Armageddon Road (Canada, 2026)
Official Synopsis
What happens in Vegas . . . might end the world. An ex-con with big dreams, Steve is hired to chauffeur a mob boss’ girlfriend for a night. He’s unaware that his passenger is dead and possessed by one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Review
What an absolute blast writer/director Karen Lam’s 1970s-set Armageddon Road is! Steve McNaulty (Brian McCaig) is a down-on-his-luck Las Vegas dreamer who hopes to find the funding to turn a parking lot into a themed attraction building. Doing what he can just to try to make ends meet, he is given the job of chauffeuring mob boss’s moll Delilah (Natalie Grace) for the evening, but when — unbeknownst to him — she dies in a bathroom and a supernatural entity takes over her body, the night’s going to get progressively stranger. I don’t want to give away any more than that, because Armageddon Road is loaded with surprises, both plotwise and visually. Charming practical effects and the romantic possibilities between the two main characters make for a fun, smile-inducing time, while provocative apocalyptic and existential elements give viewers plenty to consider. McCaig and Grace have wonderful chemistry together and their characters are well written and developed. Lam infuses Armageddon Road with a fine balance of quirkiness and seriousness, and the film comes highly recommended for genre film devotees of all stripes.
Life at Sandy’s (U.S./Norway 2026)
Official synopsis
A lonely American stuck in a small Norwegian town is lured in by the characters of a friendly sitcom with increasingly sinister intentions.
Review
Writer/director Aleksandra Hansen crafts a compelling look at loneliness and escapism through a horror lens with her feature film Life at Sandy’s. Evelyn (Heather Cunningham) is a young American woman grieving the death of her mother. She is staying with her Aunt Marit (Marianne Løge), who deals out tough love and insists Evelyn get a job and move on with her life. Meanwhile, Evelyn finds solace in the titular sitcom, about which she cannot find any information. When the characters begin speaking directly to her, Hansen ratchets up the mystery and eeriness toward a thought-provoking conclusion. Hansen balances the film’s darkness and poignancy quite well, and Cunningham is fantastic as the troubled protagonist. Life at Sandy’s comes strongly recommended for aficionados of unusual independent fear fare.
You can check out the trailer here.
Armageddon Road and Life at Sandy’s screened as part of Popcorn Frights 2026, which ran August 6–16 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
