Since its inception in Los Angeles in 2013, Beyond Fest has gone on to establish itself as the largest film festival in the United States focusing primarily on horror, science fiction, fantasy and related genres, presenting a consistently strong program of new releases (including a number of premieres), retrospective screenings, shorts programs, special guests and the proverbial much, much more. For those of us not based on the West Coast, their programs have been a consistent source of envy for many movie fans.
To that end, Beyond Fest has at long last decided to spread its goodness into a different time zone. From April 2-5, they, in conjunction with MUBI, will be presenting Beyond Chicago, a program of 30 titles ranging from the first local looks at a number of highly touted films to a number of cult classics, a number of them presented in the miracle of 35MM, all of which will be showing at the city’s most hallowed movie palace, the Music Box Theatre.
The festival kicks off on April 2 with the local premiere of “Obsession,” the new film from Curry Barker, who made a splash in 2024 when his $800 YouTube feature “Milk & Serial” garnered a lot of attention from the horror press, who wondered what he might be able to accomplish with a larger budget. For his follow-up, he gives us the story of an amiable goof (Michael Johnston) who is desperately in love with his childhood friend/co-worker (Inde Navarette), but while she cares for him, it is clearly only as a friend.
One day, he goes into a novelty shop and finds a “One Wish Willow,” a tchotchke that allegedly grants the user one wish. As it turns out, a.) the thing actually works and b.) wishing for someone to feel undying love for you without any sort of consent is perhaps not the wisest of ideas. Judging from the response that the film has already received following its screenings at Toronto (where it was the center of a bidding war that saw it sold to Focus Features, who will be releasing it on May 15) and SXSW, it would seem as if he has indeed lived up to the promise of his earlier work.
For the Closing Night slot on April 5, the fest will be holding the World Premiere screening of another eagerly anticipated title, “Faces of Death,” Daniel Goldhaber’s reimagining of the 1978 “Mondo Cane” riff that was little more than a collection of scenes of people dying in any number of gruesome ways that, if you believed the hype from everyone from moral watchdogs to the kid on the playground who snuck a look at an older sibling’s copy, were real. (Spoiler Alert: Most of them were obvious fakes.)
Rather than redo the faux-documentary schtick, Goldhaber and co-writer Isa Mazzei (both of whom will be on hand for a post-screening Q&A) have reconceived it as an overtly fictional narrative, in which a video platform moderator investigates whether or not a series of apparent snuff videos are merely fakes or something much worse, starring the likes of Barbie Ferreira, Dacre Montgomery, Jermaine Fowler and—because you can hardly say to have a major film festival in 2026 without her appearing on your screen at some point, the increasingly-ubiquitous pop goddess Charli XCX.
Among the other major titles on the program, Ben Wheatley’s “Normal” (4/3) finds Bob Odenkirk (who will be appearing along with co-writer/producer Derek Kolstad) once again stepping into the role of unlikely action hero, this time as the sheriff of a seemingly bucolic Midwestern town who finds himself running afoul of all the locals (including the likes of Henry Winkler and Lena Headey) in the wake of a bank robbery that goes sideways.
The carnage continues with Kenji Tanigaki’s “The Furious” (4/4), a martial arts thriller about a seemingly ordinary father (Xie Miao) whose daughter is kidnapped by child traffickers and who teams up with a journalist (Joe Taslim) to rescue her and other abducted children in the most bone-crunching ways imaginable.
In “One Spoon of Chocolate” (4/4), the latest work from musical icon-turned-writer/director RZA (scheduled to take part in a post-screening Q&A), a former military veteran (Shameik Moore) is released from prison and relocates to his small Ohio hometown to make a new life, only to run afoul of a group of local racist goons in a series of confrontations that quickly and violently escalate in the tradition of the classic blaxsploitation films of old.
Even more blood spills in “Over Your Dead Body” (4/5), a remake of the Norwegian dark comedy “I Onde Dager” from Jorma Taccone (currently scheduled to attend) about a couple (Jason Segel and Samara Weaving) who go off to spend some time at a secluded cabin to fix their fraying marriage, not realizing that a.) each is actually planning to do away with the other and b.) an unforeseen twist will force them both to put their plans on hold, at least temporarily.
On the documentary front, “Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth And Nothing Butt” (4/2) recounts the story of the legendary 1980s underground band co-founded by Gibby Hanes and Paul Leary, both of whom will be on hand for the screening along with director Tom Stern, and charts the ways in which they would go on to influence alternative culture for years to come.
Of the bigger new titles, perhaps the most intriguing is “Rose of Nevada” (4/2), the latest work from Mark Jenkin, whose last film, “Enys Men” (2022) was a quietly but deeply unsettling low-fi thriller about a wildlife volunteer whose stay on a supposedly uninhabited island to observe a rare flower begins to take on the form of a waking nightmare. In this one, which, like its predecessor, was shot in 16MM to give it a grainy, tactile look, an empty fishing boat (whose name supplies the film’s title) turns up on the shore of a fishing village in Cornwall 30 years after it set out and never returned.
Although the fates of those on board remain a mystery, the boat’s owner (Edward Rowe) nevertheless elects to put it back to work, a move that seems like a spectacularly bad idea even before the discovery of the words “Get off the boat now” carved into the wood below deck. However, two young men—financially struggling family man Nick (George McKay) and drifter Liam (Callum Turner)—sign on for some quick and much-needed cash and ship out with an appropriately grizzled captain (Francis Magee) for a few days of fishing.
What happens next, I will not even hint at to allow you to discover for yourself. Suffice it to say, something happens—something strange and disturbing that the two men find themselves responding to in increasingly different ways. Although one could easily imagine the basic elements gathered here being put to the service of a traditional horror narrative, that is not what Jenkins has given viewers. Instead, as he did so memorably with “Enys Men,” he is less concerned with creating standard-issue “BOO!” moments designed to get viewers jumping than with creating a moody cinematic dreamscape where the line between reality and nightmare is so blurred that the audience is just as baffled as the characters are regarding which is which.
Those who are in the mood for cheap shocks and gallons of gore may grow frustrated with the film’s enigmatic tone and low body count (unless you include the fish). However, those looking for something that is both undeniably strange and quietly disturbing—particularly if you were an admirer of “Enys Men”—should make an effort to check this one out.
On the retrospective front, the festival is offering up a canny mix of fan favorites and odd obscurities. Before appearing at the screening of “Normal,” Bob Odenkirk will be hosting a showing of a 35MM print of “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” (4/3), Joseph Sargent’s enormously entertaining thriller about a New York subway train being held for ransom featuring Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Jerry Stiller and one of the greatest final moments in screen history.
Similarly, before his screening of “One Spoon of Chocolate,” RZA will be presenting “The Kid with the Golden Arm” (4/4), Chen Chang’s 1979 period martial arts epic about members of a security firm transporting a fortune in gold taels through a stretch of land filled with a wide assortment of dangerous criminals intent on stealing it all.
The festival will also host the world premiere of the new 4K restoration of the 2008 screen adaptation of “Speed Racer” (4/3), with co-writer/director Lilly Wachowski participating in a pre-screening Q&A.
Iconic Japanese cult actress Meiko Kaji will be making her first Chicago appearance for screenings of three of her classic films—the world premiere of the 2K restoration of “Silver Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler” (4/3), a revenge thriller in which she co-stars with Sonny Chiba, and a double-feature of “Lady Snowblood” and “Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41” (4/4), two visually stylish and super-bloody action epics that would serve as key influences for Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” saga.
For the late-night crowd, there will be a midnight screening of Paul Morrissey’s still-jaw-dropping horror-comedy hybrid “Flesh for Frankenstein” (4/4), in the miracle of 3D, to serve as a tribute to the late, great Udo Kier, who delivered one of the most unhinged performances of his career—which, if you are familiar with his career, says a lot—as the mad doctor looking to create a new master race with the help of the severed head of Joe Dallesandro.
If that wasn’t enough, thanks to sponsor MUBI, the festival will also be presenting a number of free screenings, though tickets are still required for admission. “Camp” (4/3) tells the story of a seemingly cursed young woman who goes off to work as a counselor at a camp for troubled youth but cannot shake her sense of doom. “The Yeti” (4/3) follows a team assembled to search for a tycoon and an adventurer who have gone missing in a harsh stretch of northern Alaska, only to find themselves in the territory of the titular creature.
“Flush” (4/3) is an outrageous French entry in which a guy runs afoul of the wrong people and finds himself left for dead with his head stuck in a squat toilet and struggling with everything from possible drowning to an attack by a drug-addled rat. “Phase” (4/4) is a British sci-fi film about a pregnant woman who, after being exiled from a space station, goes off in search of the father of her child.
“Bulk” (4/4) is another film from Ben Wheatley, this one a sci-fi mind-bender in which experiments in string theory go wildly out of control with increasingly surreal results. In “Imposters” (4/4), after a couple’s infant son is kidnapped, the mother discovers a way to bring the child back, but over time, the father becomes increasingly convinced that what she has brought back is not their son.
“The Kirlian Frequency” (4/5) is an Argentinian chiller about a radio show whose spooky and ostensibly fictional on-air tales are becoming a grisly reality. The first film produced by the company belonging to Indonesian action star Iko Uwais (best known here for the “Raid” films), “Ikatan Darah” (4/5) about a martial artist whose career was cut short by injury who is forced back into action when her brother runs afoul of a criminal syndicate.
“Cruel Hands” (4/5) is an Australian thriller about a woman who, along with her young son, escapes from her abusive husband to a remote farmhouse, where she eventually has to defend them against her husband, the police, and raging brushfires.
A trio of older titles is also part of the free series. “Blood Brothers (& Other Delights)” (4/4) is a collection of super-gross, zero-budget films made in the 1980s and traded through the mail by Mike Diana, an underground cartoonist whose self-published work, Boiled Angel, would lead to his conviction in the 1990s for artistic obscenity. “Small Kill” (1991) is an almost indescribably weird thriller about a degenerate psychopath—played by none other than Gary “Radar” Burghoff (who also co-directed the film—who goes around kidnapping children and killing them if their parents don’t cough up the ransom.
“Sheila and the Brainstem” (4/5) is a strange 1989 sci-fi satire about a guy who travels to a subterranean world where he finds the Brainstem, which he believes holds the power of immortality, only to have it stolen in a convenience store by a trio of punks who mistake it for beef jerky. In addition, there are two blocks of short films, “Strange Frequencies” (4/4) and “And Then What” (4/5).
As tantalizing as most of these titles may seem, I have saved the most notable part of the lineup—one that may go down as one of the must-see screening events of the year—for last. On April 5, the festival will be presenting the local premiere of “Boorman and the Devil,” the eagerly anticipated film from director David Kittredge (who will be in attendance) chronicling the wild history behind one of the strangest would-be blockbusters of the 1970s, “Exorcist II: The Heretic,” John Boorman’s infamous follow-up to the groundbreaking 1973 horror classic “The Exorcist.”
Presumably realizing that anyone watching “Boorman and the Devil” will then immediately want to seek out “Exorcist II” to see it for themselves, the festival is following up the documentary with a rare screening of an original 35MM print of the film, marking its first appearance on a Chicago screen in a long time. Although it received much derision back in the day and is usually regarded as one of the worst sequels ever made, its reputation has begun to improve over the years, with no less an authority than Martin Scorsese making a case for its worth.
Personally, I think the film is a straight-up masterpiece, one of the most audaciously bizarre American films of the Seventies—particularly for one produced on such an immense scale—and one that continues to look better with each passing year. (Disclaimer: Both I and fellow critic and Music Box’s own Steve Prokopy are featured in the doc.)
Scoff if you must, but I can assure you that it is a film that, once seen, you will never forget, and yes, I mean that in a good way. Besides, now that films like “Heaven’s Gate” and “Sorcerer” have gone on to finally receive the acclaim they deserved, we need another once-scorned auteurist epic reclamation project. I cannot think of a more deserving work.
Beyond Fest Chicago runs April 2-5 at the Music Box Theatre (3733 N. Southport). Tickets for the main screenings are on sale now. Tickets for the free screenings will be available to Music Box members on April 1 and to the general public on April 2. Tickets can be purchased online at musicboxtheatre.com. For additional information on the festival, go to beyondfest.com.
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