The MotelX film festival in Lisbon marked its 20th anniversary with an expanded program featuring more than 170 films from 40 countries over 11 days. The festival, described as Portugal’s only purely horror-focused event, has grown significantly from its origins as a private film club in the 1990s, when co-directors Pedro Souto and João Monteiro discovered a local appetite for horror cinema during a period when the genre had little presence in Portuguese culture.
Historically, Portugal had minimal domestic horror production due to restrictions under the Estado Novo regime, which limited filmmaking to comedies and nationalist-themed works. The country produced approximately 25 films that could be classified as horror between 1910 and 2007, the festival’s inaugural year, in contrast to neighboring Spain’s mini-boom during the late Franco period. Foreign horror imports, including Hammer films and giallo productions, were often heavily censored when shown in Portugal. The festival has positioned itself as a venue for both international horror cinema and Portuguese filmmaking, including an award for unproduced screenings.
The festival’s cultural footprint expanded significantly in recent years, with expanded marketing including inflatable promotional materials placed around Lisbon and attendance at most screenings appearing robust. The programming reflected diverse international horror approaches, from Iranian social realism such as Mohammad Reza Ardalan’s Poultry Farm to US horror-comedy selections. The festival’s opening film, Drag, featured an inept burglar narrative while other selections included a 1990s-set mansion gathering film, historical pieces, and international works exploring supernatural and genre themes across multiple continents and production traditions.
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