Both of these movies come highly recommended -- by other people, because my personal copies have not arrived yet (Grrr!!!). Still, I've heard from such a wide cross-section of trusted friends and complete strangers that I feel completely confident in suggesting you check these movies out. Both were released in Region 1 DVD editions earlier this week.

Kiltro was one of the movies that people were raving about at Fantastic Fest last fall. As as our own Scott Weinberg noted at the time, Kiltro is an action flick from Chile starring "stuntman-turned-hero Marko 'The Latin Dragon' Zaror." Michael Gingold of Fangoria wrote that, despite a multitude of kung-fu movie conventions, Kiltro succeeds "due to a tongue-in-cheek approach that tweaks the genre's requirements ... and the charisma and abilities of Zaror." The DVD from Magnet Releasing includes deleted scenes, bloopers, fight training and behind the scenes footage, and storyboard action.

The ferocious French import known as both Ils and Them has no interest in slowing down or wandering around. It offers only the barest hints of character development and it doesn't have time to bother with subplots, red herrings or extraneous characters. It's just a stripped-to-the-bone stalker thriller in which two unfortunate souls spend one hellacious night trying to evade something extraordinarily murderous. (Or maybe someone, but I don't want to spoil the flick for you.)

The flicks opens with a fairly conventional stinger: a teenage girl and her mother run afoul of something deadly after suffering a nasty car accident. From there we meet a sweet-natured young teacher who's just about to head off and spend the weekend with her boyfriend in a rather isolated (and massive) house. And once the lights go out for the night, the action is just getting started.

Edgar Wright, otherwise known as the lovely man who brought us the zombie butt-kicking Shaun of the Dead, has been busy. We have been covering the long-awaited arrival of his latest, Hot Fuzz, a British poopoo platter of talent that, frankly, excites me a lot more than most Hollywood power casts. While we still have a few months until the film hits North American shores, we can expect a lot more of the man in our future. Wright is already getting started on a number of other features that will have him penning his heart out.

Next on the docket is Them -- not to be confused with the other Them. The director has teamed up with none other than Mike White to co-write the screenplay. I can't think of much better pairing than having the man who brought us Chuck & Buck (forget about Nacho Libre) pair up with Wright. As he told IGN, White is "simply brilliant when [it] comes to creating quirky characters," so between that and his own ability to create crazy scenarios, it should be a fresh bit of moviemaking. While things are bound to change as they bounce ideas off of each other, the film has been described as "a conspiracy comedy about one woman's journey to unmask the secret rulers of the world."

As if one script wasn't enough, he's also got two comic book adaptations on his plate. The first, Ant Man, "is in a bit of a holding pattern" as the script is developed, but there should be more word soon. The pic will be about a biochemist who develops an instrument that allows him to communicate with and control insects. As for the other, he's also teaming up with Sean O'Malley on Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life, which is in the early idea stage. That one is basically about a man named Pilgrim, who starts dating a new girl and must battle her seven evil exes. And yet, there's more! He's already scheming his next film with Simon Pegg: "We have ideas we're tossing around, as we always do. We just haven't decided which one it's going to be."

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.