By Eric Ortiz
The Fantastic Pavilion presents a weekly recap with the most relevant news about the world of genre cinema.
Festivals
Submissions are now open for the Fantastic Vertical Cinema Showcase, “a selection of works in the vertical 9:16 format, focused on horror, fantasy, and science fiction.” March 28 is the deadline to submit, via FilmFreeway.
Presented by the Fantastic Pavilion, Blood Window and Mórbido, the Fantastic Vertical Cinema Showcase will take place within the 2026 Marché du Film in Cannes.
The Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF) announced its first wave of 2026 titles: the sci-fi comedy Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (2025), and the horror films Gaua (2025), Corporate Retreat (2026) and The Mortuary Assistant (2026). The festival is happening from April 3 to 18.
News
With the impending release of Psycho Killer (2026), 20th Century Studios put out an official clip, which shows the so-called Satanic Slasher (James Preston Rogers) entering a motel room. The flick was penned by Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en) and follows a “highway patrol officer (Georgina Campbell),” who “sets out on a journey to track down the man responsible for the brutal murder of her husband: a sadistic serial killer with a sinister agenda.” Psycho Killer hits U.S. theaters this Friday, February 20.
After being one of the Midnight Screenings at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, the Japanese chiller Exit 8 (8-ban deguchi, 2025) is heading to cinemas in the U.S. (on April 10) and Australia/New Zealand (on April 23). You can watch here its American trailer.
Synopsis: “Based on the global hit eponymous 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?”
There’s a new teaser for Obsession (2025), the horror movie that won three awards at last year’s Sitges Film Festival, including the Special Jury Award. Obsession, written and directed by Curry Barker, opens theatrically in the U.S. on May 15.
Synopsis: “After breaking the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.”
Shudder has landed North American distribution rights to Brock Bodell’s thriller Hellcat (2025). According to Variety, Blue Finch Films confirmed the news at the European Film Market in Berlin. Hellcat premiered at the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival, where it was praised as “a thrill-ride of strong characters, shredding tension, and real surprises.”