The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival has locked in its full lineup for 2026, and it is shaping up to be one of the most eclectic editions yet. Running from October 15 to October 22 at Nitehawk Cinema Williamsburg, the festival will open with the vampire mockumentary I Love Paris, feature the New York premiere of the body-horror film Species (Sanguine) as its centerpiece, and close with the brutal action-horror siege thriller Kick On. Badges are already on sale, with a limited batch of individual tickets set to drop on Friday at 10 a.m. ET.
Opening Night Kicks Off With a Bloody Music Hustle
I Love Paris takes the opening night slot, presented by MUBI. Directed by Nicky Murphy, this Australian-French production follows an aspiring underground singer named Paris who gets bitten and turned into a vampire. Instead of giving up on her dreams of music stardom, she pushes her hustle even harder, turning the music scene into a bloodier affair. The film previously took home the top audience award at Fantasia 2026, signaling strong word-of-mouth ahead of its Brooklyn debut.
Body Horror Takes the Centerpiece Spot
The centerpiece film is Species (Sanguine), a French body-horror feature directed by Marion Le Corroller. The story centers on a young intern at a prestigious emergency room who struggles to keep up with the intense environment. When a strange disease starts appearing in patients her age, she begins experiencing alarming physical symptoms of her own. The film has drawn comparisons to The Substance, described as a social satire wrapped in a body-horror thriller about an overworked generation pushed to its limits.
Closing Night Delivers a Siege Thriller
Kick On closes the festival with its New York premiere. Directed by Nick Kozakis, this Australian action-horror film follows four friends whose wild night of partying spirals into a brutal fight for survival after they cross paths with a mobster’s unhinged son. The director has described the film as “John Wick under methamphetamine,” and it recently had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness section.
World and Regional Premieres Fill the Slate
The festival is packed with premieres from around the globe. The Glorious Dead, presented by Arrow Video and competing for the Leviathan Award, is a New York premiere from directing duo John Adams and Toby Poser. The film follows a small-town sheriff whose typical day turns sinister as people begin to disappear and fleshy creatures emerge.
American Dollhouse, a New York premiere directed by John Valley, tells the story of a woman returning to her childhood home for a fresh start, only to be terrorized by a psychotic and homicidal new neighbor. The film previously world-premiered at SXSW 2026.
Corpus, presented by MUBI, is directed by Corrin Evans. Set in the summer of 1998 in New York City, it follows a nightlife photographer and small-time drug dealer who takes a trip upstate with a longtime friend and unrequited love. The getaway takes a dark turn when their mysterious hosts reveal ulterior motives.
More Features and Premieres to Watch
The lineup also includes The Cycle, an East Coast premiere from UK director Jordan Downey, about a woman investigating her estranged father’s corpse found at a grisly crime scene after he had been missing for over three decades. The Den, directed by Zachary Donohue, is an early entry in the “screenlife” horror canon, following a sociology student who witnesses a murder while studying webcam user behavior and becomes the killer’s next target.
Erie is an East Coast premiere from director Alison-Eve, adding to the festival’s strong slate of regional debuts. The full lineup includes numerous other films across features and shorts, with the festival’s signature sidebars returning: SLAYED for LGBTQIA+ films, HEAD TRIP for boundary-pushing genre work, and BLACK HORROR highlighting Black filmmakers in genre cinema.
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Badges and Ticket Information
Badges for the 2026 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival are currently on sale through the festival’s official platform. Three badge tiers are available: the Possessed Package, Horror Buff, and Splatter Packages. Earlybird discounts on film badges remain in effect through June 1. A limited number of individual tickets will go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. ET, so horror fans should act quickly to secure seats for the most in-demand screenings.
Film submissions for the 2026 festival are open exclusively through FilmFreeway, where the festival is currently rated as a Top 100 Best Reviewed Festival worldwide. The festival considers short films of 45 minutes or less and feature films of 46 minutes or longer, with all feature submissions required to be at minimum a New York premiere.
Stay tuned to VvipTimes for more festival coverage, release updates, and streaming details as the October event approaches.
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