The Fantastic Pavilion presents a weekly recap with the most relevant news about the world of genre cinema.
News
Neon Rated released the teaser trailer for No Other Choice (Eojjeolsuga eobsda, 2025), the new film from South Korean genre auteur Park Chan-wook. No Other Choice, starring Lee Byung-hun, will have its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival (August 27-September 6). It was described by The Hollywood Reporter as a “violent comedy thriller” about a man “who is abruptly laid off by the paper company where he worked tirelessly for many years. He grows increasingly desperate in his hunt for new work, and eventually resolves to kill his job competitors.”
Shudder has officially announced the new entry in the V/H/S franchise. Titled V/H/S/Halloween (2025), the horror flick features segments directed by Paco Plaza, Bryan M. Ferguson, Casper Kelly, Micheline Pitt-Norman and R.H. Norman, Alex Ross Perry, and Anna Zlokovic. It’ll be available to stream on the platform from October 3.
Cineverse’s Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025) has gotten a teaser, ahead of its U.S. theatrical release on December 12. This unrated remake of the controversial 1984 slasher of the same name was directed by Mike P. Nelson.
Synopsis: “When Billy (Rohan Campbell) witnesses his parents’ grisly murder on Christmas Eve at the hands of Santa, it ignites a lifelong mission to spread holiday fear. Every Christmas, he dons the jolly red suit and delivers a blood-soaked massacre to feed his twisted sense of justice.”
Festivals
Ben Wheatley’s Normal (2025) and Bryan Fuller’s Dust Bunny (2025) lead TIFF Midnight Madness’ 2025 lineup, which also includes: Grace Glowicki’s Dead Lover (2025), Todd Rohal’s Fuck My Son! (2025), Takahide Hori’s Junk World (2025), Aleksandar Radivojević’s Karmadonna (2025), Matt Johnson’s Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie (2025), Curry Barker’s Obsession (2025), Kenji Tanigaki’s The Furious (2025), and Nick Corirossi’s The Napa Boys (2025). The 50th TIFF is taking place from September 4 to 14.
Aside of No Other Choice, other genre works that will debut at Venice are: Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein (2025), Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia (2025), Mamoru Hosoda’s Scarlet (Hateshinaki Scarlet, 2025), and David Kittredge’s documentary Boorman and the Devil (2025) – which is about Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) –.
Isla Calavera (the Canary Islands Fantastic Film Festival) presented the poster for its upcoming ninth edition (November 7-16). The image, created by the festival’s co-director Daniel Fumero, was inspired by Fritz Lang’s silent classic Metropolis (1927).
Another genre fest that recently unveiled its 2025 poster is the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival (FEFFS). The artwork, designed by Mahon, is based on the festival’s retrospective FasciFiction, dedicated to dystopian films. The 18th edition of this French festival runs from September 26 to October 5.