Sean Parker
It’s that time of year once again, my fellow Bostonians. The 25th annual Boston Underground Film Festival (BUFF) is back for more genre-bending film fun in the heart of downtown Cambridge. BUFF is returning to the hallowed halls of the Brattle Theatre in less than two weeks, and they’ve just announced a kick-ass lineup that includes a visit from legendary horror actress Barbara Crampton for the World Premiere 40th anniversary screening of Re-Animator, restored in crystal clear 4K by Ignite Films and Eagle Rock Pictures! And if that isn’t enough to have you scurry down to the bottom of this page to check out all of the films listed, BUFF 25’s opening night film is the East Coast Premiere of the eagerly anticipated, sun-soaked Nicolas Cage thriller The Surfer, from Vivarium director Lorcan Finnegan.
Designed by Bryan McKay
That’s just the tip of the cinematic iceberg slated for BUFF 25, as their program promises a “high-voltage mix of hallucinatory horror, transgressive comedy, and unclassifiable genre chaos featuring world premieres, festival darlings, deep-cut rediscoveries, and more than a few films that defy polite description” gets underway.
Besides being the first stop for Re-Animator’s film festival 4K roadshow, BUFF 25 will also feature the World Premiere of Death Drop Gorgeous director Michael Patrick Jann’s Alma & The Wolf, starring Ethan Embry. The film concerns a local deputy who thinks he may be losing his mind while investigating a violent wolf attack. Can he unravel the mystery before he unravels himself? The director, along with actor Lukas Jann, will be in attendance as well.
Next, BUFF 25 has an insane amount of East Coast and New England Premieres, and there isn’t a festival out there that’s had more buzz around it than Annapurna Sriram’s F*cktoys. Captured on 16mm, F*cktoys takes place in an alternate ’90s timeline where a young sex worker becomes cursed after losing a tooth and then goes on a hallucinatory odyssey through the underbelly of Trashtown to make enough money to have the curse lifted. The story reimagines The Fool’s Journey of the Major Arcana of the Tarot, and if the trailer is any indication, it is going to be pretty outrageous. The film comes to BUFF fresh off its premiere at SXSW, with filmmaker-star Annapurna Sriram and actor Sadie Scott in attendance at the fest.
Re-Animator: 40th Anniversary 4K UHD-HDR Trailer!
The horror classic Re-Animator is back and looking better than ever! Celebrate the 40th Anniversary with Ignite Films and Eagle Rock Pictures’ stunning new 4K UHD-HDR restoration. 💀 Don’t miss out on the Ultimate Limited Edition Box Set, featuring a Dr. Hill Collector’s Bobblehead! Quantities are extremely limited-get yours before they’re gone!
Stefan MacDonald-Labelle is also joining their East Coast Premiere festival film at BUFF 25 with his debut feature, Head Like a Hole. Sorry Trent Reznor fans, though it sounds like it might be a documentary about Nine Inch Nails Head Like a Hole is a narrative feature that sounds certifiably skin-crawlingly monotonous. Labeled as an existential horror film, the movie’s synopsis plays it close to the chest, saying a downtrodden man accepts a high-paying job to live in a house where he must continually measure a hole in the basement to determine if it’s growing in size.
Boston Underground Film Festival has brought some bats*it crazy East Asian cinema to Beantown in the past, but Yûta Shimotsu’s Best Wishes to All may be the most out-there J-horror feature they’ve ever programmed. Based on Shimotsu’s short film, Best Wishes to All tells the story of a young nursing student who discovers a secret while visiting her grandparents that threatens to turn reality itself inside-out. Prepare for a slow-crawling Twilight Zone-infused head trip about family, tradition, and happiness that may prompt audience members to take a look inward, also.
Speaking of nursing students and deconstructing reality, Aislinn Clarke’s Fréwaka is cut from a similar cloth. When a young woman’s past begins to intertwine with the present, the effects of her disorientation wreak havoc on her career, relationship, and everyday life. The film was nominated for Best Motion Picture at Sitges last year and holds the honor of being the first Irish-language horror film.
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In Shaw Theatres 7 March 2024 (Thurs) – Executive produced by Takashi Shimizu (creator of Ju On: The Grudge), the film follows a young nursing school student’s visit to her grandparents’ home in the countryside. They enjoy a reunion while she feels increasingly uncomfortable. There is something in the grandparents’ house.
In its Massachusetts Premiere, BUFF 25 presents Joel Potrykus’ dread-dripping Vulcanizadora about acts of violence you can’t ever undo. Fans of Potrykus’ aging-punks-in-corporate-America film Buzzard will be pumped to see some familiar characters but may find themselves caught off-guard by the very different tone of this entry. I was lucky to see Vulcanizadora last year during Fantasia and can almost ensure that everyone in the theater will likely need a therapist on speed dial to talk this one through. Potrykus’ film is haunting and will linger in your head for days.
Other regional premieres include Yang-Li’s time-traveling science fiction adventure film, Escape from the 21st Century, Emilie Blichfeldt’s subversive Cinderella body-horror fairy tale The Ugly Stepsister, And Karan Kandhari’s dark comedy Sister Midnight, about a misanthropic newlywed whose impulsiveness find her in the unlikeliest of situations. Sister Midnight was recently nominated for a BAFTA for “Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer” and is easily part of my must-see list at BUFF 25. You’ll also find Alexandre O. Philippe’s documentary Chain Reactions on that list, which is about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s profound and continued influence on horror and features insights from Stephen King, Patton Oswalt, Karyn Kusama, and Takashi Miike.
And, if you’ve never gone to a Boston Underground Film Festival repertory screening, this year’s bonkers title may be the one to show you just how fun they can be. Presented by the American Genre Film Archive, join BUFF 25 for 1991’s Muerte en la Playa, a forgotten Mexican B-Movie deep-cut quoted as being “queer-coded, blood-soaked, [and] telenovelesque” and looks like it’s bound to be a ton of fun with a crowd.
Vulcanizadora teaser official
Uploaded by Joel Potrykus on 2024-06-04.
Finally, the Boston Underground Film Festival wouldn’t be complete without one of the BEST short film programs around. Every year, the quality of these blocks somehow outdoes the previous year, and every year, leaving me shocked and surprised by the quality and creativity of these budding filmmakers. A complete list of the short film blocks and the movies featured within them can be found further down on this page.
If you’ve never attended the Boston Underground Film Festival and always wanted to, this is the year to come hang out with us. Every time I have attended, I have found titles that eventually end up in my top ten favorites list. Last year, Nathan Tape’s heartfelt Juggalo genre-bender Off Ramp sideswiped me, and I can’t wait to see what this year has in store. Festival badges are on sale now, and individual ticket sales will begin on March 10th. Check out all the films playing at BUFF 25 below.
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BOSTON UNDERGROUND 2025 FESTIVAL LINEUP
Opening Night Film
THE SURFER – East Coast Premiere
Director: Lorcan Finnegan
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Julian McMahon, Nicholas Cassim
Australia, Ireland, 2024
A man returns to the idyllic beach of his childhood to surf with his son. When he is humiliated by a group of locals, the man is drawn into a conflict that keeps rising and pushes him to his breaking point.
No Title
In the psychological thriller directed by Lorcan Finnegan, a man returns to the idyllic beach of his childhood to surf with his son. But his desire to hit the waves is thwarted by a group of locals whose mantra is “don’t live here, don’t surf here.”
Spotlight Screening
RE-ANIMATOR – World Premiere of the 4K Restoration & 40th Anniversary Screening
Director: Stuart Gordon
Cast: Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton
USA, 1985
With Special Guest Barbara Crampton in Attendance
After an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue.
This special theatrical screening will feature the World Premiere of the new pristine 40th Anniversary 4K UHD restoration of Re-Animator from Ignite Films and Eagle Rock Pictures, which is available for pre-order on Blu-ray and 4K UHD discs at Ignite-Films.com. (It includes 2 hours and 47 minutes of brand-new bonus materials, plus all classic legacy features.)
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Feature Film Lineup
ALMA & THE WOLF – World Premiere
Director: Michael Patrick Jann
Cast: Ethan Embry, Li Jun Li, Mather Zickel
USA, 2025
With Filmmaker Michael Patrick Jann and actor Lukas Jann in Attendance
Horror and madness emerge from the shrouded mists of coastal Oregon. A violent wolf attack. A missing son. The appearance of a dangerous and seductive woman from the past. How are they connected? At the cost of his sanity, Deputy REN Accord (Ethan Embry) must unravel the mystery and discover the truth before time runs out.
Ftoys Teaser Trailer (2025)
Check out the new teaser for Fucktoys starring and directed by Annapurna Sriram! ► Visit Fandango: http://www.fandango.com/?cmp=Indie_YouTube_Desc Subscribe to the channel and click the bell icon to be notified of all the best indie trailers: http://bit.ly/2Ewwuuf US Release Date: 2025 Starring: Annapurna Sriram, François Arnaud, Sadie Scott Director: Annapurna Sriram Synopsis: A lush 16mm fever dream that reimagines The Fool’s Journey of the Major Arcana of the Tarot through the story of AP–a rosy young woman seeking salvation from a curse.
BEST WISHES TO ALL – New England Premiere
Director: Yûta Shimotsu
Cast: Kotone Furukawa, Kôya Matsuda
Japan, 2024
A young woman visits her grandparents on a break from university. While she’s there, she discovers a dark secret about them and potentially herself.
CHAIN REACTIONS – East Coast Premiere
Director: Alexandre O. Philippe
USA, 2024
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s impact on 5 artists – Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, Karyn Kusama – through interviews, outtakes, exploring how it shaped their art, psyche from childhood trauma.
ESCAPE FROM THE 21ST CENTURY – New England Premiere
Director: Yang Li
Cast: Ruoyun Zhang, Elane Zhong, Yang Song
China, 2024
Three friends discover that they have the power to travel back and forth 20 years with a sneeze. However, the future is not as good as they hope, and they need to take on the responsibility of saving the world.
Escape from the 21st Century | 2025 | @SignatureUK Trailer | Sci-Fi Action Movie | 从21世纪安全撤离
This time-and-mind-bending sci-fi adventure will hear you roaring with laughter one minute, and your jaw dropping open the next. What if a sneeze could transport your 18-year-old soul into your 20-years-older self? What if, by chance, this led to saving the world?
FRÉWAKA – New England Premiere
Director: Aislinn Clarke
Cast: Clare Monnelly, Bríd Ní Neachtain, Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya
Ireland, 2024
Haunted by a personal tragedy, home care worker, Shoo, is sent to a remote village to care for an agoraphobic woman who fears the neighbors as much as she fears the Na Sídhe — sinister entities who she believes abducted her decades before. As the two develop a strangely deep connection, Shoo is consumed by the old woman’s paranoia, rituals, and superstitions, eventually confronting the horrors from her own past.
F*CKTOYS – East Coast Premiere
Director: Annapurna Sriram
Cast: Annapurna Sriram, Sadie Scott, Damian Young, Brandon Flynn, François Arnaud, Big Freedia
USA, 2025
With filmmaker Annapurna Sriram and actor Sadie Scott in Attendance
A lush 16mm fever dream that reimagines The Fool’s Journey of the Major Arcana of the Tarot through the story of AP–a rosy young woman seeking salvation from a curse.
HEAD LIKE A HOLE – East Coast Premiere
Director: Stefan MacDonald-Labelle
Cast: Steve Kasan, Jeff McDonald, Eric B. Hansen
Canada, 2024
With filmmaker Stefan MacDonald-Labelle in Attendance
In financial dire straits, a man accepts a strange, high-paying job where he must take up residence in a home and measure a hole in the wall of the basement to determine whether or not it’s growing in size.
HEAD LIKE A HOLE | HORROR FEATURE FILM TEASER TRAILER
We’ve been gone a while, but it’s because we’ve been working on our first feature — Head Like A Hole! This is a pure DIY, lo-fi oddity for anyone who craves no-budget regional genre films. Our world premiere will be at San Francisco’s Another Hole In The Head Film Festival on Tuesday, December 17th at 9PM at the 4 Star Theater.
MUERTE EN LA PLAYA – Repertory Screening
Director: Enrique Gómez Vadillo
Cast: Andrés Bonfiglio, Sonia Infante, Rodolfo de Anda
Mexico, 1991
A disturbed young man who was molested by his teacher begins murdering those around him who he sees responsible for his trauma while trying to overcome his own homosexual desires.
SISTER MIDNIGHT – New England Premiere
Director: Karan Kandhari
Cast: Radhika Apte, Ashok Pathak, Chhaya Kadam
India, 2024
A newly arranged marriage sees an oddball couple shoved together in a small Mumbai shack with paper-thin walls. They are alone, awkward, and together. Cranky Uma does her best to cope with the heat, her complete lack of domestic skills, nosy neighbors, and her bumbling spouse until one night she discovers strange new feral cravings.
THE UGLY STEPSISTER – East Coast Premiere
Director: Emilie Blichfeldt
Cast: Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, Ane Dahl Torp
Norway, 2025
In a twisted take on the classic Cinderella story, ‘The Ugly Stepsister’ follows Elvira as she battles to compete with her insanely beautiful stepsister. In a fairy-tale kingdom where beauty is a brutal business, Elvira will go to any lengths to catch the Prince’s eye. ‘The Ugly Stepsister’ is the gory tale of the blood and sweat, grit and gold that goes into making Elvira the belle of the ball.
Sister Midnight – Official Trailer | Starring Radhika Apte | In theaters this May
Coming to theaters this May http://sistermidnightmovie.com/ In SISTER MIDNIGHT, the audacious debut feature from London based Indian artist and filmmaker Karan Kandhari, rebellious small-town misfit Uma (acclaimed Indian actress Radhika Apte) arrives in Mumbai to find herself totally unsuited to life as a housewife.
VULCANIZADORA – MA Premiere
Director: Joel Potrykus
Cast: Joshua Burge, Joel Potrykus, Solo Potrykus
USA, 2024
Two friends trudge through a Michigan forest with the intention of following through on a disturbing pact. After they fail, one of them must return home to deal with the legal and emotional repercussions.
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BOSTON UNDERGROUND 2025 SHORTS LINEUP
THE DUNWICH HORRORS – NEW ENGLAND HORROR
Good Looking Out dir. by Seth Chatfield
Ache dir. by Mike Canale
Damn Handy dir. by Peter Filardi
Followers dir. by Miriam Olken
Forever War dir. by Shana Figueroa
Katie’s Skin dir. by Steven Schloss
Methuselah dir. by Nathan Sellers
My Child dir. by Deniz Akyurek
Sogno Rosso (Red Dream) dir. by Coco Roy
TRIGGER WARNING – MIDNIGHT BLOCK
Brothers Beastly dir. by Peter J. Hartsock
Burn Out dir. by Russell Goldman
F#cker dir. by Amir Baikatov
Mopsorden dir. by Julien Jauniaux
Rejected dir. by Rene R Rivas
Terminal Emulator dir. by Benjamin Capps
The Night Has 1000 Desires! dir. by Vance Osteen
CIFF2025 – FRÉWAKA Trailer
MORE INFO: https://www.solasnua.org/events/ciff2025-frewaka Still reeling from the death of her mother, Shoo (Clare Monnelly, DOINEANN) is assigned to be the live-in caregiver for recent stroke survivor Peig (Bríd Ní Neachtain, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN). Shoo moves into Peig’s remote village home expecting to care for an ailing woman but instead finds one profoundly troubled by the supposed demonic forces in her basement.
LOVE TO LOVE YOU MAYBE – COMEDY BLOCK
Banjo dir. by Cameron Poletti
But He’s Gay dir. by Michael Calciano
Catamaran dir. by Joseph Rocco Plescia
Erection and Destruction dir. by Eddie Mullins
Handball dir. by Eli Beutel
Make Me A Pizza dir. by Talia Shea Levin
SexySweat dir. by Luke Condzal
The Streetlight dir. by Sophia Parella
The Time Capsule dir. by Michael Charron
There Will Be Womanly Wiles dir. by Nicole Higgins
RAGDOLL DANCE — ANIMATION BLOCK
A Walk in the Park dir. by Jay Marks
Demons in the Closet dir. by James Smith
Howl if You Love Me dir. by John R. Dilworth
Les Bêtes dir. by Michael Granberry
Lilly Visits the Hospital dir. by The Bum Family
Peeping dir. by Yixuan Wang
Pippy and The Typist dir. by Rachel Nemez
Pocket Princess dir. by Olivia Loccisano
Poppa dir. by Peter Ahern
Red Thumb dir. by Kolya Kishinsky, Geneva Huffman
The Garden Sees Fire dir. by Kiera Faber
The House of Weird dir. by Mark Reyes
MUST HAVE GOT LOST – SHORTS BLOCK
Belly Belly dir. by Gabriel Carnick
Good Boy dir. by Colin Russell
How To Clean The Dishes dir. by Benjamin Thomae
Macula dir. by Julietta Korbel
Nadir dir. by Jack Galvin
Perfectly a Strangeness dir. by Alison McAlpine
Rabbit dir. by Nathan Catucci
The Audacity dir. by Desmond Spranklin
The Ugly Stepsister – Teaser
In a twisted take on the classic Cinderella story, ‘The Ugly Stepsister’ follows Elvira as she battles to compete with her insanely beautiful stepsister. In a fairy-tale kingdom where beauty is a brutal business, Elvira will go to any lengths to catch the Prince’s eye.
