You know I always have to run through the Northwest Connections program for SIFF! This year’s offerings include a lot of documentaries and a fair amount of my favorite movie genre: HORROR.

First up: I’m stupidly excited for The Primary Instinct because Stephen Tobolowsky is THE BEST EVER and I love listening to The Tobolowsky Files on NPR more than anything else—and I’ve never gotten to see any of his live shows.{Screens 5/29, 9:45pm & 5/30, 12pm at SIFF Cinema Egyptian; Director David Chen & subject Stephen Tobolowsky scheduled to attend both screenings}

I’m not sure I even understand what’s happening in the preview of The Hollow One, but my splatter-loving heart was all-in the second they panned to a close-up of the girl with blood dripping off of her face. Plus, setting the action out in the middle of nowhere on an abandoned farm means I’ll be genuinely scared. This one looks like (creepy, horrific) fun! {Screens 5/27, 9pm & 5/28, 3:30pm at SIFF Cinema Uptown; Director Nathan Hendrickson & Producer Sherry Floyd scheduled to attend both screenings} 

Did you know Seattle could pass for a Beach Town? Honestly, my first thought while watching the trailer was, “How cold were those ladies in bikinis when they were filming this?” – but I like the Instagram-y look and feel of it, and it’s really fucking awesome that it was shot both a) within the Seattle city limits and b) on 16mm film. I’m diggin’ the soundtrack too.{Screens 6/2, 6:30pm and again 6/4, 4pm at SIFF Cinema Uptown; Director Erik Hammen scheduled to attend both screenings}

I’m not sure any horror film about Bigfoot can top last year’s Willow Creek—but I’m willing to give Valley of the Sasquatch a try just in case. It can’t hurt that this one involves an ENTIRE TRIBE of angry woods-dwelling monsters instead of just one. Also: any movie set out in the deep woods automatically gives me the wigs. {Screens 5/24, 8pm & 5/26, 4pm at SIFF Cinema Uptown; Director John Portanova & Producers Jeremy Berg and Matt Medisch scheduled to attend both screenings}

The Eastern-Washington set West of Redemption sounds like a tense nail-biter, in which Billy Zane (!!!) ties up a traveler (Kevin Alejandro, who I’m also very fond of) in need of help and tortures him for seemingly no good reason. A slow-burn thriller, says SIFF … Sounds good! I’ll be there. {Screens 5/25, 7pm & 5/27, 4:30pm at The Harvard Exit; Director Cornelia Moore, Producer Larry Estes & Actors Kevin Alejandro & Mariana Klaveno scheduled to attend both screenings} 

A few more films associated with our PacNW: Learn all about the stars of Seattle Semi-Pro Wrestling in Bodyslam: Revenge of the Banana {5/21 at SIFF Cinema Egyptian; Directors Ryan Harvie & John Paul Hortsmann scheduled to attend}; Check out The Faces of Yesler Terrace {5/23 at The Harvard Exit}; See if changes to the WA school system can help troubled teens in Paper Tigers{5/28 & 5/29 at SIFF Cinema Uptown; Director James Redford scheduled to attend both screenings}; Watch the inspiring story of four Olympic cyclists inPersonal Gold: An Underdog Story {5/19 at AMC Pacific Place; Director Tamara Christopherson & Producer Sky Christopherson scheduled to attend};Seattle-based documentary studio Lucid, Inc. brings us Uncertain: which explores the lives of people living in a town on the edges of the Texas and Louisiana border {5/25 & 5/27 at SIFF Cinema Uptown; Directors Ewan McNicol & Anna Sandilands scheduled to attend both screenings}

{Film with NW Connections included in my Face the Music preview: The Glamour & The Squalor}

What are you most looking forward to seeing?