For indie genre fans, no fest hits quite like the Chattanooga Film Festival—now in its lucky 13th year and still punching well above its weight. With a killer mix of scrappy DIY energy and lean, mean productions, plus a lineup of panels and programming that actually feels curated (not crammed), CFF has become a reliable pipeline for tomorrow’s cult favorites. These are the films that will inevitably dominate horror fans’ “hidden gems” lists once they hit streaming.
This year’s fest runs June 18th through the 27th, offering both virtual ($225) and hybrid ($275) badges—and yes, they’re already up for grabs. If you’ve been on the fence, don’t be.
I’ve personally stuck with the virtual option since COVID, largely because CFF cracked the code early on what an at-home festival should feel like. They didn’t just replicate the experience—they rethought it, building a digital space that feels just as communal, chaotic, and discovery-driven as being there in person. And they’ve only refined it since.
Now, with their second wave of programming announced, this year is shaping up to be stacked. Leading the charge is Opening Night selection I Want Your Sex, the latest from Gregg Araki (The Doom Generation, Nowhere), fresh off Sundance and boasting a cast that reads like a fever dream: Cooper Hoffman, Olivia Wilde, Mason Gooding, Charli XCX, Margaret Cho, and Johnny Knoxville. Elsewhere, writer/director Jacob Perrett delivers what’s already being whispered about as a nerve-shredding standout with Photo Negative. And closing things out is the World Premiere of Kurtis M. Spieler’s Night of the Vamp-Friars, a campy, endlessly clever love letter to classic vampire cinema that feels tailor-made to leave the crowd buzzing.
Some of my personal can’t-miss titles—beyond the heavy hitters above—include Spider One’s latest, Big Baby. The Powerman 5000 frontman (and brother of Rob Zombie) returns to the horror circuit just a few years after the impressively unsettling Little Bites, which used a woman’s cohabitation with a vampiric presence as a pointed, unexpectedly thoughtful metaphor for domestic abuse.
The other title high on my list is Frogman Returns, the sequel to one of my favorite found footage discoveries in recent years. The original Frogman was the kind of scrappy, word-of-mouth gem that quietly built a following after landing on streaming—exactly the kind of lightning-in-a-bottle success story Chattanooga has built its reputation on.
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Peep the full press release below:
The Chattanooga Film Festival Gets Freaky With a Banger-Filled Bone-anza of 2026 Announcements
CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee, March 19, 2026 – With the ink barely dry on their first round of exciting announcements, organizers of the South’s most celebrated celebration of cinematic strangeness, the CHATTANOOGA FILM FESTIVAL, bring a bazooka to a knife fight with a second wave of films and special events they’ll be presenting for attendees of their 13th annual event that runs from June 18 to 27.
They’re coming out of the gate swinging with the festival’s Opening Night selection: legendary filmmaker Gregg Araki’s (DOOM GENERATION, NOWHERE) buzzy and brilliant I WANT YOUR SEX, featuring a stacked cast including Cooper Hoffman, Olivia Wilde, Mason Gooding, Charli XCX, Margaret Cho, Johnny Knoxville, and presented by the good folks at Magnolia Pictures. CFF is honored to share the latest work by Araki, whose early films were a big influence on the creation of the festival. Funny, transgressive, and boasting one of the most unique tonal-tightropes of any film you’ll see this year, I WANT YOUR SEX makes for a perfect opening salvo for the chaotically curated festival’s 13th edition.
World Premiering as the festival’s 2026 CENTERPIECE SELECTION is writer/director Jacob Perrett’s brilliant nerve-shredder PHOTO NEGATIVE. Presented by longtime CFF co-conspirators ART BRUT FILMS, PHOTO NEGATIVE will take CFF’s 2026 attendees on a wild increasingly sinister ride.
For their 2026 CLOSING NIGHT SELECTION the CFF have one hell of a dismount planned for their guests. The World Premiere of Kurtis M. Spieler’s campy and endlessly clever ode to classic vampire cinema NIGHT OF THE VAMP-FRIARS, from its spectrally-synthy score to its charming practical effects, VAMP-FRIARS is poised to warm the hearts of festival fans—but not before it rips them out of their chests. CFF is honored to work with presenters CIRCLE COLLECTIVE and VINEGAR SYNDROME PICTURES and close out its 13th edition with a full-on vamp-friar frenzy!
“The world is a mess,” festival director and lead film programmer Chris Dortch II said. “We’re at war, drowning in billionaire BS, getting force-fed AI and ads and toxic manosphere misinformation, and that simply won’t do. At times like this, kindness, community and creativity are all we have. At CFF we strive to be the acid-dipped antidote to the red carpet-choked landscape of modern film festivals. We don’t care about studios, we’re increasingly bored by the notion of celebrity and we know that now more than ever community is the key to getting through all this. We hope all the incredible fans, friends and filmmakers that have supported our event over the years will join us for year 13. We can certainly all use a little good old fashioned escapism.”
Ever the maximalists, the festival also announced a slew of special screenings, including Italian filmmaker Virgilio Villoresi’s mind-bendingly beautiful retelling of the Orpheus myth ORFEO presented by OSCILLOSCOPE LABORATORIES. ORFEO is one of the most eye-poppingly gorgeous and hauntingly beautiful fantasy films in recent memory, and fans of iconic filmmakers from Argento to Cocteau will find themselves instantly under its spell.
Expanding its previously announced collaboration with DARK SKY FILMS, CFF also revealed a screening of fest-fan-favorite Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks’s thought-provoking religious horror BLOOD SHINE.
Other highlights include filmmaker Harry Sherriff’s eerie riff on murder mysteries MISPER, Spider One’s latest bloody blast BIG BABY, and single-take madness following the adventures of a pizza delivering skeleton in Dusty Saunders’s painstakingly animated BIG CITY PIZZA (the cinematic equivalent of chasing a tasty slice with a few tabs of strong LSD).
Also ready to make sure the festival’s fans leave sockless are the fresh from its SXSW debut comedy/mystery THE PERIL AT PINCER POINT, returning alum Anthony Cousins’s cryptid-crazed FROGMAN RETURNS and the U.S. premiere of Olivier Godin’s demented comedy/drama/martial arts/mind-frick DON’T FORGET THE OATMEAL. The latter is destined to light up the Letterboxd accounts of all who behold its bizarre brilliance.
The only man capable of complimenting all this madness is Clay McLeod Chapman, whose raucous live storytelling experience has become an annual staple CFF fans know to miss at their own peril. The best-selling author and our favorite maniac returns for another skull-shattering edition of his signature event with a focus on ACQUIRED TASTE, his insane new collection of short stories. Followed by his annual signing courtesy of indie booksellers A LITTLE BOOKISH.
With its commitment to audience and filmmaker accessibility, its warm-hearted southern hospitality, and its consistently surprising and eclectic programming, the Chattanooga Film Festival has, in just 13 years, been chosen as One of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World (MovieMaker Magazine), one of FilmFreeway’s Top 100 Best Reviewed Film Festivals in the World out of the nearly 14,000 festivals on that platform, been chosen One of the Best Genre Film (MovieMaker) and Horror Festivals (Dread Central) and hailed as “the gold standard on how to run a welcoming, unpretentious, no-bullshit film fest for folks who want to hang out and have a good time together” by legendary cinema publication FANGORIA.
The Chattanooga Film Festival is a 501c3 non-profit run entirely by a small but passionate crew of volunteers. All proceeds from the festival’s ticket and badge sales and donations go directly to the staging of each year’s festival. For more information, visit chattfilmfest.org or follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook, and Youtube or even join their virtual monthly secret screening series with The Double Secret Cinema Society on Patreon.
OPENING NIGHT FILM – I WANT YOUR SEX (d. Gregg Araki)
Presented by Magnolia Pictures
When fresh-faced Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) lands an exciting job for renowned artist, icon and provocateur Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde), his fantasies come true as Erika taps him to become her sexual muse. But Elliot soon finds himself out of his depth as Erika takes him on a journey more profound than he ever could have imagined, into a world of sex, obsession, power, betrayal and murder.
CLOSING NIGHT FILM – NIGHT OF THE VAMP-FRIARS (d. Kurtis M. Spieler)
WORLD PREMIERE
Presented by Circle Collective and Vinegar Syndrome Pictures
A punk band discovers a hidden cemetery in the woods where a group of Friars were killed and buried because the townspeople believed they were vampires. After blood is accidentally spilled on the hallowed ground, the undead Friars rise from their graves to seek fresh victims.
CENTERPIECE FILM – PHOTO NEGATIVE (d. Jacob Perrett)
WORLD PREMIERE
Presented by Art Brut Films
A struggling forensic photographer develops an unhealthy business relationship with a wealthy couple whose requests grow increasingly sinister.
BIG BABY (d. Spider One)
A nightmare involving a maniac killer in a baby mask serves as inspiration for horror screenwriter Adam Lewis’s new script. As more nightmares, visions, and real life terror begin to challenge Adam’s sanity, he finds himself in a desperate struggle to control his writing, his reality, and who will be Big Baby’s next victim.
BIG CITY PIZZA (d. Dusty Saunders)
As tension rises in the big city for the Omniball Championship, Boney, a skeleton pizza delivery man starts his shift. Animated entirely from Boney’s POV in one continuous, unbroken take, we follow his delivery route where every stop is weirder than the last.
BLOOD SHINE (d. Emily Bennett & Justin Brooks)
Presented by Dark Sky Films
In her remote country home, a religious zealot takes a young filmmaker captive, claiming her sadistic rituals will change him into a god.
DON’T FORGET THE OATMEAL (d. Olivier Godin)
U.S. PREMIERE
The Barbarian believes he has only a few erections left before death. Cursed to a life in a thrift shop and haunted by family tragedy, he sets his sights on Marie, an alcoholic special-ed teacher. If he must go, he figures, he might as well go out in good company.
FROGMAN RETURNS (d. Anthony Cousins)
There’s unfinished business in Loveland. Dallas, Amy and Frogman are back to settle the score.
MISPER (d. Harry Sherriff)
The employees of a dying seaside hotel have their lives upended when their colleague, Elle, vanishes. Instead of focusing on the police investigation or Elle’s close family, the story delves into the psychological impact on Leonard and his co-workers. In stark contrast to sensationalised true crime narratives that capture media attention, the film explores the creeping dread that threatens to overwhelm Leonard.
ORFEO (d. Virgilio Villoresi)
Presented by Oscilloscope Laboratories
A pianist falls for a mysterious woman who vanishes into a supernatural realm. Following her through a doorway, he encounters fantastical beings and must navigate a dreamlike afterlife to find her, guided by music and memories.
THE PERIL AT PINCER POINT (d. Jake Kuhn & Noah Stratton-Twine)
Jim Baitte, a layabout sound designer desperate to prove himself, is working on a new horror flick from the tyrannical yet lauded B-movie director P.W. Griffin. Accused of lacking vision and creative courage, Jim is sent to the remote island where the film was shot to capture a sound powerful enough to elevate the film’s finale. Once there, eerie local fables surface. For years, ambitious and headstrong youth have lost their souls to a ghostly sea captain for his spectral crew. As Jim entangles himself further into the bizarre locals, scenery, and prophecy, he can’t help but ponder the ever-confirming legend, and recording it might just cost him more than his career.
CLAY MCLEOD CHAPMAN: ACQUIRED TASTE
Startling, witty and downright terrifying collection of 25 short stories from the “21st century’s Richard Matheson” (Richard Chizmar, Chasing the Boogeyman.) Perfect for fans of Paul Tremblay, Rachel Harrison and Eric LaRocca. They’re feeding on you too. A father returns from serving in Vietnam with a strange and terrifying addiction; a man removes something horrifying from his fireplace, and becomes desperate to return it; and a right-wing news channel has its hooks in people in more ways than one. From department store Santas to ghost boyfriends and salamander-worshipping nuns; from the claustrophobia of the Covid-19 pandemic to small-town Chesapeake USA, Clay McLeod Chapman takes universal fears of parenthood, addiction and political divisions and makes them uniquely his own. Packed full of humanity, humour and above all, relentless creeping dread, Acquired Taste is a timely descent into the mind of one of modern horror’s finest authors.
