The Terror-Fi Film Festival returns to bring some of the best genre gems to big screens and big crowds in Aotearoa.
This year’s line-up includes the New Zealand premiere of a hotly-anticipated horror hit, a craft whodunnit from A24, a vertigo-inducing survival thriller, and a heartwarming doco for fans of Monty Pythons and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
The Terror-Fi Film Festival kicks off in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch on October 26th with NZ premiere screenings of Barbarian. See below for the full line-up of features.
Barbarian
The American horror hit has its New Zealand premiere screenings on Wednesday, 26 October. The film stars Georgina Campbell (Suspicion) and Bill Skarsgård (It) as two strangers who somehow book the same AirBnB on the same night. As they try to sort out the awkward encounter, they make a shocking discovery in the residence.
Bodies Bodies Bodies
In this A24 whodunnit satire, a group of rich 20-somethings plan a hurricane party at a remote family mansion. However, a simple party game of “guess the killer” gets a bit too literal.
Something in the Dirt
Beloved filmmaking duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (The Endless) write, direct and star in this supernatural horror as neighbours who witness unreal events and realise documenting the paranormal could bring fame and fortune.
Fall
When their ladder breaks, two young climbers become stuck at the top of a 2,000-foot radio tower in this survival thriller.
Vesper
After the collapse of Earth’s ecosystem, Vesper, a 13-year-old girl struggling to survive with her paralyzed Father, meets a mysterious woman with a secret that forces Vesper to use her wits, strength and bio-hacking abilities to fight for the possibility of a future.
Bull
After a 10-year absence, a former gang enforcer returns to his old haunts to find his missing son and seek revenge on those who double-crossed him and left him for dead.
Project Wolf Hunting
South Korean action thriller set on a cargo ship transporting the most vicious criminals 1630 miles from Manila to Busan. In the middle of the ocean, the prisoners break free.
The Civil Dead
A misanthropic, struggling photographer just wants to watch TV and eat candy while his wife is out of town, but when a desperate old pal resurfaces, his plans are thwarted, with spooky consequences.
Everyone Will Burn
In a small village in Leon, Spain, María José prepares to end her life after failing to get over the suicide of her bullied son years before. Everything changes when she receives a visit from Lucía, a strange little girl who could be connected to a local legend about stopping an impending apocalypse.
The Novice
A queer college freshman (Isabelle Fuhrman, Orphan) joins her university’s rowing team and undertakes an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it to the top varsity boat.
A Life on the Farm
Billed by Terror-Fi as “quite possibly the strangest yet most heart-warming film we’ve ever played,” this documentary mystery centres on a filmmaker whose grandfather in the rural English country passed away. Incredibly, his inheritance included a feature-length home movie from a neighbour described as “Monty Python meets The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”.
Hunt
Two agents from the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), are both independently hunting a North Korean mole in this spy thriller.
The Return of the Living Dead
The 1985 zom-com classic rises from the grave for this retro screening.
When foreman Frank shows new employee Freddy a secret military experiment in a supply warehouse in Louisville, Kentucky, the two klutzes accidentally release a gas that reanimates corpses into flesh-eating zombies. As the epidemic spreads throughout the town, and the creatures satisfy their hunger in gory and outlandish ways, Frank and Freddy fight to survive with the help of their boss and a mysterious mortician.
The Cabin in the Woods
The 10-year-old cult horror classic comes back to the big screen for this retro screening. Here’s the official, very detailed, all-you-need-to-know synopsis: “Five friends go to a remote cabin in the woods. Bad things happen.”
For more info on Terror-Fi, including the NZ shorts screening and tickets for the Fan Badge, visit the official site.
