As someone who has attended a majority of SXSW Film Festivals over the last decade, two people have have been constants to my experience. The NPR-esque presence of Director of Film Janet Pierson, & the plaid buttoned everyman whose Midnighter programming often would elicit chants of, “Neece, Neece, Neece!” as he made his way to stage to intro films, or moderate a Q&A. Although I’m not sure he liked that much, I’m certain it had nothing to do with him stepping away from SXSW in 2021. With obvious passions beyond genre (penning two books on the subject as well as having co-hosted United Tacos of America on the El Rey Network), it was only a matter of time until we lost Neece (Neece, Neece!) to the new frontiers of streaming media, joining Curia as Chief Creative Officer. Godspeed you taco-loving king. I’ll have a breakfast taco in your honor.
However, it’s time to enter a new, exciting era in SXSW Midnighters. And if I’m being honest…it looks sick.
Fresh faces, interesting ideas, a little something for everyone. This reset is a great opportunity for horror, and I’m looking forward to seeing some of these titles buzzing when the festival wraps.
Take a look at the films below and comment what you’re most excited for.
Bitch Ass
Director: Bill Posley
Cast: Sheaun McKinney, Tunde Laleye, Me’Lisa Sellers, Teon Kelly, and Tony Todd
The year is 1980. Young Cecil is bullied by kids in the 6th Street gang for being fat, shy, and always playing board games. They all pick onhim and call him Bitch Ass. On a gang initiation night they jump him and leave him for dead. Fast forward to 1999. No one has seen or heard from Bitch Ass since, and he has become an urban legend. Now, a new crop of 6th Street recruits are gearing up for another initiation night. They get tasked with robbing a house, but little do they know they’re walking into Bitch Ass’ house, and he has been plotting his revenge by building deadly versions of the childhood games they bullied him for playing. Let the games begin!
The Cellar
Director: Brendan Muldowney
Cast: Elisha Cuthbert, Eoin Macken, Abby Fitz, Dylan Fitzmaurice-Brady
About a week after the Woods family move in to Xaos House, their daughter Ellie goes missing during a power cut. Ellie’s mother Keira investigates and finds that the walls have strange symbols engraved into them. After a number of terrifying supernatural experiences she comes to the conclusion that the house took Ellie. She discovers that a physicist and occultist called John Fetherston, who was obsessed with finding the 11th dimension, built the house and engraved sinister equations on the 10 steps leading into the cellar. Finally, Keira must battle with the universe’s most ancient evil, or lose her family’s souls forever.
Deadstream
Directors: Vanessa & Joseph Winter
Cast: Joseph Winter & Melanie Stone
After a public controversy left him disgraced and demonetized, a washed up internet personality tries to win back his followers by livestreaming himself spending one night alone in an abandoned haunted house. When he accidentally pisses off a vengeful spirit, his big comeback event becomes a real-time fight for his life (and social relevance) as he faces off with the sinister spirit of the house and her own powerful following.
Hypochondriac
Director: Addison Heimann
Cast: Zach Villa, Devon Graye, Madeline Zima, Yumarie Morales, Marlene Forte, Chris Doubek, Paget Brewster, Adam Busch, Michael Cassidy, Peter Mensah, Debra Wilson
Will, a young Hispanic gay potter, is one gregarious guy. His boss is terrible, but he’s got a great boyfriend and a great job. Unfortunately, behind that veneer is a dark past of violence and mental illness that he is desperate to keep hidden. When his bipolar mother comes out of the woodwork after ten years of silence, he begins exhibiting unexplainable symptoms. After an injury at work, he starts losing functioning of his arms, and something sinister lurks in the corner of his vision: a silent and ominous man in a wolf costume. Will spirals into an obsession, determined to solve this mystery of his own. What is going on with his arms? Can he trust his boyfriend? Is he becoming his mother?
No Looking Back
Director: Kirill Sokolov
Cast: Victoria Korotkova, Anna Mikhalkova, Sofia Krugova
After four years in prison, Olga is determined to start over, and first of all she wants to get her ten-year-old daughter back. However, her overbearing mother isn’t letting her grandchild go without a fight. The family conflict quickly spirals out of control, resulting in a frenzied and violent wild goose chase with each character willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want.
Sissy
Directors: Hannah Barlow & Kane Senes
Cast: Aisha Dee, Hannah Barlow, Emily De Margheriti, Daniel Monks, Yerin Ha, Lucy Barrett, Shaun Martindale, Amelia Lule, April Blasdall, Camille Cumpston
Cecilia and Emma were tween-age BFFs who were going to grow old together and never let anything come between them, until Alex arrived on the scene. Twelve years later, Cecilia is a successful social media influencer living the dream of an independent, modern millennial woman… until she runs into Emma for the first time in over a decade. Emma invites Cecilia away on her bachelorette weekend at a remote cabin in the mountains, where Alex proceeds to make Cecilia’s weekend a living hell. #triggered
Watcher
Director: Chloe Okuno
Cast: Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman, Burn Gorman
‘The Watcher’ is set in the midst of a citywide panic over an active serial killer, a young woman moves into a new apartment with her fiancé and is tormented by the feeling that she is being stalked by an unseen watcher in an adjacent building.
X
Director: Ti West
Cast: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, Scott Mescudi
In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the cast find themselves fighting for their lives.