The Fantastic Pavilion presents a weekly recap with the most relevant news about the world of genre cinema.
News
Netflix shared new stills from Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein (2025), some of which you can check out above. These images show Jacob Elordi as The Creature, Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, Mia Goth as Elizabeth, and Christoph Waltz as Harlander. There’s also one behind the scenes photo of del Toro directing Isaac.
Additionally, Vanity Fair published an article about the Gothic horror film, ahead of its world premiere at Venice later this month.
James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025) has gotten an official trailer. In it we can see Varang (Oona Chaplin), the leader of the Na’vi clan Mangkwan (Ash People). According to Empire, this clan “will play a more antagonistic role, hardened by a tragedy that has left them less-than-enamoured with Pandora’s spiritual entity, Eywa.” Avatar: Fire and Ash hits the big screen on December 19.
IFC Films and Shudder released the teaser for Corin Hardy’s horror movie Whistle (2025). Its plot revolves around “a cursed Aztec Death Whistle.” It’ll open in U.S. cinemas sometime in 2026.
Full synopsis: “A misfit group of unwitting high school students stumble upon a cursed object, an ancient Aztec Death Whistle. They discover that blowing the whistle and the terrifying sound it emits will summon their future deaths to hunt them down. As the body count rises, the friends investigate the origins of the deadly artifact in a desperate effort to stop the horrifying chain of events that they have set in motion.”
The team behind In Search of Darkness (2019) announced another mammoth documentary: Slasher Trash, a four-hour piece that will tackle obscure slasher flicks. The doc is expected to debut in 2026. Meanwhile, you can watch here its trailer.
Festivals
The Adams Family’s horror movie Mother of Flies (2025) won the Cheval Noir Award for Best Film at the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival. Mother of Flies also got the Sandro Forte Award for Best Motion Picture Score. Hadrah Daeng Ratu was named Best Director for The Book of Sijjin and Illiyyin (2025). Other awards went to It Ends (Best First Feature) and The Girl Who Stole Time (Best Animated Feature).
The Trieste Science+Fiction Festival unveiled the poster for its upcoming 25th edition, set to take place from October 28 to November 2. The artwork was designed by Sara Pichelli (co-creator of Miles Morales).