the whisper

After teenage Lucía has cleaned up the latest bloodbath caused by her violent father, she flees with her little brother Adrián and moves into a run-down villa. But the dream of a halfway normal life remains far out of reach. The latest directorial effort from the maker of THE SILENT HOUSE (Fantasy Filmfest 2010) and the producers of WHEN EVIL LURKS delivers a tour de force that repeatedly leaves you speechless.

nightborn

NIGHTBORN is the second feature by Hanna Bergholm. Carved from the same gnarled wood as her debut HATCHING, it leads us deep into the most remote corners of the Finnish forest: a bloody body horror so physical, so female, and so creaking with menace that its powerful atmosphere grips us immediately. What lurks around the old cabin where a young couple has retreated is the terror of ancient fairy tales and legends.

desert warrior

The sadistic emperor Kisra (Ben Kingsley) demands a daughter as tribute from every tribal chief of the kingdom. When the rebellious princess Hind and her father flee into the desert, he sends his forces after them. With a $150-million budget, director Rupert Wyatt (RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES) delivers a lavish adventure epic, featuring countless extras, breathtaking action stunts, and spectacular desert landscapes.

opening night

obsession – du sollst mich lieben

In his award-winning horror sensation Curry Barker follows Bear, a young record store clerk whose deepest wish is to win the love of his childhood friend Nikki. When he finds a mysterious object, it magically makes Nikki fall head over heels for him. But her tender devotion soon turns into a demonic obsession. Following his low-budget online hit MILK & SERIAL, Barker delivers with OBSESSION far more than just another genre entry about obsessive love. Claustrophobic physical situations collide with psychological tension until the fragile boundary between desire and reality dissolves into something eerily alien. Painful, uncomfortably intense, and powerful.

closing night

mum, i’m alien pregnant

Mary has a weakness for alien sex – at least in her comics. But then there’s Boo, the result of his mother’s abduction by aliens. One thing leads to another, and alien semen suddenly shoots across the room and hits its target. The most bizarre pregnancy in film history begins – with skeptical doctors, know-it-all mothers, an overwhelmed father-to-be, exploding breasts, and plenty of bodily fluids. The directing duo THUNDERLIPS delivers one of the year’s most outrageous crowd-pleasers. With no fear of bad taste or broken taboos, they send their cast from one grotesque situation to the next. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the film ups the ante – again and again.

whistle

An ancient Aztec whistle sets off a chain of bloody events at Pellington High. Whoever blows it – or hears its piercing sound – is doomed to a horrific death. New student Chrys, who has just moved in with her cousin Rel, teams up with the kind-hearted Ellie to stop the curse, but for some of their friends help comes too late. Corin Hardy (THE HALLOW, THE NUN) delivers a creepy gore fest for fans of classic U.S. horror.

saccharine

Hana is convinced that losing weight is the key to happiness – but it’s too difficult for her. Until she discovers a new miracle pill. She’s thrilled, even after learning its shocking ingredient: the ashes of human remains. Worse still, it comes with terrifying side effects. The spirit of the woman whose body Hana consumes pill by pill begins to haunt her more and more tangibly – and it is literally insatiable.

kinki

Mr. Sayama, the editor of an ultra-mystery magazine, has disappeared – just as he was about to reveal the story of a lifetime. His young colleagues Chihiro and Ozawa search for him and uncover cryptic drawings, nightmarish video clips, and an occult legend that leads them into the darkest corners of the Kinki region. Then Ozawa vanishes as well. J-horror at its most intense: oppressive and nerve-shredding.

the vile

Khalid comes home with a second wife, leaving Amani and her daughter Noor horrified. Who is this mysterious woman who has ensnared Khalid so completely – and who soon begins manipulating Noor, too? Director Majid Al Ansari lets the uncanny seep so quietly into familiar spaces that they become almost unrecognizable. The VILE is a nerve-shredding horror thriller that intertwines cultural reality with supernatural menace.

veins

Isabelle’s homecoming does not go as expected: her mother seems strangely distant and eager to send her away again as quickly as possible. Then she learns that both her father and her cousin have recently died. As unsettling incidents begin to multiply in the nearly deserted village, she gradually uncovers a dark secret – one that gives the phrase “back to your roots” an entirely new meaning.