SXSW yields FANtastic news

Breslin in 'Haunter,' courtesy EW

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas, offers a nifty hodgepodge of music, indie movies and tech. It's kind of like a Texas comic-con for the cooler kids, and this year, which has run from March 8-17, has been pretty swell for nerds like us.

As promised, much has been discovered, namely, news announced that the remake of the Evil Dead is just the beginning. The film opens April 5, but a lucky few got to enjoy the film at its world premiere this past weekend. Ash himself, producer Bruce Campbell, was present and although he is not in the remake, he expressed pride for its 35-year-old director, Fede Alverez by saying, "We’re like proud uncles of this young man."

Alverez then announced that he and his co-writer, Rodo Sayagues, are already working on penning Evil Dead 2 and potentially completing the trilogy. This is pretty exciting news ... although they do know that part two of Sam Raimi's series is just a remake, right? So would that be a remake of a remake?

Anyhow, judging by the audience’s reactions of cheering and gagging, April 5 can’t come soon enough for horror fans.

Another bit of recent news is that IFC Midnight has purchased the film Haunter starring Little Miss Sunshine star Abigail Breslin. The horror flick that premiered at SXSW is described by Entertainment Weekly as a "reverse ghost story" in which Breslin stars as a girl who, along with her entire family, was murdered in 1985. She works to "fight the evil spirit of a serial killer." We don’t have a release date yet but we’ll keep you posted.

-Larissa Mrykalo