The upcoming indie horror feature Texas Nightmare is ramping up ahead of its festival debut with a haunting new poster and fresh momentum on the genre circuit. Directed by Michael Merino (Acceleration, Clutch), the psychological cult thriller is set to premiere as part of Hollywood Horrorfest & Boobs and Blood International Film Festival on September 20, 2025, at Los Angeles’ Eastwood Performing Arts Center.
Starring horror veterans Sadie Katz (Wrong Turn 6), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), James Pratt (Malibu Crush) Randy Charach (Vanished), Lew Temple (The Walking Dead), Eva Hamilton (Ruin Me) and Rufus Dorsey (Pearl Harbor), Texas Nightmare blends atmospheric tension with cult horror, evoking shades of David Lynch and The Wicker Man.
Isolation, Paranoia, and Cult Terror in the Hill Country
Set in the haunting quiet of the Texas Hill Country, Texas Nightmare follows a writer (Katz) who retreats to a remote home to finish her novel. What begins as a creative escape slowly twists into a waking nightmare, as she discovers the surrounding community harbors a deadly secret. When a local cult sets their sights on her, fiction and reality begin to blur in a fight for survival.
Merino, who also wrote the script, describes the film as “a slow-burn descent into psychological terror — the kind that lingers long after the credits roll.”
Produced by Merino and Randy Charach, the film also sees Katz and Rose stepping behind the camera as co-executive producers, continuing their involvement in championing female-driven genre fare.
Hollywood Horrorfest: A Fitting Launchpad
The Texas Nightmare screening will take place as part of Program 1 in SCREEN TWO, kicking off at 1:30 PM on Saturday, September 20. The feature will be accompanied by a curated short film block, clocking in at 90 minutes total — a format that Horrorfest co-founder Miles Flanagan says is designed “to keep the blood pumping and the pacing tight.”
With its recently released trailer offering a first glimpse into the film’s eerie visual palette and mounting psychological dread, Texas Nightmare is already drawing comparisons to genre icons. The Lynchian influences are unmistakable, but Merino’s take on isolation and cult horror carves out a voice of its own. As buzz builds ahead of its Hollywood Horrorfest premiere, the film is poised to be one of this fall’s indie horror standouts — a slow-burn descent that promises to leave audiences unsettled long after the screen fades to black.
