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On a day when much of the United States faced the fear of economic collapse, horror fans descended upon New Orleans to celebrate big screen scares.
Thursday was the launch of the 2025 Overlook Film Festival, a four-day fest filled with screenings of unreleased movies, retrospectives and immersive events. Festival co-founders Landon Zakheim and Michael Lerman welcomed the crowd to the opening night film, Christopher Landon’s “Drop.” They reflected on how the festival is showing more titles than ever this year — a respite from the world around them.
“It’s the worst year of our lives, but a great year for horror and genre,” Zakheim said.
“Drop” was met enthusiastically by the opening night crowd, which embraced both the mystery and the humor of the techno-thriller. After the screening, Landon did a Q&A with Lerman where he reflected on his time shooting movies like “Happy Death Day” in New Orleans. He also revealed that the mystery uncovered at the end of “Drop” was radically different from the first draft of Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach’s script.
After the screening let out, a queue snaked around the Prytania uptown with fans eager to catch a 40th-anniversary screening of the cult classic “Re-Animator,” with star Barbara Crampton in attendance.
In true New Orleans style, the night wrapped with revelry, courtesy of events celebrating the 10th anniversary of horror streamer Shudder. Starting with a spooky second line parade moving through the French Quarter, the party moved to the Toulouse Theater, which featured plenty of cosplay and fantastical costumes, including Shudder stars and horror drag artists The Boulet Brothers.
The revelry lasted deep into the night, as fans splintered off to assorted afterparties, eventually heading to bed ahead of the first full day of the fest on Friday.
