Fantastic Fest Witch Horror 'The Heretiks' Debuts Bloody First Poster [Exclusive]

A chill is creeping into the air, heralding the start of fall and the season of the witch. That's the perfect time for the new film The Heretiks, which blends spooky Halloween fun with home-invasion horror and wicked witchcraft, to make its festival debut this week. Collider is proud to exclusively debut the new poster for The Heretiks, by famed poster artist Creepy Duck.

The Heretiks centers around Ada (Josie Wert, No Rest for the Wicked), a disaffected teenager who suddenly finds herself in a supernatural nightmare, as a coven of sinister witches led by the fanatical Neve (Tess Williams, Scare Tactics) invades her home on Halloween night, planning to use her little sister Mabel (Ava Mae Seidensticker, Wilderness) as a human sacrifice to awaken an eldritch entity and bring about the end of the world. Their only allies are their friend, Wesley (Luke Speakman, Weapons), and Cai (Kimberly Epstein, What Only Cicadas See), a renegade witch who's defected from the coven. Will it be enough to save Mabel and the world?

The poster is by the aptly named horror artist Creepy Duck. The malevolent mallard has produced posters for a number of other horror features, including Saw, Scream, and Barbarian. It depicts the coven's looming shadows against a blood-red background, like the fingers of some horrible hand. The Heretiks is set to have its world premiere at Fantastic Fest, the fantasy, horror, and science fiction film festival held annually in Austin, on September 19; after that, it will have its European premiere at the Sitges Film Festival in Spain in October.

Who Are the Creatives Behind 'The Heretiks'?

The Heretiks is directed by Gregg Bishop (Dance of the Dead). The script is by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, the duo behind The Night House, She Rides Shotgun, and the 2022 Hellraiser remake. Bishop, Collins, and Piotrowski previously collaborated on the 2016 horror film Siren. It is produced by Brad Miska (V/H/S), Chris White (The Backrooms), Alexander A. Motlagh (The Signal), and Ehud Bleiberg and Ariel Bleiberg for Bleiberg Entertainment.