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Directed by: Stephen C. Miller

Written by: Ben Powell

Featuring: Ray Wise, Dana Ashbrook, Derek Mears, Boyd Kestner, Fabienne Therese, Ryan Hartwig

SXSW's Midnighter films are known for being the edgiest, most gruesome and unflinching offerings the festival has to offer each year; titles like last year's Kill List go on to acquire great acclaim and cult followings after they reach mainstream distribution, and I believe that The Aggression Scale is a film destined for such a future.

Ray Wise is impeccably cast as Bellavance, a big-time mafioso who is out on a $1.5 million bail note after a span of time spent behind bars; he has 48 hours to pay the bail back or he heads into prison again for good. Upon his release from the big house, he discovers that one of the people he deals with has stolen a vast quantity of money from him, undercutting his ability to pay the note.

If the folks behind Funny or Die did an R-rated spoof of Home Alone, their parody would most likely bear a passing resemblance to Steven C. Miller's The Aggression Scale.  The home-invasion thriller isn't owned by Chris Columbus' 1990 family comedy, but when you make a blond pre-teen kid the defender of the home, the comparison is inevitable.  While a darker Home Alone with R-rated violence may seem like a promising prospect, The Aggression Scale seems stuck at "insane badass kid dishes out bloody vengeance."  Although Miller opens his movie with a bravura opening sequence and manages to hold on to some semblance of tension, the thrills die down by giving Superboy all the power. "I want it loud and messy, Lloyd!" angry mobster Bellavance (Ray Wise) yells to his crony (Dana Ashbrook).  Bellavance is out on bail after being accused of murder, and he needs to flee the country with his money.

"The Aggression Scale" is like "Home Alone" with more death. If only it were as good a time as that description might lead you to believe. Directed by Steven C. Miller, who last made the Syfy Original "Scream of the Banshee," the movie is a schlocky pleasure when it finally gets around to delivering on its premise of a dysfunctional teen with violent tendencies taking on a group of thugs. But the build to that point is long, overly serious and reliant on actors and dialogue that aren't up to holding the screen through extended periods of talking or layering on of atmosphere. Character development is a quality of which genre films are often seriously in need, but it feels more like filler when your characters make no sense to begin with and most of them are just slaughter fodder.

Dana Ashbrook plays Lloyd, the top enforcer for Mr. Bellavance (Ray Wise,...

Today in horror news we have a first look at the trailer for The Agfression Scale. The Aggression Scale will make it's world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival's midnight category next month. The Aggression Scale has been referred to an 80's influenced thriller with teenagers as the heroes. The film is about four heavily armed hit-men and two unusual teenagers go to war over $500,000 of stolen cash. The Aggression Scale is directed by Steven C. Miller, written by Ben Powell, and stars Fabianne Therese, Ryan Hartwig, Dana Ashbrook, Derek Mears, Jacob Reynolds, Joseph McKelheer, Boyd Kestner, Lisa Rotondi, and Ray Wise.

Just yesterday we brought you the first goodies from Automaton Transfusion director Steven C. Miller's next film, The Aggression Scale, and today we've landed the trailer. Dig it!

The Aggression Scale is an 80's influenced thriller with teenagers as the heroes. Directed by Steven C. Miller and written by Ben Powell, the film stars Fabianne Therese, Ryan Hartwig, Dana Ashbrook, Derek Mears, Jacob Reynolds, Joseph McKelheer, Boyd Kestner, Lisa Rotondi, and Ray Wise. It's produced by Travis Stevens of Snowfort Pictures and Joe McKelheer and Eben Kostbar of Film Harvest.

Synopsis:

4 hitmen + $500,000 of stolen cash + 1 family = War

Check out the teaser art homage to Maximum Overdrive below along with the trailer, and for more visit the official The Aggression Scale website, where you can measure your own aggression level, and follow The Aggression Scale on Twitter.

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The Aggression Scale Trailer. Steven C. Miller‘s The Aggression Scale (2012) movie trailer stars Ray Wise, Dana Ashbrook, Derek Mears, Jacob Reynolds, and Fabianne Therese. The Aggression Scale‘s plot synopsis: “Four heavily armed hitmen and two unusual teenagers go to war over $500,000 of stolen cash.”

God damn this film looks intense. I can not wait to watch this movie. I would go to war over $500,000 as well. If handled right, that amount of money could be life changing.

What is an agression scale:

a psychological test measuring the frequency of overt aggressive behaviors that may result in physical or psychological injury to others.

On the feel of The Aggression Scale:

Aggression…is described as being in the spirit of the 1980s canon and in the vein of A History of Violence but with the teens as the heroes, taking on four hitmen over $500,000 in stolen cash.

The Aggression Scale also stars Boyd Kestner,...

Sound On Sight will once again be covering the SXSW Film Festival this year, making it our second time attending. We’ve already posted news that 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas fest taking place March 9-17, including 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. Now the fest has announced their “Midnighters” line-up which includes Sundance premieres V/H/S and Don Coscarelli’s John Dies at the End, and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s Intruders, Paco Plaza’s [Rec] ³ Genesis, Timo Vuorensola’s Iron Sky… to name a few.

The 2012 SXSW Film Festival runs from March 9 – 17th. Here is the complete Midnighters line-up:

The Aggression Scale

Director: Steven C. Miller, Screenwriter: Ben Powell

4 hitmen + $500,000 of stolen cash + 1 family = War

Cast: Fabianne Therese, Ryan Hartwig, Dana Ashbrook, Derek Mears, Jacob Reynolds, Joseph McKelheer, Boyd Kestner, Lisa Rotondi, Ray Wise (World Premiere)

Citadel (Ireland, Scotland)

Director/Screenwriter: Ciarán Foy...

Director Steven C. Miller's The Aggression Scale will be having its world premiere during the 2012 SXSW Film Festival, and in honor of the occasion, we've gotten our hands on some exclusive teaser artwork for the film.

The Aggression Scale is an 80's influenced thriller with teenagers as the heroes. Directed by Steven C. Miller and written by Ben Powell, the film stars Fabianne Therese, Ryan Hartwig, Dana Ashbrook, Derek Mears, Jacob Reynolds, Joseph McKelheer, Boyd Kestner, Lisa Rotondi, and Ray Wise. It's produced by Travis Stevens of Snowfort Pictures and Joe McKelheer and Eben Kostbar of Film Harvest.

Synopsis:

4 hitmen + $500,000 of stolen cash + 1 family = War

Check out the teaser art homage to Maximum Overdrive below along with a still from the film, and for more visit the official The Aggression Scale website, where you can measure your own aggression level, and follow The Aggression Scale on Twitter.

Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival has announced the highly anticipated features in its Midnighters section, as well as the complete short films lineup, which will debut at this year’s Festival from March 9-17, 2012 in Austin, Texas.

The eleven films announced in the 2012 Midnighters program include a feast of titles that promise to rouse, haunt, and thrill the eager SXSW late-night audiences with an eclectic mix of thrills from genre filmmakers at the top of their game.

“Though our regular program already includes a healthy sampling of genre fare, the Midnighters section highlights those that go a bit crazier, gorier, and all-around balls out-ier,” said SXSW Senior Programmer and Operations Manager Jarod Neece. “This year's program includes both veteran names with anticipated follow-ups and fresh discoveries with new voices and charts otherworldly, insane territories that breathe new life into horror conventions.”

The SXSW Film Festival will open on Friday,...

Following the announcement of the majority of South by Southwest’s 2012 line-up including Cabin in the Woods, 21 Jump Street, The Raid and Casa de mi Padre, the midnight section has been unveiled today. Most notably there is V/H/S, a horror anthology we enjoyed at Sundance (review here), as well as Clive Owen-starring Intruders and the third film in the [Rec] quadrilogy. The nazi space movie Iron Sky is also part of line-up and a “super secret” screening. Check out the midnight premieres below for the fest kicking off on March 9th and head over to the official site for the shorts announcement, including a new one from Don Hertzfeldt.

The Aggression Scale

Director: Steven C. Miller, Screenwriter: Ben Powell

4 hitmen + $500,000 of stolen cash + 1 family = War

Cast: Fabianne Therese, Ryan Hartwig, Dana Ashbrook, Derek Mears, Jacob Reynolds, Joseph McKelheer, Boyd Kestner, Lisa Rotondi, Ray Wise (World Premiere)

Citadel (Ireland,...

SXSW has announced their "Midnighters" line-up for this year's film festival. The section includes Sundance premieres V/H/S (my review) and Don Coscarelli's John Dies at the End, plus other exciting entries like Austin Chick's Girls Against Boys, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's Intruders, Paco Plaza's [Rec] ³ Genesis, and Timo Vuorensola's Iron Sky. Hit the jump for the full Midnighters line-up. The 2012 SXSW Film Festival runs from March 9 – 17th. Here's the Midnighters line-up: The Aggression Scale Director: Steven C. Miller, Screenwriter: Ben Powell 4 hitmen + $500,000 of stolen cash + 1 family = War Cast: Fabianne Therese, Ryan Hartwig, Dana Ashbrook, Derek Mears, Jacob Reynolds, Joseph McKelheer, Boyd Kestner, Lisa Rotondi, Ray Wise (World Premiere) Citadel (Ireland, Scotland) Director/Screenwriter: Ciarán Foy An agoraphobic father teams up with a renegade priest to save his daughter from the clutches of a gang of twisted feral children. Cast: Anuerin Barnard, James Cosmo, Wumni Mosaku,...

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival announced its always-fun Midnighters section, as well as the complete lineup of 135 short films, for this year’s festival, set for March 9-17 in Austin. Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods will kick things off as the festival’s official Opening Night Film. “Though our regular program already includes a healthy sampling of genre fare, the Midnighters section highlights those that go a bit crazier, gorier, and all-around balls out-ier,” said SXSW senior programmer and operations manager Jarod Neece. “This year’s program includes both veteran...

SXSW announced today the lineups for their Midnighters and Shorts programs. The Midnighters section pulls together a batch of genre-heavy world premieres, including Spanish found-footage horror sequel [Rec] ³ Genesis and dark comedy Girls Against Boys, as well as proven festival favorites V/H/S and John Dies at the End.

The shorts program meanwhile is as extensive as ever, featuring 135 selections including works from James M. Johnson, Jeremiah Zagar, Bill Plympton, Dustin Guy Defa, and Josh and Benny Safdie (who present their Sundance Jury Prize winner The Black Balloon.)

The full lineups:

Midnighters

Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious.

The Aggression Scale

Director: Steven C. Miller, Screenwriter: Ben Powell

4 hitmen + $500,000 of stolen cash + 1 family = War

Cast: Fabianne Therese, Ryan Hartwig, Dana Ashbrook, Derek Mears, Jacob Reynolds, Joseph McKelheer, Boyd Kestner, Lisa Rotondi, Ray Wise (World Premiere)

Citadel (Ireland, Scotland)

Director/Screenwriter: Ciarán Foy...