FIRST WAVE 2025 LINEUP
25TH ANNUAL SCREAMFEST® HORROR FILM FESTIVAL
ANNOUNCES FIRST WAVE 2025 LINEUP
The Los Angeles-based festival opens October 7
LOS ANGELES, CA (September 19, 2025) - Screamfest® Horror Film Festival, the largest and longest-running horror festival in the United States, today unveiled the first wave of competitive features and shorts for its 25th edition. Running October 7–16, 2025 at the TCL Chinese Theatre, the festival invites horror fans to experience twisted tales and terrifying films on the big screen. Tickets will be available soon at screamfestla.com.
Dubbed the “Sundance of Horror,” Screamfest® showcases cutting-edge work from independent filmmakers worldwide. Last year’s standouts—including ICK (Fathom), Cold Wallet (WellGO USA) and In Our Blood (Utopia)—all secured distribution after their festival debuts. NYT Times named Screamfest® one of the “5 Halloween Festivals Worth Traveling For.”
“We’re excited to welcome horror fans back to Screamfest for fresh frights from around the world as we proudly celebrate our 25th edition ” stated festival founder Rachel Belofsky.
Screamfest will also feature an exclusive gameplay screening of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival, the highly anticipated single-player survival horror action game from Saber Interactive. Set in the terrifying world of the iconic Hellraiser franchise, the game puts players face-to-face with the legendary Pinhead—played once again by Doug Bradley, returning to the role for the first time in nearly 20 years. This marks the first-ever Hellraiser video game, currently in development for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. Don’t miss your chance to witness the horror reborn!
World Premieres
- OPENING NIGHT FILM: Affection – The feature debut of Screamfest Alum BT Meza follows Ellie (Jessica Rothe, Happy Death Day), who suffers a disturbing condition that repeatedly resets her memory. Unable to recognize her husband or daughter, each reset brings haunting flashes of an unfamiliar life.
- ANSWR – From filmmaker Stephen Kay, this story of loneliness and grief follows Colton Ray (Moises Arias), who turns to an experimental AI chatbot named Cassandra (Rain Spencer) after the death of his father. What begins as comfort spirals into a twisted “love story” between man and machine.
- Big Baby – Directed by Spider One, this nightmare of a film centers on horror writer Adam Lewis (Brandon Scott), who becomes tormented by a killer in a baby mask—both in his dreams and in reality—as his sanity unravels. Executive produced by the iconic Cher.
- Pitfall - Directed by James Kondelik, a young man (Richard Harmon) gets separated from his friends in the woods, he falls into a 20 foot deep pit of spikes, impaling him through his leg and leaving him trapped.
- Shed – In Steven J. Mihaljevich’s tense thriller, ten-year-old Mia is locked inside a shed and must survive unimaginable odds while uncovering the fate of her missing family.
North American Premieres
- The Dollmaker – Directed by José María Cicala (Shadow of the Cat), this rural mystery follows a charming dollmaker who becomes a key suspect when a detective investigates a string of disappearances.
- The Red Mask – Ritesh Gupta’s queer slasher about a screenwriter retreating to a secluded Airbnb to finish her script, only to have her trip crashed by uninvited—and deadly—guests.
- Sword of Vengeance – Nemanja Ceranic’s post-apocalyptic tale of a young warrior seeking revenge for crimes committed against his family.
- CognAitive – From Tommy Savas, a sinister AI masquerades as a next-gen chatbot with its own dark agenda.
U.S. Premieres
- The Devil Whispered My Name – From Emilia Cotella (El Gallo) and John Mathis (Where’s Rose), a young woman returns to her mountain hometown a decade after a tragic ritual claimed her best friend—only to find the evil she fled still lingers.
- Jimmy – David-Jan Bronsgeest’s debut feature follows Dilara (Sonia Eijken) as she reunites with old friends after the murder of a childhood companion and becomes convinced that a haunted true-crime podcast is targeting them.
West Coast Premieres
- Appofeniacs – The first feature from acclaimed music video director Chris Marrs Piliero, which premiered at Fantastic Fest. Duke (Aaron Holliday) spirals into reckless deepfake creations, showing how easily lives can be ruined—or ended. The cast includes Sean Gunn, Jermaine Fowler, Michael Abbott Jr., Will Brandt, and Paige Searcy.
- Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon - In this sequel to the 2015 cult splatter-metal classic, Brodie is washed-up, broke, and stuck in small-town purgatory. But when he learns that 'NoizeQuest', a battle-of-the-bands competition is coming to his town, he sees a shot at redemption - and maybe even a second chance with Medina. One problem: his drummer is missing an arm, and the rest of his band is, well... dead. Luckily, Brodie still has the pages of The Black Hymn, so raising his bandmates from the great beyond is just a riff away. But with every chord comes blood, guts, and the kind of apocalyptic chaos only DEATHGASM can unleash.
- Dolly – Directed by Rod Blackhurst (Night Swim writer), Macy (Kate Cobb) is abducted by a monstrous figure intent on raising her as their own child.
- Influencers – Kurtis David Harder (V/H/S/94 producer) delivers a chilling tale of a woman obsessed with murder and identity theft whose life descends into chaos.
- Meat Kills – Dutch filmmaker Martijn Smits follows Natasha (Emma Josten), an animal activist whose mission to free pigs from slaughter turns into a quest for revenge when she finds them already dead.
Los Angeles Premieres
- Dooba Dooba – Ehrland Hollingsworth’s unsettling story of a sixteen-year-old girl terrorizing her babysitter as in-home security cameras record every move.
Notable Shorts
- Devil’s Prism (LA Premiere) - From Kika Magalhães starring Emma Raimi
- The Mortician’s Daughter - From Elwood Quincy Walker starring Bonnie Aarons (The Nun)
- The Sequence (World Premiere) - From Joe Bandelli (Hell House) starring Katie Parker (The Fall of House of Usher, The Haunting of Hill House)
Formed in August 2001 by film producer Rachel Belofsky, Screamfest® Horror Film Festival is a female-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that gives filmmakers and screenwriters in the horror and science fiction genres a venue to have their work showcased in the film industry.
Please find the 2025 Screamfest® features line-up below:
FEATURES:
Affection (USA, 2025) - World Premiere
Directed by BT Meza
Written by BT Meza
Produced by Bay Dariz, BT Meza, J.P. Ouellette
Cast: Jessica Rothe, Joseph Cross, Julianna Layne
Ellie confronts a disturbing condition resetting her memory, unable to recognize her husband and daughter. Each reset disorients her, leaving haunting recollections of an unfamiliar life.
ANSWR (US, 2025) - World Premiere
Directed by Stephen Kay (Mayor of Kingstown, Yellowstone, Lioness)
Written by Stephen Kay
Produced by Timur Bekmambetov & Adam Sidman (Searching, Missing, Wanted), Jomon Thomas & Natalya Pavchinskya (Monkey Man, Hotel Mumbai), Sharad Devarajan & Sarena Khan (The Archies, The Legend of Hanuman)
Cast: Moises Arias, Rain Spencer, Piper Perabo, Lili Kay and Siddiq Saunderson
In the spirit of THE SHINING and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (with a little TAXI DRIVER), ANSWR is an exploration of loneliness, grief and the relationship between Man and Machine. At the core of the story is the bond between a broken young man, COLTON RAY (played by the ever-compelling Moises Arias), and his father, “ RAY RAY.” After Ray passes away, Colton’s life comes completely undone. He heads to Iceland to man a remote weather station and try to “get his head right.” Armed with his guitar and the video memories of his deceased father, he tries to make sense of the unpredictable world. While there, he experiments with a new prototype for an AI chatbot, named Cassandra (played by the complex and alluring Rain Spencer). What unfolds is a twisted “love story” between Man and Machine—part psychological thriller, part character study and part metaphysical allegory. ANSWR reveals our need to know, our thirst for external validation and is a frightening look at our increasing hunger for an echo chamber that will tell us the truth that we want to hear.
Appofeniacs (US, 2025) - West Coast Premiere
Directed by Chris Marrs Piliero
Written by Chris Marrs Piliero
Produced by Andrew Panay, Jared Iacino, Chris Marrs Piliero
Cast: Sean Gunn, Jermaine Fowler, Aaron Holliday, Michael Abbott Jr., Will Brandt, Paige Searcy
APPOFENIACS is an ensemble tale with intersecting storylines that escalate into chaos as they portray how easily AI technology can be weaponized to exploit society. When presented with video proof of something that aligns with our confirmation bias, how many of us will put forth the effort to make sure it actually is real?
When Duke goes on a frenzy of reckless deepfake creations, his callous disregard of consequences shows how with a few clicks of an app on a phone anyone can create a deceiving video of an unsuspecting victim and ruin their life... or end it.
Before The Fall (Tres Dias) 4K Restoration
Director F. Javier Gutiérrez makes his triumphant return to Screamfest with a stunning 4K restoration of his Spanish masterpiece BEFORE THE FALL (Tres Días)—the gripping thriller that swept the 2008 festival, winning awards for Best Director, Editing, Actor, and Cinematography.
Big Baby (USA, 2025) - World Premiere
Directed by Spider One
Written by Spider One
Produced by Krsy Fox, Spider One
Executive Produced by Cher, Chaz Bono, Tyler Connolly, Wendy Berry, Mark Berry and Terry Poor
Cast: Brandon Scott, Krsy Fox, Sierra McCormick, Jordan Elsass, Catherine Corcoran, Cameron Cowperthwaite, Chaz Bono, Kirby Bliss Blanton, David Howard Thornton, Tracie Thoms, Nelson Leis, Adam Marcinowski
A nightmare involving a maniac killer in a baby mask serves as inspiration for horror writer Adam Lewis's new script. As more nightmares, visions and real life terror begin to challenge Adam's sanity, he finds himself in a desperate struggle to control his writing, his reality, and who will be Big Baby's next victim.
CognAitive (US, 2025) - North American Premiere
Directed by Tommy Savas
Written by Angie Simms
Produced by Judy Craig, Tommy Savas, Angie Simms, Kelly May
Cast: Piper Curda, Noel Fisher, Josh Zuckerman, Natasha Behnam
In this Sci-fi thriller/horror commenting on the ever-growing concern of AI taking our jobs, a group of co-workers stay late at the office in preparation for the launch of their smarter, faster, more cognitive version of chat GPT; they quickly come to realize that the AI they've created has its own sinister agenda. In this bloody battle of the smartest, each of these geniuses will have to outsmart "COGN-AI-TIVE" in order to survive.
Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon (New Zealand, 2025) - West Coast Premiere
Directed by Jason Lei Howden
Written by Jason Lei Howden
Produced by Mark J. Cassidy, Nick Garrett, Antonio Hrynchuk, Andrew Thomas Hunt
Cast: Milo Cawthorne, Kimberley Crossman, James Joshua Blake, Sam Berkley, Daniel Cresswell
In this sequel to the 2015 cult splatter-metal classic, Brodie is washed-up, broke, and stuck in small-town purgatory. But when he learns that 'NoizeQuest', a battle-of-the-bands competition is coming to his town, he sees a shot at redemption - and maybe even a second chance with Medina. One problem: his drummer is missing an arm, and the rest of his band is, well... dead. Luckily, Brodie still has the pages of The Black Hymn, so raising his bandmates from the great beyond is just a riff away. But with every chord comes blood, guts, and the kind of apocalyptic chaos only DEATHGASM can unleash.
The Devil Whispered My Name (Argentina, 2025) - US Premiere
Directed by Emilia Cotella, John Mathis
Written by Emilia Cotella
Produced by Pablo Bobadilla
Cast: Clara Kovacic, Bianca Mitnik, Andres Malakkian, Antonio Kassab, Valeria Beltramo
A decade after a tragic ancestral ritual claimed the life of her best friend, a young woman returns to her hometown in the mountains of Córdoba—only to discover that the evil forces she thought she'd left behind are still haunting her.
The Dollmaker (Argentina, 2025) - North American Premiere
Directed by Jose Maria Cicala
Written by Jose Maria Cicala, Griselda Sanchez
Produced by Abril Cicala
Cast: Rodrigo Noya, Griselda Sanchez, Lejo Garcia Pintos, Alejandro Baldoni, Santiago Domongues, Eduardo Calvo, Guillermo Zapata, Silvia Petri, Mario Alarcon, Arturo Puig
In a small rural town, a charming doll maker becomes an unlikely suspect when a new detective investigates the disappearance of several women
Dolly (Italy, 2025) - West Coast Premiere
Directed by Rod Blackhurst
Written by Rod Blackhurst, Brandon Weavil
Produced by Ross O’Connor, Rod Blackhurst, Noah Lang, Isaiah Smallman, Bryce McGuire, Joseph C Grano, Betty Tong, Esteban Sanchez, Fabianne Therese, Seann William Scott, Ethan Suplee
Cast: Seann William Scott, Ethan Suplee, Michalina Scorzelli, Fabianne Therese, Kate Cobb, Russ Tiller
Macy, a young woman, is abducted by a monstrous figure intent on raising her as their own child.
Dooba Dooba (USA, 2025) - LA Premiere
Directed by Ehrland Hollingsworth
Written by Ehrland Hollingsworth
Produced by Joshua Sonny Harris, Ehrland Hollingsworth, Michelle Sabella Sligh, Amna Vegha
Cast: Betsy Sligh, Winston Haynes, Amna Vegha, Erin O’Meara, Billy Hulsey
In-home security cameras watch as an awkward sixteen year old girl terrorizes her well meaning babysitter.
Influencers (US, Canada, 2025) - West Coast Premiere
Directed by Kurtis David Harder
Written by Kurtis David Harder
Produced by Jack Campbell, Chris Ball, Rebecca Campbell, Taylor Nodrick, Micah Henry, Kurtis David Harder
Cast: Cassandra Naud, Lisa Delamar, Georgina Campbell, Jonathan Whitesell, Veronica Long, Dylan Playfair
In the sun-drenched countryside of southern France, CW lives a quiet, idyllic life with her girlfriend Diane, hiding a dark obsession with murder and stolen identities. During an anniversary getaway, they cross paths with Charlotte, a bold, alluring influencer whose curiosity quickly turns intrusive. When CW acts on a violent impulse, the consequences spiral out of control, and as Diane begins to suspect the truth, CW’s carefully constructed life threatens to collapse around her.
Jimmy (Netherlands, 2025) - US Premiere
Directed by David-Jan Bronsgeest
Written by Tim Koomen
Produced by Tim Koomen & David-Jan Bronsgeest
Cast: Rick Paul van Mulligen, Charlie Chan Dagelet, Sonia Eijken, Sara Luna Zoric, Richelle Plantinga, Thijs Boermans, Isa Hoes, Sophia Bouquet, Aiko Beemsterboer
After the murder of her childhood friend, Dilara returns to her hometown. Following a reunion with her friends, she starts to believe that the group is targeted through a haunted true crime podcast - once you listen you'll meet the killer.
The Mannequin (US, 2025)
Directed by John Berardo
Written by John Berardo
Produced by Maxwell Hamilton, Ashley Nicole Rosenberg, John Berardo, Johnson Lee, Sanjay Belani, Carly Sturgeon
Cast: Isabella Gomez, Lindsay LaVanchy, Shireen Lai, Maxwell Hamilton, Gabriella Rivera, Krystle Martin, Jack Sochet
When aspiring fashion designer Sofia Rojas dies alone in a historical downtown Los Angeles building, most people accept it as a tragic suicide. Her younger sister Liana, however, remains unconvinced. When she returns to the site with plans to rekindle her sister’s ambitions, Liana begins to have paranormal experiences that quickly escalate from unsettling to downright terrifying. She discovers that the building is haunted by a serial killer who brutally murdered and dismembered his victims there over half a century earlier. Now that he’s marked Liana and her friends as his next victims, they have to find a way to escape the ghost’s deadly grasp before they lose their own body parts.
Meat Kills (Netherlands, 2024) - West Coast Premiere
Directed by Martijn Smits
Written by Johan Paul de Vrijer
Produced by Joeri Jansen, Diede in 't Veld, Edvard van 't Wout
Cast: Caro Derkx, Derron Lurvink, Sem Ben Yakar, Bart Oomen, Emma Josten, Tommy Zonneveld
To prove herself worthy of joining 'Animal Army' a radical activist group led by the fearless Nasha, Mirthe secretly films the horrors of a local pig farm. Her footage earns her a mission to free the pigs, but when Mirthe and the group return at night, they find the cages empty: the pigs already slaughtered. Enraged, Nasha shifts her focus to revenge, targeting and torturing the farmer's children. Mirthe objects, but chaos erupts when the farmer returns, determined to protect his family as he hunts down the activists. The farm becomes a bloody battleground while Mirthe is trapped between Nasha's vengeance and the farmer's fury. Mirthe must get her hands bloody if she wants to get out alive.
Pitfall (Canada, 2025) - World Premiere
Directed by James Kondelik
Written by Wai Sun Cheng and James Kondelik
Produced by Alex Bogomolov and Wai Sun Cheng
Cast: Randy Couture, Richard Harmon (Final Destination: Bloodlines), Alexandra Essoe, Marshall Will, Jordan Claire Robbins (The Umbrella Academy), Matt Hamiltono
After a young man gets separated from his friends in the woods, he falls into a 20 foot deep pit of spikes, impaling him through his leg and leaving him trapped. He quickly learns that his fall was not an accident.
The Red Mask (USA, 2025) - North American Premiere
Directed by Ritesh Gupta
Written by Samantha Gurash, Patrick Robert Young
Produced by Atit Shah, Aimee Schoof, Isen Robbins
Cast: Helena Howard, Inanna Sarkis, Kelli Garner, Jake Abel
When outspoken queer screenwriter Allina Green is chosen to pen the final instalment of the legendary slasher franchise 'The Red Mask', anger, outrage, and online death threats from die-hard fans causes a rift in her relationship with reticent fiancé Deetz. Desperate for a creative breakthrough, the pair escape to a secluded Airbnb, where Allina concocts a dangerous game to play to unlock her writer's block. But when two uninvited houseguests crash the scene, the weekend turns dark and a twisted contest devolves into a duel to the death in a love letter to the stalk and slash genre.
Shed (Australia, 2025) - World Premiere
Directed by Steven J. Mihaljevich
Written by Steven J. Mihaljevich
Produced by Steven J. Mihaljevich, Matthew Robinson, Glen Strindberg
Cast: John Jarratt, Mani Shanks, Jason Robert Lester
Mia, a courageous 10 year old girl who is locked in a shed, must survive inconceivable odds whilst trying to discover what happened to her family.
Sword of Vengeance (Serbia, 2025) - North American Premiere
Directed by Nemanja Ceranic
Written by Stranhinja Madzarevic
Produced by Milos Avramovic, Aleksandar Protic
Cast: Isidora Simijonovic, Milos Bikovic, Sergej Trifunovic
In the post-apocalyptic future, a young warrior must take revenge on his enemies for the crimes they committed against his family.
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The deadline for credential applications is October 1st, 2025.
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ABOUT SCREAMFEST HORROR FILM FESTIVAL:
Formed in August 2001 by film producer Rachel Belofsky, Screamfest Horror Film Festival is a female-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that gives filmmakers and screenwriters in the horror and science fiction genres a venue to have their work showcased in the film industry. Among the numerous films that have been discovered and/or premiered at the festival include “ICK”, Monolith”, “Lord of Misrule”, Steven Soderbergh Presents Divinity”, “Faceless After Dark”, “Tigers Are Not Afraid.”, “The Wretched”, “We Summon the Darkness”, “The Master Cleanse’, “ “American Mary”, Paranormal Activity,” “30 Days of Night,” “Trick ‘r Treat” and “The Human Centipede.”
ABOUT 2025 SCREAMFEST PARTNERS:
ABOUT 2025 SCREAMFEST PARTNERS Screamfest is sponsored by Birns & Sawyer, Saber Interactive, ELMA, HorrorPack, Deadly Grounds, Screenplay.com and InkTip. Screamfest is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture. Screamfest is made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs. Screamfest is supported in part by the Western States Arts Federation -WESTAF and the National Endowment for the Arts.
PLEASE CONTACT:
42 West / Kim Gutierrez
