The Fantastic Pavilion presents a weekly recap with the most relevant news about the world of genre cinema.
News
“I believe the infection can be treated,” says Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) in the new trailer for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026). Directed by Nia DaCosta (Candyman), the continuation of Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later (2025) hits the big screen on January 16.
Synopsis: “Dr. Kelson finds himself in a shocking new relationship – with consequences that could change the world as they know it – and Spike’s (Alfie Williams) encounter with Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) becomes a nightmare he can’t escape.”
Curry Barker’s horror flick Obsession (2025) – which recently won three awards at the Sitges Film Festival – is heading to U.S. cinemas on May 15. You can watch here its intriguing first teaser.
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.”
Semaine de la Critique and Mórbido Fest selection A Useful Ghost (2025) has gotten a trailer and a poster ahead of its U.S. theatrical release on January 16. A Useful Ghost is Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s debut feature.
Full synopsis: “March is mourning his wife Nat who has recently passed away due to dust pollution. He discovers her spirit has returned by possessing a vacuum cleaner. Disturbed by a ghost that appeared after a worker’s death shut down their factory, his family reject their unconventional human-ghost relationship. Trying to convince them of their love, Nat offers to cleanse the factory. To become a useful ghost, she must first get rid of the useless ones.”
Albert Birney’s sci-fi adventure movie OBEX (2025) premiered last January at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to screen at Fantasia and Sitges. OBEX opens in U.S. theaters on January 9, via Oscilloscope Laboratories (trailer).
Synopsis: “In pre-internet 1987, Conor and his dog Sandy live a life of seclusion, lost in the slow-rendering graphics of early Macs and televisions aglow with late night horror movie marathons. But when he begins playing OBEX, a new and mysterious, state-of-the-art computer game, he finds himself trapped in a low-tech, but high-stakes analog hellscape as the line between reality and game blurs.”
Home video
Dark Sky Films released Alexandre O. Philippe’s documentary Chain Reactions (2024) on limited edition Blu-ray. The three-disc set includes eight “rare versions” of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974): 16mm Overscan Print, 16mm BBQ Edition Print, 35mm Grindhouse Print, 1984 K-Tel Australian VHS, 1981 Wizard Video VHS, 1987 Bootleg Czechoslovakian VHS, 1978 Super 8mm Print (Iver Film Services), and 1980s Slovakian Betamax.
Brandon Salisbury’s doc George A. Romero’s Resident Evil (2025) – about Romero’s 1998 unproduced script based on the first Resident Evil video game – is now available on two-disc Blu-ray at Vinegar Syndrome.