Illomen, a new independent horror feature has completed filming and is being positioned for a 2026 festival launch. The vampire home-invasion film, described by its makers as psychedelic and giallo-influenced, stars Sol Rodríguez and Lou Lou Safran. Deadline reports that the film has wrapped principal photography and is now in post-production.
The film is written and directed by Nathalia Pizarro, marking her feature debut. According to production material, Illomen centres on a young widow whose domestic space becomes the site of an encounter with a century-old vampire, using the mechanics of the home-invasion thriller as its primary narrative frame. The logline circulated reads “A young widow’s life begins to fracture after a sudden tragedy, drawing her into a confrontation with a mysterious, century-old vampire.”
That hybrid places the film squarely within a moment of renewed interest in both vampire cinema and siege-style horror. Recent high-profile projects such as Nosferatu and Luc Besson’s Dracula have returned to canonical material, foregrounding atmosphere, sensuality, and period texture, while franchises like The Strangers continue to be reworked through sequels and remakes that emphasise intrusion and vulnerability over psychology.
Illomen appears, at least on paper, to sit at an angle to both trends. Rather than revisiting established mythology or leaning into franchise familiarity, Pizarro has framed the film as formally driven and deliberately contained, citing gialli as a visual and sensory influence, particularly its use of colour, sound, and spatial unease, rather than as a narrative template. The emphasis, she suggests, is on pressure, proximity, and subjective experience.
Rodríguez (Peacemaker S2, Charlie Says) plays the central role. Safran (Annabelle Creation) co-stars in a role described by the filmmakers as intentionally ambiguous. The supporting cast includes Booboo Stewart, alongside Bonnie Aarons (The Nun! Fat Tina from I Know Who Killed Me!), Cameron Cowperthwaite, Tayler Buck, Fivel Stewart, Dax Campbell, Jesse Hughes, and Joshua Homme.
No distributor or release date has yet been announced. The current plan, according to industry reporting, is a 2026 festival premiere.
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