Fantastic Fest 2026 Final Check-in #3: Phreaker, What Happened to Doris, and more

Today we’re talking with Cassandra Khaw, the USA Today bestselling and Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth, The Salt Grows Heavy, The Library at Hellebore, and other acclaimed works of horror and speculative fiction. They’re also an award-winning game writer and as a scriptwriter at Ubisoft Montreal Their new novella is Find Me Where It Ends, coming October 6 from Tor Nightfire.Content Warning: This episode contains a detailed discussion about suicidal ideation. We care about your well-being, and if this topic is difficult for you, please feel free to skip this episode or listen with a trusted friend.If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. You are not alone:Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US & Canada).Text HOME to 741741 to connect with the Crisis Text Line.International resources: If you are outside the US or Canada, please find local support services at findahelpline.com.These services are free, confidential, and available 24/7.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Tony wraps up his Fantastic Fest coverage with a final collection of new films, including:Death Has No Master — After her father’s death, a woman returns to Venezuela to sell her family’s decaying cacao plantation, only to confront its occupants and her family’s colonial legacy.Phreaker — A lonely blind teenager discovers the early world of telephone hacking and uses his perfect pitch and talent for impersonation to gain money, power, and the attention of the FBI.Attack on Paradise — After leaving prison, a man visits his mother in a gang-controlled Belgian high-rise and becomes trapped in a brutal battle involving criminals, police, and heavily armed tactical forces.Gimme Truth — This documentary journeys through the strange and troubling world of modern conspiracy theories, speaking with believers whose ideas range from UFO cover-ups to forgotten advanced civilizations.What Happened to Doris? — Heather Graham stars in this dramatization of the Doris Bither case, in which a single mother reports increasingly violent assaults by an unseen supernatural entity.Too Many Beasts — A troubled police officer investigates murder and corruption in rural France, where farmers are battling wealthy hunters whose protected wild boars are destroying their crops.Roy from Space — This restored 1983 Mexican animated oddity follows an astronaut sent on a peace mission to another planet, where he encounters robots, monsters, romance, and an evil emperor threatening Earth.The Squirrel — In a sterile future without natural animals, a lonely designer of synthetic pets discovers a living squirrel and begins questioning everything about his carefully controlled society.The Swallow — A camping trip turns deadly when a group of young people encounters a sentient, quicksand-like sludge that traps, dissolves, and devours its victims.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Tony checks in from Fantastic Fest with another round of discoveries, including:Cinema Recomposed: Silent Monsters — A live string quartet performs original scores created by young composers for seven classic silent-horror shorts.Red Snow — A disaffected Finnish teenager visiting her grandmother encounters a middle-aged vampire who disguises himself as Santa Claus to enter homes and devour families.Girl in the Night — A lonely gas-station attendant becomes fascinated with a mysterious vigilante and devises an increasingly absurd plan to get closer to her in this deadpan Slovenian superhero comedy.Jim Queen — When a mysterious virus begins turning gay men straight, a muscle-bound icon of the Parisian gay scene searches for a cure in this outrageous French animated comedy.Game Master — A disconnected father infiltrates an enormous medieval-fantasy live-action role-playing event to find his missing daughter—and perhaps rebuild their relationship.The Face of Horror — Anna Biller relocates the Japanese ghost story Yotsuya Kaidan to medieval England, where a betrayed woman returns from the grave to seek bloody revenge against her unfaithful husband.Janur Ireng: Sewu Dino the Prequel — Two impoverished siblings move into their wealthy uncle’s ancestral home, where dark rituals, possession, and a deadly family curse await them.Flapjax — An excessively enthusiastic fast-food manager relaunches an addictive breakfast item, only to discover that he has become an unwitting pawn in an alien conspiracy.Alpha Gang — Aliens disguised as a 1950s biker gang arrive on Earth with hostile intentions, but exposure to human emotions begins complicating their mission.Ghost in the Cell — Rival inmates and corrupt guards inside a brutal Indonesian prison must work together when an invisible supernatural force begins murdering prisoners and arranging their bodies in grotesque displays.Pathetic Fallacy — A grieving widower searching for a way to reunite with his late wife descends into a psychedelic nightmare of cosmic forces, talking creatures, and brutal murder.Magick MTN. — A ghoulish host guides viewers through three interconnected, occult-infused stories in a low-budget rock-and-roll horror anthology set around Laurel Canyon.Kick On — Four friends prolong a night of partying at a mobster’s drug-fueled hideout, where paranoia, betrayal, and explosive violence leave them fighting for survival.Half — Half-human, half-vampire twins hunt down the highway marauders who attacked them in a blood-soaked Indian fusion of vampire horror, martial arts, and revenge Western.The Heretiks — On Halloween night, two sisters and their friends barricade themselves inside a house as a powerful coven of witches closes in on a teenage girl needed for a sinister ritual.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Tony Salvaggio checks in from Fantastic Fest in Austin with his first impressions of:Resident Evil (2026) — Zach Cregger’s reinvention follows an ordinary medical courier trapped in Raccoon City during a horrifying outbreak of mutated creatures.Beware Boiúna — A medical mission deep in the Amazon becomes a desperate fight for survival when it awakens Boiúna, a colossal ancient serpent determined to reclaim its domain.The Blood Countess — Isabelle Huppert stars in this campy vampire comedy about Elizabeth Báthory’s return in modern-day Vienna and her search for a mysterious book capable of destroying vampires.The Glorious Dead — The Adams filmmaking family delivers a practical-effects-driven apocalypse tale about a small-town sheriff and her deputy confronting bloody fissures, grotesque creatures, and the rising dead.Kylgor in the Grisly Abyss — In this gloriously gory puppet fantasy, a band of barbarians beheads an evil king, only to plunge into an underground labyrinth filled with monsters, hallucinations, and dark magic.Into the Sky — Sam Richardson plays a man whose attempts to repair his broken marriage are continually derailed by mysterious alien abductions in this blend of science fiction, comedy, and romance.Kung Fu Deadly — Two bumbling Dublin pest exterminators join forces with a Taoist guardian to battle an ancient Chinese jiangshi in a supernatural martial-arts comedy inspired by classic Hong Kong cinema.Upiro — In 1755, a young woman sent to a remote convent discovers novices suffering from a mysterious blood-related illness connected to a supernatural upyr.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Today we're talking with John Barker, author of the new book ALL THE RIGHT MOVIES. All The Right Movies is your exclusive look at the stories, people, and on-set surprises of 25 popular films dating back to the 1960s. Thoroughly researched and written by the team behind one of the biggest movie podcasts and film accounts on X, All The Right Movies (@ATRightMovies), this beautifully illustrated guide takes you beyond the cameras with key cast and crew member interviews and fun facts about the making of iconic movies across a variety of genres.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

This week we have a look at the 1956 monster movie THE SHE-CREATURE. This is Episode 495! The She-Creature (or The She Creature) is a 1956 American black-and-white science fiction horror film, released by American International Pictures (AIP) from a script by Lou Rusoff (brother-in-law of AIP executive Samuel Z. Arkoff). It’s premise was tied directly to the 1950s Bridey Murphy phenomenon. Morey Bernstein’s The Search for Bridey Murphy, published in January 1956, recounted hypnotic sessions in which Colorado housewife Virginia Tighe supposedly remembered life as a nineteenth-century Irishwoman; the book became a national sensation before investigators cast substantial doubt on the story. Producer Alex Gordon said exhibitor Jerry Zigmond suggested turning the craze into a movie subject, after which Lou Rusoff wrote the story and screenplay. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Drew Edwards, creator of Halloween Man, chats with Phil Howell, pop artist whose memorable graphic designs and illustrations have included Buffy, Star Wars, MCU and other pop art. Josh Brolin of the MCU said his art "makes me happy it exists in this world."Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Today we're talking with David Gregory and Carl Daft, founders of Severin Films, which is celebrating its 20-year anniversary. Severin focuses on preserving and issuing fantastic new releases of films both familiar and not, the strange, significant and spectacular. Their Blu-Ray and 4K UHD box sets for collections like the Eurocrypt of Chistopher Lee are the kind of thing that cinema devotees can’t stop raving about. Credit: Severin Films is celebrating 20 Years Anniversary for more info and to find their amazing work, visit https://severinfilms.com/ Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

This week we have a look at the 1994 vampire movie NADJA. This is Episode 494! Nadja is a 1994 American vampire art movie written and directed by Michael Almereyda, starring Elina Löwensohn in the title role and Peter Fonda as Abraham Van Helsing.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

This week we have a look at the 1979 zombie film from Lucio Fulci, ZOMBIE AKA ZOMBI 2. This is Episode 493! ZOMBIE AKA ZOMBI 2 is a 1979 English-language Italian zombie film directed by Lucio Fulci. It was adapted from an original screenplay by Dardano Sacchetti to serve as a sequel to George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978), which was released in Italy under the title Zombi. The film was released as Zombie in the USA and Zombie Flesh-Eaters in the UK. It stars Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, and Richard Johnson, and features a score by frequent Fulci collaborator Fabio Frizzi.PLUS, once more we are joined by very special guest JOHN LOGAN-- John has been nominated for the Oscar three times and has received Golden Globe, BAFTA, WGA and Edgar awards. His film work includes Skyfall, Gladiator, The Aviator, Hugo, Rango, Sweeney Todd, They/Them, The Last Samurai, and Any Given Sunday. His most recent release is the movie Michael, about Michael Jackson. Michael has been a monumental commercial success, the highest-grossing biopic of all time, the highest-grossing musical biopic and the biggest film in Lions Gate's history. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.