Photo: Alliance FilmsRob Zombie's “Lords of Salem” leads an enticing slate of features at South By Southwest (SXSW)'s Midnighters program this year. The rocker-turned-horror director's latest, a riff in his inimitable style about witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last September and hits theaters this April 19th.
The Midnighters series, highlighting films that are “Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious” will also include the marvelously titled “Big Ass Spider” and new features by noted horror auteurs Vincenzo Natali (“Splice”) and Adam Wingard (“You're Next”), as well as the anthology sequel “V/H/S/2.”
Also included in the series are 106 short films, among which are films by Amy Seimetz (the lead actress in this year's Sundance sensation “Upstream Color”) and Brie Larson (“United States of Tara”).
Some of the high-profile films screening at SXSW this year include “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,” on opening night, featuring Steve Carell and Steve Buscemi as stage magicians who team up to combat “evil” magician Jim Carrey. The Diablo Cody-scripted “Evil Dead” remake will also be bowing, as well as the documentary “Hawking” and “When Angels Sing,” starring Harry Connick, Jr., Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, and Kris Kristofferson.
South by Southwest begins on March 8th in Austin, Texas.
See the trailer for 'Lords of Salem':