The Rocky Horror Picture Show returns in dazzling 4K and live spectacle across North America. From Vancouver’s shadow casts to Victoria’s drag shows, fans are doing the time warp again with music, improv, and midnight magic.
This year, fans of The Rocky Horror Show have extra ways to do the time warp! Not only is there a 4K restoration currently available as a limited edition steelbook set (Amazon link) for October. While this edition has some new bonus material, it may eventually filter down to a standard release TBA.
But more importantly, nearly every city is involved with a 50th year anniversary celebration. From Victoria to all other points, these events taking place across North America will have some people considering making a pilgramage to a major city. In the Pacific Northwest, the Spectacular Tour had/has three stops! It began in Alaska, moved to Vancouver, but there’s more….
53 more stops remain as it tours across the U.S. and Canada, featuring original cast members Barry Bostwick, Patricia Quinn, and Nell Campbell. The tour began in late September and continues through mid-November. Details and tickets for each performance can be found here.
But for those unable to attend, there’s other takes to enjoy. They help keep that midnight madness that defines the Rocky spirit alive:
The 2025 Vancouver International Film Festival is less than a month away! And we got our guide on what to see.
The 2025 Vancouver International Film Festival guide is out, and it looks amazing compared to prior years! That’s because the lineup includes a piece from Steven Kostanski. Without him, I would not be planning a trip to the mainland to see this film! While this event rarely offers a proper Midnight Madness mini-festival within, this year looks like it may well be a star. Let’s hope so, because who doesn’t want a bit of terror this Autumn season?
Chasing a rainbow through the woods, Iris encounters Arco, a boy who has stolen a time-travelling suit from his scientist parents and crash-landed in 2075. This charming animated fantasy blends futuristic adventure with heartfelt storytelling, offering a visually inventive world that appeals to all ages.
Bienvenu’s work has always blurred the line between retro charm and forward-thinking sci-fi, making this a must-see for animation enthusiasts.
Dir. Steven Kostanski
(read our interview with him here)
As the Dreadite horde cuts a path of destruction across the land, one man wields the power to rid the world of their evil — Deathstalker, a relentless and courageous hero. FX master Steven Kostanski conjures a bloody, entertaining hack-and-slash adventure, brimming with over-the-top action and dark humour. This reboot of the original film from _ is sure to please, and with this creative mind behind the production, it’s sure to be bloody! And for those unable to visit Vancouver for this cult classic, Shout! Studios will release it Oct 10th, 2025.
With Kostanski steering the gore and fun, this could very well be the new gold standard for fantasy revivals.
A foul-smelling gravedigger’s romance ends in tragedy, prompting her to attempt resurrection through a series of madcap scientific experiments. Glowicki and Ben Petrie inject zany, DIY horror energy into this modern twist on Mary Shelley’s classic themes of love, loss, and reanimation.
Glowicki’s quirky, hands-on aesthetic makes this one to watch for fans of experimental Canadian cinema.
An Iranian teenager who recently immigrated to Canada struggles to fit in at her new high school. Pressured to conform, she unintentionally unleashes a demonic force rooted within her. This darkly humorous coming-of-age horror explores identity, cultural tension, and the supernatural in clever, unsettling ways. By weaving cultural anxieties with supernatural dread, this film echoes the grounded terror of early Cronenberg.
A bawdy deconstruction of Romania’s most notorious legend, Radu Jude’s Dracula parodies the use of AI in filmmaking while delivering a cinematic feast of irreverent humour. The film is a multi-layered, genre-bending experience with six interwoven narratives designed to amuse and provoke.
Jude’s fearless satire might make this the most divisive entry of the festival — and that’s exactly why it belongs here.
After awakening from a coma with memory loss, Diane is taken to an experimental treatment centre in the wilderness by her husband, Homer. As visions of past trauma surface, Diane slowly uncovers dark truths about her marriage in this tense psychological drama that blends horror, mystery, and emotional depth. Sims-Fewer and Mancinelli excel at intimate, unsettling character studies — expect this one to linger long after the credits.
Two eccentric dreamers experience a freak accident that propels them back to 2008. Their inadvertent meddling wreaks havoc on the timeline, unleashing a riot of pop culture references, copyright-defying antics, and surreal gags. The result is a wildly inventive, meta-comedic journey through nostalgia and absurdity. Expect this to be a fan-service riot for those who followed the original cult TV series — and a trip for newcomers, too.
A computer nerd finds himself transported into a video game fantasy world when his dog is taken by the evil demon Ixaroth. Birney’s lo-fi adventure fuses analog horror with RPG mechanics, creating a nostalgic, black-and-white vaporwave aesthetic that celebrates retro gaming and DIY ingenuity.
This project feels like a love letter to gamers who spent nights with VHS rentals and pixelated screens.
Can a filmmaker depict the future without AI? Damien Hauser crafts an Afro-speculative fable set in a resurrected African kingdom, blending romance, war, and epic storytelling. A micro-budget yet ambitious cinematic experiment, the film is fueled by digital innovation, imaginative visuals, and deep emotional resonance.
This feature could be the sleeper hit of the festival, showing how vision and creativity can eclipse budgetary limits.
In a fractured reality where humanity has lost its ability to dream, a Fantasmer becomes a puckish outlier, slipping into the dreamworld and reincarnating across a century. Each rebirth unfolds within a different film genre, offering a kaleidoscopic exploration of imagination, memory, and the enduring human desire to create.
Expect cinephiles to adore this genre-shifting ride — it’s practically a love letter to film history itself.
Sizzle Reel for the
2025 Vancouver International Film Festival
From immersive experiments to meta-theatre and surreal solarpunk visuals, these picks are a geek’s ideal ticket to the Vancouver Fringe Festival 2025.
Runs Sept 4 to 14th, 2025.
Not many acts from the Victoria Fringe Festival are heading to Vancouver Fringe Festival 2025, but that’s no reason to skip it! When most live theatre acts examine the “game of life,” letting us explore the human condition through the safe lens of an observer, what’s presented are often eye-opening in more ways than one!
Solo shows, a hallmark of Fringe, make this exchange especially powerful—raw, intimate, and deeply personal. Unlike film, which often leans on escapism, Fringe thrives on honesty. Other forms of theatre will vary, but ultimately, when we can connect with the story, the meaning isn’t hidden; it’s right in front of us, asking us to feel, reflect, and engage.
Over the years, I’ve seen countless performances that deserve standing ovations. Many artists return with fresh material or clever twists on familiar acts, and that’s part of what keeps me coming back. Although one performer missed the lottery for my local Fringe, he’s thankfully back at Terminal City. This individual has consistently stood out, earning a spot in my top ten yet again. I won’t reveal their name just yet, but longtime readers may already recognize the work—newcomers will have fun seeing if they can guess who it is.
This year’s picks are presented in alphabetical order. These links go to ticket purchases and showtimes.
The real possession in Foreigner isn’t demonic—it’s cultural: the slow erasure of nuance, contradiction, and soul.
This movie played at the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival on July 31st.
Ava Maria Safaid debut with her horror film Foreigner is sure to make waves. This standout exploring the Iranian diasporic experience is the opposite of Juliet and the King, which I reviewed a few days ago. While I’m more familiar with the mythic world of ancient Persia, this story echoes the dilemmas once faced by figures like Siavash and Mithra. Here, Yasamin (played with quiet intensity by Rose Dehgan) is an Iranian teenager whose family has moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, in search of a new beginning.
At home, Persian customs remain strong. But outside those walls, the world she faces is confusing and often against who she is. Her tale is the classic Hero’s Journey, with challenges that are both spiritual and social. Like Siavash, she wants to be seen for who she truly is—but has to prove herself in a place that doesn’t really get her. And like Mithra—a figure from an old Persian religion that isn’t really practiced anymore but still symbolizes things like truth and justice—she’s stuck between family traditions, society’s expectations, and figuring out her own identity. It’s that old struggle of holding on to who you are when everything around you says to change.
GRETA Bar in Vancouver offers arcade games but feels more like a sports bar than a dedicated nerd hangout, raising questions about its target audience.
To find places to enjoy the latest arcade games has become increasingly tough with what home consoles and computers can do, but for that hangout experience, GRETA Bar delivers in that front. I would not have known about them unless they have an impressive marketing team to draw in the tourists. And when Fan Expo Vancouver helped bring awareness to this island nerd, I had to check it out! I returned recently to see how different it is when they are not hosting an event with this convention, and it has the feel of a sports bar more so than a true nerd’s hangout.
And when this franchise type operation includes Calgary, Edmonton, and Toronto, I’m sure catering to a specific type of geek is easier than figuring out who to cater to in Vancouver’s Gastown. When this city’s version of Fan Expo thought this place is appropriate for an after-party of sorts, the success may well be mixed. I have yet to see this convention settle upon a dedicated operation to run an event. When a few previous businesses they have worked with closed their doors years later, I hope that’s not a sign.
As Fan Expo Vancouver continues to get sell-out crowds, what’s the future going to be like? While part of the experience is always great, plans must be made if they want more people coming.
After looking into how other Fan Expos manage their floor plan to mitigate crowding, and spending time on various platforms like Reddit to ask around, this show has a similar map structure. Nearly everything is crammed into a single space! The delay in getting this report about Fan Expo Vancouver 2025 (FXV) is because I need to make sure my information is current. I also spoke to a few vendors who have attended this brand of shows in other cities to find out just how different it is. After a solid ten years, I’ve made friends who run booths too!
In this write up, I have lots to say. And thus, have broken up my thoughts into sections:
Overall Impressions (The Crowding Problem)
During Fan Expo Vancouver‘s busiest day, the crowds were thicker than molasses! Saturday is traditionally the busiest, and while I have the experience of knowing how to get from one end to the other reasonably fast, other folks may not. It’s best to identify where the slow and fast lanes are. It’s like driving on the highway.
Although the convention center layout determines the best placement for the various sections–the main stage, photo booths, and panel rooms–it’s also true that not all shows can use the building at its utmost. The upcoming Calgary Fan Expo will use the BMO Centre’s newly added space, and I will pay attention to reports when it starts! In the meantime, I’ll be fondly remembering the best years when the Terminal City show used two floors of the West Convention Center Building. I feel those were the best FXV years.
I wish coat check, a feature of past events, had been brought back. On rainy days, no one has the backpack space to store or wants to wear their jacket indoors; The organisers really need to spend the money to rent a room for this offering and tell staff to only accept coats. That way, this offering to lighten the load can’t be abused.
Will Fan Expo Vancouver Change Dates?
While the early years often saw FXV shift dates around a lot, I doubt anyone noticed this year was not on a holiday weekend. Technically, there was Valentine’s and BC Family Day on the same weekend, but no explanation was ever announced. In 2026, they will return to their traditional date.
No matter what, the event will always take place two weeks before Emerald City Comic Con. I’ve heard from one representative from Tsukino Con who says some folks skip their show in favour of the big city one. There are better opportunities for fun. I can vouch for that as I saw the ferry terminal filled with youths coming home on a late Sunday night, with expectant parents there to pick them up!
Comic Con or Carnival?
Back when these shows were about comic books, the focus was awesome. But ever since San Diego Comic Con defined this century’s popular culture landscape because of the huge entertainment media presence, it’s tough to call some events a comic con at all. Not every publisher wants to market outside where their headquarters are based. Also, some writers and artists who live in Vancouver are more interested in promoting themselves at a proper Comic Arts Festival instead.
For Fan Expo Vancouver to bring that comic book vibe back with an after event party with three artists (out of the dozen who attended) got to graffiti an art board, not even I was particularly excited. Although it went off okay, when one of them admitted to me he’d rather draw than attend (he was in the billing), that’s an issue. While they do not entertain on the same level as William Shatner and Rhys Davies, it’s still worth checking out.
But for main events, the organisers stick to inviting who are popular. Both Q&As, featuring the Supernatural supporting cast and Hazbin Hotel group of voice talents discussing their on-set experiences, were packed!
I also got a good seat to check out the Avatar: The Last Airbender partial cast team up and enjoyed this Q&A the most. Aside from the excitement that Michaela Jill Murphy (Toph from the cartoon) expressed about going to meet her live-action counterpart, all this event offered for news is that season two is deep into filming and fans can expect great things when it finally debuts.
Exhibit & Merchandise Floor
It’s possible to find something cool, but when I’ve been collecting for over two decades, trying to find something new at a generalized pop culture convention is tough. While nothing surprises me these days, the fact there were five vendors selling nearly exactly the same stock of lightsabers was numbing. I wanted to get an upgrade, but am glad I waited. Next week, I will post a guide on how to shop for one, and my advice is to not always buy at conventions. It’s not just about haggling, but knowing exactly if you like what you impulse bought.
By luck, I found Studio Ghibli (mostly Totoro) merchandise. While I could’ve gone for broke, I instead risked hoping to get a particular Stitch in the mystery Cosbi Box. I had no luck, but I at least got the baby fuzzball with a huge drink mug as a picture!
I think this toy line is way cooler than Funko by miles because they resemble anime versions of various popular franchises! I’m sick and tired to seeing these dotty eyed statues. They’re neat to have, but honestly, there’s no long term safe investment value at all. As for Hottoys, the parent company who manufactures Cosbi, the variety is miles above what the Washington based company offers! They catering to those rich nerds who can afford those life-size models to place in their man (or woman) cave!
Final Thoughts
Unlike other North American Fan Expos, these events don’t all squeeze every activity zones into one arena. These events space put certain aspects of the program to another area, and the dining options remain the same. The Calgary show fully uses the space; its larger size makes navigation easier. Also, it was an independent operation before being acquired by Informa. I suspect this company had to sign a contract with the previous operators who insisted some aspects of the celebration must not change in before they took over.
In Toronto, which had always been with the brand, Fan Expo Toronto uses both the North and South Buildings. However, crowding is still a problem, and people still say they feel like they’re trapped in a sardine can. It’s a persistent problem no matter what the spectacle, and while some folks get used to it, others claim to never want to return. While being stuffed into a vast place is no different at San Deigo Comic Con, folks either have to live with it or not.
While VP Andrew Moyes said FXV will stay in the West building, in order to use the full space will mean still looking at final attendance numbers and what the profit margin is. Whatever that number is, I believe it’s time to consider either changing dates or booking space at the hotel next door. Since having it in the same building is not possible because there is another event happening (I asked building security about that this year), someone has to budge.
This year, fans of The Rocky Horror Show have extra ways to do the time warp! Not only is there a 4K restoration currently available as a limited edition steelbook set (Amazon link) for October. While this edition has some new bonus material, it may eventually filter down to a standard release TBA.
The 2025 Vancouver International Film Festival guide is out, and it looks amazing compared to prior years! That’s because the lineup includes a piece from Steven Kostanski. Without him, I would not be planning a trip to the mainland to see this film! While this event rarely offers a proper Midnight Madness mini-festival within, this year looks like it may well be a star. Let’s hope so, because who doesn’t want a bit of terror this Autumn season?
Dir. Ugo Bienvenu
Dir. Steven Kostanski
Runs Sept 4 to 14th, 2025.
To find places to enjoy the latest arcade games has become increasingly tough with what home consoles and computers can do, but for that hangout experience, 
After looking into how other 
