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# 10 films you shouldn't miss at Night Visions Maximum Halloween 3026
- URL: https://regionfree.net/10-films-you-shouldnt-miss-at-night-visions-maximum-halloween-3026/
- Published: 2026-10-28T11:16:59.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-28T11:33:00.000Z
- Description: The traditional Night Visions Halloween edition is upon us, and I've picked 10 features you shouldn't miss this year.
- Author: Joonatan Itkonen
- Tags: Festivals, Night Visions

The traditional Night Visions Halloween edition is upon us, and I've picked 10 features you shouldn't miss this year. Some are familiar favorites from Cannes, Toronto, and Fantasia, alongside two happy Cannes surprises thrown in the mix. 

You can check out the full lineup from the link below, and tickets go on sale later this week on October 30th. 

[Night Visions Film FestivalNight Visions Film Festival is the largest film event in the Nordic region to focus on fantasy, horror, science fiction and cult cinema.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/icon/kuvake-300x300-cdb9deec-c0f7-404c-a62e-33cddcaffc2a.png)Night Visions![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/thumbnail/NV_MH26_pikkukuva-b51d48af-239c-4c06-a2cd-49f7604f6f79.jpg)](https://www.nightvisions.info/wp/en/elokuvat/?ref=regionfree.net)

## Blaise

I squirmed so hard while watching Blaise, the impossibly acerbic and dry French comedy written and directed by Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Guigue, that I left a mark on my seat.

This darkly observed satire reminds me of morbid humorists like Todd Solondz and Quentin Dupieux, with a hint of the heightened absurdity of Greener Grass thrown in for good measure. While nothing about Blaise rises above the mundane, the way Planchon and Guigue refuse to let any of their hapless protagonists get away with their discomfort raises the stakes to the stratosphere.

At every turn, it feels as though Planchon and Guigue do care about these hopeless people. After all, they are us, and we are them. What makes the comedy so poignant is how instinctively we recognize these scenarios and picture ourselves in them. Naturally, not all end in such dramatically absurd conclusions, but who among us hasn't made a fool of themselves to gain acceptance?

The art style, a mix of realism and the clippings a lunatic might send in a ransom note, heightens the absurdity. Everyone keeps a straight face, especially when things get out of hand. There's a necessity to behave normally; otherwise, someone might realize we don't know what we're doing. Fake it till you make it is a poisonous mantra, yet it makes the world go around, and Planchon and Guigue make a meal of skewering every bit of that toxic positivity with glee.

[Blaise is brilliantly uncomfortableAs hysterically uncomfortable as it is funny, Blaise is a brilliantly observed satire about all the ways we needlessly complicate our lives.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/icon/regionfree-favicon-dc69e8b6-8953-4f44-939e-bfafdd0bc27d.png)Region FreeJoonatan Itkonen![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/thumbnail/blaise-screenshot-ecaf51cc-4ad6-4766-9087-602455675c48.webp)](https://regionfree.net/blaise-review-night-visions/)

## Body Blow

Defiantly resisting the stereotypes hoisted upon queer cinema, Body Blow is a sleazy, visually intoxicating, and breathlessly sexy neo-noir that isn't for the faint of heart.

Parts of Body Blow are tremendously cynical, as if this kind of world can only exist in the twilight of reality and total destruction. Everyone here knows their road leads to the same dead end, but they're going to leave a pretty corpse no matter what. It's bitter and full of gallows humor, but also refreshing and honest in a way that queer cinema rarely gets to be in wider circles. For every Fucktoys or Kenneth Anger project, queer films are relegated to esoteric weepies with billowing curtains and miserable cowboys.

Here, Francis takes all that pain and longing and rolls it up with acerbic wit and bitter humor, and the results are tremendous. Body Blow is intentionally off-putting at times, almost as if to dare the audience to try and see how far they're willing to take their own prejudices. For those of us who've looked for a release just like this, it couldn't come at a better time.

Body Blow is a beautifully realized, sumptuously decadent, and thrillingly provocative neo-noir that understands its history, queer and cinematic, perfectly. Whatever quibbles I may have, they're rough edges that only make the big picture that much more enticing.

[Body Blow is a stylish queer neo-noirDefiantly resisting the stereotypes hoisted upon queer cinema, Body Blow is a sleazy, visually intoxicating, and breathlessly sexy neo-noir that isn't for the faint of heart. It carries the torch lit by Paul Verhoeven with grace.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/icon/regionfree-favicon-563eef5d-ef7b-4855-912d-9af8248791a3.png)Region FreeJoonatan Itkonen![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/thumbnail/Body-Blow-screenshot-5285d6b6-77e8-4824-9355-db7116376d4c.webp)](https://regionfree.net/body-blow-movie-review-night-visions/)

## Bruton

Vincent Grashaw is one of the most exciting voices in American film today. He's a chameleon who effortlessly weaves between genres, switching things up just as you think you've got him figured out.

His last three films – the Southern Gothic What Josiah Saw, the hard-boiled neo-noir Gangland, and the hard-hitting boxing drama Bang Bang – look and feel distinct; yet each one is instantly recognizable as the work of a talented craftsman exploring his abilities.

With Bruton, Grashaw emulates the style of Martin Scorsese and Tom Fontana's Oz, once again embracing what inspires him while proving his skills as a character-driven filmmaker. And while Bruton lacks the ruthless precision of Gangland, it's still an impressive entry in a well-worn genre. As a companion piece to films like Steve Buscemi's Animal Factory or David Mackenzie's Starred Up, Grashaw's work holds up beautifully.

Bruton is a wholly satisfying and mature drama that rewards as much as it challenges. Grashaw is a fascinating filmmaker because he seeks out topics that others have mined for gaudy melodrama, and always returns with something honest and true.

[Bruton breathes new life into the prison drama genreAnchored by a superb leading performance and tremendous directing from one of the most exciting voices in indie film today, Bruton is an electrifying prison drama that breathes new life into a well-worn genre.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/icon/regionfree-favicon-34033434-5437-4869-99c2-7faa6854eb7e.png)Region FreeJoonatan Itkonen![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/thumbnail/Bruton_1-ca767ab9-5483-4624-aa85-ae7d98883b14.jpg)](https://regionfree.net/bruton-film-review-theo-rossi/)

## Buffet Infinity

This delightful oddity, part Welcome to Night Vale, part improv theater, with a handful of Kentucky Fried Theater thrown into the mix, caught me by surprise even though I explicitly sought it out after hearing the pitch. It's the kind of kooky genre-bender that is best seen to be believed, even if the gag doesn't quite sustain itself for the entire runtime.

Told entirely through local advertisements you see on North American TV, Buffet Infinity tells the unhinged story of an alien entity slowly taking over a Canadian town by devouring one capitalist endeavor after another.

The ads begin perfectly innocently. Local sandwich shops try to make a slogan a thing, ambulance chasers promise instant riches through nefarious means, and pawnshop traders try to awkwardly reach out by imitating their perception of what's cool in pop culture. If you've ever witnessed the monstrosity that is American daytime television, you'll appreciate the painstaking accuracy that Buffet Infinity captures in its satire.

Then, something starts to feel off. The ads turn more specific, almost as if they were talking to each other. Petty rivalries flare up, promises of wealth and consumption are jacked up to eleven, and the sinkhole behind the strip mall keeps growing.

Buffet Infinity is a deceptively smart and eloquently executed gag, one that proves itself surprisingly terrifying the further it goes. By the end, it genuinely unnerved me more than once, which isn't what I expected from the wacky, Zucker-Abrams-Zucker -styled shenanigans in the beginning.

[Fantasia Festival: Buffet Infinity★★★★ | Mixing found footage with cosmic horror and broad satire, Buffet Infinity is a deceptively smart satire on a society gone rogue.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/icon/regionfree-favicon-47561482-76cb-4136-a6f6-b06c6c393abf.png)Region FreeJoonatan Itkonen![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/thumbnail/5_4k_FEATURE_SEQUENCE_AAF_EDIT_00_29_09_12_Still040-4790d692-d51f-421c-83b0-08cceb144fd5.webp)](https://regionfree.net/fantasia-festival-buffet-infinity-review/)

## Colony

Yeon Sang-ho's fascination with supremely mobile zombies continues in Colony, and the results, while not as audacious as in Train to Busan, are still impressive. As the hivemind tries to parse new information, the zombies move in and out of pattern formations and massive collections of bodies and limbs, seeking new forms. In one of the most shocking sequences, they take over an entire hallway, as arms and legs reach out from a heaving mass to find a surface to grab onto.

This is part of the great fun of Sang-ho's nightmarish visions. It isn't enough that there are zombies; they're almost a force of nature themselves. Sure, you could ask why they don't just escape the building and wreak havoc on a larger scale, and the film does give an in-universe explanation that is flimsy but workable. But asking those kinds of questions misses the point. Colony is a haunted house ride that is intentionally on rails. Even when we briefly catch a glimpse of the world outside, everything leads back to the main event.

It doesn't reinvent the genre like Train to Busan, but that would be a tall order for any film, let alone a third one from the same filmmaker. Instead, Colony is merely a thrilling and gloriously violent ride from a master of the genre. If that's all we have to settle for, I'd say we're a bit spoiled.

[Cannes 2026: Colony is a thrilling zombie rompClever and unexpected, if never quite scary, Colony is a thrilling zombie romp from one of the masters of the genre.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/icon/regionfree-favicon-19136498-dc13-4f9d-ba50-b163b183f072.png)Region FreeJoonatan Itkonen![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/thumbnail/Cannes---Colony-a7519334-35e0-477f-b5ea-1e381fd9392e.jpg)](https://regionfree.net/cannes-2026-colony-review/)

## Enju

Enju will not surprise at any turn. It isn't particularly new, and you can pretty much lay out the beats in the first twenty minutes. But it's also expertly choreographed and packs a charming cast alongside the superlative Alice Hirose, who lights up the screen as a furiously entertaining action star.

The setting follows the familiar formula: "Die Hard on a...". Here, it's a remote camp for teenagers, where a group of demented villains take the camp hostage and attack the unsuspecting youths in a brutal onslaught that brings to mind the vicious bloodletting of Battle Royale.

That is, until they encounter a quiet teacher's assistant (Hirose), who turns out to be a deadly assassin in disguise. With her friends in danger, she drops the act and turns the tables on the intruders in a dizzying frenzy of violence.

It runs a little long, as director Shigeaki Kubo (of the High & Low franchise) spends a bit too much time enamored with his wacky cast. These films work best when they're lean and mean, and Enju notably slows down about halfway through before it ramps up to a hyperactive finale.

But it is hard to complain when most of the film is this much fun. Enju has a great eye for action, and it puts other major Western action pics of the past couple of years to shame. A stunning piece of run-and-gun mayhem toward the end, where Kubo slows the world down so we can appreciate every frame of the meticulous stuntwork and pyrotechnics, is more fun than any of the past three John Wick films combined.

Anchored by the hugely charismatic Hirose, whose gently humorous performance knows exactly what kind of movie this is, Enju is a good time for action fans, even if it doesn't reinvent a single thing in the process.

[Enju is a wild and goofy good timePacked with fantastic action and an immensely charismatic leading performance from Alice Hirose, Enju is a furiously entertaining thrill in the style of John Wick and Die Hard.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/icon/regionfree-favicon-3c1f7076-91d5-4845-a821-a711716c32d0.png)Region FreeJoonatan Itkonen![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/thumbnail/enju-screenshot-e960b38d-b698-4d64-a7f8-a8f5e59b26b6.webp)](https://regionfree.net/enju-is-a-wild-and-goofy-good-time/)

## Gaua - The Night

I haven't reviewed Gaua for Region Free, but I was part of the jury that awarded it the FIPRESCI prize at BIFAN this year. I'm thrilled it'll play at Night Visions, which feels like home for it. 

From my essay for FIPRESCI, on the reasons why we chose Gaua:  
  
*The Night* \[*Gaua*\], winner of the first FIPRESCI Award given at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, feels like a campfire story passed down from one generation to the next. It enraptures from the very beginning, as director Paul Urkijo Alijo skillfully leads audiences down a path of dark fairy tales, impish humor, and sexual liberation.

Along the way, the film reveals itself as an immensely moving cinematic feast; equal parts Mike Mignola’s *Hellboy* and Francisco Goya’s Black Paintings. In our Jury deliberations, it quickly became all we could talk about, as every conversation led us down another path of exploration. Almost as if we, as viewers, could wander the endless forests of Alijo’s intricate fantasy.

The story unfolds through oral tradition, as each narrative thread loosely connects through varying perspectives around the small village where a vile priest controls the populace with an iron grip. Split into chapters, the film has a freewheeling looseness to its structure that plays like a *bertsolaritza*, an improvised song, performed specifically for the outsider. Time has little meaning here, and it doesn’t matter if some things do not make logical sense. They resonate on a deeper, more primal level, where our inner desire for the forbidden lingers in the soul.

[The Night: Perversion is freedom - FIPRESCI | The International Federation of Film Critics![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/icon/cropped-favicon-270x270-c378b0b0-0ef7-4b85-95c8-9fc776c9d586.png)FIPRESCI | The International Federation of Film Critics![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/thumbnail/preview-8dc3f5b5-826a-4437-89bf-d6578d9a6ac7.jpg)](https://fipresci.org/report/the-night-perversion-is-freedom/?ref=regionfree.net)

## Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders

Let's get one thing straight: this is essential queer cinema history. It isn't as comprehensive or focused as I'd like, but it is a compassionate, vital, and thoroughly engrossing piece of collective memory that deserves recognition.

Directed by Jeffrey Schwarz, who also crafted the wonderful I Am Divine documentary in 2013, Mineshaft is a portrait of those who inspired, were involved with, and were touched by the murders that formed the basis of William Friedkin's questionable 1980s thriller.

I wouldn't peg Mineshaft as strictly a documentary, though. It is more of a portrait, a time capsule, a period artefact of a civilization lost to time. These are our queer elders, those who suffered through the horrors of the AIDS epidemic, where the Devil Reagan allowed untold millions to perish. At the same time, as if all this wasn't enough, this was an entire part of the nation that was fair game for mockery, belittlement, and violence.

Still, whatever the faults in pacing, Mineshaft is essential viewing for film buffs and those who want to understand the cultural landscape a little better. There's a great effort underway to sanitize and rewrite the 80s and 90s, and it's part of our duty to ensure that never happens. There is still a lot of darkness to uncover, and Mineshaft serves as a beacon to follow.

[Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders thoughtfully dissects the intersection between art and realityA thoughtful and immensely compelling portrait of the good, bad, and downright ugly aspects of William Friedkin's beloved and reviled 80s thriller, Mineshaft is an essential time capsule, a passionate dissection of cinema, and a superlative companion piece to Cruising.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/icon/regionfree-favicon-2aff1da1-3e34-48e6-a205-ba94daa71e34.png)Region FreeJoonatan Itkonen![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/thumbnail/Mineshaft-documentary-screenshot-7c202404-67d7-4342-8a28-c1ae9b542024.webp)](https://regionfree.net/mineshaft-the-cruising-murders-review-night-visions/)

## Sanguine - Species

Directed by Marion Le Corroller, Sanguine begins at a fast-food restaurant, where an overworked and underappreciated young clerk is driven to bloody murder by the inhumane demands of modern society. It's a quick, brutish setup that is purposefully heavy-handed. Yet anyone who has worked a shift at these kinds of places can relate to the atmosphere and anxiety.

From there, we're whisked away to a nightmarish hospital complex, where Margot (Mara Taquin) begins her residency. It's a kind of Terry Gilliam-esque hellscape, full of endless corridors, odd angles, and nondescript metal rooms that purposefully restrict identity. Le Corroller isn't interested in subtlety in her allegory, and that's just fine. The rest of the film follows in such broad strokes that nuance would get in the way.

While some beats are remarkably familiar, Sanguine's great pleasures kick in around the halfway point, where Le Corroller lets loose after an extended introduction to her world. Once the rules are in place, Sanguine takes the thought of experiment to logical extremes, and there's a tremendous joy in how Le Corroller treats her burnout metaphor with both impish glee and utmost sincerity. It's a difficult balancing act, and Sanguine nails it for the most part.

A big part of that success belongs to Taquin, who is wonderful as the put-upon Margot. When we first meet her, it's clear her sunny disposition won't last, and an air of tragedy hangs over every move she makes. We want the best for her, even when we know this is not that kind of movie. Le Corroller and Taquin milk the setup for all its worth, yet it rarely feels like overkill. Even in the most audacious moments, Taquin's believable performance grounds the film so that it feels even more terrifying.

[Cannes 2026: Sanguine is a terrifying and funny satireWhile Sanguine occasionally stumbles in its ambition, this is a thoughtfully scary and funny satire that succeeds far more than it fails.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/icon/regionfree-favicon-b5016add-735f-4ac7-8a2a-051befc9c629.png)Region FreeJoonatan Itkonen![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/thumbnail/Cannes---full-poster-4a4c2d87-35e0-42c3-b7ed-3c31e4a1eb48.webp)](https://regionfree.net/cannes-2026-sanguine-review/)

## You Are The Film

Written and directed by Makoto Ueda, who previously wrote the mind-bending delights of Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes and River, comes You Are The Film; a micro-budget wonder, just over an hour in length, that is as delightful as it is freewheeling.

The setup is simple, though nothing else is: Madoka and Kazuma are two lost souls hopelessly seeking meaning in present-day Tokyo. One day, both enter a cinema, only to see each other reflected on the screen as the subject of the film. Which one of them is real? Are both? And what does this mean for the future?

Ueda loads his film with more ideas and metaphors than a dozen other projects, yet somehow, miraculously, it doesn't feel overstuffed. Instead, the free-spirited energy is so infectious that it's hard to remain unimpressed by it all.

It helps that everyone is in on the joke, and it's lovely to see the cast throw themselves rambunctiously into every bit of insanity Ueda has in store. Watch, for example, how effortlessly the film balances out genre transitions from darkly serious mobster threats to summer stock theater in a heartbeat.

At an impossibly brief 68 minutes, You Are The Film is shorter than most episodes of streaming TV today. It is also better, more memorable, and infinitely more inventive than most features released this year.

[You Are The Film is a wild and unpredictable rideA delightfully inspired microbudget love letter to cinema and the power of the imagination, You Are The Film warms the heart even as it warps your mind.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/icon/regionfree-favicon-cf3f70a4-30a2-427c-ab3c-e01869149ea5.png)Region FreeJoonatan Itkonen![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/47/0c4798b4-e19d-4d8f-8475-ae0910a66a04/content/images/thumbnail/You-Are-The-Film-poster-2fe09177-6e03-434a-be33-5672e2c38e54.webp)](https://regionfree.net/you-are-the-film-night-visions-review/)