Panic Fest: From ‘Big Baby’ to ‘Exit 8’ and ‘Frogman Returns’, This Year’s Festival Is Jam-Packed
A huge wave of genre films lurks beneath the massive first wave for this year’s Panic Fest, which kicks off April 9th.
The 14th annual Panic Fest returns to Kansas City with 130+ feature and short films. The festival will once again run as a hybrid event, allowing fans to attend in person while also offering virtual programming for audiences watching from home.
Panic Fest co-founder Tim KC Canton says:
“Horror has always reflected the world back at us. Sometimes uglier, sometimes stranger, and always beautifully unhinged. We continue to embrace that chaos with our 2026 slate of films. We’re proud to give a stage to filmmakers that shock, provoke, terrify, and occasionally make you laugh at the darkness by bringing the most fearless voices in the genre to Kansas City.”
This year’s headliners include Damian McCarthy’s Hokum (Neon), Curry Barker’s Obsession (Focus Features), the action spectacle The Furious (Lionsgate), Spider One’s Big Baby, and Danielle Harris and Scout Taylor-Compton’s Last Chance Motel.
Co-founder and Festival Director Adam Roberts adds:
“Every year an inadvertent theme seems to emerge in the films we select, but this year has the widest variety of subjects, presentations and genres that we’ve ever shown. We have traditional horror offerings next to some of the weirdest, funniest, goriest films we’ve ever had to offer.”
Additional highlights include world premieres of The Voices of Our Mother, Don’t Sleep Alone, Demonetize, and Ivan.
Returning for the annual Mystery Movie are filmmakers Joe Lynch and Rebecca Howard, presenting another deep-cut selection for audiences. The pair will also host a live recording of their podcast, A Couple of Old Fashioneds.
Festivalgoers can also visit Rewind Video and Dive Bar, a retro hangout styled like a 1990s basement VHS store. The space features a full-service bar, board games, retro gaming systems, neon décor, and shelves of VHS tapes. Podcast recordings, meet-and-greets, and after-parties will take place here throughout the festival.
Virtual attendees can access Gather, Panic Fest’s 16-bit isometric online festival space, where users create avatars, watch films in a virtual theater, network with other fans, and play games.
Tickets: https://panicfilmfest.com/tickets
FEATURE FILM PROGRAMMING
Assets and Liabilities
Director: Zach Weintraub
Zach is a suburban father haunted by the impending arrival of middle age as he balances work, family, and the sale of an investment property. When his wife and daughter leave for a short trip, he attempts to relive a carefree version of his younger self. A spontaneous encounter with a fellow skater initially feels like a victory, but an unsettling connection between the two forces Zach to confront his own privileged position, sending the day spiraling into darker territory.
Babybacks
Director: Geno Marx
Two young lovers fleeing ruthless cartel hitmen cross into rural America and find refuge with a welcoming older couple. Their hosts soon reveal themselves as predators, forcing the young woman into a brutal fight for survival.
The Barn Part III
Director: Justin M. Seaman
Years after the events of The Barn Part II, the group remains haunted by the possibility that the evil trio will return to complete their harvest once and for all.
Big Baby
Director: Spider One
A successful horror screenwriter finds inspiration after a terrifying nightmare about a masked killer. As he develops the idea into a script, the boundary between fiction and reality begins to blur.
Break a Leg
Director: Kaitlyn Boyé
Two rival actors become trapped in a theater when their director fails to appear for an audition. As time passes, egos and desperation unravel into delusion, violence, and theatrical absurdity. The film blends self-aware horror comedy with an arthouse exploration of ambition, identity, and artistic obsession.
Buffet Infinity
Director: Simon Glassman
Told through a series of cheap local television commercials, a business rivalry unfolds in the shadow of a corporation called Buffet Infinity. As the company expands endlessly, consuming everything in its path, a sinister conspiracy and unfathomable forces begin to infiltrate the community of Westridge County, Alberta.
The Burning of Broken Beak
Director: Christian Carroll
After the murder of her uncle, Māori photographer Emma returns from New York City to New Zealand to claim her inheritance. Soon she begins experiencing visions of a mythical creature known as Broken Beak. As more family members die, Emma becomes convinced she must correct an ancestral wrong.
Camp
Director: Avalon Fast
A story of impossible redemption, modern witchcraft, and ritual duels that repeat like cursed cycles.
Cat Cam
Director: Sara Werner
Two pet owners install cameras to monitor their cat while traveling. Reviewing the footage reveals a terrifying explanation for their pet’s increasingly strange behavior.
Creature of the Pines
Directors: Chris Ruppert, Tyler Transue
A documentary investigation into disappearances in Pine Hollow uncovers evidence of a mysterious presence deep within the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
Cruel Hands
Director: Al Kalyk
A mother and her young son flee an abusive husband and hide in an isolated farmhouse, only to find themselves trapped between him and an encroaching bushfire.
Dead Bloom
Directors: Domonic Paris, Damien Paris
A socially driven horror story about generational contamination and corporate denial. A family living on poisoned land witnesses the effects seep into soil, crops, and bloodlines, transforming environmental injustice into modern folklore.
Dead Media
Director: Joseph Scrimshaw
A troubled woman plans a quiet night streaming an old horror film, but her Gen-X uncle insists on watching it on DVD. The disc proves haunted, turning the evening into a supernatural movie night that refuses to end.
Debone
Director: Lee Daehan
After killing his abusive father to protect his mother, Gyutark spends his youth in prison. Upon release he faces persecution and poverty, and when his mother requires expensive surgery, desperation drives him into the criminal underworld.
Demonetize
Director: Alexander Watson
Unemployed television ghost hunters attempt to revive their careers by collaborating with social media influencers to prove that ghosts are real.
Don’t Sleep Alone
Director: Talo Silveyra
Following her father’s suicide, Sami develops sleep paralysis that unleashes a terrifying presence and reveals secrets hidden within her home.
The Exit 8
Director: Genki Kawamura
A man trapped inside a subway station must identify strange anomalies and complete a mysterious task in order to escape.
FlyTrapper
Director: Drew Britton
Crystal’s reckless lifestyle of aggressive rap music, jet-skiing, and criminal activity is disrupted when her estranged friend Melonie reappears. As Melonie investigates their shared past, unstable tensions emerge and the two begin to rekindle a dangerous friendship.
Frankie Maniac Woman
Director: Pierre Tsigaridis
Frances Ramirez spends years aspiring to resemble the glamorous figures on magazine covers. Instead, she becomes notorious in a different way—earning the name “Maniac Woman.”
Free Buffet
Director: Zoe Berriatúa
An Asian couple facing bankruptcy at their all-you-can-eat buffet concocts a radical solution: eliminate their enemies. The plan soon raises the possibility that they themselves may be the true source of their downfall.
Frogman Returns
Director: Anthony Cousins
The legend of the Loveland Frogman continues as Dallas, Amy, and Frogman return to settle unfinished business.
The Furious
Director: Kenji Tanigaki
After his daughter Rainy is abducted, tradesman Wang Wei enters a violent underworld of corruption. With help from journalist Navin, he battles through an international criminal network to rescue her and uncover the truth.
Goody Goody
Director: Raymond Creamer
A home birth turns catastrophic when severe complications arise during a blizzard.
Grind
Directors: Brea Grant, Ed Dougherty, Chelsea Stardust
A four-part workplace horror anthology exploring the terror embedded within modern employment.
Hokum
Director: Damian McCarthy
A horror writer visits an Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, unaware that the property is rumored to be haunted by a witch.
Ivan
Director: Damien Fannon
When Abigail’s estranged father returns bearing an advanced AI device named Ivan, she initially welcomes the gift. She soon discovers his plan to use the technology to control both her and her mother.
Jump Scare
Director: Donnie Hobbie
A female metal band retreats to a remote cabin to write their next album, only to be terrorized by a cannibalistic family living nearby.
LandLord
Director: Remington Smith
A Black bounty hunter moves into a deteriorating apartment complex and must protect an orphaned boy from the building’s white vampire landlord.
Last Chance Motel
Directors: Danielle Harris, Scout Taylor-Compton
A newlywed couple’s wedding celebration turns into a massacre when they learn their desert motel venue is operated by a bloodthirsty family with deadly secrets.
Lesions
Director: Codey S. Wilson
After receiving a devastating medical diagnosis, a couple retreats into isolation. Their relationship descends into violence, transformation, and a disturbing form of devotion.
Lily’s Ritual
Director: Manu Herrera
Four friends travel to an isolated forest house to perform a witchcraft initiation ritual representing the four elements. The ceremony quickly transforms into a diabolical nightmare.
Loner
Directors: Charlie Robb, Douglas Tawn
Aspiring vlogger Angus Mattock travels to a remote wilderness retreat to film survival content, but the trip turns into a desperate fight for his life against a mysterious natural force.
Narcisa’s Will
Directors: Clarissa Appelt, Daniel Dias
After their famous mother Narcisa dies, siblings Ana and Diego attempt to sell their childhood home. When her ghost begins appearing in the dressing room, it becomes clear Narcisa’s will still holds power.
Obsession
Director: Curry Barker
A hopeless romantic breaks a mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win the affection of his crush. The wish is granted—but with dark and sinister consequences.
Parasomnia
Director: James Ross II
When her friend disappears, Riley confronts the demon from her recurring night terrors—only to realize it may have crossed into reality.
Pitfall
Director: James Kondelik
Separated from his friends in the woods, a man falls into a deep pit lined with spikes, impaling his leg. He soon discovers the trap was deliberately set.
Projection
Directors: Evan Samaras, George Scoufaras
A grieving man coping with his father’s death imagines a world where they bond over filmmaking. The imagined and real worlds slowly merge until only one remains.
Quiet After Supper
Director: Francis Tejada
Los Angeles serial killer Tristan Weathers receives an unexpected visit from his childhood friend Abby, who discovers evidence documenting each of his victims.
Saccharine
Director: Natalie Erika James
A lovelorn medical student becomes haunted by a sinister presence after participating in a bizarre weight-loss trend involving the consumption of human ashes.
The Red Mask
Director: Ritesh Gupta
A queer screenwriter hired to write the final installment of the Red Mask slasher franchise faces harassment and threats from fans. Seeking inspiration, she and her fiancé retreat to a secluded Airbnb where a dangerous creative game escalates into deadly consequences.
Suffocation
Directors: Louis Chan, Stone Chang
At Zhongshan High School, the mysterious drowning of a student in the swimming pool reveals dark legends and hidden secrets surrounding the school’s swim team.
Theater Is Dead
Director: Katherine Dudas
An engineering student pursuing theater lands the lead in a prestigious production, only to discover a demonic presence lurking behind the dream opportunity.
Voices of Our Mother
Director: Mark O’Brien
When a family matriarch becomes seriously ill, relatives reunite and uncover unexpected ancestral connections.
We Put the World to Sleep
Director: Adrian Țofei
Actors Adrian and Duru become consumed by the apocalyptic characters they portray in a film and secretly decide to attempt ending the world for real, unleashing consequences far beyond their imagination.
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