We’re into the third week of 2026, but festival season is inching ever closer with line-ups and ticket links dropping ready to ravage our bank accounts come payday. The horror calendar begins on January 30 with Black Sunday Film Festival, created by Crossroad Pictures’ Scott Lyus in 2018 with the aim of spreading his “love of truly independent genre cinema to the wonderful UK horror community.” Co-run with Chris Nials, the festival moved to Essex in 2022, where it has gone from strength to strength ever since, hosting film screenings and filmmaker networking sessions for the community.
Black Sunday’s main three-day event returns to Firstsite Colchester from January 30 to February 1, boasting a jam-packed selection of genre delights for cinema fans to sink their teeth into. And before the festival kicks off, we have rounded up our top seven picks that you cannot afford to miss at Black Sunday Film Festival 2026.
Lunatic: The Luna Vachon Story
This year’s festival kicks off with a very special documentary detailing the life of one of women’s wrestling’s most famous figures. Directed by Kate Kroll, Lunatic tells the story of the “complex life” of WWF women’s wrestler Luna Vachon as she battled for glory inside the ring, as well as her own demons on the outside. She was renowned in the 1990s as one of the WWF’s best female villains, with the documentary charting her rise to fame as well as her struggles with bipolar disorder, being separated from her children, and coping with grief and the perils of fame.
Lunatic: The Luna Vachon Story screens at 10.20am on Friday, 30 January
GroupChat
Following his work on Three’s a Shroud, London Horror Story, and UK Haunters, Dan Brownlie debuts his feature, GroupChat, at Black Sunday Film Festival. The screenlife flick follows a group of friends who come back online following a long absence from their games master, Dean. They reunite to take part in a role-playing game called Necromancer, but they soon find that his new campaign takes a sinister turn. GroupChat will be screened alongside the short film A Screen in a Room.
GroupChat screens at 3.20pm on Friday, 30 January
Deathstalker
Stephen Kostanski’s wild retelling of the 1983 classic Deathstalker has already made waves on the festival circuit, and it’s set to close the Friday of this year’s Black Sunday Film Festival. Set in the Kingdom of Abraxeon, under siege by the Dreadites, the titular hero recovers a curse amulet and is marked by dark magick. Hunted by monstrous assassins, he must break the curse and bring down the resurrected sorcerer Nekromemnon before the end of the world as we know it. Deathstalker will be screened alongside the short film Surprise!
Deathstalker screens at 3.20pm on Friday, 30 January
The Reckoning
Alex Breaux is maybe best known to fans as Lieutenant Robert Akers in the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, as well as his roles in American Primeval, Waco: The Aftermath, and Joe Pickett. But the actor has turned his attention to directing in the twisty thriller The Reckoning. It follows two estranged brothers and their disabled mother who are reunited after their father’s death, with long-kept secrets spilled to devastating consequences. The Reckoning will be screened alongside the short film Hearts Of Stone.
The Reckoning screens at 10.20am on Saturday, 31 January
Traction Park Massacre
Following its world premiere at New York Comic Con, Traction Park Massacre comes to Black Sunday Film Festival 2026, promising to deliver lashings of blood, gore, and classic slasher fun. Directed by Douglas DiMonda and Adam Dubin, Traction Park Massacre follows two teens who visit the ruins of an abandoned amusement park that burned down 15 years prior. It is rumoured that the ghosts of two brothers killed in the inferno haunt the park – something our two teen protagonists are sure to find out. Traction Park Massacre will be screened alongside the short film Bloodbuzz.
Traction Park Massacre screens at 5.20pm on Saturday, 31 January
The Turkish Coffee Table
Caye Casas’ The Coffee Table shocked and appalled fans during its festival run and streaming release alike, and you can relive the deranged black comedy in Can Evrenol’s remake, The Turkish Coffee Table. Evrenol is best known for his work in Baskin and Sayara, and that same darkness is present in The Turkish Coffee Table, which, for those that may not be familiar with the original, follows a couple and their newborn baby whose lives are torn apart following an argument over a coffee table. The Turkish Coffee Table will be screened alongside the short film And They Shall Handle Serpents.
The Turkish Coffee Table screens at 8.05pm on Saturday, 31 January
Loner
The final day of Black Sunday Film Festival will go out with a bang, and among the closing titles is Charlie Robb and Douglas Tawn’s Loner. It follows an aspiring vlogger who takes a trip to a cabin in the woods to reconnect with nature and create content, but soon finds himself trapped by an ancient force. Loner will be screened alongside the short film Bangs.
Loner screens at 1pm on Sunday, 1 February
Black Sunday Film Festival will take place from 30 January to 1 February at Firstsite Colchester. Tickets are on sale now.
