Fantastic Fest is the largest genre film festival in the U.S., bringing to its audience nothing less than the pure joy of cinema. Every autumn, Fantastic Fest draws in sci-fi and horror fans from all over with some of the best films in the genres, and this year is no different. There will be man-eating sharks, elderly zombies, and cocktail-serving robots. Yes, actual cocktail-serving robots from Roboexotica will be there to serve and possibly conquer humanity. Don’t worry, though, the sharks and zombies will only be on-screen.

Fantastic Fest is extremely excited to return with in-person parties and screenings, “It’s been far too long since we’ve all been able to gather together and celebrate film the Fantastic Fest way,” says Festival Director Lisa Dreyer. “We’ve really put our all into crafting an extraordinary week, from the exceptional programming that spans exciting discoveries to highly-anticipated features, to our signature events that will inject a much-needed dose of fun into 2022.”

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Fantastic Fest will take over the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, Texas, from September 22nd to the 29th, with dozens of premiers from all around the world. Many world-class directors will be making appearances, including Park Chan-wook, the visionary director of Old Boy, Joint Security Area, and The Handmaiden, as the festival pays tribute to the master auteur. The hype has already started growing with promised premiers and screenings of award-winning films.

Here are some of the most exciting films on the lineup.

Fantastic Fest 2022 Most Anticipated Films

SMILE

     Paramount Pictures

USA, 2022 World Premiere, 116 min / Director - Parker Finn / In attendance - Director Parker Finn

After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain. As an overwhelming terror begins taking over her life, Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality.

THE LEGACY OF THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE

     Second Sight Films

United Kingdom, 2022 / World Premiere, 83 min / Director Phillip Escott / In attendance - Director Phillip Escott

Fest alumnus Phillip Escott presents a journey into The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, exploring the elements that garnered the film its cult status.

BONES AND ALL

     Warner Bros.MGM

USA, 2022 / Texas Premiere, 129 min / Director - Luca Guadagnino / In attendance – Director Luca Guadagnino

A story of first love between Maren, a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee, an intense and disenfranchised drifter; a liberating road odyssey of two young people coming into their own, searching for identity and chasing beauty in a perilous world that cannot abide who they are.

THE MENU

     Searchlight Pictures

USA, 2022 / US Premiere, 107 min / Director - Mark Mylod / In attendance - Director Mark Mylod

A couple (Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) travels to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef (Ralph Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.

MEDUSA DELUXE

     A24

United Kingdom, 2022 / North American Premiere, 100 min / Director - Thomas Hardiman / In attendance - Director Thomas Hardiman

Tensions and hairspray run high when a stylist is murdered at an elite hairdressing competition where a passion for extravagance borders on obsession.

V/H/S/99

     Shudder

USA, 2022 / US Premiere, 99 min / Directors - Johannes Roberts, Maggie Levin, Flying Lotus, Tyler MacIntyre, Vanessa Winter & Joseph Winter / In attendance - Directors Maggie Levin & Tyler MacIntyre

The found footage anthology’s latest scare package rewinds the tape back to 1999 with bloody tales set against the end of the millennium.

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

UK/Ireland, USA, 2022 / US Premiere, 114 min / Director - Martin McDonagh / In attendance - Director Martin McDonagh

Two lifelong friends find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, with alarming consequences for both of them.

KIDS VS. ALIENS

     Yer Dead Productions

USA, 2022 / World Premiere, 75 min / Director - Jason Eisener / In attendance - Director Jason Eisener

Jason Eisener’s long-awaited follow-up to Canuxploitation classic Hobo With a Shotgun pits a group of moviemaking pals against sinister alien invaders.

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS

     Neon

Sweden, 2022 / US Premiere, 149 min / Director - Ruben Östlund

In Ruben Östlund’s wickedly funny Palme d’Or winner, social hierarchy is turned upside down, revealing the tawdry relationship between power and beauty. Celebrity model couple, Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean), are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged boat captain (Woody Harrelson). What first appeared instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island and fighting for survival.

Other Exciting Films to See at Fantastic Fest

JOINT SECURITY AREA (Presented by AGFA)

     CJ Entertainment

South Korea, 2000 / US Premiere of Restoration, 110 min / Director - Park Chan-wook

Arrow Film’s new restoration of Park Chan-wook’s explosive exploration of the madness of war set in the DMZ between North and South Korea.

SHIN ULTRAMAN

     Toho

Japan, 2022 / Texas Premiere, 113 min / Director - Shinji Higuchi

Ultraman descends from space after Japan suffers a devastating series of kaiju attacks in this homage to the classic, genre-defining TV series.

SATANIC HISPANICS

     Fantastic Fest

USA, Mexico, Argentina, 2022 / World Premiere, 105 min / Directors - Mike Mendez, Demian Rugna, Eduardo Sanchez, Gigi Saul Guerrero & Alejandro Brugues / In attendance - Directors Mike Mendez, Demian Rugna, Eduardo Sanchez, Gigi Saul Guerrero & Alejandro Brugues

Five crazy and original shorts from five entertaining Hispanic directors, together in an anthology that will make you laugh and jump in fright.

GAMERA VS. ZIGRA

     Dainichi Eihai

Japan, 1971 / North American Premiere, 87 min / Director - Noriaki Yuasa

A classic case of mutated, talking murdershark vs. nuclear turtlebeast when Japanese cinema’s second-most iconic reptile takes on an oceanic threat!

SICK OF MYSELF

     Scandinavian Film Distribution

Norway, Sweden, 2022 / US Premiere, 95 min / Director - Kristoffer Borgli

Fueled by a need for attention, Signe plays a perverse game of one-upmanship with her boyfriend, popping a drug that causes a painful skin condition.

MAKO: THE JAWS OF DEATH

     Cannon Films

USA, 1976 / Texas Premiere, 86 min / Director - William Grefé

A rabidly anti-human Vietnam vet cranks his telepathic shark-bond to 11 in William Grefe’s lethally entertaining shipwreck of Jaws and Carrie.