Sharks, Aliens and Digital Nightmares at Soho Horror Fest 2025

The Soho Horror Film Festival has unveiled its first slate of titles for 2025, promising an aquatic undercurrent to this year’s programming. Returning as both a live and virtual hybrid event, the festival will run 21–23 November at Brixton’s Coldharbour Blue Cinema, with its digital counterpart, the Sohome Horror Film Festival, streaming 28-30 November.

Leading the first wave is Touch Me, a Sundance breakout from director Addison Heimann, best known for Hypochondriac. The film is described as a surreal blend of psychosexual horror and comedy, following two co-dependent friends whose lives unravel when they become hooked on the intoxicating touch of an alien narcissist. Lou Taylor Pucci (Evil Dead, Spring) and Olivia Taylor Dudley (Onyx the Fortuitous, She Dies Tomorrow) headline what has been dubbed a “horny hentai hyperpop fever dream” that pairs outlandish humour with raw emotional stakes.

The programme also includes the European Premiere of It Needs Eyes, from Zack Ogle and Aaron Pagniano. The film centres on teenager Rowan, whose attempts to escape her coastal hometown lead her into a disturbing online obsession with a missing woman known only as Fish Tooth. Exploring both digital dependence and oceanic dread, the feature has already been noted for its sharp stylistic approach and queer representation.

Adding a more unrestrained edge, Soho Horror Fest will host the UK Premiere of Hot Spring Shark Attack. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Jaws, the film delivers a chaotic tribute to sharksploitation cinema. Pitting villagers against a supernatural shark threatening their spa town, the film leans into absurdity, deploying bath bombs, local bureaucracy, and deliberately baffling visual effects in its bid to outdo the conventions of aquatic horror.

For those unable to attend in person, the Sohome Horror Fest will carry its own surprises, including a secret “sharksploitation” screening set to be revealed only during the digital event. In addition, the virtual weekend will feature a live recording of Not Another Teen Podcast, focusing on cult favourite Shark Night (2011).

Also receiving its UK Premiere is Patricio Valladares’ What the Tide Dragged In. Set on the Chilean coast, the film follows two sisters mourning their late mother. When one sister disappears into the sea and later returns changed, the story unfolds as a disturbing study of grief, suspicion, and transformation.

This announcement represents just the first reveal of Soho Horror Fest’s 2025 line-up, with organisers promising further titles in early October. The event continues its commitment to mixing international premieres, cult titles, and live discussions with its trademark playful streak.

Tickets are available now for the Brixton screenings, with day passes, single tickets, and access to the Sohome Horror Film Festival to be released in October.

For more information, visit: sohohorrorfest.com/