The Fantastic Pavilion presents a weekly recap with the most relevant news about the world of genre cinema.
News
A24 continues promoting Ari Aster’s modern western Eddington (2025). The company unveiled a new official poster, which you can see above, as well as a behind-the-scenes clip. In the latter, Aster says that he wanted to make “a really good film about the Southwest” and that the western genre is “very much about the heroic myth of America, but it’s also contending with the ugly truth of America.” Eddington opens in U.S. theaters on July 18.
Push (2024) is the latest genre movie from David Charbonier and Justin Powell, directors of The Boy Behind the Door (2020) and The Djinn (2021). Push celebrated its world premiere last year at Sitges and is now heading to Shudder on Friday, July 11. You can watch here its trailer.
Synopsis: “Haunted by the memory of her late fiancé, Natalie (Alicia Sanz) finds herself 8 months pregnant and in desperate need of a new start. Determined to regain her sense of self, she moves to America and uses her real estate license to take on a challenging listing. However, she soon discovers her new beginning may be a deadly end when she catches the eye of a sadistic killer (Raúl Castillo) at her open house. After becoming stranded at the property, Natalie falls into premature labor, starting a physiological ticking clock as she must find a way to escape before she gives birth.”
A documentary about The Rocky Horror Show lands in UK and Irish cinemas on October 3. Titled Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror (2025), this doc premiered back in March at SXSW. It was directed by Linus O’Brien, son of Richard O’Brien, the writer of the original musical. Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror features interviews with Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick, stars of the 1975 cult film adaptation.
Lg White’s The Dark Fantastic (2025) tackles the work of composer Simon Boswell, who has scored such films as Lamberto Bava’s Demons 2 (1986), Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Santa Sangre (1989), Richard Stanley’s Dust Devil (1992), and Álex de la Iglesia’s Perdita Durango (1997). The Dark Fantastic screens this week at the Raindance Film Festival.
The Japanese sharksploitation flick Hot Spring Shark Attack (Onsen shâku, 2024) will be released in the U.S. on July 11 (in select theaters and on VOD). It’s being distributed by Utopia (trailer here).
Synopsis: “In a small hot spring town in Japan, a ferocious ancient shark reawakens and begins terrorizing the local hot spring facilities. As the threat escalates, the townspeople band together to protect their beloved town from the menacing predator, leading to a fierce and thrilling battle.”
Festivals
DukeFest’s 2025 lineup includes the Australian folk horror movie The Banished (2024) – which we highlighted last week – and Rupert Russell’s true crime documentary The Last Sacrifice (2024). The doc is about the 1945 “witchcraft murder” that served as inspiration for The Wicker Man (1973). The 2025 DukeFest is taking place in London from July 6 to 9.