Oz goes full slasher: Dorothy: The Haunting of Oz is coming
Thought we were done with Oz after Wicked: For Good? Not quite. A new horror feature, Dorothy: The Haunting of Oz, is taking Frank Baum's 1900 classic and twisting it into a Halloween-night nightmare.
Here's the setup: a group of college basketball players in Marin County, California, start getting hunted by warped versions of Dorothy, the Wicked Witch of the West, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow - plus a pack of murderous clowns. It's Oz, but meaner. And it's stalking you across campus.
The story they're telling
As the campus unravels, each kill exposes something darker - more psychological than supernatural. Think familiar fairy-tale icons, but with real-world teeth. The lines blur between hunter and hunted, and the students' own demons start doing as much damage as anything swinging an axe.
Who's making it (and why that matters)
This is the feature debut for 22-year-old writer-director Elijah J. Alvarez, who's also producing through his new banner, Buddy Pictures. Young filmmaker. Big swing. That's usually where surprising horror comes from.
Alvarez told Bloody Disgusting the film "showcases the real Gen Z student athlete experience in a way most contemporary horror films haven't done yet," and cited Get Out and Sinners as inspirations. You can feel the intent: use genre to say something real about the pressure cooker these kids live in.
Cast
- Michael Sullivan (movies and tv series)
- Logan Laurel (movies and tv series)
- Heidi Appe (movies and tv series)
- Melissa Foster
- Aaron Byrd
- Rocky Velasco
- Angela Michaela
- Yvonne Orozco
- Ava Barone
Where it stands
The film is in post-production and aiming for release next year. No exact date yet. But the Halloween setting practically begs for a fall rollout.
Zooming out: public-domain icons are getting bloody
This isn't happening in a vacuum. As more classic characters enter the public domain, horror is pouncing. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey kicked the door open in 2023, spawned a sequel in 2024, and helped launch Rhys Frake-Waterfield (movies and tv series)'s Twisted Childhood Universe - with Bambi: The Reckoning, Peter Pan (movies and tv series)'s Neverland Nightmare, and the upcoming Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble.
Then Steamboat Willie went feral in 2025 with Screamboat Willie, starring David Howard Thornton (movies and tv series) as a killer mouse on a ferry. Director Steven LaMorte is already at work on Screamboat Willie 2: Nothing Stays Dead, promising "more miniature murder and mayhem" and teasing a new arrival: Minnie - also murderous, also public domain. Of course.
Why this could hit with audiences
Iconic IP + low-budget horror tension is one of the safest bets right now. People recognize the names; they show up to see how far the film will push them. And if Alvarez really nails the Gen Z athlete angle - the pressure, the image management, the team dynamics - that's a fresh vein for scares and character work.
Here's what this could mean for the space: expect more scrappy, director-driven features grabbing familiar characters and filtering them through lived-in, modern anxieties. If Dorothy: The Haunting of Oz sticks the landing, it won't be the last time a childhood classic stalks a college campus.
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