SXSW and the Horror Genre

-->

South by Southwest (SXSW) is one of the biggest and most well known festivals in the world.  Every March, thousands of people from all over the world converge on Austin, Texas.  The festival connects people from film, music and emerging technology. 

One thing I really like about the festival is that it premieres horror films every year as part of its Midnighters category.  This year, they had the world premiere of Big Ass Spider directed by Mike Mendez as well as the U.S. premiere of The Lords of Salem, written and directed by Rob Zombie.  Lords of Salem is having a limited release in select theaters starting today.  It marks the first film since the successful Halloween II in 2009 for Rob Zombie.     

One of my favorite films of 2012, The Aggression Scale, had its world premiere at SXSW in March of 2012.  The Aggression Scale was written by Ben Powell and directed by Steven C. Miller.  Although this film isn’t a true horror film, it is full of suspense, terror and violence.  The story of this film is about a war between two unusual teenagers and hit men sent by a mobster who is searching for his stolen cash.  This film had wonderful acting from Ryan Hartwig and Fabianne Therese.  It also reteamed veteran actors Dana Ashbrook and Ray Wise from Twin Peaks fame.  This film had amazing cinematography done by Jeff Dolan.  One of my favorite parts is the pacing of the edit completed by director Steven C. Miller.  It keeps the audience on the edge of their seats waiting to see what’s going to happen next.

The Aggression Scale sparked a big year for Steven C. Miller in the world of filmmaking.  After it, he went on to direct the urban nightmare tale Under the Bed that is being released on DVD and Blu-ray in July of this year.  He also directed one of the best horror films of 2012, Silent Night, the loose remake of the highly controversial 80’s slasher film Silent Night, Deadly Night.

For everyone out there who hasn’t heard of Steven C. Miller or his films, I highly recommend that you run out and pick up The Aggression Scale and Silent Night.  Watch them over and over again while waiting for Under the Bed to be released.  That’s what I’m doing.