By Eric Ortiz
The Fantastic Pavilion presents a weekly recap with the most relevant news about the world of genre cinema.
News
Tekenchu: The Rite of the Nahuales (2026) – which debuted recently at the International Film Festival Rotterdam – is heading to Mexican cinemas in May, under the title El ritual del nahual. Carlos Matienzo Serment’s folk horror picture is about “the serial murder of children in various indigenous villages,” and promises to feature a “half-man, half-beast creature.” You can watch here its intriguing official trailer.
In the giallo-inspired City Wide Fever (2025) “Sam, a young film student, discovers a USB detailing the life and career of forgotten Italian horror director Saturnino Barresi. As she begins to investigate his mysterious disappearance, Sam finds herself pulled into a violent conspiracy eerily similar to those of the films she adores.”
City Wide Fever has the support of Guy Maddin. It’ll play at Alamo Drafthouse theaters across the U.S. on April 15, and it’s also available for pre-order on Blu-ray at Vinegar Syndrome (trailer).
Speaking of Vinegar Syndrome, the company announced their “first wholly produced feature film.” Kurtis Spieler’s Night of the Vamp-Friars (2026) is a horror flick about “a punk band” and “undead Friars” who “rise from their graves to seek fresh victims.” It’ll celebrate its world premiere at the 2026 Chattanooga Film Festival (June 18-27).
The Japanese liminal horror movie Exit 8 (8-ban deguchi, 2025) has gotten a new poster, ahead of its theatrical release in the U.S. on April 10.
Synopsis: “A man trapped in an endless sterile subway passage 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?”
Cathedral is John Carpenter’s “first original graphic novel.” According to Carpenter himself, Cathedral deals with “a nightmare landscape deep underground filled with monsters too weird and sinister to exist in daylight.” Cathedral hits shelves on August 4.
Full synopsis: “The middle of downtown Los Angeles sets the scene for John Carpenter’s Cathedral where an abandoned cathedral stands, fenced in and ignored by the world around it. The preoccupied passers-by have long since ceased to notice the dilapidated church in their midst, never mind sensing the danger and centuries old evil trapped inside its walls.
“A gruesome murder one late night pulls the structure into the spotlight, triggering a police investigation into the loss of one of their own. Lieutenant Christine Marks, along with detectives Paul Hernandez and Steve Mayfield, must enter the church in search of the monster that murdered her father. Every step takes them deeper into the belly of the church revealing the mystery of an ancient evil imprisoned within.”
Festivals
The inaugural edition of Beyond Fest Chicago is around the corner. “From April 2 to 5, the Music Box Theatre” is set to become “a home for cinema that is fearless, transgressive, excessive, confrontational, and most importantly, best experienced together.” Some highlights of the program are: Ben Wheatley’s Normal (2025), the RZA’s One Spoon of Chocolate (2025), Kenji Tanigaki’s The Furious (2025), and the 4K restoration of Speed Racer (2008).