The Overlook Film Festival is Back With a Ridiculous First Wave

The Overlook Film Festival released its first wave, and just like a good sidekick, it delivers on its promises. First-run movies, fantastic events, live podcasts, and of course, the immersive games we have come to love. Check out all the Cage-Y highlights below.

The Deets

The Overlook Film Festival announced today the full lineup for its upcoming 2023 edition, taking place March 30 – April 2 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The horror festival will welcome audiences back to America’s most haunted city with 50 films (26 features and 24 short films from 12 countries), along with extensive offerings including interactive events, live performances, immersive programming, parties and more scary surprises.

The festival will open with the world premiere of the highly anticipated modern vampire tale Renfield,starring Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men franchise) as the titular tortured aide to history’s most narcissistic boss, Dracula, played by Oscar® winner Nicolas Cage. A Universal Pictures film based on an original idea by The Walking Dead and Invincible creator Robert Kirkman, Renfield is directed by Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War, The LEGO Batman Movie) with a  screenplay by Ryan Ridley (Ghosted, Rick & Morty), and will be followed by a live Q&A featuring Nicolas Cage and Chris McKay. Renfield arrives in theaters April 14. The evening will continue with the Opening Night Vampire Ball. 

Returning to the Prytania Theatre at Canal Place in Downtown New Orleans and expanding its programming at the Uptown location, the festival will also present a special 30th anniversary screening of Joe Dante’s loving ode to the great B movies, Matinee, featuring a live Q&A with legendary actor John Goodman and master of horror Joe Dante. A celebration of the 10th anniversary of Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, Alfred Hitchcock’s silent thriller The Lodger with a live score, and a special screening of William Castle’s horror classic The Tingler, featuring surprise live elements, are also amongst the 2023 lineup highlights. 

Along with the Opening Night presentation Renfield, world premiere titles include Philip Barantini’s  Accused, Alexis Jacknow’s  Clock,  Nick Kozakis’s Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism, Ariel Vida’s Trim Season and Anthony Penta’s We Kill for Love.

Closing Night of the festival will feature a screening of New Line Cinema’s/Renaissance Pictures’ Evil Dead Rise, distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures. Written and directed by Lee Cronin, the film stars Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols and Nell Fisher. The latest installment of the classic series is produced by longtime franchise producer Rob Tapert and executive produced by series creator and horror icon Sam Raimi and cult legend (and “Ash” himself) Bruce Campbell, along with John Keville, Macdara Kelleher, Richard Brener, Dave Neustadter, Romel Adam and Victoria Palmieri. The screening will be followed by the Closing Night Halloween Party.

In addition to the films and special guests, the Overlook Film Festival will be generously packed with live presentations, music performances and immersive programming.

For its 2023 edition, Overlook will debut its first music sidebar, made possible by the generous support of Kickstarter, ​​the premier crowdfunding platform for bringing creative projects to life, which is presenting two exciting concerts on the festival’s opening and closing nights. Audiences will be treated to a special live performance by SQÜRL — Carter Logan and Jim Jarmusch’s enthusiastically marginal NYC rock band whose distinctive sound beautifully encompasses a range of genres, including big drums, distorted guitars, loops, feedback, sad country songs, molten stoner core, chopped & screwed hip-hop and imaginary movie scores. Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, which was scored by the band in collaboration with Dutch lutenist Jozef Van Wissem, will screen at the festival in celebration of the 10th anniversary of its world premiere. The sidebar will also feature famed American sludge metal band, Thou. Originally from Baton Rouge, LA, the band’s distinctive sound blends the shuddering heaviness of doom with the atmospherics of black metal, promising an unforgettable performance that Louisiana audiences won’t want to miss.

The Overlook’s signature live and special event programming will include How To Sell A Haunted House In A Challenging Market,a one-man show by New York Times bestselling author Grady Hendrix, exploring our collective obsession with ghosts and a live session of THE KINGCAST podcast featuring hosts Eric Vespe and guest co-host Bryan Fuller who will discuss the work the legendary Stephen King with attending filmmakers, presented by FANGORIA.

Through a partnership with the Academy of Magical Arts, the organization that resides in the world famous Magic Castle®, the 2023 program will also formally introduce magic to the festival. Special events curated by the Academy will include The Last Magic Show, created and performed by the renowned Zabrecky andfeaturinghighlights from his global act along with new material, which is part of the live performance programming. In the festival’s immersive program, guests will experience the world premiere of one-on-one interactive theater experience The Oracle, from Tarologist and Soothsayer Jared Kopf. Attentive attendees may find additional magical secrets, if they know where to look.

The 2023 immersive offerings will also welcome back an audience favorite, The Overlook Immersive Game, but with a thrilling twist. While the games of years past have featured standalone storylines, this year’s multi-day interactive experience, titled Lingering Echoes and presented byguest designers The Ministry of Peculiarities, will wrap around the festival as a whole, connecting every piece of immersive programming as part of an overarching mystery. Free to all pass holders, “the game” will extend from Opening Night to the Closing Night party. 

“We are thrilled to unveil our expanded 2023 programming, featuring an eclectic selection of films, captivating live performances, immersive experiences and a brand-new music sidebar showcasing thrilling acts that will undoubtedly add to the fun,” said Festival Director Lisa Carbonari. “Horror is such an exciting and diverse way to tell stories. We are grateful for the continued support of our partners and proud to be a part of the growing appreciation of the horror genre, which we see as a testament to the ever-expanding vibrant spirit and vitality of this creative community.”

“Anything is possible when you’re talking about horror movies, and we celebrate that. From the terrifying to the hilarious, from original visions of classic frights to fresh new fears you didn’t even know you had, this year’s program embraces it all. The creativity of our filmmakers is boundless, and our filmgoers have so many exciting discoveries ahead of them,” added Artistic Director Doug Jones.

The Festival is programmed by Co-Founders Landon Zakheim & Michael Lerman; Artistic Director Doug Jones; Program Manager Keith Garcia; Short Film Programmer Katie Rife; and Immersive Curator Bryan Bishop.

The full lineup of films, experiences, live events, and immersive content is included below. 

Opening and Closing Night Presentations

Presented by Fotokem and Louisiana Entertainment

Opening Night Film

Renfield 

WORLD PREMIERE

Nicolas Cage and Chris McKay in person

Director: Chris McKay

Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez and Shohreh Aghdashloo

United States, 2023

Evil doesn’t span eternity without a little help. In this modern monster tale, Nicholas Hoult stars as Renfield, the tortured aide to history’s most narcissistic boss, Dracula, played by Oscar® winner Nicolas Cage. Renfield is forced to procure his master’s prey and do his every bidding, no matter how debased. But now, after centuries of servitude, Renfield is ready to see if there’s a life outside the shadow of the Prince of Darkness. If only he can figure out how to end his codependency. 

Closing Night Film

Evil Dead Rise

Director: Lee Cronin

Cast: Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, Nell Fisher

United States, 2023

Moving the action out of the woods and into the city, Evil Dead Rise tells a twisted tale of two estranged sisters, played by Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland, whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.

Feature Film Presentations

International Titles Presented by MUBI 

Aberrance

Director: Baatar Batsukh

Cast: Erkhembayar Ganbat, Selenge Chadraabal, Yalalt Namsrai

Mongolia, 2022

When a couple rents a cabin deep in the woods, their odd behavior causes their nosy neighbor to grow suspicious, even as he’s dealing with issues of his own. With wonderfully inventive camerawork that recalls early Raimi or Coens, the first Mongolian film ever presented at Overlook is a wild ride.

Accused

WORLD PREMIERE

Director: Philip Barantini

Cast: Chaneil Kukar, Lauryn Ajufo

United Kingdom, 2022

Alone at a remote country house, a young man (Chaneil Kukar, Sex Education) watches helplessly as a social media frenzy wrongly identifies him as a wanted terrorist. When online threats lead to an IRL home invasion, he must fight for his life in this tense thriller of virtual witch-hunts and false accusations.

The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster

Director: Bomani J. Story

Cast: Laya DeLeon Hayes, Denzel Whitaker, Chad Coleman, Reilly Brooke Stith, Keith Sean Holliday, Amani Summer Boyles, Edem Atsu-Swanzy 

United States, 2023

For Vicaria, death is just another disease, and she believes she has the cure. After her brother is brutally murdered, she embarks on a dangerous journey to bring him back to life in this thrilling tale about a family that, despite the terrors of systemic pressure, will survive and be reborn again.

Appendage

Director: Anna Zlokovic

Cast: Hadley Robinson, Emily Hampshire, Brandon Mychal Smith, Kausar Mohammed

United States, 2023

After years of suppressed anxiety and self-doubt, an ambitious fashion designer is horrified when all that bottled-up emotion begins to manifest itself as a growth on her back — one with a mind of its own. Body horror is only the beginning for this sharp look at inner voices and self-control gone out of control.

The Artifice Girl

Director: Franklin Ritch

Cast: Tatum Matthews, Lance Henriksen, Sinda Nichols, David Girard, Franklin Ritch

United States, 2022

In a covert effort to catch online predators, two special agents team up with a skittish computer programmer working on some revolutionary AI. What begins as an experimental technology turns into something entirely different and far more personal in this award-winning piece of hard science fiction featuring genre icon Lance Henriksen.

birth/rebirth

Director: Laura Moss

Cast: Marin Ireland, Judy Reyes, A.J. Lister, Breeda Wool

United States, 2023

Maternal instincts and scientific hubris collide in this chilling tale of two women — one a grieving mother, the other an obsessive pathologist — who are pushed beyond their limits in this powerful reimagining of the Frankenstein mythos.

Brooklyn 45

Director: Ted Geoghegan

Cast: Anne Ramsay, Ron E. Rains, Jeremy Holm, Larry Fessenden, Ezra Bussington, Kristina Klebe

United States, 2023

Restless spirits are not the only things haunting a group of longtime friends, reunited in the wake of WWII. Ted Geoghegan returns to Overlook with this chamber piece of horrors where the only thing more terrifying than what lies on the other side may be the secrets we’ve buried in the past.

Clock

WORLD PREMIERE

Director: Alexis Jacknow

Cast: Dianna Agron, Jay Ali, Melora Hardin

United States, 2023

On the eve of her 39th birthday, a woman desperately attempts to fix her broken biological clock, but at what cost? Featuring a powerhouse turn from Dianna Agron (Shiva Baby), this cautionary tale warns that when the pressure to conform mounts beyond reason, something’s going to break.

The Elderly

Directors: Raúl Cerezo, Fernando González Gómez

Cast: Zorion Eguileor, Gustavo Salmerón, Paula Gallego, Irene Anula

Spain, 2022

As a vicious heatwave grips Madrid, octogenarian Manuel (Zorion Eguileor, Platform) is behaving in increasingly disturbing ways. In fact, all the senior citizens are acting odd — aggressive, angry and as if they know of awful things to come. As the temperature rises, so does the tension in this unsettling, slow burn of body horror and generational fear.

The Five Devils

Director: Léa Mysius

Cast: Adèle Exarchopoulos, Sally Dramé, Swala Emati, Moustapha Mbengue, Daphne Patakia

France, 2022

Struggling to decipher the adult world around her, an eight-year-old girl with an uncanny sense of smell discovers that her gift also allows her to travel back in time and observe her mother and her aunt’s mysterious past. At once intimate and inexplicable, this is a mesmerizing vision of powerful emotions and sensory overload.

Give Me an A

Directors: Hannah Alline, Avital Ash, Bonnie Discepolo, Loren Escandon, Valerie Finkel, Natasha Halevi, Caitlin Josephine Hargraves, Danin Jacquay, Sarah Kopkin, Francesca Maldonado, Kelly Nygaard, Megan Rosati, Mary C. Russell, Monica Suriyage, Megan Swertlow, Erica Mary Wright

Cast: Alyssa Milano, Virginia Madsen, Gina Torres, Milana Vayntrub, Jennifer Holland, Sean Gunn, Molly C. Quinn, Jason George, Jackie Tohn

United States, 2022

With passion, strength and righteous anger, 16 women filmmakers make their voices heard with this anthology of genre-themed short films, all made in direct response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. A mix of horror, sci-fi and dark comedy, these shorts are a rallying cry for personal rights and bodily autonomy.

Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism

WORLD PREMIERE

Director: Nick Kozakis

Cast: Georgia Eyers, Dan Ewing, Tim Pocock, Eliza Matengu, John Wood, Rosie Traynor

Australia, 2023

Convinced that his wife is possessed by dark forces, a desperate husband puts his faith in the power of a pitiless self-proclaimed exorcist, who is convinced that salvation can only be found through his hands. Based on a true story, this is a disturbing tale of misplaced faith and destructive zealotry.

Late Night with the Devil

Directors: Colin Cairnes, Cameron Cairnes

Cast: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Fayssal Bazzi, Ian Bliss, Ingrid Torelli, Rhys Auteri, Josh Quong Tart, Georgina Haig

Australia, 2023

Desperate for ratings, a Seventies-era late night talk show host invites a skeptic, a doctor and a young girl supposedly possessed by the devil for a very special Halloween episode. By the end of the show, his horrified audience would learn one awful truth: Evil doesn’t take commercial breaks.

Mister Organ

Director: David Farrier

Featuring: David Farrier

New Zealand, 2022

Is Michael Organ the most mysterious man in New Zealand, or is he just the most annoying? An investigation into a parking lot scam leads down a deep and dark rabbit hole of half-truths, veiled threats and toxic personalities in this riveting documentary from journalist and filmmaker David Farrier (Tickled).

Monolith

Director: Matt Vesely

Cast: Lily Sullivan

Australia, 2022

An anonymous email prompts a disgraced podcaster to launch a worldwide investigation into mysterious black bricks that have touched and sometimes destroyed people’s lives, and she’s doing it all without leaving the house in this ingenious thriller filmed with one actress and one location, but packed with plenty of surprises.

My Animal

Director: Jacqueline Castel

Cast: Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Amandla Stenberg, Stephen McHattie, Heidi Von Palleske, Cory Lipman, Charlie Halpenny, Harrison Halpenny, Joe Apollonio, Dean McDermott, Scott Thompson

Canada, 2023

A coming-of-age tale equally concerned with the coming of the next full moon, this visually stunning queer romance follows two teen girls struggling to come to terms with their desires, their fears and, for one of them, a family curse of bloodlust and lycanthropy.

Smoking Causes Coughing

Director: Quentin Dupieux

Cast: Gilles Lellouche, Anaïs Demoustier, Vincent Lacoste, Jean-Pascal Zadi, Oulaya Amamra

France, 2022

Iconoclast Quentin Dupieux (Deerskin, Mandibles) returns with a film that’s funny, gooey and guaranteed to surprise. When superhero team Tobacco Force is ordered by their talking rat of a boss to take a vacation before facing the world’s greatest supervillain, they pass the time by telling fantastical stories of mayhem and mutilation.

Trim Season

WORLD PREMIERE

Director: Ariel Vida

Cast: Alex Essoe, Ally Ioannides, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Jane Badler, Marc Senter, Paris Warner, Ryan Donowho, Chelsea Jurkiewicz, Lorenzo Antonucci, Cory Hart, Austin R. Grant, Bethlehem Million, Arianna Scott, Corynn Treadwell

United States, 2023

Completely cut off from the outside world, a small crew of trimmers working on a remote marijuana farm discover the stalks there have disturbingly deep roots in ancient blood-soaked traditions. Now they must fight to escape the final harvest in this stylized and twisted tale of the Emerald Triangle..

We Kill for Love

WORLD PREMIERE

Director: Anthony Penta

Featuring: Andrew Stevens, Monique Parent, Amy Lindsay, Linda Ruth Williams, Kira Reed Lorsch, Jim Wynorski, Fred Olen Ray

United States, 2023

Take a deep dive into the sultry, shadowy world of direct-to-video erotic thrillers — films of mysterious strangers, sexual obsessions and crimes of passion that once dominated video store shelves and late night cable. This in-depth documentary celebrates the genre with insight, filmmaker interviews and an amazing array of clips that will leave you lusting for more.

The Wrath of Becky

Directors: Matt Angel, Suzanna Coote

Cast: Lulu Wilson, Seann William Scott, Denise Burse, Jill Larson, Courtney Gains, Michael Sirow, Aaron Dalla Villa, Matt Angel, Kate Siegel

United States, 2023

When members of an extremist group known as the “Noble Men” attack her and her friend, teenaged Becky seeks sweet, sweet vengeance, invading their lakeside headquarters as they prepare to launch a terrorist attack. This sequel to 2020’s Becky requires no prior knowledge of the earlier film, just an appetite for some fast, fun and blood-soaked action.

Retrospective Film Presentations

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog

Original live score by Think Less, Hear More

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Cast: June Tripp, Ivor Novello, Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney, Malcolm Keen

United Kingdom, 1927

The streets of London are being stalked by a Jack the Ripper-like killer, and a young blonde showgirl is torn between her policeman sweetheart and a mysterious stranger. Alfred Hitchcock’s first thriller and his finest silent film, The Lodger will feature an all-new live score from NOLA faves Think Less, Hear More.

Matinee

30th Anniversary Screening

Joe Dante and John Goodman in person

Director: Joe Dante

Cast: John Goodman, Cathy Moriarty, Simon Fenton, Omri Katz, Lisa Jakub, Kellie Martin, Jesse Le Soffer, Dick Miller, John Sayles

United States, 1993

In 1962, a Hollywood showman preps the Key West premiere of his latest B-movie masterpiece, Mant!, but for local teens, the atomic terror onscreen is no match to the Cuban Missile Crisis happening just offshore. John Goodman stars in Joe Dante’s affectionate tribute to a bygone era of moviegoing.

Only Lovers Left Alive

10th Anniversary Screening

Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan in person

Director: Jim Jarmusch

Cast: Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt, Anton Yelchin, Jeffrey Wright

United States/Germany/United Kingdom, 2013

In Jim Jarmusch’s sly take on vampires, Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston play centuries-old vampire lovers, more passionate about music and literature than bloodletting. Reunited in Detroit after decades apart, they explore the city and each other by night, until an unexpected guest causes everything to change.

The Tingler

Presented in Percepto

Director: William Castle

Cast: Vincent Price, Philip Coolidge, Judith Evelyn, Darryl Hickman

United States, 1959

When asked which William Castle film he’d like to see at Overlook, Joe Dante replied, much to our delight, “The Tingler.” Vincent Price stars in this shocker about a doctor obsessed with capturing a deadly parasitic creature he believes lives in the spine of terrified people. To ensure your survival of this special screening, presented in full “Percepto,” we suggest you scream. Scream for your lives!

Live Music Presentations

Presented by Kickstarter

SQÜRL

SQÜRL is: Carter Logan and Jim Jarmusch, an enthusiastically marginal rock band from New York City who like big drums & distorted guitars, cassette recorders, loops, feedback, sad country songs, molten stoner core, chopped & screwed hip-hop and imaginary movie scores. SQÜRL began in 2009 by recording original music for the film The Limits of Control. before going on to explore the back-alleys of American country, noise, and psychedelia. In 2013, SQÜRL collaborated with Dutch lutenist Jozef Van Wissem to compose and perform the score for the film Only Lovers Left Alive. Bridging ancient and modern sounds, the score serves as a reflection of the distinct textures of Detroit and Tangier.

THOU

Though often lumped in with New Orleans sludge bands like Eyehategod and Crowbar, Thou shares a more spiritual kinship with ’90s proto-grunge bands like Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden (all of whom they’ve covered extensively, both in the studio and onstage). The band’s aesthetic and political impulses reflect the obscure ’90s DIY hardcore punk found on labels like Ebullition, Vermiform and Crimethinc.

Live Event Presentations

Closing Night Halloween Party

Hosted by The Howlin’ Wolf

Trick or Treat! Spring into Fall with our annual Overlook Halloween Party held on April Fool’s Day! Paranormal performances, devilish disco, frights, lights and horror delights! Immerse yourself in America’s Most Haunted City and conjure the spirit to dance all night long. Live performances and more to be announced.Costumes are a must.Don’t be afraid to bring your loudest looks!

Final Exam Horror Trivia: Overlook Edition

Presented by Daily Dead

Host: Ted Geoghegan

Test your fright! Filmmaker Ted Geoghegan, director of We Are Still Here and Brooklyn 45, brings his wildly popular Final Exam Horror Trivia back to Overlook with four ghoulish rounds of questions about everything from sleazy slashers to Haitian zombies! Order a stiff drink, win killer prizes and scare yourself silly with how much you actually know about horror cinema.

Friday Night Dark Art Market

Presented by Cottage Magick

Hosted by Rahm Haus Ice Cream at Courtyard Brewery

A New Orleans market dedicated to all things dark, creepy and esoteric materializes on festival Friday for all your ghastly needs. With ghoulish local vendors, performances and secrets, this dark carnival will be your one stop shop for the entire evening until it vanishes into the night with your soul.

How To Sell A Haunted House In A Challenging Market

Creator/Performer: Grady Hendrix

From Pliny the Younger to the Amityville Horror, we’ve been convinced there’s something undead living inside our homes rent-free for thousands of years. New York Times bestselling author Grady Hendrix presents another of his one-of-a kind, one-man shows, tap-dancing through the haunted hallways of houses from Downton Abbey-sized country homes to split-level suburban ranchers as we try to figure out why we’re so obsessed with the world’s worst roommates — ghosts. This is the seminar that will change your life…guaranteed!

The Kingcast

Presented by FANGORIA

Hosts: Eric Vespe and Guest Co-host Bryan Fuller

Creators: Eric Vespe, Scott Wampler

Since 2020, the FANGORIA Podcast Network’s THE KINGCAST, created and hosted by Eric Vespe & Scott Wampler, has brought together some of the biggest filmmakers, authors, comedians, and pop culture commentators to obsess over Stephen King’s ever-expanding library of stories, novels, TV miniseries, and feature film adaptations for a series of conversations that are hilarious as often as they are heartwarming and unexpected. After a rousing screening at last year’s festival, Co-host Eric Vespe once again checks into The Overlook to drill down on the master of horror, this time with frequent guest Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, upcoming Crystal Lake) stepping in as co-host.

The Last Magic Show

Creator/Performer: Zabrecky

Presented by The Academy of Magical Arts

There’s simply no other entertainer like Zabrecky. As a magical humorist, he creates a dryly abstracted, austere universe that pushes magic to its very edges and explores bizarre and contemplative human behavior. Like film director David Lynch, Zabrecky sets the stage for everyday life, then sets it on fire. With The Last Magic Show, Zabrecky brings to Overlook highlights from his world-famous and globally renowned magic shows as well as new work, bundling them into one highly entertaining performance featuring his particularly distinct point of view.

Opening Night Vampire Ball

Presented by Magnet Releasing

Hosted by Toulouse Theatre

Prepare to be dazzled by the deceased. Dress to impress the possessed! Awaken the undead with live music, sanguine cocktails and more spooky surprises to celebrate the opening of the 2023 Overlook Film Fest and an evening full of vampire-themed programming. Hold onto all your blood, if you can.

Ring, Ring: A Doorbell Cam Fantasia

Presented by The Museum Of Home Video

Host: Bret Berg

Museum of Home Video is a weekly found footage livestream for stoners, seekers, archivists and drinkers. For its first fest presentation, MOHV premieres a new feature-length edit that’s chilling and all too-real! Plus, the program’s rounded out with a found footage trove of horror movie ephemera. Our modern surveillance state is built one doorbell cam at a time. Nearly one in four U.S. homes is decked out with them; they’re literally everywhere. Thus the subculture of viral doorbell cam mixtapes was born, highlighting an ocean of creepy human behavior befitting a slasher film. In Ring, Ring, you’ll see the very best of porch thieves, patio punks, door-to-door doorbell lickers, local yokels flipping birds, scared-stiff missionaries, wasted grandmas, killer klowns, Karen-style freakouts, armed assailants, autonomous lawnmowers, pyrotechnic explosions, rainy day weirdos and the pure soulless eyes of chaos.

Stage Fright

Creator/Host: Ryan Rogers

Laugh To Death at Stage Fright. Set in the mysterious Chapel Club in the storied Hotel Saint Vincent, Stage Fright features Nola’s greatest comedians telling hilarious stories about fear. Showrunner and host Ryan Rogers presides over a murderer’s row of absolute killers: Jeff D, JQ Palms, Shep Kelley, Adam Crochet, Amanda G, Taj Washington and Vivi Noir. Join us for the time of your afterlife.

Immersive Presentations

Lingering Echoes: The 2023 Overlook Immersive Game

Creator: The Ministry of Peculiarities

Overlook’s famed immersive game has been completely reconceived for 2023 as a multi-day alternate reality experience that wraps the entire festival in one overarching, interactive story. The Ministry of Peculiarities, a secretive organization dedicated to puzzling phenomena, has brought a mysterious artifact from their archives to the Overlook Film Festival. But when they unwittingly unleash a torrent of long-forgotten horrors, the Ministry enlists festival-goers to become an invaluable — or, perhaps, expendable — part of their team. Participants can expect in-person interactions, light puzzle-solving and a story that runs from Opening Night to our Closing Night Party. While all festival passholders can participate in the game, immersive show ticket holders can expect additional interactions that take their experience into unexpected new directions.

In Another Room

Creator: E3W Productions

E3W Productions returns to Overlook with their inspired brand of immersive horror!

Paige has always thought there was something wrong with her little brother’s bedroom: the floorboards creak, the walls groan, and something scratches at the door at night. Now, with the help of some new friends, Paige intends to confront the monster lurking in the shadows. E3W Productions invites you to step inside a child’s bedroom and come face to face with a young girl’s worst nightmares in this standalone scene from their acclaimed 2018 show In Another Room.

Claws

Creator: Evan Neiden / Candle House Collective

“You believe me, don’t you?” You get a call from a young man named Danny. There’s a monster in his closet, and he needs your help. But as the call goes on and more sinister intentions are revealed, it begs the question: which side of the closet door is the danger really on? Claws is a 45-minute interactive thriller for one person to experience via a phone call. It’s a spine-chilling realization of childhood nightmares, exploring themes of trust, identity and forgiveness. Your choices matter as the story unfolds, in an experience critics have called “bold and risky” and “the scariest immersive experience we’ve ever had.” 

The Oracle

WORLD PREMIERE

Creator/Performer: Jared Kopf

Presented by The Academy of Magical Arts

The Oracle is an all-new, one-on-one immersive theater experience from Tarologist and Soothsayer Jared Kopf. You will enter a room alone. Questions will be asked. Opportunities will be given. Futures will be revealed. 

Undersigned

Creator: Yannick Trapman-O’Brien

Undersigned is a psychological thriller for an audience of one. Depending on your choices, it will last between 35-50 minutes. Your participation will involve an invocation, a blindfold and a pointed discussion. The topics of this discussion will vary based on your input, and may include — but are not limited to — Money, Power, Sex, Pleasure, Violence, Blood, Body Horror, Moral Horror, Economic Horror, Wild Conjecture and the Occult. Called “one of the best immersive experiences of 2022” by No Proscenium, Undersigned is decidedly in-person.

Short Film Presentations
Short films will be presented in three themed programs: Queer Horror, Sex & Death and Tales of the Uncanny.

Angels, Dir. Samantha Aldana, United States, 2022

A farmer caring for her dying mother has an unexpected visitor.

Bitten, a Tragedy, Dir. Monika Estrella Negra, United States, 2021

At a Philadelphia rave, ancestral warfare wreaks havoc on the bloodline of an unfortunate party goer, connecting Lydia to a world of blood, ritual, secrets and vengeance.

Dead Enders, Dir. Fidel Ruiz-Healy, Tyler Walker, United States, 2023

A disaffected, young gas-station clerk on the midnight shift must learn to give a damn about something after malevolent mind-controlling bugs are set loose by irresponsible oil drillers.

Dewclaws, Dir. Carolina Sandvik, Sweden, 2021

A man is doing his daily routine at home. He’s tanning in his solarium, working out, continually checking his watch. What will happen at the stroke of midnight?

Diaspora, Dir. Tyler Mckenzie Evans, Canada, 2022

A woman wonders whether the disappearance of the Black families who have long occupied her suburban neighborhood may be caused by something more sinister than gentrification.

First Blood, Dir. Olivia Loccisano, Canada, 2022

A teenage girl goes through a bizarre transformation after she gets her first period.

FROM.BEYOND, Dir. Fredrik S. Hana, Norway, 2022

This kaleidoscopic vision portrays mankind’s first meeting with alien life, told through faux archival footage combined with practical FX, miniatures and old school in-camera trickery.

Gnaw, Dir. Rosalee Yagihara, Canada, 2022

As romantic tensions consume Cote and her girlfriend, a pesky hangnail triggers a downward spiral into obsession.

Go to Bed Raymond, Dir. Nicole Taylor-Roberts, United States, 2022

When your kid tells you there’s someone in his room, you might want to listen.

In the Flesh, Dir. Daphne Gardner, United States, 2022

Tracey is just trying to jerk off with her bathtub faucet like normal when some old memories dredge themselves up, the pipes explode with dirty water, and she starts leaking black goo.

Kickstart My Heart, Dir. Kelsey Bollig, United States, 2022

After a brutal car accident, a young woman fights her mind’s three levels of hell to wake up again.

Night of the Bride, Dir. Virat Pal, India, 2022

A young woman’s cries for help fall on deaf ears as a family holds her hostage, desperate to get their only son married through whatever sinister means necessary.

Night Work, Dir. Savanna Hunter-Reeves, United States, 2022

During another late night working from home, a new mother finds herself trapped in the house with something inhuman.

One Good Night, Dir. Orok Duke, Nigeria, 2022

Tony has struck gold at the club tonight. He’s hit it off with a girl out of his league, and she’s invited him over to hers. Things look too good to be true.

Ringing Rocks, Dir. Gus Reed, United States, 2022

A young man takes his grief-stricken boyfriend to recover at an idyllic desert resort, but awakens to an eerie new reality.

Ringworms, Dir. Will Lee, United States, 2022

After discovering her boyfriend’s plan to propose on their weekend vacation, a young girl undergoes a crisis of commitment which attracts the attention of a sinister local cult.

Role Play, Dir. Bill Neil, United States, 2022

A one-night stand goes horribly wrong.

Scooter, Dir. Chelsea Lupkin, United States, 2022

Abandoned by her boyfriend in the middle of the night, a woman is faced with an unthinkable choice that could cost her life.

Smoking Kills, Dir. Dulcinee DeGuere, United States, 2022

A late-night Tinder date turns macabre when a casual drifter decides to prove that smoking does, indeed, kill.

Snatched, Dir. Michael Schwartz, United States, 2022

After coming out as gay, a 15-year-old boy must fight for his life when his parents react with otherworldly acceptance.

Splinter, Dir. Marc Bernadin, United States, 2022

Benjamin is a splinter in the world, and so he remains skybound, forever and for always. At least, that was the plan. Until today.

A Street Cat Named Desire, Dir. Eric Layer, United States, 2022

While escaping the rain in New Orleans, a tourist falls under the spell of a bartender with a special connection to her cats.

Variations on a Theme, Dir. Peter Collins Campbell, United States, 2022

A couple has begun physically splitting into many different versions of themselves and must investigate an uncomfortable mutation that has arisen.

Violet Butterfield, Makeup Artist for the Dead, Dir. Brooke H. Cellars, United States, 2022

One night at her mortuary salon, Violet receives a visit from a new client and discovers that sometimes a person feels they cannot authentically live their best life until after they’re dead.

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