Now that it’s officially spring, that can only mean one thing. It’s almost time for the Overlook Film Festival. The event features some of the year’s most buzzy horror movies, and we can’t wait to view this year’s line-up. The festival takes place from Apil 3-6 in one of America’s most haunted cities, New Orleans. Here are five films we can’t wait to see at this year’s fest.
Frewaka
Irish director Aislinn Clarke’s 2018 debut, The Devil’s Doorway, was an unnerving found footage film set in a remote Catholic asylum for immoral women in the 1960s. Her follow-up, Frewaka, is described as Irish folkloric terror. It follows a care worker who suffers personal tragedy and leaves her Dublin home for a remote assignment in the north country to look after an elderly shut-in. Once there, she finds a portal to something much more sinister. The cast includes Clare Monnelly, Brid Ni Neachtain, and Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya.
Cloud
Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a familiar name to J-horror fans. His work includes Cure and Pulse. The horror legend returns with the genre-bending and unpredictable Cloud. The film follows an online reseller whose bogus products land him in the crosshairs of violent threats which reach closer and closer to home. Kurosawa is such an influential director. His latest is an absolute must-see.
Drop
Christopher Landon is one of the most notable names in modern horror. The director of Freaky and the Happy Death Day films has a sheer talent for blending laughs with scares. His latest, Drop, is the festival’s opening night film. In Drop, a widowed mother, on her first date in several years, arrives at a swanky restaurant, where she meets a good-looking suitor. Their chemistry sours when she’s terrorized by a series of anonymous drops on her phone.
Abraham’s Boys
Overlook alum Natasha Kermani (Lucky, Nightstream ’20) returns to the fest with an adaptation of a Joe Hill story, which follows the events of Dracula. In Abraham’s Boys, Abraham van Helsing moves his two sons, Max and Rudy, to the U.S. in an attempt to escape their past. Of course, it doesn’t work. When you combine the work of Joe Hill with the directorial prowess of Kermani, you probably can’t go wrong.
Clown in a Cornfield
This is undoubtedly one of this year’s most anticipated horror films. Based on Adam Cesare’s 2020 novel and directed by Eli Craig (Tucker & Dale vs Evil), Clown in a Cornfield takes place in Kettle Springs, where residents just can’t catch a break. Nothing has ever been the same since the treasured Baypen Corn Syrup Factory burned down and now a mysterious, grinning figure has emerged from the cornfields to cleanse the town of its burdens, one bloody victim at a time. The real fun starts when Frendo the Clown comes out to play. This movie is likely to be one heck of a fun slasher.
For more information about the Overlook Film Festival, including screening times and ticket information, visit the festival’s website.
