Horror Fuel continues our series of recommendations for San Francisco’s ongoing Another Hole in the Head Film Festival. Brief comments follow each film’s synopsis.
Lily’s Ritual
Synopsis: Set during the autumn equinox in the late 20th century, Lily’s Ritual follows four friends who journey to a secluded forest house to perform a witchcraft initiation and complete a sacred circle of the four elements. Lily — a quiet, pale, and withdrawn young woman newly welcomed into the group — has been chosen to embody the element of air.
What begins as a peaceful white-magic ceremony rooted in nature soon descends into a diabolical nightmare. Unbeknownst to her, the ritual’s true purpose is far darker than she imagines . . . and Lily herself is the intended sacrifice. Visually striking and steeped in the spirit of ’90s horror, Lily’s Ritual revives the era’s atmospheric dread while embracing the bold sensibilities of modern genre auteurs. A chilling tale of trust, transformation, and terror, it stands as a tribute to the enduring power of supernatural horror on the big screen.
If you’re in the mood for well-crafted throwback Spanish supernatural horror, director Manu Herrera has you covered. Lily’s Ritual boasts cool-looking practical makeup and gore effects to accompany its chilling atmosphere.
Trailer and more information at https://holehead2025.eventive.org/films/690c36e45c5a4501968739b6.
The next two films, Interaction and The Hanged Man, are both candidates for feel-bad horror film of the year. Recent examples include The Dollmaker, The Coffee Table, and its reimagining Turkish Coffee Table. Like those three films, Interaction and The Hanged Man are the types of films that you’ll be glad you watched and that will haunt you long after watching, but many viewers will think twice about a rewatch. I mean all of that in the most complimentary ways possible — this is harrowing stuff.
Interaction
Synopsis: Rebecca cleans houses to make ends meet, but her true passion is recording her clients without their knowledge. Eavesdropping on their private moments, she compiles a library of fights, family meetings, confessions and hookups — an array of emotions to taste-test, rewind and revisit as she likes. When she encounters Martin, a self-secluded man who harbors violent fantasies, Rebecca creeps down from her voyeuristic listening post. Helpless to resist, she engages with him in a visceral but contactless transaction — as grave as life and death but just within earshot.
Suziey Block gives a riveting performance as housecleaner Rebecca that is reason alone to check out Interaction. Director Dallas Richard Hallam pulls you into Rebecca’s private eavesdropping world and then delivers a highly disturbing third act.
Trailer and more information at https://holehead2025.eventive.org/films/690d47262c4edc2714ae878d.
The Hanged Man
Synopsis
A doorman is unexpectedly invited to a dinner at the secluded estate of one of the wealthy families he serves. But as the evening unfolds, he begins to suspect that the invitation wasn’t just an act of kindness.
Director Korab Uka is the type of lower-budget indie shocker for which genre film festivals were made. The ensemble cast is solid, and The Hanged Man delivers plenty of weird as well as food for thought.
Trailer and more information at https://holehead2025.eventive.org/films/690ce8d6997f50f4c26d0756.
Where Darkness Dwells
Synopsis: Assigned to a missing person case, reporter Trish Bostwick follows the trail to a secluded asylum hidden in the New England woods. But everything changes when a knife-wielding stranger hijacks her car, plunging her into a descent of paranoia and madness. Where Darkness Dwells is a psychological thriller that thrusts viewers into the shadowy heart of New England lore, where Lovecraft meets folk horror in terrifying ways.
Tara Perry gives a striking lead performance as a woman traumatized by an attack who is now a reporter looking to cover more impactful news stories than the listicles she has been churning out. Her latest investigation leads to a hellish outcome in director Michael May’s eerie chiller.
Trailer and more information at https://holehead2025.eventive.org/films/690fb55c9e55d3d2d913f68f.
Lily’s Ritual, Interaction, The Hanged Man, and Where Darkness Dwells screen as part of San Francisco’s Another Hole in the Head Film Festival, which runs December 5–18, 2025 at the Balboa Theater, and for those who prefer to watch from home, On-Demand screenings will be available December 1–31 through Eventive. For more information, visit https://www.ahith.com/.
