Nikias Chryssos's sports themed horror Bloody Tennis releases on Shudder on September 25th. The movie had its world premiere at Locarno Film Festival and is all set to have its North American Premiere at Fantastic Fest next month. The official trailer is here. Check it out below.
After being admitted to an elite tennis academy hidden deep in the South of Europe, Sophie must contend not only with fierce competition but also with the school’s increasingly sinister undercurrents. What begins as a competitive rite of passage soon unravels into something darker, forcing Sophie to choose between chasing greatness and the connections to her friends and lovers. As the stakes rise, she must decide whether to become the player she’s always dreamed of—or keep her empathy. BLOODY TENNIS blends elite sport sports, trippy hallucinations and grotesque humor into a world filled with brutal ambition, blood-sucking leeches, hard-hitting serves and delicious nightmares.
Our own Martin caught Bloody Tennis when it premiered at Locarno.
Chryssos’ film is a mixed bag of exploitation, occult cinema and camp horror, a small-scale cross between Suspiria and Battle Royale.Bloody Tennis works best when it embraces its vintage slasher core, shedding its pretensions as a mysterious occult thriller and turning into an unexpected yet bizarrely funny session of family therapy.
Bloody Tennis stars Sandra Guldberg Kampp, Elina Löwensohn, Tracy Gotoas, Helena Zengel, Zlatko Burić, Lily Taïeb, Juliana Vieira Guerra, Lucie Zhang, and Vincent Romeo.