VULCANIZADORA Brings Awkward Horror and Existential Dread to the Michigan Woods in Official Trailer

Joel Potrykus and Joshua Burge star as two friends on a grim and surreal journey through the forest in VULCANIZADORA.

There’s weird… and then there’s VULCANIZADORA—a film so strange it practically defies genre, and one we shouted out a few weeks ago. The latest from underground cult filmmaker Joel Potrykus (Buzzard, Relaxer), this dark, awkward, buddy-horror fever dream has been getting some of the most bizarre reactions on the festival circuit—and for good reason.

The story follows two friends trudging through the Michigan woods, hellbent on completing a complex and deeply unsettling pact. But when things go sideways, the quiet dread of their mission spirals into something surreal and horrifying—revealing the true cost of failure in a pact that probably never should’ve been made.

After premiering at Tribeca and Fantasia, the film was picked up by Oscilloscope Laboratories, who just dropped a trailer this week that captures the film’s unique blend of awkward tension, lo-fi absurdism, and creeping dread. Expect dry comedy, existential panic, long takes, and a heavy dose of Midwest weirdness.

VULCANIZADORA hits theaters on May 2nd.

Written & Directed by: Joel Potrykus (Ape, Buzzard, Relaxer)

Starring: Joshua Burge, Joel Potrykus, Bill Vincent, Solo Potrykus, Melissa Blanchard

Produced by: Hannah Dweck, Matt Grady, Ashley Potrykus, Theodore Schaefer