Extra, extra! Read all about it! Professional gore-slinger Eli Roth to attend South By Southwest this March, sit on a horror-geek panel, and show off a brand-new clip from his upcoming movie Hostel: Part 2! Cool!

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

First the panel news: The event ("Panel of the Dead: Horror Films of Today") will be held on March 11, with AICN's Harry Knowles moderating the discussion. Panelists will include Mr. Roth, filmmaker Scott Glosserman (Behind the Mask), producer Lauren Moews (Cabin Fever, Borderland) and yes, yours truly, because if you're going to invite a film critic to sit in on a horror panel, you should probably choose one who actually appreciates the fine art of cinematic horror ... as I so definitely do. (There may be some more panelists announced down the road, so stay tuned!)

But what about the movies? Well, in addition to the aforementioned Hostel: Part 2 clip, SXSW attendees will be able to enjoy the following fright-centric flicks:

Borderland (World Premiere) -- Sean Astin, Rider Strong and the amazingly gorgeous Mircea Monroe star in this tale of lost kids, wrong turns and human sacrifices.

Grimm Love (North American Premiere) -- Before he was handed the reins on the upcoming Hills Have Eyes 2, German filmmaker Martin Weisz created this unpredictable (and fairly controversial) tale of hardcore cannibalism. (Over the past year or so, I've been asked "Have you seen Grimm Love yet?" at least a dozen times.)

Mulberry Street (North American Premiere) -- SXSW producer Matt Dentler described this one to me as "Zombies overtake New York, only they're like Rat-Zombies. It's pretty damn wild." Sign me up.

Sisters (U.S. Premiere) -- All I know is that it's a remake of the Brian De Palma flick, and it stars Stephen Rea and Chloe Sevigny ... which is all I need to get at least somewhat interested.

Them (U.S. Premiere) -- A French chiller also known as Ils, it's about a couple who get absolutely terrorized by a group of unseen assailants. And by "unseen," that means by the audience as well.

...and of course the SXSW brain-trust has its collective eye on a few more horror titles, so if you feel like visiting Austin and you really like scary, spooky, splattery movies -- I say you make your trip mid-March.

In a move that should absolutely thrill those (few) people who simply can't wait for the direct-to-video horror titles to hit the Blockbuster shelves, Lionsgate, Freestyle and After Dark Films have conspired to birth the After Dark Horrorfest, which is not a film festival at all, but a series of eight (or nine?) horror flicks that will hit about 500 U.S. movie theaters on November 17th. (Got all that?)

Well, the official site hasn't been all that forthcoming about the event, but those astute goregeeks at Bloody-Disgusting.com were able to break out the slate for the rest of us. Should you happen to reside somewhere near the specially-selected cities, these are the movies you'll be able to see:

1. The Abandoned -- It played Toronto. I missed it. Heard good things.
2. Dark Ride -- Slasher stalks an amusement park.
3. The Gravedancers -- Over and over I'm hearing good chit-chat on this one.
4. Infection -- The horror sites are assuming it's this Infection (which I liked), but maybe it's actually this Infection. We shall see.
5. Penny Dreadful -- A girl with autophobia has Mimi Rogers for a shrink. Cool title though.
   
6. Reincarnation -- Another piece of LG-owned J-horror.
7. Sisters -- Chloe Sevigny and Stephen Rea in a tale of conjoined-twin terror.
8. Unrest -- Young docs deal with haunted corpse. Saw it at Fantastic Fest: A little slow, but not bad.
9. Wicked Little Thing -- Also known as The Children, it's about ghost children.

All in all, a clever little attempt to get a few extra bucks from some flicks that are heading direct-to-video anyway. If The Gravedancers plays anywhere close by, it'll get my nine bucks. The rest ... I can probably wait for the DVDs.

I don't know if it's genius or pure insanity to direct a remake for your first feature, but that's what Douglas Buck is doing. After helming a couple of shorts (one of them really long -- nearly an hour), he rolled up to Hollywood and said "Hey man, gimme some De Palma." And the decidedly un-glamorous No Remorse Pictures said "Right on, brother! We'll produce that. Let's go to Canada!" Or, you know, something like that. What it comes down to is that Buck is directing a remake of Brian De Palma's 1973 film Sisters, a psychological horror movie about twin sisters. It's not universally loved at all, but the people who like it really, really like it, and are surely contorted with rage right now if this is the first they've heard of Buck's venture.

The film stars Stephen Rea as a shrink, Chloë Sevigny as a "nosey reporter" and French actress Lou Doillon (Hey, she's Jane Birkin's kid! Thanks, IMDb.), and is currently filming in Vancouver.