The 2023 Overlook Film Festival is ready to terrorize your bowels: Here’s the full lineup

It’s a tradition – spring approaches and that means we must be tormented by demons and disembowelments before the tulips bloom. Or as some might call it, the 2023 Overlook Film Festival.  

This year’s festival will run from March 30th to April 2nd right in the French Quarter with screenings at the Prytania Uptown and the Prytania Theaters at Canal Place. Festival passes provide entrance to all films, panel events, and parties, and can be bought on the Overlook Eventive site for $250. Tickets to the 2023 special events and immersive experiences are sold separately and include a Halloween party, a dark art market, comedy and magic performances, and even an “Opening Night Vampire’s Ball”. 

Unfortunately, ritual sacrifices did not make this year’s schedule. 

Here is the 2023 Overlook Film Festival film lineup.

Yes, Nicolas Cage will be in attendance for the Renfield screening

The Overlook Film Fest kicks off with the best kind of cinematic fireworks: the world premiere of the comedy-horror film Renfield and in-person attendance by Nicolas Cage (as Dracula, of course) and Director Chris Mckay (both will be at the Uptown screening only). The opening screening will premiere at the Canal Place Theater at 5:00 p.m. and the evening slot will screen at 7:00 at the Prytania Theatre Uptown.

Late Night with the Devil – Thursday, March 30th – 5:15 p.m., Canal Place Theater 2

Directed by Cameron Cairnes and Colin Cairnes. Australian horror film coming in hot with the classic “possessed demon girl” trope. Complications arise when a desperate talk show personality tries to host the aforementioned demon girl on his late-night live-audience show.

Smoking Causes Coughing – Thursday, March 30th – 5:30 p.m., Canal Place Theater 5

Directed by Quentin Dupieux (Deerskin, Mandibles). Also could be billed as “Power Rangers meets the Avengers in therapy”. With a sprinkle of Team America: World Police.  

Shorts Program 3: Sex & Death – Thursday, March 30th – 7:15 p.m., Canal Place Theater 3

Includes nine separate shorts from all over the world, giving the viewer an eclectic taste of international horror channeled through the themes of two of humanity’s favorite things: sex and death.

The Elderly – Thursday, March 30th – 7:00 p.m., Canal Place Theater 4

Directed by Raúl Cerezo and Fernando González Gómez. Great premise – watch old folks slowly go insane in a heat wave. A slow-burn body horror film entrenched in the stifling summer heat.

The Wrath of Becky – Thursday, March 30th – 9:30 p.m., Canal Place Theater 2

Directed by Matt Angel and Suzanna Coote. A girl attempting to rebuild her life is attacked in her home and has her dog stolen by a group of men. It honestly sounds like John Wick with a woman protagonist. Love to see Seann William Scott making another appearance in a bloody indie horror film.

The Five Devils – Thursday, March 30th – 9:45 p.m., Canal Place Theater 3

Directed by Léa Mysius. A French blend of violence and magic and the triggering consequences of a girl’s hyperacute sense of smell. Includes the always comforting visual of an eight-year-old girl dumping a dead raven into a stew pot.

The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster – Thursday, March 30th, 9:15 p.m., Canal Place Theater 4

Directed by Bomani J. Story. A woman tries to bring her murdered brother back to life with a death cure. On one hand, it carries the vibe of “some things are better off left dead”. On the other…what if somebody could cure death?

Brooklyn 45 – Friday, March 31st, 12:45 p.m. – Canal Place Theater 1

Directed by Ted Geoghegan. Longtime friends and traumatized WWII vets gather for a seance and are haunted by spirits they can’t help but dig up. Like playing Jumanji, but with ghosts both real and metaphorical.

birth/rebirth – Friday, March 31st – 12:15 p.m., Canal Place Theater 2

Directed by Laura Moss. An imagining of the “some things are better left dead” premise. An obsessed pathologist and grieving mother piece together a grimy retelling of Frankenstein in a hospital basement. A blend of ego, grief, and humanity’s unending capacity to self-destruct.

Shorts Program 2 – Tales of the Uncanny – Friday, March 31st – Noon, Canal Place Theater 3

The two cousins that don’t get together often enough on the holidays: Sci-fi and horror. Eight short films comprise a strong field showing the blurred lines between Sci-fi and horror.

My Animal – Friday, March 31st – Noon, Canal Place Theater 4

Directed by Jacqueline Castel. Described by Overlook as a “visually stunning queer romance”, two teen girls come of age and explore their desires and bloodlust. What would a horror fest be without a steamy werewolf tale?

Mister Organ – Friday, March 31st – 3:15 p.m., Canal Place Theater 1

A hunter, a leech, a dangerous, aggressive “car park terrorist”. Documentarian David Farrier follows a toxic New Zealand parking scammer down a rabbit hole of danger and toxicity. Horror in the form of a wretched human being.

Trim Season – Friday, March 31st – 2:45 p.m., Canal Place Theater 2

Directed by Ariel Vida. The terrors that arise from the blood-soaked soil of a remote marijuana farm. When marijuana harvesters become the harvested. This is the world premiere.

Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism – Friday, March 31st – 2:15 p.m., Canal Place Theater 3

Directed by Nick Kozakis. Like The Conjuring with extra-strength narcissism. A husband puts his possessed wife in the hands of a zealous self-proclaimed exorcist. This is the world premiere.

Aberrance – Friday, March 31st – 3:00 p.m., Canal Place Theater 4

Directed by Baatar Batsukh. A Mongolian tale of a strange couple that rents a forest cabin and starts disturbing the neighbors. There will definitely be a crowd of people at this screening just dying to see some horrific shenanigans in the woods.

It Lives Inside – Friday, March 31st – 5:45 p.m., Canal Place Theater 1

Directed by Bishal Dutta. When Sam’s old best friend is possessed by an ancient demon, she must confront her heritage to defeat it. Which camp are you in – the film where the demon is defeated or the film where the demon simply goes dormant and lives on?

Clock – Friday, March 31st – 5:15 p.m. – Canal Place Theater 2

Directed by Alexis Jacknow. A woman goes to extreme lengths to fix her biological clock on her 39th birthday. One of the more underrated horror tropes: the fear of age.

Only Lovers Left Alive – Friday, March 31st – 5:00 p.m., Prytania Theatre (Uptown)

The tenth-anniversary screening of the stylish vampire tale stars Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton as vampire lovers with a passion for music and literature. This screening will include appearances by Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan. A great supporting cast includes Jeffrey Wright, Anton Yelchin, and John Hurt.

Appendage – Friday, March 31st – 8:00 p.m., Canal Place Theater 1

Directed by Anna Zlokovic. Billed as a horror comedy, a still image released by 20th Digital Studios/Hulu lets you know you’ll get your fix of body horror gore. A fashion designer’s longtime anxiety manifests as a grotesque sentient appendage on her back. Gotta hate when that happens!

Monolith – Friday, March 31st – 7:30 p.m., Canal Place Theater 2

Directed by Matt Vesely. Some of the most tension-filled films seem to be ones in which the filmmaker has very strict, defined boundaries of space, and Monolith epitomizes this style of creative containment. A podcaster investigates a mystery surrounding life-ruining black bricks from the confines of her home.

Short Program 1: Queer Horror – Friday, March 31st – 7:15 p.m., Canal Place Theater 3

Seven short films from across Canada and the U.S. spotlights a diverse range of queerness in horror, from the unsettling, sexy, and shocking characters to the queer creative minds behind the lens.

Accused – Friday, March 31st – 7:45 p.m., Canal Place Theater 4

Directed by Philip Barantini, possibly the festival film closest to a traditional thriller premise. A man (Chaneil Kukar, Sex Education) in an isolated country house is wrongly named as a wanted terrorist and must fight for his life against a home invasion. This is the world premiere.

Secret Screening – Friday, March 31st – 10:00 p.m., Canal Place Theater 1

No, this isn’t a weird meta title for a horror film. This is the Overlook Film Fest’s Secret Centerpiece. The tagline states that bold viewers can attend to “marvel at one of the most exciting new titles of the year”.

We Kill For Love – Saturday, April 1st – Noon, Canal Place Theater 3

Directed by Anthony Penta, this is the world premiere. Sultry, sexy erotic horror is definitely an established theme at this year’s Overlook Film Fest. We Kill for Love hits every beat with sexual obsessions, passionate crimes, and the seedy glow of late-night cable.  

The Dead Zone – Saturday, April 1st – 3:00 p.m., Canal Place Theater 1

The 40th-anniversary screening of David Cronenberg’s 1983 classic that stars Christopher Walken as a schoolteacher who wakes up from a coma with psychic powers. A Stephen King adaptation. The otherworldly weirdness of movies in this period of the 80s (like Altered States) are in a genre of their own.

The Artifice Girl – Saturday, April 1st – 2:45 p.m., Canal Place Theater 4

Directed by Franklin Ritch. A closeted computer programmer works with two special agents on an online predator sting using a revolutionary AI creation. Described by the Austin Chronicle as “a complex and captivating sci-fi fable”. The aesthetic of the trailer brings to mind AI thrillers like Ex Machina.

Evil Dead Rise – Saturday, April 1st – 7:30 p.m., Canal Place Theater 2

This is the closing night film! Directed by Lee Cronin, nothing wraps up an Overlook Saturday night as well as two sisters battling it out with some flesh-eating demons.

Matinee – Sunday, April 2nd – 1:00 p.m., Prytania Theatre (Uptown)

A 1962 Hollywood showman prepares for his Key West movie premiere as the Cuban Missile Crisis happens just offshore. The 30th-anniversary screening includes in-person appearances by John Goodman and Director Joe Dante.

Give Me an A – Sunday, April 2nd – 3:30 p.m., Canal Place Theater 2

This is a free Sunday afternoon screening. 16 women filmmakers contribute to an anthology and rallying cry of short films that all share the thread of being a direct response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Horror, Sci-fi, and dark comedy are blended. With roles by Alyssa Milano and Virginia Madsen.

The Tingler – Sunday, April 2nd – 4:00 p.m., Prytania Theatre (Uptown)

A doctor is obsessed with extracting a killer parasite creature that he believes tingles the spines of people in a state of extreme fear. For any new film lovers, a chance to see why Vincent Price was beloved as a villain and a gentleman, and a pillar of classic horror.

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog – Sunday, April 2nd – 7:00 p.m., Canal Place Theater 1

For the true horror history nerd, take yourself back to Alfred Hitchcock’s fifth-ever film. In a silent film thriller with noir elements, a blonde showgirl struggles between love for her policeman sweetheart and a mysterious stranger while the London streets are stalked by a serial killer.

There is no genre left untouched at the 2023 Overlook Film Fest

Take in erotic, sultry horror in one afternoon and spend the evening with a flesh-eating demon. The lineup of the 2023 Overlook Film Fest indicates why it has risen to become one of the premiere horror film festivals in the entire country. 

Many of the films will have repeat matinee screenings following the opening screening. Check out the Overlook Film Fest schedule to see further screening times. Tickets are available through the Overlook site. 

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