The Fantastic Pavilion presents a weekly recap with the most relevant news about the world of genre cinema.
News
A24 released the first teaser trailer for Bring Her Back (2025), the new flick from Danny and Michael Philippou, directors of the horror hit Talk to Me (2022). Bring Her Back, certainly one of the most anticipated horror movies of the year, stars Sally Hawkins and is about a brother and sister who “uncover a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother.” It’ll hit theaters on May 30.
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is dedicating both an exhibition and a retrospective to South Korean genre auteur Bong Joon-ho. The exhibition Director’s Inspiration: Bong Joon Ho – running from March 23, 2025 to January 10, 2027 – promises “unprecedented access to the filmmaker’s archive and personal collection,” by featuring “over 100 original objects including storyboards, research materials, film posters, concept art, creature models, props, and on-set photographs.”
On the other hand, the 2025 retrospective includes screenings of Bong’s Okja (March 23, with Bong and Steven Yeun in person), Parasite (March 23, with Bong in person), Snowpiercer (March 24), Mother in 35mm (March 31), The Host in 35mm (April 3), Memories of Murder (April 5), and Barking Dogs Never Bites in 35mm (April 14). Additionally, on March 22 there’ll be very special showing of The Thing (1982) – a film that was influential on Bong –, with both John Carpenter and the Korean director in person for a conversation.
The winners of the 2025 BAFTA Film Awards were revealed last Sunday, February 16. Awarded genre movies included Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two (Sound, Special Visual Effects) and Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance (Make Up & Hair).
Almost five years after the release of their anti rape-revenge film Violation (2020), directors Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli returned to the scene with the presentation of Honey Bunch (2025) at the ongoing Berlinale. The Hollywood Reporter described Honey Bunch – which is set in the 1970s – as a “horror film with romance.”
Here’s the synopsis from Berlinale’s official program: “Diana’s attentive and devoted husband, Homer, has taken her from her hospital bed to a remote experimental trauma retreat. After an accident left her with crippling pain and memory loss, this might be their last hope that she’ll get better. Farah, Diana’s personal physician, promises that with the use of Dr. Tréphine’s cutting-edge therapies and with Homer’s helping hand, she will make a full recovery – she’ll feel like her old self again. Homer is enthusiastic about her progress, but the more treatment she undergoes the less Diana feels like herself. When the ritualistic exercises intensify, Diana experiences haunting visions and begins to notice strange changes in her husband’s behaviour. Whispered conversations behind closed doors, going missing for long periods, and his insistence she is recovering even though she feels worse. As troubling memories from her relationship begin to come vividly back to her, Diana must confront the possibility that her recovery may come at a cost far greater than she imagined – one that threatens to unravel a sinister truth about her marriage.”
Filmmaker and horror expert Eli Roth curated a music collection from the archive of CAM Sugar, “the most extensive and representative catalogue of Italian original soundtracks.” Eli Roth’s Red Light Disco features 20 songs from Italian sexploitation and sexy comedy movies that were released between 1969 and 1981. Roth said that his “sonic vision” is perfect for a “red light party, a very cool Italian disco party.” You can get the collection on double vinyl and CD.
Home video
Umbrella Entertainment will put out on June 4 a Blu-ray box set that brings together four New French Extremity films: Alexandre Aja’s High Tension (Haute tension, 2003), Catherine Breillat’s Anatomy of Hell (Anatomie de l’enfer, 2004), Xavier Gens’ Frontier(s) (Frontière(s), 2007), and Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs (2008). The Australian company says that these “taboo-busting” movies “challenge, provoke, and leave a lasting impact.”
The Japanese movie A Samurai in Time (2023) – which received the Audience Award for Best Asian Feature at the 2024 Fantasia Fest – is heading to Blu-ray (Region Free) on April 28, thanks to Third Window Films. This fantasy comedy follows a samurai who “accidentally teleports through time and finds himself in modern day Japan.”