Follow the yellow brick road to Hell in the first teaser for Dorothy: The Haunting of Oz, a contemporary horror take on L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
On Halloween night, a viral internet challenge unleashes Dorothy, the Wicked Witch, and more nightmarish characters on an unsuspecting California town. As the curse spreads, the line between myth and memory begins to disappear for a group of struggling college athletes. One student must confront her trauma before it consumes everyone around her.
Adrienne Tabag, Caia Bonner, Jordan Sklansky, Aziah King, Andrew Wang, and Thomas Shan star in Dorothy: The Haunting of Oz, which marks the feature debut of 22-year-old writer-director Elijah J. Alvarez.
“Horror is a powerful way to explore not just defeating the monster, but learning how to live with it,” notes Alvarez. “Dorothy: The Haunting of Oz is about grief-shaped identity, the ways evil enters through the fractures in our lives, and what happens when the thing haunting us is also the part of ourselves we refuse to face.”
Blending elements of psychological thriller, supernatural slasher, coming-of-age drama, and sci-fi worldbuilding, the indie film ambitiously explores self-identity and the power of myth through a Gen Z lens.
“My generation is fractured by the internet and still trying to find ourselves while life keeps stripping pieces away,” Alvarez explains. “We document everything, we chase feeling, and still we can’t stop the darkness from encroaching.”
Currently in post-production, Dorothy: The Haunting of Oz is aiming for a fall 2026 premiere.
