SXSW 2014: First Wave Lineup Includes Predestination, Creep, Open Windows, The Raid 2, Penny Dreadful, and Lots More
SXSW Film
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The 2014 SXSW “Film Features Program” includes 115 titles, and along with the previously announced zombie culture documentary Doc of the Dead, there’s a lot for the horror crowd…
…including special screenings of the original Godzilla and Texas Chain Saw Massacre, early looks at upcoming TV shows “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series” and “Penny Dreadful,” the U.S. premiere of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s The Dance of Reality, and new films from the Spierig brothers, Nacho Vigalondo, and Jim Jarmusch.
The genre-heavy “Midnighter” lineup will be announced next week along with the list of short films, but in the meantime here are the horror highlights (or what we assume will be of interest given their descriptions) to be on the lookout for during the fest.
Note that new for 2014, they’ve introduced the “Episodic” category, created to highlight innovative new work hitting the small screen.
The 2014 SXSW Film Festival runs March 7-15 in awesome Austin, Texas. Visit the official South by Southwest website for more info on the entire SXSW Music/Film/Interactive event.
Wild Canaries (Narrative Feature Competition)
Director/Screenwriter: Lawrence Michael Levine
When their elderly neighbor suddenly drops dead, a young Brooklyn couple investigates signs of foul play. A freshly comedic take on classic film noir that brings a unique sensibility to a high-stakes murder mystery.
Cast: Sophia Takal, Lawrence Michael Levine, Alia Shawkat, Annie Parisse, Jason Ritter (World Premiere)
Predestination (Australia) (Headliners)
Directors/Screenwriters: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Predestination chronicles the life of a Temporal Agent sent on an intricate series of time-travel journeys designed to ensure the continuation of his law enforcement career for all eternity. Now, on his final assignment, the Agent must recruit his younger self while pursuing the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time. Based on the short story “All You Zombies” by Robert Heinlein.
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, Noah Taylor (World Premiere)
Doc of the Dead (Documentary Spotlight)
Director: Alexandre O. Philippe
The definitive zombie culture documentary, from the makers of The People vs. George Lucas. Doc of the Dead traces the rise and evolution of the zombie genre, its influence on pop culture, and investigates the possibility of an actual zombie outbreak. (World Premiere)
Buzzard (Visions)
Director/Screenwriter: Joel Potrykus
Paranoia forces small-time scam artist Marty to flee his lousy temp job and hide out in his co-worker’s basement. Once the sugar high wears off, the horror metal slacker crashes hard, fleeing to Detroit with nothing but a pocket full of bogus checks, his Power Glove, and a bad temper. It’s like Albert Camus meets Freddy Krueger.
Cast: Joshua Burge, Joel Potrykus, Teri Ann Nelson, Alan Longstreet, Rico Bruce Wade (World Premiere)
Creep (Visions)
Director/Screenwriter: Patrick Brice, Screenwriter: Mark Duplass
When a videographer answers a Craigslist ad for a one-day job in a remote mountain town, he finds his client is not at all what he initially seems.
Cast: Mark Duplass, Patrick Brice (World Premiere)
The Dance of Reality (Chile / France) (Visions)
Director/Screenwriter: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Jodorowsky’s first film in 23 years. Blending his personal history with metaphor, mythology and poetry, The Dance of Reality reflects Jodorowsky’s philosophy that reality is not objective but rather a “dance” created by our own imaginations.
Cast: Brontis Jodorowsky, Pamela Flores, Jeremias Herskovits, Cristobal Jodorowsky, Bastián Bodenhöfer, Alejandro Jodorowsky (U.S. Premiere)
Evolution of a Criminal (Visions)
Director: Darius Clark Monroe
How does a 16 year-old evolve into a bank robber? (World Premiere)
Housebound (New Zealand) (Visions)
Director/Screenwriter: Gerard Johnstone
When Kylie Bucknell is sentenced to home detention, she’s forced to come to terms with her unsociable behaviour, her blabbering mother and a hostile spirit who seems less than happy about the new living arrangement.
Cast: Morgana O’Reilly, Rima Te Wiata, Glen-Paul Waru, Cameron Rhodes, Millen Baird (World Premiere)
Open Windows (Spain) (Visions)
Director/Screenwriter: Nacho Vigalondo
Nick’s a lucky guy – he’s having dinner with Jill Goddard, the hottest actress on earth. Then a guy named Chord calls: dinner’s been canceled. And it’s Jill’s fault. But Chord’s got something better… A 21st Century Rear Window.
Cast: Elijah Wood, Sasha Grey, Neil Maskell, Adam Quintero, Ivan Gonzalez (World Premiere)
“Deadbeat” (Hulu) (Episodic)
Director: Troy Miller, Written And Co-Created By: Cody Heller, Brett Konner
Kevin Pacalioglu may have no money and no clue, but he does have one thing–he can see dead people. Faced with New York’s most stubborn ghosts, our hapless medium goes to whatever lengths necessary to help finish their unfinished business.
Cast: Tyler Labine, Cat Deeley, Brandon T. Jackson, Lucy DeVito (World Premiere)
“From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series – Pilot (El Rey Network) (Episodic)
Director/Screenwriter: Robert Rodriguez
The Gecko Brothers are back. Based on the thrill-ride film, “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series” is a supernatural crime saga from creator, director, and exec producer Robert Rodriguez premiering March 11 on El Rey Network.
Cast: D.J. Cotrona, Zane Holtz, Eiza González, Jesse Garcia, Lane Garrison, and Wilmer Valderrama, and Don Johnson (World Premiere)
“Penny Dreadful” (USA / UK) (Showtime) (Episodic)
Directors: John Logan, Juan Antonio Bayona, Screenwriter: John Logan
“Penny Dreadful” is a psychological horror series that re-imagines literature’s most terrifying characters (Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and iconic figures from the novel Dracula) in a whole new light.
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton, Eva Green, Reeve Carney, Rory Kinnear, Billie Piper, Danny Sapani, Harry Treadaway (World Premiere)
The Desert (Argentina) (SC Global)
Director: Christoph Behl
Axel, Jonathan and Ana live together in a house that seems like a bunker in a post-catastrophic world. Outside is a threatening landscape. Once they were a perfect love triangle, with strong bonds of friendship, but today nothing is left of it. Ana is with Jonathan and Axel is alone, bit by bit tattooing his body with flies. But everything changes when Axel and Jonathan go out on an expedition in search of provisions and return to the house with a zombie that they call Pythagoras.
Cast: Victoria Almeida, William Prociuk, Lautaro Delgado (North American Premiere)
Only Lovers Left Alive (Festival Favorites)
Director/Screenwriter: Jim Jarmusch
Set against the romantic desolation of Detroit and Tangier, an underground musician, deeply depressed by the direction of human activities, reunites with his resilient and enigmatic lover. Their vampiric love story has already endured several centuries at least, but their debauched idyll is soon disrupted by her wild and uncontrollable younger sister. Can these wise but fragile outsiders continue to survive as the modern world collapses around them?
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt, Anton Yelchin
The Raid 2 (Festival Favorites)
Director/Screenwriter: Gareth Evans
Picking up from right where the first film ends, The Raid 2 follows Rama as he goes undercover and infiltrates the ranks of a ruthless Jakarta crime syndicate in order to protect his family and uncover the corruption in the police force.
Cast: Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, Arifin Putra, Oka Antara, Tio Pakusadwo
GODZILLA: THE JAPANESE ORIGINAL (Japan) (Special Event)
Director: Ishiro Honda, Screenwriters: Takeo Murata, Ishiro Honda
The 1954 classic that inspired the modern monster movie (national re-release from Rialto Pictures in April). Q&A with Gareth Edwards, director of the summer 2014 film Godzilla, from Warner Bros Pictures and Legendary Pictures.
Cast: Takashi Shimura, Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre – 40th Anniversary Screening (Special Event)
Director/Screenwriter: Tobe Hooper, Screenwriter: Kim Henkel
An idyllic summer afternoon becomes a terrifying nightmare for five young friends after they stumble upon the home of a depraved Texas clan.
Cast: Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, Gunnar Hansen
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