Lighthouse Film Fest 2026: Chili Finger Set as Opening Night Film

The Lighthouse International Film Festival (LIFF) returns next month, occurring from June 10-14 on Long Beach Island, New Jersey. While the festival showcases all genres of filmmaking, there are plenty of selections that should appeal to horror fans, including the horror-comedy Chili Finger and a documentary about the indie horror filmmaking team the Adams Family (Hellbender, Mother of Flies). Beyond the horror genre, the festival will also include special guests Jason Alexander and Tony Shalhou, as well as a 30th anniversary screening of Big Night. This year's festival also includes quite an impressive documentary slate. Here are the genre movies that will play LIFF. Chili Finger (Opening Night Film) Directed by: Edd Banda and Stephen Halsted Following in the footsteps of the Coen Brothers’ bittersweet, hot-and-cold storytelling style, first-time co-directors Edd Benda and Stephen Halsted craft a sharp crime comedy with a heartwarming twist. The plot unfolds in a small Midwestern town, where a chain of accidental events starting in a bowl of chili, snowballs into a series of surprising turns, suggesting things may not be as casual as they seem. A star-studded cast is led by Judy Greer, as a woman at the center of the story, a mother searching for purpose in her empty nest, alongside her gullible husband, played by Sean Astin. Madeline Wise, Sarah Herrman, and Paul Stanko join the ride, along with veterans Bryan Cranston and John Goodman, proudly adding to their own gallery of offbeat characters on-screen. Blood and Guts (Documentary Features Competition) Directed by Carlye Rubin, Katie Green and Tina Grapenthin Through vérité footage, family archives, and excerpts from their own gloriously gory films, Blood & Guts follows the Adams family as parents John and Toby race to complete one final "D.I.Y. 'til you die" horror film before their youngest daughter leaves for college. For over a decade, filmmaking has been the glue holding this unconventional family together, but now Toby and John must confront what it means to let go, not just of their kid, but of a way of life. A love letter to indie horror and one tight-knit family who make them. 2551 Trilogy (Darkhouse Special Tribute Norbert Pfaffenbichler) Directed by: Norbert Pfaffenbichler In a hellish underworld ruled by an oppressive dictator and steeped in perversion, primal violence, and despair, a rare act of kindness emerges: a compassionate man determined to save a child from a horrific fate. But can this fragile spark of light break through the darkness and dismantle a corrupt social order of a decaying society? Not in Norbert Pfaffenbichler’s 2551 Trilogy, where he performs a ruthless post-mortem on civilization itself with his sharpest scalpel. Drawing on silent cinema, German Expressionism, and puppeteering, the Austrian visionary artist crafts a layered nightmare of striking intensity. LIFF will present this horror opus in three parts on the big screen, with the filmmaker in attendance. Other 2026 LIFF Highlights Besides the genre movies listed above, LIFF will host a Narrative Features Competition, a Documentary Features Competition, director Joe Swanberg's The Sun Never Sets as the Friday Centerpiece Film, and Phoenix Jones: The Rise and Fall of a Real Life Superhero as the Closing Night Film. Additionally, there will be a Tony Shalhoub retrospective, moderated by Jason Alexander. For a look at the full schedule and to purchase tickets, visit LIFF's website.