Horror Highlights: BLACK ZOMBIE, PLUCKED, ACCURSED

BLACK ZOMBIE Theatrical Release Details: “Kino Lorber is pleased to present Maya Annik Bedward’s debut feature Black Zombie. The powerful doc traces the origin and evolution of zombies from Haitian spiritual traditions to fixtures of Hollywood horror, examining the cinematic and historical context and reclaiming their deeper cultural significance as powerful symbols of survival and resistance.  The doc made its world premiere at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival and has continued garner acclaim as it screens notable film festivals around the world including, Hot Docs, Blackstar Film Festival and next at the Fantasia Film Festival, before opening in select theaters across the country on September 11th courtesy of Kino Lorber.

SYNOPSIS — Black Zombie digs beneath the blood-soaked spectacle of modern horror to uncover the zombie’s buried and unsettling origins. Long before it became associated with flesh-eating ghouls, the zombie was a living metaphor for slavery: not a monster, but the ultimate victim of colonial power. A symbol of stolen agency was recast as an object of fear, while Black spiritual traditions were distorted, sensationalized, and erased. Director Maya Annik Bedward traces the evolution of the zombie from colonial Haiti to contemporary Hollywood, reconsidering iconic films like White Zombie, Night of the Living Dead, and The Serpent and the Rainbow alongside archival footage, vérité scenes, and interviews with cultural historians, artists, and genre legends including Yves-Grégory Francois, Mambo Labelle Déesse, Slash, Tom Savini, and Zandashé Brown. Part cultural reckoning, part horror remix, Black Zombie exposes how a figure born from enslavement, spiritual belief, and resistance was transformed into one of pop culture’s most profitable monsters.”

Upcoming Screenings Include:

Fantasia Film Festival Wedneday, July 29, 2026 at 6:45pm – Salle J.A. De Sève
1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. West (Level LB-125), Montréal, QC, Canada

Friday, July 31, 2026 1:50pm – Salle J.A. De Sève
1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. West (Level LB-125), Montréal, QC, Canada

BlackStar Film FestivalFriday, August 7, 2026 at 7:30pm Suzanne Roberts Theater, 480 S Broad St, Philadelphia, PA

BLACK ZOMBIE will open in select theaters across the U.S. on Friday, Sept. 11th, courtesy of Kino Lorber

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PLUCKED Teaser Trailer: “In Gilded Age New York, a marriage is rotting from the inside out. When Katherine Greene resolves to divorce her emotionally unstable husband, her decision collides with a high-stakes dinner party meant to preserve appearances. As secrets surface and impulses take over, the evening spirals into chaos, jealousy, and escalating revenge. Plucked is Starring Katie Vincent, Catherine Curtin (Stranger Things, Orange Is the New Black), J. Anthony Crane (Outer Banks), Susan Gallagher (Cobra Kai, Loki), Jared Canfield, and Bryant Carroll. Co-written and co-directed by Katie Vincent and Usher Morgan.

PLUCKED arrives in select theaters November 13, 2026 (New York, Los Angeles, Rhode Island), and on digital February 12, 2027.”

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ACCURSED Trailer & Release Info: ” When a nun’s cursed secret resurfaces on Emma’s 21st birthday, a lake-house reunion turns deadly. A masked cult and dark prophecy force Emma and her friends to face possession, betrayal, and a midnight ritual that could raise ancient evil.

Starring: Danny Trejo, Gabriel Sousa, Paris Dylan, Philippe A. Haddad, Kira Cahill, Lulu Bailey, Rafael Amadeu, Vivien Soraya

Directed by: Humberto Rosa, Brian Frank Visciglia

ACCURSED will be released digitally across the U.S. on July 24 through Buffalo 8, with pre-orders available now.”