6 Horror Films You Shouldn't Miss From SXSW 2019 |

South By Southwest’s Film Festival track is never short on horror options – shout out to my Midnighters crowd – but 2019 upped proverbial antes in terms of spotlight treatment. Open with Jordan Peele’s Us? Close with Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer’s Pet Sematary? Premiere Michael Chaves’ “Conjurverse” spin-off The Curse Of La Llorona? In addition to 12:00am park ranger survival stories, demonic imaginary friends, and sweet-as-pie paranormal rom-coms?

In this tumultuous year of 2019, SXSW asserted itself as one of the U.S.’ premiere mainstream horror-friendly film festivals.

As a five-year veteran of Texas’ massive destination festival, I’ve made it my mission – each visit – to screen every horror-classified title possible. In 2019, my film fest equivalent to a Pokédex (Letterboxd, essentially?) collected ‘em all, one might say, so I’m bringin’ my cream o’ the crop to Atom as a starting point for curious audiences. Leg work completed, rankings etched in digital stone. Here they are – my six favorite horror films from SXSW 2019!

1. Boyz In The Wood (Release Date TBD)

Boyz in the Wood (Credit: Patrick Meller)

Filmmaker Ninian Doff – who cut his teeth on Chemical Brothers and Royal Blood music videos – jumps into wild-and-outrageous midnighter territory with the uber-confident Boyz In The Wood. Comparisons to Attack The Block and Hot Fuzz are hilariously apt, as well as psychedelic The Most Dangerous Game hallucinations. And yeah, Doff’s title is 1,000% referencing John Singleton’s Boyz N The Hood given classist undertones about underprivileged masses being “culled” by the wealthy few who rule social hierarchies. There’s so much going on, and Doff’s greatest achievement is keeping a tight rein as bored lawmen, masked hunters, simple farmhands, and street(un)wise teens collide in a puff of hash smoke.

Dean (Rian Gordon), Duncan (Lewis Gribben), and underground freestyler DJ Beatroot (Viraj Juneja) are forced into “Duke of Edinburgh Award” participation – a weekend trek across Highlands isolation meant to sculpt “boys into men” – with golden-child Ian (Samuel Bottomley) as their assigned fourth. Before they can even reach their first campsite, “The Duke” (Eddie Izzard) appears with a rife and starts blasting in their direction. It’s kill or be killed as old-world dinosaurs attempt to eradicate youths who’ve wasted what they’ve inherited, set to a score of Run The Jewels and pumped full of urban aggression. Generational warfare with a hip-hop attitude – and quite possibly the most fun you’ll have with a movie in all of 2019 (if that’s when this beatdown drops).

2. Little Monsters (2019 TBD)

Lupita Nyong’o in ‘Little Monsters’ (Credit: Neon Pictures)

Horror comedies are my jam, and with that admitted, Abe Forsythe’s Little Monsters won me over the minute adolescence and mature themes intersected. Cooties once unleashed a zombie outbreak on elementary school levels – infecting children with tainted chicken nuggets – but Little Monsters makes kindergarten-age students the main priority for safety. Enter Lupita Nyong’o as Miss Caroline – who’s enchanting enough to drive the Magic School Bus – and Alexander England as Dave, Felix’s (Diesel La Torraca) heartbroken single uncle who falls head-over-heels for Miss Caroline’s lollipop pleasantness. Together they must chaperone as zombie killers when an American test facility unleashes walkers on an unaware petting zoo type of farm, reimagining the apocalyptic scenario into a fun game to keep the kiddos sedated.

Along with Nyong’o’s unshakably badass ode to real-life-superhero caretakers everywhere and England’s failed metal guitarist seeking stability, Josh Gad stokes the flames of pessimistic chaos as children’s television host Teddy McGiggle – now despicably shellshocked instead of goofy-voiced (cursing out children, swigging alcohol, etc.). As zombies tear into animal carcasses and chase the children through rounds of “tag,” Forsythe maintains a vicious bite while never losing the innocence of moody tantrums, blissfully unaware good natures, and Nyong’o ukulele balladeer distractions (playing Taylor Swift covers). Little Monsters bakes sugary morsels into flesh-eating destruction and features a defining genre role from Nyong’o – as far as horror comedies go, school is in session.

3. Snatchers (2019 TBD)

Snatchers (Credit: MAKE GOOD Content)

Any plot synopsis explanation for Stephen Cedars and Benji Kleiman’s Snatchers sounds like ramblings from behind a padded wall. Mary Nepi plays Sara, a newfound “cool girl” whose obsession with clique statuses leads to her deflowering by dumb-as-bricks stud Skyler (Austin Fryberger). Unfortunately, Skyler contracted some pregnancy curse on his family vacation to Mexico and Sara finds herself ready to burst with monster offspring in days. Hayley (Gabrielle Elyse) comes to Sara’s aid despite their falling out sophomore year, hours before a feisty arachnid-lookin’ creature rockets out of Sara’s birth canal cannon. Like high school isn’t hard enough without dooming humanity?

Throw Teeth, Critters, and Detention into a blender, and you’ve got Snatchers. Practical effects define this devious jumping bean of a creature with even more surprises in store that shouldn’t be spoiled. Bodysnatching qualities allow the beastie to control human vessels, which leads to many a pursuit as Sara’s journey comes with multiple commentaries – sexual pressures on teenagers, male/female responsibilities in unexpected pregnancies, existing options – drawing parallels to the way It Follows was described as an STD horror story. Just, way funnier? Nepi and Elyse are mini Tina Fey/Maya Rudolph clones while Fryberger overplays alpha-bro horniness to a cursed degree. Keep your eyes peeled for this hormonal horror comedy.

4. Villains (2019 TBD)

Maika Monroe and Bill Skarsgård in ‘Villains’ (Credit: BRON Studios)

I love a good “wrong place, wrong time” pressure cooker, and Villains is one such home invasion where hints of good versus evil are blurred into oblivion. Bill Skarsgård (Mickey) and Maika Monroe (Jules) star as lovebird bargain-value criminals who break into a middle-of-nowhere residence with sights on their family sedan. While rummaging through the non-threatening belongings of whoever lives there, a startling secret appears chained-up in the basement. Then, before Mickey and Jules can flee, they’re confronted by owners George (Jeffrey Donovan) and Gloria (Kyra Sedgwick) – dressed in puritanical button-ups and Sunday-best representation. Such commonplace disguises for devious wolves.

Jules and Mickey find themselves handcuffed and trapped by their ’70s sitcom captors. What begins as the couple’s petty crimes – stolen money and dreams of Florida beachside living – ends with a flipped narrative as Donovan and Sedgwick play southern-comfort hosts with even meaner streaks. All parties involved own their roles – victims of circumstance, enacted psychopaths, relationships caked in blood – with a heavy emphasis on Skarsgård and Monroe’s blistering chemistry and Skarsgård’s deadpan comedic timing. It’s as impressive a character study as it is bloody-good imprisonment entertainment.

5. Us (March 22)

How rejuvenating does it feel to be proven right? Get Out was no fluke. Jordan Peele knows his got’dang horror, and he’s officially one of those “free pass” filmmakers where no matter what he does I’ll be in line opening night. Atom’s Alisha Grauso gave you a few reasons to see Peele’s sophomore sensation in her review of Us, but how about a few more? Lupita Nyong’o is a revelation – SXSW 2019 MVP (Us/Little Monsters) – but the entire cast nails their shattered mirror images, Tim Heidecker and Elisabeth Moss included. Peele provokes endangered performances, societal unrest, and does so with a horror director’s astutest eye through piercing frames. Us is ambitious, incendiary, and while some may be left asking plot-related questions, what they won’t do is question Peele’s prolific filmmaking prowess. His take on genre films is one that’s different from any industry comparison out there right now – and also one that’ll always be in demand.

6. Pet Sematary (April 5)

Maybe, like the Ramones, you don’t want to be buried in a pet cemetery – but that shouldn’t keep you from seeing Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer’s 2019 Stephen King adaptation. I’ve already presented you with three reasons to watch Pet Sematary when it drops April 5th in my review, so I’ll keep things brief. South by Southwest ended with a bang that reverberated six-feet-under, bringing a fresh, devastating spin to the Creed family’s tragic story of grief, native legends, and ill-advised reanimations. The more my thoughts sink into the soft soil Kölsch and Widmyer fertilize, the more Pet Sematary earns heaped-on praise. Might it be one of the best Stephen King adaptations ever made? Emphatically yes. Taste the sourness, live the terror – just don’t bury anything in the cemetery in the woods.