Announcement - NWFF 2025 First Wave of FilmS
NWFF first wave of films announced: Our Hero, Balthazar - Night of the Reaper - Re-Animator - Mr. Melvin
NorthwestFEARFest returns with another offering of nerve-shredding films, blending nostalgia (using classic genre fare) with discovery (by spotlighting indie and breakout films along with a unique offering of short films)—creating a festival for a broad spectrum of genre lovers! Screenings often include Q&As with filmmakers, panel discussions, and vendor booths featuring merch and collectibles. Get a taste of what is in store with our first wave of films announced below!
If this hits the genre film-spot and you would like to see them all, be sure to hit up our All-Access pass First Wave announcement deal!
*Available for a limited time in limitied quantities
RE-ANIMATOR - 40th Anniversary, 4K Restoration!| 86 min | 1985 | USA
Directed by Stuart Gordon
Starring: Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale, Jeffrey Combs
From Director Stuart Gordon and Producer Brian Yuzna, comes one of the 80s' greatest cult classics; an audacious, crowd-pleasing masterpiece that remains as wildly entertaining today as it did forty years ago. Based on the short story by H.P. Lovecraft, an odd new student arrives on campus at a medical college and recruits the help of a classmate to partake in some bizarre experiments centering on the re-animation of dead tissue.
Featuring iconic performances from Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale, and the great Jeffrey Combs, Re-Animator is quite simply one of the wildest and most entertaining horror films ever made—the film that put the late, great Stuart Gordon on the map, and paved the way for a Lovecraft revival that's still going strong.
MR. MELVIN - Canadian Premiere! | 127 min | 2025 | USA
Directed by Michael Herz & Lloyd Kaufman
Starring: Eric 'Zork' Alan, John Altamura, Rick Collins
After the enormous success of 1984's The Toxic Avenger, Troma co-founders Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz prepped a sequel. But with too many outlandish ideas to squeeze into just one film, The Toxic Avenger Parts II and III were born… neither of which met their original vision of having one definitive sequel to their most iconic film.
Fast forward nearly four decades, and NorthwestFEARFest 2025 is thrilled to present this very special Canadian Premiere screening of Mr. Melvin—the reimagined version of The Toxic Avenger, Parts II and III that no one ever thought would see the light of day! This all-new creation used the original script and features brand new narration by Toxie himself, Ron Fazio! The result is a more cohesive, yet no less outlandish, gory, and outright Troma-riffic kind of film we've all come to expect from the maniacs at Troma!
Trust us! You don't want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience Mr. Melvin on the big screen, with Troma icon Lloyd Kaufman appearing live and in person, alongside the architects of this epic restoration, Adam Peltier and Andrew L. Miller!
Our Hero Balthazar - still, Jaeden Martel
OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR | 91 min | 2025 | USA
Directed by Oscar Boyson
Starring: Becky Ann Baker, Anna Baryshnikov, Chris Bauer, Asa Butterfield, Jaeden Martell
Late Night with the Devil, Dead Mail, and The Severed Sun are just a few of the fantastic discoveries NorthwestFEARFest brought to Edmonton audiences first. This fall, get ready for your next obsession—the talk of Tribeca 2025 that Variety calls, "A cutting, audacious, and at times astonishing movie."
In Oscar Boyson's pitch black, satirical thriller Our Hero, Balthazar, a wealthy teenager from New York City tries to win over his activist crush by travelling to Texas to stop a would-be mass shooter. With show-stopping performances from Jaeden Martell (It, Arcadian), a nearly unrecognizable Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Sex Education), and a premise that could not be more timely (gun culture, incels, school shooters, and performative activism), this razor-sharp satire is bold, shocking, hilarious, and darker than a mudpit. It's one of the very best films of 2025, and NorthwestFEARFest is thrilled to present the Edmonton premiere!
Night of the Reaper - still
NIGHT OF THE REAPER | 93 min | 2025 | USA
Directed by Brandon Christensen
Starring: Matty Finochio, Ryan Robbins, Summer H. Howell, Jessica Clement
In the wake of the brutal murder of a teenage babysitter, college student Deena returns home for the weekend and is roped into a babysitting gig of her own. When the local sheriff receives a piece of evidence that proves the murder may not have been an isolated incident, he goes on a scavenger hunt to reveal that the killer may be planning a sequel.
Alberta's master of terror, Brandon Christensen (The Puppetman, SuperHost), is back with one of 2025's scariest movies. Night of the Reaper is a film that absolutely begs to be seen on the big screen, and we're overjoyed to bring the Edmonton premiere to NorthwestFEARFest! You have been warned!
Trailer to come!