Sundance is coming up at the end of January and the time is just flying by. They have announced the ‘Midnight’ category films for this year, and that means stuff we care about. There are some huge names attached to these films and plenty to be excited about. So, without further adieu, here is what those of you who can make a trip to Utah have to look forward to!
In 1991, the Festival described its first Midnight section as a “special showcase of the most challenging but rewarding film experiences from around the world brought to you at the most arduous hour.” That curfew-breaking, genre-reinventing spirit continues today with audiences filling theaters for these fun, late-night offerings.
This year’s Festival will also include a program of Midnight short films; Those and other Festival selections will be announced in the weeks ahead. The Festival takes place January 21-31 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
Director: Rob Zombie
Screenwriter: Rob Zombie
Cast: Meg Foster, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Richard Brake, Malcolm McDowell, Sheri Moon Zombie
Plot Synopsis: Five people are kidnapped on the days leading up to Halloween and held hostage in a place called Murder World. While trapped, they must play a violent game called 31 where the mission is to survive 12 hours against a gang of evil clowns.
Director: Danny Perez
Screenwriter: Danny Perez
Cast: Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, Meg Tilly, Mark Webber, Chloë Sevigny, Natasha Lyonne
Plot Synopsis: In a desolate community full of drug-addled Marines and rumors of kidnapping, a wild-eyed stoner named Lou wakes up after a wild night of partying with symptoms of a strange illness and recurring visions as she struggles to get a grip on reality while stories of conspiracy spread.
Director: Mickey Keating
Screenwriter: Mickey Keating
Cast: Larry Fessenden, James Landry Hebert, Darby Stanchfield, Alan Ruck, Pat Healy, Ashley Bell
Plot Synopsis: Part crime caper gone awry, part survival horror film, this 1970s set thriller depicts a harrowing fight for survival after a pair of wannabe crooks botch a bank heist and flee into the desert, where they inexplicably stumble upon Carnage Park, a remote stretch of wilderness occupied by a psychotic ex-military sniper.
Director: JT Mollner
Screenwriter: JT Mollner
Cast: Nathan Russell, Madisen Beaty, Teri Polo, Luke Wilson, Francesca Eastwood, Chad Michael Murray
Plot Synopsis: When Outlaws on the lam invade the home of an unsuspecting, seemingly innocent, frontier family to hide out for the night, an unexpected game of cat and mouse ensues, leading to seduction, role reversal, and ultimately, bloody revenge.
Director: Rich Fox
Cast: Abel Horowitz, Allison Fogerty, Bob Glouberman, Russell Eaton, Kristjan Thor, Josh Randall
Plot Synopsis: A group of friends discover the dark underworld of the ultra-scary, psychosexual horror experience called Blackout. But what starts as a thrill ride through the unknown becomes deeply personal, developing into an obsession that hijacks their lives and blurs the line between reality and paranoid fantasy.
Director: Jim Hosking
Screenwriter: Jim Hosking & Toby Harvard
Cast: Joe David Walters, Jesse Keen, Gil Gex, Elizabeth De Razzo, Sky Elobar, Michael St. Michaels
Plot Synopsis: When Big Ronnie and his son Brayden meet lone female tourist Janet on Big Ronnie’s Disco Walking Tour—the best and only disco walking tour in the city—a fight for Janet’s heart erupts between father and son, and the infamous Greasy Strangler is unleashed.
Director: Richard Bates Jr.
Screenwriter: Richard Bates Jr.
Cast: Ray Santiago, Matthew Gray Gubler, Fionnula Flanagan, AnnaLynne McCord, Angela Trimbur, Adrian Grenier
Plot Synopsis: When Owen is forced to confront the past he’s been running from his whole adult life, he and his girlfriend, Isabel, become entangled in a horrifying web of lies, deceit, and murder. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll be scarred for life.
Director: Babak Anvari
Screenwriter: Babak Anvari
Cast: Arash Marandi, Ray Haratian, Bobby Naderi, Avin Manshadi, Narges Rashidi
Plot Synopsis: Tehran, 1988: As the Iran-Iraq War rumbles into its eighth year, a mother and daughter are slowly torn apart by the bombing campaigns on the city coupled with the country’s bloody revolution. As they struggle to stay together amidst these terrors, a mysterious evil stalks through their apartment.
Director: Kevin Smith
Screenwriter: Kevin Smitch
Cast: Tyler Posey, Austin Butler, Justin Long, Johnny Depp, Harley Quinn Smith, Lily-Rose Depp
Plot Synopsis: Colleen Collette and Colleen McKenzie are teenage besties from Winnipeg who love yoga and live on their smartphones. But when these sophomores get invited to a senior party by the school hottie, the Colleens accidentally uncover an ancient evil buried beneath their Canadian convenience store.
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