The 13th annual Panic Fest returns to Kansas City from March 27 – April 2, with over 130 features and short films, including a 30th anniversary 4K screening of Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers presented by Paramount Scares, and Neon and Finn Wolfhard’s throwback slasher Hell of a Summer.
Other headliners include Lionsgate’s Freaky Tales, Magnolia’s 40 Acres, David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds, and the Crispin Glover starring fantasy film, Mr. K. Additional highlights for this year's programming include world premieres for Chad Archibald’s It Feeds, Daniel DelPurgatorio’s Marshmallow, Nick Funess’ The Hedonist and Tim Cruz’ Don’t Let The Cat Out. Hosting the highly anticipated annual Mystery Movie are filmmakers Joe Lynch and Rebecca Howard, who could be bringing attendees anything from Thank God It’s Friday or last year's New York Ripper.
Panic Fest's podcast lineup includes Cult Podcast, Horror Virgin and Nightmare Junkhead, with recordings, meet-and-greet events, and after-parties taking place at the nostalgic Rewind Video and Dive Bar, complete with a full-service bar, board games, retro gaming systems, a neon-infused atmosphere and shelves of VHS tapes.
As before, Panic Fest will be a hybrid event, with fans to enjoy the fest online at home with a slate of virtual programming from March 27 – April 6.
Festival Director Adam Roberts gives Panic Fest attendees a tease of what's in store at this year's fest:
“There is a major emphasis on bringing the fun back into horror this year at the festival. From a cat sitting gone wrong to a twisted grave robber looking for love and multiple takes on the summer camp slasher genre, the line up is packed with quirky premises and a whole lot of WTF did you just watch.”
Co-founder Tim KC Canton adds:
“Genre is alive and well here at Panic Fest as we welcome a new class of films from around the world. We couldn’t be more excited to share these thrilling selections with our audiences!”
Read on for Panic Fest's feature lineup, and for shorts, Online Block and ticket information head over to the official Panic Fest site for further updates.
1978
D: Nicolás Onetti, Luciano Onetti
During the World Cup final between Argentina and Holland, in times of military dictatorship, a group of torturers violently breaks into a home and kidnaps a group of young people to take them to a clandestine detention center. What begins as an inhumane interrogation turns into a true martyrdom: the wrong group of people have been kidnapped. They turn out to be part of a macabre cult guided by an unknown supernatural force.
40 Acres
D: R.T. Thorne
In a post-apocalyptic world with food scarcity, a Black family of Canadian farmers descended from American Civil War migrants defend their homestead against cannibals trying to seize their resources.
A Desert
D: Joshua Erkman
While on a road trip, a photographer befriends a young couple whose reckless ways turn his world upside down and into a nightmare in this unpredictable and horror-tinged neo-noir knockout.
Abduct
D: Chris Riggi
A woman's peaceful mountain getaway takes a bizarre turn when her boyfriend disappears, and a random naked man shows up claiming to be him.
Beyond the Drumlins
D: Daniel W. Bowhers
The leaves have already started to change, but Professor Jonathan Rust is still woefully ill-prepared for the coming semester. This weekend, he is scouting a suitable location for the archeology department’s fieldwork course. With the help of fellow academics and hired hands, the team heads out at first light. The trip presents a rare opportunity for Jonathan to get his hands dirty and success could mean publication and just maybe – tenure. The expedition is quickly derailed when a Teaching Assistant mysteriously vanishes. Soon, the group finds themselves at the intersection of reality and the afterlife in a haunting descent into madness.
Black Spines
D: Jordan Foss
The film follows Cameron, a high school photographer who investigates a series of murders in his small town. But when mysterious video tapes begin to appear leading Cameron to clues about the killer’s identity, he is forced to reckon with the very terrifying possibility that the killer may be closer than he ever imagined.
Black Theta
D:Tim Connolly
Andy is haunted years after his brush with death when a mysterious and murderous cult returns to target him, throwing him onto a rollercoaster of chaos and terror.
The Book of the Witch
D: Joshua Sowden
Driven by her fear of death, Victoria hunts a mythical Witch, determined to steal her book that grants eternal life-but at a sinister price.
Carry the Darkness
D: Douglas Forrester
In 1993, Travis Baldwin is a misunderstood metalhead teenager amidst a world steeped in the Satanic panic. Lured by a mysterious entity that begins wreaking havoc, can Travis protect himself and his friends while being blamed for the atrocities surrounding him? Besides a few friends and a newcomer detective, the town eagerly accuses Travis while remaining blind to the true evil in their midst.
Chain Reactions
D: Alexandre O. Philippe
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre's impact on 5 artists – Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, Karyn Kusama – through interviews, outtakes, exploring how it shaped their art, psyche from childhood trauma.
Chainsaws Were Singing
D: Sander Maran
Adventures await when new lovers get separated by a chainsaw killer.
Cover
D: Cameron Francis
When a traveling stamp dealer gives a ride to a woman on the run from her abusive boyfriend, he soon discovers that their dark pasts are inextricably linked, and that she isn’t just after a ride–she’s after revenge.
Dead Lover
D: Grace Glowicki
A lonely gravedigger who stinks of corpses finally meets her dream man, but their whirlwind affair is cut short when he tragically drowns at sea. Grief-stricken, she goes to morbid lengths to resurrect him through madcap experiments.
Descendent
D: Peter Cilella
A troubled LA school guard, haunted by family tragedy, experiences strange visions after a mysterious light appears in the sky. As his wife's due date approaches, he races to face his demons before his growing obsession consumes him.
Don’t Let the Cat Out
D: Tim Cruz
A feline-obsessed couple find their next human vessel to transfer the soul of their beloved cat into.
Dooba Dooba
D: Ehrland Hollingsworth
Amna expected a relaxed night of babysitting but when she arrives, she learns that her ward is not only a sheltered sixteen year old girl who goes by Moony, but that she is being watched at all times by in-home security cameras. It quickly becomes apparent that Moony is unaccustomed to socializing and that she has a grave misunderstanding of the term friendship.
For God’s Sake Wake Her Up
D: Wayne Moreheart
In a quest for redemption, Rizz faces a malevolent entity to save April's life by deciphering the chilling secrets within her video diaries.
Freaky Tales
D: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Four interconnected stories set in 1987 Oakland, CA. will tell about the love of music, movies, people, places and memories beyond our knowable universe.
Frewaka
D: Aislinn Clarke
Follow a student of nursing palliative care, who is plagued by a trauma from her past that has a disorienting effect on her present, her relationship, her career and her ability to function.
The G
D: Karl R. Hearne
A mysterious older woman seeks revenge on the corrupt legal guardian who destroyed her life.
Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (30th Anniversary 4K)
D: Joe Chappelle
Six years after Michael Myers last terrorized Haddonfield, he returns there in pursuit of his niece, Jamie Lloyd, who has escaped with her newborn child, for which Michael and a mysterious cult have sinister plans.
Head Like a Hole
D: Stefan MacDonald-Labelle
In financial dire straits, a man accepts a strange, high-paying job where he must take up residence in a home and measure a hole in the wall of the basement to determine whether or not it's growing in size.
Hell of a Summer
D: Finn Wolfhard, Billy Bryk
The counselors of a summer camp are terrorized by a masked killer.
It Feeds
D: Chad Archibald
After a young girl bursts into their home psychiatry practice claiming an entity is feeding on her, Jordan and her clairvoyant mother must find a way to stop the force before the girl is taken completely.
Lead Belly
D: Stephen King Simmons
Flashback to 1997. LEAD BELLY is a coming of age horror film about two younger brothers visiting their recently divorced and estranged father during summer vacation. With plenty of bumps, twists and terrifying turns along the way. LEAD BELLY will keep the audience guessing until the final frame.
The Lost Episode
D: Nick Wernham
Assembled by XPU$HER and made available through the Black-Torrent Release Group, The Lost Episode offers a raw and unsettling look at unaired footage captured during a police ride-along on Halloween night, 2004. The film follows officers Paul Massaro and Terrence Williams as they navigate the sleepy streets of Franklin, uncovering a chain of horrifying events and a disturbing conspiracy rooted in the heart of the small town they swore to protect.
Marshmallow
D: Daniel DelPurgatorio
When a once-fabled campfire tale becomes real, a group of campers uncover a profound secret that questions their very existence.
Mr. K
>D: Tallulah Hazekamp Schwab
After spending the night in a remote hotel, Mr. K is stuck in a claustrophobic nightmare when he discovers that he can't leave the building.
The Only Ones
D: Jordan Miller
A group of friends’ weekend plans unravel when a string of misfortunes spirals into bloodshed. Trust crumbles and the body count rises as the survivors are forced to confront the truth that sometimes, the deadliest threats come from within.
Play Dead
D: Charly Goitia
Alison wakes up in a basement, surrounded by the bodies of dead women. To survive and escape, she must play dead—until she discovers the chilling truth about what's happening upstairs.
Psyche
D: Stephon Stewart
Adrift in limbo, a young woman and computer embark on a quest to uncover the meaning of life.
The Rebrand
D: Kaye Adelaide
Nicole, an eight months-pregnant bisexual videographer is hired by a lesbian lifestyle influencer couple to film a redemption documentary after they’ve been publicly cancelled, but Nicole quickly discovers that the couple have nefarious ulterior motives.
Rolling
D: Robert Deboucher, Ethan Spotts
After a confrontation with their landlord goes horrifically wrong, two flustered young women find themselves in a dire race to profit from his tragic demise.
Self Driver
D: Michael Pierro
Facing mounting expenses and the unrelenting pressure of modern living, a down-on-his-luck cab driver is lured on to a mysterious new app that promises fast, easy money.
The Severed Sun
D: Dean Puckett
Magpie lives in an isolated church community ruled over by her father, The Pastor. When a man is murdered, paranoia sets in and people start to whisper about a strange ‘Beast' that lives in the forest.
Shadow Reaper
D: Richard Terrasi
William Bradshaw and his film crew embark on a journey to the town of Devensville, Indiana in search of clues for a series of mysterious murders that took place for over two hundred years and its roots of the legendary Shadow Reaper. His search ended in tragedy!
She Loved Blossoms More
D: Yannis Veslemes
Three brothers build an unusual time-machine in order to bring their long-dead mother back to life. When their delusional father comes into the picture, the experiments go awry, and they descend into a psychedelic hellscape where the past and present fuse in a comedic yet deeply disturbing exploration of grief.
The Shrouds
D: David Cronenberg
Karsh, an innovative businessman and grieving widower, builds a device to connect with the dead inside a burial shroud.
The Silent Planet
D: Jeffrey St. Jules
An aging convict serving out a life sentence alone on a distant planet is forced to confront his past when a new prisoner shows up and pushes him to remember his life on earth.
Somnium
D: Racheal Cain
At an experimental sleep clinic, Somnium, your dreams are made real. Side effects may include: hallucinations, confusion, paranoia, sleep paralysis, detachment from reality, lost sense of self, permanent nightmares.
The Spirit of Halloweentown
D: Brett Whitcomb, Bradford Thomason
After serving as the location for a beloved Disney Channel movie in 1998, a tiny Oregon town grapples with its reputation as the real Halloweentown.
Stalkers
D: Paul Thompson
Sometimes a phone call can change your life. Once a small-town girl from Michigan, Kate Swanson ran away as a teen and reinvented herself in California as cult porn star Tabitha Swann. But everything changes when a call from Michigan Child Services reveals that Charlotte, the daughter Kate gave up for adoption in high school, has been orphaned in a brutal double homicide.
Straight on Til Morning
D: Craig Ouellette
Two dreamers, small town musician Dani and waitress Kaitlin, start falling for each other on a spontaneous road trip. The future is bright — until they cross paths with a twisted family, led by matriarch Lilly (Maria Olsen, Paranormal Activity 3, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Lightning Thief), with something much much darker in mind. A unique blend of romance and horror, filled with nail biting tension and highlighted with original songs sung by Dani, Straight On Till Morning weaves the beautiful and terrible things people do for love into an unforgettable, edge of your seat journey into darkness.
Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire
D: Stuart Ortiz
A faux true-crime documentary about two detectives in pursuit of an infamous serial killer named Mr. Shiny, who terrorized Southern California for almost two decades.
Super Happy Fun Clown
D: Patrick Rea
To escape a life of oppressed obscurity, a battered former wunderkind weaponizes her obsession with clowning, serial killers, and classic movie monsters into a night of shocking infamy.
Tie Die
D: Morgan Miller
When a series of mangled bodies begin appearing in the park, Ranger Jones (Lloyd Kaufman, President of Troma Entertainment and creator of the Toxic Avenger) and a state trooper (Joe Bob Briggs, Shudder’s The Last Drive In) are baffled by the attacks. It’s been a long time since a black bear has gone rabid in the park and never to this degree. The timing couldn’t be worse as the area is filling up with young musicians, hippies, and earth children. Can they stop the killings before things get worse, or will Ranger Jones miss the encore?
Ugly Stepsister
D: Emilie Blichfeldt
Follows Elvira as she battles against her gorgeous stepsister in a realm where beauty reigns supreme. She resorts to extreme measures to captivate the prince, amidst a ruthless competition for physical perfection.
What Happened to Dorothy Bell?
D: Danny Villanueva Jr
After uncovering disturbing revelations from her early childhood involving her late grandmother, Dorothy Bell, Ozzie Gray sets out to video document her investigation into these past events. Desperate for answers, she attempts to communicate with Dorothy's spirit but unwittingly awakens something malevolent.
SHORT BLOCK #1
“Defile” D. Brian Sepanzyk
“Frankenbabes From Beyond the Grave!” D. Andrew Bowser
“Manifest Destiny” D. Timothy Gunatilaka
“Wake” D. Sean Carter
“Una Volta” D. Joshua BOON
“Animas Forks” D. Sam Blacksburg
“77” D. Christopher Perna
SHORT BLOCK #2
“Cosmic Crash” D. James Smith
“Follow You” D. Alexandre Mullen
“Faces” D. Blake Simon
“Nervous Ellie” D. David Yorke
“Close Encounter” D. Jeph Porter
“Drop” Chingiz Ondasynov
“The Widower” D. Michael Buran
“Red Flag” D. Malin Barr, Cleo Handler
“Rejected” D. Rene Rivas
“Poppa” D. Peter Ahern
SHORT BLOCK #3
“Ensouled” D. Moe Najati
“The Last Thing She Saw” D. Brady Richards
“Grandma, May I” Gage Zanghi
“A Drive at Dawn” D. Joe D’Ovidio
“They Shitty Ride” D. Cole Doran
“Whitch” D. Hoku Uchiyama
“Sundowning” D. Faith Liu
“Devil’s Prism” D. Kika Magalhaes
SHORT BLOCK #4
“Her House” D. Will Lee
“Mimic” D. Thomas Edward Hindy
“Body Worn Video” D. Richard O’Hare
“Norma” D. Priya Sanghvi, Dan Scott Goldstein
“CLAUD_AI” D. Gabriel Furman
“Masks” D. Andre LeBlanc
“Turn It Off” D. Senda Maud Bonnet
“Stomach It” D. Peter Klausner
SHORT BLOCK #5
“Skeeter” D. Chris McInroy
“Slave For Love” D. Michael Shlain
“Orum” D. Adam Davis
“Taboo” D. Almog Avidan Antonir
“Like Me” D. Ashley Lauren Thomas
“Banjo” D. Cameron Poletti
“Mr. Static” D. Mike Williamson
“Dale’S Killer Car Deals” D. Drew Highlands
“Jon #2” D. Lucas Eubank
“Virgin” D. Ramone Menon
“A Mother’s Love” D. Lisa Ovies
ONLINE BLOCK #1
“Guardian Angel” D. Charles Olsen
“Escape” D. Lorenzo Manetti
“Cold Feet” D. Anna Vecellio
“Umbra” D. Pablo Otero
“Sweet Dreaming” D. Andrew Laudone
“Deadbeat Beer Runners” D. Riley Doyle
“Crystal Galaxy Enforcers” D. Kirk Howle
“Love Eternal” D. Dominic Czarnota
“Outcast Forest” D. Frank Raudsepp
ONLINE BLOCK #2
“As a Rake” D. Amy Whittenberger
“Safe” D. Kyle Baughman
“Wild Animals” D. David B Jacobs
“The Humming Grows” D. Aughbar
“Outside Noise” D. Jesse Bartlett
“No Escape” D. Leena Kurishingal
“Closed Circuit” D. Karl Redgen
“The Path” D. Patrick Guera
ONLINE BLOCK #3
“The Rug” D. Sean Cisterna
“Shepard Moon” D. Michaela Wadzinski
“The Vocho From Hell” D. Gerardo Onate
“Intrusive” D. Evan Hoon
“Collette” D. Jack Walterman
“The Parcel” D. Jared Tipton
“Inked” D. Kelsey Bollig
ONLINE BLOCK #4
“Sender Unknown” D. Lauren Coggiola
“Convoluted” D. Mohamed Fareed
“Bloody Mary” D. Drew Underwood
“Icebox” D. Patrick Rea
“Kali” D. Esther Smith
“The Visitor” D. Tony Morales
“Pit Stop” D. David A. Flores
ONLINE BLOCK #5
“Sins of the Father” D. Dominic Fogarty
“Choose Your Fate” D. Cora Marie Sfida, Sean Killion
“Clem” D. John Barnard
“Treadmill” D. Sam Krebs
“Trapped” D. Owen Boardman
“Kal-Haven” D. Kal Kociss
“It Draws Closer” D. Joshua Matthews
“Daylight” D. Peter Cornwell
LONG FORM SHORTS PROGRAMMING
IN-PERSON BLOCK
“Never Let You Go” D. Alex Domenici
“Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting” D. Alexander Thompson
“Destroyer” D. Judd Myers
“Till Death Do Us Part” D. Jacob Hamblin
“Hold Up” D. Ori Guendelman
ONLINE BLOCK #1
“Mondegreen” D. Linda Mai Green
“Voyager” D. Pablo Pagan
“Stalker” D. David Cholewa
ONLINE BLOCK #2
“Baby Blues” D.James P. Gleason
“El Jacho: A Puerto Rican Legend” D. Adrian Borges
“Party Panda: The Bird of a Serial Killer” D. Uriah Herr
ONLINE BLOCK #3
“They Watch” D. Conrad Faraj
“Rat!” D.Neal Suresh Mulani
“Madness Unplugged” D.David St. Clair
ONLINE BLOCK #4
“Forgive Me” D. Cameron Fei Sun
“Anniversary” D. Paul De Cinque
“Sleepwalkers” D.Bernardo Viotti
“Humanzee” D. Taro O’Halloran
