Blood in the Snow Film Festival Returns to Toronto for its 13th Year of Killer Frights
Toronto’s highly anticipated Blood in the Snow Film Festival (BITS) is set to return for its 13th edition, showcasing an exciting lineup of Canadian horror, sci-fi, thrillers, and action-packed genre films. Running from November 18–23 at Toronto’s Isabel Bader Theatre, the festival promises six days of edge-of-your-seat films from both established and emerging Canadian filmmakers.
Opening night features Dark Match, a gripping action-horror by BITS alum Lowell Dean (known for WolfCop) and starring wrestling legend Chris Jericho. Following it is Hunting Matthew Nichols, a mystery thriller exploring a decades-old missing person case. Other standout films include the world premiere of Pins and Needles, an intense horror thriller, and Self Driver, a dark thriller and winner of the Fantasia Best First Feature Award. The festival wraps up with the Toronto premiere of the horror comedy Scared Shtless*, starring Kids in the Hall’s Mark McKinney, delivering laughs and scares in equal measure.
Beyond feature films, BITS offers five feature-length short film programs, each tailored to unique horror and genre themes. Highlights include “Funny Frights,” focusing on horror-comedy shorts, and “Dark Visions,” a collection of chilling tales set to open the festival. The lineup also includes anthology series Creepy Bits, featuring bite-sized horror shorts exploring themes of isolation, paranoia, and survival, as well as Invited, a Zoom-call horror from BITS alum Navin Ramaswaran (Poor Agnes).
Festival Director and Founder Kelly Michael Stewart calls this year’s lineup the strongest yet, saying, “This is the first time in our 13-year history that our programming team unanimously agreed on the eight feature programs selected.”
This year’s festival also highlights the diversity of Canadian horror, with stories spanning rural mysteries, demonic entities, psychological thrillers, and futuristic dystopias. Each screening will include a Q&A session with the filmmakers, offering audiences unique insights into the creative process behind their favorite films.
Tickets for the Isabel Bader Theatre screenings are available now on the festival’s official website at bloodinthesnow.ca. Don McDonald, CEO of Super Channel, returns as presenting sponsor, sharing, “We’re proud to support BITS in providing a platform for Canadian genre filmmakers.”
For horror and genre fans, this year’s BITS promises a celebration of the best in Canadian thrillers, horror, and sci-fi, making it a must-attend for fans eager to experience the latest in terrifying and thought-provoking cinema. Follow the festival on Instagram @bitsfilmfest for updates and sneak peeks.
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