Unholy Night (Canada, 2026)
Official Synopsis
Gino’s traditional family Christmas Eve turns into a bloody battle for survival when his long-dead grandma drops by and goes on a murderous rampage. Amid the chaos, Gino reunites with his ex and the dysfunctional duo must avoid his dead Italian relatives popping up all around the neighbourhood as they search for a way to get rid of these Yuletide revenants and survive his family Christmas.
Review
Unholy Night is a horror comedy with heart. Squabbles between the Italian family members on Christmas Eve and the problems that arise when relatives return from the dead drive the comedy elements winningly. Director Michael Gabriele balances the humor and the horror nicely, along with relationship and family drama. The ensemble cast members all give solid performances, and the makeup for the revenants is satisfyingly creepy. These living dead can speak, cook, and move around well, and can sometimes be calmed down when they become aggressive enough to kill. It’s an interesting approach that sets the film apart from run-of-the-mill zombie fare. Unholy Night comes recommended, especially for horror comedy aficionados, Christmas-set fear fare fans, and revenant devotees.
The Galactic Ghoul (Canada, 2026)
Official Fantasia synopsis from program notes written by Justine Smith:
With THE GALACTIC GHOUL, Simon Harrisson introduces the world to a new galactic space opera. Starring queen of Canadian genre cinema, Katherine Isabelle (GINGER SNAPS, AMERICAN MARY) as Queen Xaltalusia XXIII, the film follows Vincent Hoss-Desmarais in the dual role of space explorers Oscar Bravo and his sly subordinate Lieutenant Foxtrot in this fantastic sci-fi comedy about a great escape from the prison planet of the Toum.
Review
Director Simon Harrison’s sci-fi parody The Galactic Ghoul has the trappings of post-Mystery Science Theater 3000 meta awareness and Guy Madden-influenced ambience. Although I greatly admire Madden’s films, I have never been a fan of the MST 3000 style of humor, so although the comedy didn’t fully work for me with The Galactic Ghoul, I was greatly impressed with the visuals provided by Harrison and his crew and the vivid imagination plotwise. Practical effects creatures including puppetry, hand-made models such as spaceships, and greenscreen work all bring this obvious labor of love to striking cinematic life. Vincent Hoss-Desmarais, who cowrote the screenplay with Harrison, gives fun performances as both Captain Oscar Bravo, son of Mars and The She-Wolf, and crafty Lieutenant Foxtrot, and Katherine Isabelle is obviously having a great time playing power-loving Queen Xaltalusia XXIII. Viewer mileage is bound to vary on the humor but The Galactic Ghoul is certainly worth giving a go for sheer creativity. Fans of space operas will want to check this one out.
Unholy Night and The Galactic Ghoul screened as part of Fantasia 2026, which ran July 16–August 2 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
