Other Worlds Says Sorry About the Demon

Sorry About the Demon, the new film from Austin filmmaker Emily Hagins and Austin-based Paper Street Pictures, will get its US premiere at this year's Other Worlds Film Festival.

It was with sadness that we announced that Other Worlds - the Austin-born celebration of science fiction and horror movies - is ending after nine years. But it's going out with a bang, and the US premiere of the latest from an Austin favorite.

After a first wave that included highly-anticipated abortion anthology Give Me an A and Scare Package 2: Rad Chad's Revenge, the sequel to the Other Worlds 2019 selection Scare Package, the fest now adds a second Paper Street project: Sorry About the Demon, the latest from local filmmaker Emily Hagins. She returns to the romantically-entangled horror comedy elements of her 2010 vampire flick My Sucky Teen Romance with this tale of Will (Jon Michael Simpson), recently dumped and now stuck with some annoying roommates: the evil spirits that infest his house.

But Other Worlds has never been just about looking forward, but also about celebrating the visions of tomorrow from the past. For its final years, it has now added a special screening of 2010: The Year We Make Contact, Peter Hyam's sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Doomed to be overshadowed by Stanley Kubrick's sci fi landmark, it's gained a reputation over time as one of the most intriguing and accurate "hard" SF movies ever made.

The Secret of NIMH gets a special 40th anniversary screening at this year's Other Worlds film festival

Speaking of returns, animation fans will be thrilled by 40th anniversary screening of The Secret of NIMH, Don Bluth's adaptation of Robert C. O'Brien's novel, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, an incredible fable that mixes classic fairytale talking mice with animal research for a tale that has only won over more fans as the years have passed.

Other Worlds 2022 runs Dec. 1-4 at the Galaxy Highland, 6700 Middle Fiskville. Tickets and info at otherworldsfilmfest.com. Now here's the rest of the latest lineup additions:

Features

Between Before
D: Sutton McKee
World Premiere
Closing night film
On the eve of her and her husband's divorce, a failed quantum physicist successfully teleports an object for the first time, having no idea her husband has seen what she’s done.

Mad Heidi
D: Johannes Hartmann, Sandro Klopfstein
Texas Premiere
Launch film
In a dystopian Switzerland that has fallen under the fascist rule of an evil cheese tyrant, Heidi lives the pure and simple life in the Swiss Alps. Grandfather Alpöhi does his best to protect Heidi, but her yearning for freedom soon gets her into trouble with the dictator’s henchmen. The innocent girl transforms herself into a kick-ass female fighting force who sets out to liberate the country from the insane cheese fascists.

2010: The Year We Make Contact
D: Peter Hyams
In 2001, the spaceship Discovery appears to have never completed its mission. Now, in 2010, Dr. Heywood Floyd and his crewmates must reactivate the H.A.L. 9000 computer, so they may learn what happened, and the meaning of Dave Bowman's last transmission: "My God, it's full of stars"

Backwards Faces
D: Chris Aresco
Southwest Premiere
After waking from a meaningless one night stand, the quick-to-exit theoretical physicist Sydney cannot help but stay when her mysterious and aloof hookup Ken claims he is from a different universe.

The Butterfly Queen
D: Liam O'Connor-Genereaux
Southwest Premiere
Five years ago, best friends Casey and Robin parted ways. Now, the former friends find themselves chasing a teenager through a magical, monster-infested forest, struggling to regain Casey's stolen sketchbook so that they can get the hell back home.

Cult Hero
D: Jesse Thomas Cook
US Premiere
Control freak Kallie attempts to rescue her husband from a "wellness center" for vigor-less men with the help of a washed-up expert cult buster Dale, whose reality show was pulled when he failed to stop (or possibly caused) a group suicide.

Influencer
D: Kurtis David Harder
Southwest Premiere
While struggling on a solo backpacking trip in Thailand, social media influencer Madison meets CW, who travels with ease and shows her a more uninhibited way of living. Setting off to discover the country together, Madison soon discovers that CW has distinctly offbeat ideas of roughing it.

Mother, May I?
D: Laurence Vannicelli
Southwest Premiere
Emmett unexpectedly inherits his estranged mother’s house after her passing. But when his wife Anya starts behaving like Emmett’s mother with unsettling accuracy, he begins to question whether she is playing a therapy game gone-too-far, or if something uncanny is happening in the house.

The Secret of Nimh
D: Don Bluth
40th Anniversary
Mrs. Brisby, a widowed mouse living on a farm with her four children, including bedridden Timmy, is forced to find a new home when weather conditions causes the farmer to plow early. Seeking the help of Nicodemus, the king of the rat colony, Mrs. Brisby ventures underground to discovers an entire civilization of intelligent rats who revere her late husband.

Snatchers
D: John Kingman
Theatrical Premiere
Can five strangers figure out a way to stop an alien invasion before it's too late?

Sorry about the Demon
D: Emily Hagins
US Premiere
Broken-hearted Will is offered a massive house at very low rent. What’s the catch? The restless spirit haunting the place needs a human sacrifice and the prior owners must find one or else the demon will be content to take their daughter.

SHORTS

Air
D: Brian Wilcox
In a polluted future metropolis, one young girl holds onto hope for a brighter future.

Anima Possession
D: Wai Mo Chan
Humanoid “soulmate” Tammy begins to question her existence and her relationship after meeting a fellow machine named Anima.

Apotheosis
D: Max Pearce
Selene is a naturally-born human living alongside the first generation of genetically-engineered humans. As such, she must work extra hard to prove herself worthy of her dream job on a space colony.

Archive & The Storyteller
D: Natasha Marie Rivera
On the brink of human extinction, a young couple struggles to secure a spot on the ‘Archive.’

Argus
D: Ethan Barrett
A man’s mundane new job forces him to face existential horrors while desperately grasping for a sense of purpose.

Chatsworth
D: Joseph Junod
Still coming to terms with his wife’s recent disappearance, a park ranger’s workday is about to take a startling turn.

Convergence
D: Zechariah Thormodsgaard
On a mission to save humanity at the edge of a black hole, an astronaut discovers something that will change his decisions, past and future, forever.

Distance - ACT I: The Peacock and the Sphinx
D: Eddy Loukil
The King and Queen of the Oxidized Realm find their longtime partnership fractured in this choreographed meditation on communication, alienation, and discord.

DYSTOPIA
D: Laura Ugolini
How to make the perfect man? Allow this gang of women to show you, one limb at a time.

Hibernation
D: Joel Benjamin
On a damaged interstellar science vessel, an aging woman watches over her cryogenically frozen son and husband as she waits and hopes for an improbable rescue.

La Goon
D: Kurt Ravenwood
A mysterious green lagoon stirs up an irresistible curiosity in a scientist studying on an alien planet.

Memento Mori
D: Izzy Lee
In 1983, a scientist in isolation resurrects a dead colleague.

Message From The Future (Machine)
D: Kyle Jutkiewicz, Keith Schneider
While babysitting the US military’s top-secret time machine, three deeply under-qualified scientists face ethical and scientific quandaries when the machine unexpectedly works for the very first time.

Mom vs. Machine
D: Tesh Guttikonda
Kamal feels threatened by her adult son’s new 3D food printer, forcing her to reexamine her connection with him and fight for what really matters.

Neoshin Episode 01: Cold Blood
D: Sebastian Selg, Ramon Schauer
In a bleak near-future, users cryogenically freeze their bodies while escaping to a VR utopia. But this virtual world isn’t without its real-life dangers.

Nesting
D: Nora Tennessen
A woman’s new pregnancy coincides with a strange new invasive species of plant blowing into town.

Oldtimers
D: Brian Quintero
A merry holiday reunion is in order for two associates who share a mysterious past.

The Operator
D: Matt Riley
During a routine day of connecting long-distance intergalactic calls, Michael suddenly finds himself on the receiving end of a distress signal and must race to send help in time.

Out Of This World
D: Elia Petridis
In this short rock opera, teen alien Nebby is starstruck upon meeting Ariana, their favorite singer-turned-waitress. This new friendship inspires each to rediscover how wonderful it is to be truly unique.

Petunia
D: Miriam Olken
A new house on the market seems too good to be true.

Pillow Stalk
D: Jorge Lucas
Ryan is trying hard to forget about his ex-girlfriend. Unfortunately, her old pillow won't let that happen.

Recovery of the Fallen
D: Curtis Matzke
On a strange new planet, salvaging items from bodies that have fallen to the surface, a lone wanderer maintains a cautious optimism for the future.

Samaritan
D: John Poliquin
A neighborhood crime-tracking app may not be enough to save a paranoid woman whose past suddenly comes back to haunt her.

Standing Woman
D: Tony Hipwell
Under an eco-fascist government, a man struggles to cope as his wife becomes the latest dissident to be “planted.”

Submittan
D: Susumu Kimura
To combat overpopulation, a future city sends its elderly into a forced “retirement” in the mountains. An immigrant artist faces an ethical crisis when tasked with creating a propaganda poster for the program.

Sucker
D: Alix Austin
Sam and Caitlin have a complicated bond, and the giant, mind-controlling leech newly attached to one of the sisters is not going to make things any easier.

Tim Travers & the Time Travelers Paradox
D: Stimson Snead
Tim has a time machine. Now he’s got to outsmart the other versions of himself within the temporal mess he’s created.

Time Tourists
D: Ian Sweeney
Fred and Sally’s meet-cute on a breathtakingly beautiful hike is cut short when the impermanence of their surroundings kicks in.

Vlad & Nick
D: Taylor Morden
On Christmas Eve, an aging vampire recounts his adventures with a familiar old friend.

Witchy
D: Liz Manashil
Reeling from a recent breakup, teen Winter goes trick-or-treating with her dad and learns a strange lesson on love and family from a witch. Or maybe it was all just an immersive Halloween trick…