Five Films I Can't Wait to See at the Fantasia Film Festival 2024

There's just a couple more weeks until another edition of one of my favorite fests kicks off, the 2024 Fantasia Film Festival! Every year, genre filmmakers are gathered to Montréal from all over the world to deliver a wide-range of exciting new films, and this time is no different. Fantasia's 2024 offerings features everything from The Blob director Chuck Russell's re-imagining of the supernatural horror cult classic, Witchboard, to the Kit Harrington-starring werewolf film, The Beast Within, to an anime adaptation of Ghost Cat Anzu. Not to mention new films from talents such as Lowell Dean (Dark Match), the Adams Family (Hell Hole), Damian Mc Carthy (Oddity) and many others. 

Below are just five of the films I'm most excited for in this year's lineup. Click here to see the full schedule/get tickets, and don't miss another great year of Fantasia, running from July 18th-August 4th, 2024!

The Soul Eater

Directed by: Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo

As violent and gruesome deaths plague a small mountain village, an old legend about a malevolent creature resurfaces. Two cops with different methods are compelled to join forces and uncover a sinister plot involving the disappearance of local children.

Bookworm

Directed by: Ant Timpson

Mildred (Nell Fisher), a precocious eleven-year-old bookworm, escapes her humdrum existence by immersing herself in novels where literary adventures abound, with a long-dreamed quest to capture proof of a mythological beast known as The Canterbury Panther. When an unusual accident occurs, Mildred’s long absent father Strawn Wise (Elijah Wood), a washed-up illusionist, flies to New Zealand to look after a daughter he’s never met. When they agree to go camping despite neither being the outdoorsy type, this ultimate test in family bonding leads the duo on a string of increasingly absurd and treacherous adventures. 

The Chapel

Directed by: Carlota Pereda

Emma (Maia Zaitegi) wants to learn how to communicate with the spirit of a little girl who has spent centuries trapped inside a chapel. She tries to convince Carol (THE ORPHANAGE’s Belen Rueda), a cynical and fake medium, to help her in the hopes that contacting the spirit may help her to remain close to her dying mother after she passes. What Carol doesn’t suspect is that Emma really does have “the gift” and, if she keeps on trying to use it without her guidance, she will be putting her young life at terrifying risk.

House of Sayuri

Directed by: Koji Shiraishi
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A vengeful ghost disseminates a family until a counterattack from a bold grandma brings a startling new dynamic into the house. 

Frankie Freako!

Directed by: Steven Kostanski
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Conor just isn’t cool. In an attempt to impress his wife and boss, he’s lured by a 1-900 TV ad to party with a strange little creature called Frankie Freako. All hell breaks loose when Conor calls and Frankie and his two friends wreak interdimensional havoc in Conor’s life.

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By Matt Konopka