groundbreaking now as it was when it debuted over 20 years ago, inspiring generations of young horror filmmakers to this day.

A Page of Madness – 100th Anniversary Screening with Live Score Composed by Jeff Pagano
Director: Teinosuke Kinugasa
Cast: Masuo Inoue, Ayako Iijima, Yoshie Nakagawa
Japan, 1926
A completely original avant-garde masterpiece once thought lost to time for 45 years, Japan’s first ever horror film simply must be seen. A rarity in sight and sound, this work of art will be presented with an original composition from Nola’s own Jeff Pagano (Marigny Opera House) and performed by a six piece orchestra handpicked by the maestro.

Live Events and Special Presentations

SHUDDER SECOND LINE PARADE – Presented by SHUDDER

The quintessential New Orleans art form returns with our signature horror twist courtesy of the scariest streamer around. Bigger and bolder, this year’s second line will kick off the entire festival on Opening Night. Make your way to our festival headquarters before the screenings begin, strutting through the French Quarter in style behind a demonic brass band, creepy characters both familiar and unknown, and you. We roll at 5pm. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Immersive Presentations – Presented by American Immersion Theater
The festival’s unique interactive live theatrical horror experiences for small audiences return with fresh offerings for the brave and mysterious.

ETERNAL
Creator: Darkfield
You have been chosen and we thank you for your sacrifice. In return we offer you the opportunity for eternal life, but there are conditions. ETERNAL is a 25 minute immersive audio experience for one person, alone in their bed. It explores the temptation of eternal life and wonders what price you would pay to achieve it. ETERNAL was commissioned by the 2020 Bram Stoker Festival, Dublin.

HAG
Presented by Charming Stranger
Creator: The Queen’s Fools
The Weird Sisters have gotten even weirder. You have responded to a Craigslist ad from a disgruntled Landlord needing help clearing out some squatters from his recently purchased property. Pack up their things & do what you’ve gotta do to get ‘em out. Simple. Only, some squatters are better left alone. HAG is a 35-minute spooky & silly immersive experience for four audience members, led through the chaos and charm of Shakespeare’s Weird Sisters.

THE MOTHER OF NIGHTMARES
Creators: E3W Productions and AOTW
Step into the dream world and come face to face with the Mother of Nightmares, the mysteriously mischievous figure who creates and controls all of your worst dreams, as she guides you through this surreal and darkly comedic 1-on-1 experience from returning Overlook creators E3W Productions (IN ANOTHER ROOM). Originally performed as part of ‘The Shape of the Night’, a full-length immersive experience exploring the world of dreams and nightmares created by Overlook veteran group All Of Them Witches (AOTW).

The four-day event will begin with a horror-themed Second Line Parade through the French Quarter, presented by Shudder.

FOR FULL PROGRAM LISTING AND TICKETS VISIT https://www.overlookfilmfest.com/