SXSW 2012: MODUS ANOMALI, V/H/S, & THE AGGRESSION SCALE Lead Midnight Lineup

Last week we brought you the (mostly) full features lineup. But wait! There was a major program missing from the announcement: The Midnight Films!.

A key component of the SXSW Film lineup, the long-standing Midnighters section has hosted the premieres and fostered the careers of such filmmakers as Joe Cornish, Ti West, and Eli Roth. The eleven films announced in the 2012 program include a feast of titles that promise to rouse, haunt and thrill the eager SXSW late-night audiences with an eclectic mix of thrills from genre filmmakers at the top of their game.

There are some pretty great films from talented filmmakers such as Don Coscarelli, Ti West, and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. A few have screened at such festivals as TIFF and Sundance while most are world premieres. Let's get right to the list:

The Aggression Scale

Director: Steven C. Miller, Screenwriter: Ben Powell

4 hitmen + $500,000 of stolen cash + 1 family = WAR

Cast: Fabianne Therese, Ryan Hartwig, Dana Ashbrook, Derek Mears, Jacob Reynolds, Joseph McKelheer, Boyd Kestner, Lisa Rotondi, Ray Wise (World Premiere)

 

CITADEL (Ireland, Scotland)

Director/Screenwriter: Ciarán Foy

An agoraphobic father teams up with a renegade priest to save his daughter from the clutches of a gang of twisted feral children.

Cast: Anuerin Barnard, James Cosmo, Wumni Mosaku, Jake Wilson, Amy Shiels (World Premiere)

 

Girls Against Boys

Director/Screenwriter: Austin Chick

A psychological thriller about two girls on a killing spree. With edgy and ironic humor and a darkly meditative tone, it is also a coming-of-age story about a girl learning how the world really works.

Cast: Danielle Panabaker, Nicole LaLiberte, Liam Aiken, Michael Stahl-David, Andrew Howard

(World Premiere)

 

Intruders (Spain, UK)

Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Screenwriters: Nicolás Casariego, Jaime Marques

The haunting story of two children living in different countries, each visited nightly by a faceless being who wants to take possession of them.

Cast: Clive Owen, Carice Van Houten, Daniel Brühl, Pilar López de Ayala (U.S. Premiere)

 

Iron Sky (Finland, Germany, Australia)

Director: Timo Vuorensola, Screenwriters: Michael Kalesniko, Timo Vuorensola

In 1945 the Nazis went to the moon; in 2018 they are coming back.

Cast: Julia Dietze, Götz Otto, Christopher Kirby, Peta Sergeant, Stephanie Paul, Tilo Prückner, Michael Cullen, Udo Kier (North American Premiere)

 

John Dies At The End

Director & Screenwriter: Don Coscarelli

On the street it's called "soy sauce," a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. Suddenly, a silent otherworldly invasion is underway. Can college dropouts John and Dave save humanity? No, they can't. 

Cast: Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Paul Giamatti, Clancy Brown, Glynn Turman

 

Modus Anomali (Indonesia)

Director/Screenwriter: Joko Anwar

A man tries to save his family who go missing during a vacation in the forest.

Cast: Rio Dewanto, Hannah Al Rashid, Izziati Amara Isman, Aridh Tritama, Surya Saputra, Marsha Timothy, Sadha Triyudha, Jose Gamo (World Premiere)

 

 

[REC] ³ GENESIS (Spain)

Director: Paco Plaza    

Screenwriters: Luiso Berdejo, Paco Plaza

Koldo and Clara's wedding is horrifically interrupted when some of the guests start showing signs of a strange illness. Before they know what's happening, the bride and groom find themselves in the middle of a hellish ordeal, as an uncontrollable torrent of violence is unleashed on the wedding.

Cast: Leticia Dolera, Diego Martin (World Premiere)

 

Super Secret Screening

Be the first to see this feature film coming to theaters near you.

 

The Tall Man

Director/Screenwriter: Pascal Laugier

When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children.

Cast: Jessica Biel, Jodelle Ferland, Stephen McHattie, William B.Davis (World Premiere)

 

V/H/S

Directors: Ti West, Adam Wingard, Joe Swanberg, David Bruckner, Glenn Mcquaid, Radio Silence, Screenwriter: Ti West, Simon Barrett, David Bruckner, Radio Silence, Glenn Mcquaid

A group of misfits are hired to burglarize a house in the countryside and acquire a rare tape. The guys are confronted with a dead body and an endless supply of cryptic footage, each video stranger than the last...
Cast: Joe Swanberg, Calvin Reeder, Kate Lynn Shiel, Sophia Takal, Lane Hughes, Helen Rogers, Adam Wingard