Other Worlds is Back With a Return to the Galaxy

Festival circuit favorite The Stylist, part of the line-up for Other World's Return to the Galaxy

Other Worlds, the local celebration of all things SF and horror, had to go online for 2020: but now it's one of Austin's first festivals to come back in-person, with the horror-themed Return to the Galaxy all-day special on May 22.

The four-film event at the Galaxy Highland Theatre (6700 Middle Fiskville) will draw on the fest's Under Worlds' section. The quartet of chillers and screamers will include the Texas premieres of festival circuit favorite The Stylist, starring UT alum Brea Grant, and the next film from Other Worlds regulars Black Fawn, the serial killer farce Vicious Fun. Plus, there will be the Southwest premiere of Sitges selection The Old Ways, and the North American debut of Appalachian horror The Clearing.

Best of all, it will be the first opportunity for the Other Worlds community to meet face-to-face since the 2019 fest. "As I await my second vaccination shot nothing excites me more than to see my friends in person and return to the movie theater! Return to the Galaxy, in which we call home." said Dan Repp, Other Worlds Senior Programmer and Events Director. "We’ve dreamed about hosting an Under Worlds festival for years and now it’s coming to fruition. The program is an eclectic mix of horror goodies that will scare and start conversations. Conversations in-person at a safe distance through masks. Benefiting our home, the Galaxy theater and their hard working staff."

Tickets for the all-day event will be $60, including a $10 concessions voucher. There will be Q&As for all four screenings, including in-person for The Stylist and The Old Ways. Attendance will be capped at 60 seats, per CDC guidelines, and will be socially distanced, with masks remaining mandatory (except when you're eating or drinking). All-day passes available now at www.otherworldsfilmfest.com/underworlds-2021.

The Clearing

D: Stephanie Trainer
A storm that has been continuing to swell over Appalachia for 5 months with no sign of stopping. While journalist and her colleague are on route to continue ongoing interviews with survivors about strange psychological behavior following the storm, she inexplicably wakes up alone in an empty jeep, parked in a clearing, surrounded only by Appalachian wilderness. After realizing the car will not start, she makes the bold decision to find her way back to civilization on foot, despite being lost. With vivid recurring thoughts and visions of personal childhood trauma manifesting around her, she finds herself unable to leave the woods, instead mysteriously returning to the clearing. (90 min, streaming Q&A, North American Premiere)

The Old Ways

D: Christopher Alender
When Cristina Lopez, a Mexican American reporter, goes to her ancestral homeland of Veracruz for a story on witchcraft and faith healers, it’s not long before she’s kidnapped by locals. They claim that she is possessed by a demon and they must exorcise her before they can set her free. As she tries to find a way to escape she eventually comes to believe that they may be telling the truth. So along with her captors and estranged cousin Miranda, her fight for survival turns into a fight for her soul. (90 min, in-person Q&A, Southwest Premiere)

The Stylist

D: Jill Gevargizian
Everyone dreams of being someone else… but for Claire, that dream goes from an obsession to a living nightmare. Her job as a hairstylist allows her to move in and out of other people’s worlds, but when the right target sits in her chair, she does more than observe the client’s life – she ends it, and keeps a permanent souvenir. Her lonely life, meticulous method and shocking secrets are suddenly thrown into turmoil when her regular client, Olivia, asks her to style her hair for her wedding. (105 min, in-person Q&A, Texas Premiere)

Vicious Fun

D: Cody Calahan
A loser whose life is passing him by accidentally stumbles into a secret underground self-help group for serial killers. Can he match wits with five killers and make it through the night alive? Stuck with only two options - kill or be killed, Joel will have to find his inner serial killer and muster a hidden strength to defeat the maniacs in his midst. (96 min, streaming Q&A, Texas Premiere)

Other Worlds presents a Return to the Galaxy, May 22, Galaxy Highland, Middle Fiskville. Passes and info at www.otherworldsfilmfest.com/underworlds-2021.