Though its Midnighters are yet to be announced, Austins annual SXSW Film has unveiled their features slate, with plenty of genre to be found in its Competition, Spotlight, Visions and Special Events lineups. Highlights include the Taissa Farmiga and Malin Akerman-starring horror-comedy The Final Girls, the SpectreVision-produced child sociopath story The Boy, the unique-sounding demonic possession film Avas Possessions, undead ex movie Nina Forever, Ryan Gosling’s Lost River, a preview of upcoming Skype-set horror Unfriended and a screening of George Millers immortal The Road Warrior with a special Q&A.
Below, find the horror highlights of SXSWs Features announcement, including a few Im not entirely sure are out-and-out genre, but sound like theyre worth keeping an eye on. SXSW Film gets underway in Austin, Texas this March 13-21, 2015. Previously announced films include Alex Garlands sci-fi thriller Ex Machina and Karyn Kusamas The Invitation.
6 Years – Director/Screenwriter: Hannah Fidell
A young couple bound by a seemingly ideal love begins to unravel as unexpected opportunities spin them down a volatile and violent path and threaten the future they had always imagined. Cast: Taissa Farmiga, Ben Rosenfield, Lindsay Burdge, Joshua Leonard, Jennifer Lafleur, Peter Vack, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Molly McMichael, Jason Newman (World Premiere)
THE BOY – Director: Craig Macneill, Screenwriters: Craig Macneill, Clay McLeod Chapman
THE BOY is an intimate portrait of a 9-year-old sociopath’s growing fascination with death. Cast: David Morse, Rainn Wilson, Jared Breeze, Bill Sage, Mike Vogel, Zuleikha Robinson, Aiden Lovekamp (World Premiere)
The Final Girls – Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson, Screenwriters: M. A. Fortin, Joshua John Miller
Max and her friends are mysteriously transported into a famous 1980s horror movie that starred Max’s mother, a celebrated scream queen. Reunited, they team up to fight the film’s maniacal killer and find their way back home. Cast: Taissa Farmiga, Malin Akerman, Adam DeVine, Thomas Middleditch, Alia Shawkat, Alexander Ludwig, Nina Dobrev (World Premiere)
Ava’s Possessions – Director/Screenwriter: Jordan Galland
Ava is recovering from demonic possession. With no memory of the past month, she must attend a Spirit Possessions Anonymous support group to figure out what happened. Ava’s life was hijacked by a demon, now it’s time to get it back. Cast: Louisa Krause, Whitney Able, Deborah Rush, William Sadler, Zachary Booth, Wass Stevens, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, John Ventimiglia, Jemima Kirke, Stella Schnabel (World Premiere)
Nina Forever (UK) – Directors/Screenwriters: Chris Blaine, Ben Blaine
A fucked up fairy tale. Holly loves Rob and tries to help him through his grief – even if it means contending with his dead girlfriend Nina, who comes back, bloody and broken, every time they make love. Cast: Abigail Hardingham, Cian Barry, Fiona O’Shaughnessy, Elizabeth Elvin, David Troughton (World Premiere)
One & Two – Director: Andrew Droz Palermo, Screenwriters: Andrew Droz Palermo, Neima Shahdadi
Two siblings discover a supernatural escape from a troubled home, but find their bond tested when reality threatens to tear their family apart. Cast: Kiernan Shipka, Timothee Chalamet, Elizabeth Reaser, Grant Bowler (World Premiere)
Unfriended – Director: Leo Gabriadze, Screenwriter: Nelson Greaves
Ushering in a new era of horror, Universal Pictures Unfriended unfolds over a teenagers computer screen as she and her friends are stalked by an unseen figure who seeks vengeance. Cast: Shelley Hennig, Moses Jacob Storm, Renee Olstead, Will Peltz, Jacob Wysocki, Courtney Halverson, Heather Sossaman (U.S. Premiere)
Lost River – Director/Screenwriter: Ryan Gosling
A family tries to hold on to their home in the ruins of a disappearing city. Cast: Christina Hendricks, Iain De Caestecker, Saoirse Ronan, Matt Smith, Reda Kateb, Barbara Stele, Eva Mendes, Ben Mendelsohn (US Premiere)
The Road Warrior (Australia) – Director: George Miller, Screenwriters: Terry Hayes, George Miller
In the post-apocalypse future, where humans fight over the few remaining stores of gasoline, Mad Max offers to drive a tanker through a gauntlet of psychos to safety on the coast. Special Q&A to follow with George Miller. Cast: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Virginia Hey, Emil Minty, Kjell Nilsson, Max Phipps, Vernon Wells, David Slingsby, Steve J. Spears
