From Jeff Nelson

Fantasia Film Festival returns to Quebec for its 2024 edition with dates between July 18th and August 4th. This year’s program offers a healthy mix of indie and hot-ticket genre items from various artistic voices. Here’s a look at the top five movies we’re excited to see at this year’s Fantasia Film Festival.

Azrael

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Azrael (Samara Weaving) and her partner, Kenan (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) escape from a cult of mute religious fanatics. After they fail to evade their captors, Azrael discovers their plan to sacrifice her to an ancient evil. She must fight tooth and nail to secure her and Kenan’s freedom.

Cheap Thrills director E.L. Katz and You’re Next screenwriter Simon Barrett are enough to justify excitement in any genre fan, and Samara Weaving and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett make a formidable pairing. It looks to be quite the twist on the sub-genre filled with demonic sacrifices.

The Count of Monte-Cristo

Marseille, France. 1815. Edmond Dantès (Pierre Niney) is promoted to captain and preparing to marry his fiancée. Treacherous peers throw him in the Château d'If dungeon for 14 years, where he concocts his plan for revenge. 

The Count of Monte-Cristo made its premiere earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival to a positive critical reception. It’s a big-screen revenge epic that’s likely to receive another crowdpleasing reaction from the Fantasia Film Festival attendees.

House of Sayuri

The Kamiki family worked hard to own a home, finally achieving their dream with a countryside house. Little do they realize, the old residence has a vengeful spirit that refuses to allow them to rest. Eldest son Norio (Ryôka Minamide) works alongside his grandmother to uncover the truth about the spirit before it’s too late.

Kôji Shiraishi is no stranger to paranormal horror. He’s the filmmaker behind the found-footage gem Noroi: The Curse and the ridiculous Sadako vs. Kayako. With any luck, this will achieve the creepy nature of the former, even with its self-described playful edge.

Shelby Oaks

Millions of YouTube series Paranormal Paranoids’ subscribers question what happened to Riley Brennan. The channel stopped publishing content when Riley and her three co-hosts suddenly disappeared near the deserted Shelby Oaks, Ohio in 2008. Riley’s sister, Mia (Camille Sullivan), puts a documentary crew together to document her trek through her story to find closure. She isn’t prepared for the disturbing answers that she’s about to find.

Shelby Oaks marks Chris Stuckmann’s feature debut with Mike Flanagan serving as an executive producer. The horror thriller is making its world premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival, making it one of the buzziest titles there. It has the potential to really put Stuckmann on the genre map in a huge way. 

Witchboard

After a robbery goes wrong at the New Orleans Museum of Natural History, Emily (Madison Iseman) discovers a circular “pendulum board” that predates the Ouija. She grows increasingly curious with the seemingly innocent antique that comes with dark secrets.

Witchboard is a remake of Kevin Tenney’s 1986 cult classic that embraces a new mythology. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors filmmaker Chuck Russell’s horror mystery will make its world premiere at Fantasia Fest that could be another cult classic in the making. 

The 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival will occur from July 18th to August 4th, 2024.

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