The Fantastic Pavilion presents a weekly recap with the most relevant news about the world of genre cinema.
News
The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) is back from the dead and seeking vengeance in the official trailer for Black Phone 2 (2025), Scott Derrickson’s snowy horror sequel. Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw reprise their roles as, respectively, siblings Finney and Gwen, while the Mexican actor Demián Bichir has been added to the cast. Black Phone 2 hits U.S. theaters on October 17.
Synopsis: “As Finn, now 17, struggles with life after his captivity, the headstrong 15-year-old Gwen begins receiving calls in her dreams from the black phone and seeing disturbing visions of three boys being stalked at a winter camp known as Alpine Lake. Determined to solve the mystery and end the torment for both her and her brother, Gwen persuades Finn to visit the camp during a winter storm. There, she uncovers a shattering intersection between The Grabber and her own family’s history. Together, she and Finn must confront a killer who has grown more powerful in death and more significant to them than either could imagine.”
You can watch here the new trailer for the documentary The Vincent Price Legacy (2025). Laurent Ohmansiek directed the 136-minute doc about the legendary actor, which features personalities like John Landis, Joe Dante, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, David Dastmalchian, and Victoria Price. It’ll premiere sometime this fall.
Entertainment Weekly published a piece about Queens of the Dead (2025), the debut feature from Tina Romero, George A. Romero’s daughter. Queens of the Dead, starring Katy O’Brian, is a zombie film with a queer nightlife setting. It just celebrated its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival.
Drafthouse Films released the trailer for Ebony & Ivory (2024), the latest from The Greasy Strangler (2016) director Jim Hosking. Ebony & Ivory has been described as a “surreal comedy” about “two musical legends convening at a remote Scottish cottage to discuss a potential collaboration that may unite an entire generation.” It was clearly inspired by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder’s 1982 song of the same name.
Judging by its trailer, House on Eden (2025) is yet another found footage supernatural horror flick. Its target audience is the young generation, as it stars famous “content creators” Kris Collins (KallMeKris) – who also directed it – and Celina Myers (CelinaSpookyBoo). House on Eden arrives in U.S. cinemas on July 25, via RLJE Films and Shudder.
Synopsis: “Paranormal investigators Kris, Celina, and their videographer Jay expect the usual scares when they set out on their latest case. But after being mysteriously rerouted to an abandoned house deep in the woods, they find themselves facing a force unlike anything they’ve encountered before. As the night spirals into chaos, missing crew members and eerie phenomena hint at an ancient, malevolent presence watching their every move.”
As we reported before, Mermaid (2025) is the new movie from Tyler Cornack, the director of Butt Boy (2019). After screening at SXSW, Mermaid has now found a North America distributor in Utopia.
Synopsis: “The film follows a Percocet-addicted Florida man named Doug (Johnny Pemberton) who discovers a wounded mermaid on the day he’s set to end his own life. As he nurses the mysterious creature back to health in his rundown home, Doug finds a new purpose. But as rumors of his secret begin to swirl, he’ll go to deranged and desperate lengths to keep her safe.”
Festivals
The Fantasia International Film Festival confirmed that Ari Aster’s Eddington (2025) will be the opening film of its upcoming 29th edition (July 16-August 3). The festival’s second wave of 2025 titles also includes three Takashi Miike projects (episodes from the series Nyaight of the Living Cat and the movies Blazing Fists and Sham), Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s Kazakh Scary Tales, Raitis and Lauris Abele’s Dog of God (Dieva suns, 2025), Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani’s Reflection in a Dead Diamond (Reflet dans un diamant mort, 2025), and Michael Shanks’ Together (2025).