Monday at SXSW Cinemax brought their new series OUTCAST to the convention center for a first look at their new possession series based on the Robert Kirkman graphic novel. We got a “taste” of Kirkman’s new series last July at SDCC when he screened a sneak peek at the first 30 seconds that is one of the most disturbing scenes of the entire episode. But on Monday we finally got to see the pilot trailer that sets the scene for what we can expect from season one. The pilot episode was directed by Adam Wingard who is no stranger to the horror genre.
Stylistically it fits in the world of Kirkman’s Walking Dead. Saturated and gritty tones fill the screen with a broken down traumatized character named Kyle Barnes (Patrick Fugit) He is a young man searching for answers as to why he’s been suffering from supernatural possessions his entire life. Dealing with the topic of possession you can’t help but think of THE EXORCIST and the images seared in our mind of Linda Blair.
The series waste no time jumping into a case of demonic possession. For fans of THE WALKING DEAD complaining there is not enough zombies, they quench your thirst by pulling the possession card early and often. It hooks you in from the first episode and makes you want to following the life and times of Kyle Barnes as he deals a combination of what appears to be mental abuse and possession. That approach is interesting since skeptics of actual possession cases often say it has nothing to do with demonic forces, but instead simply a mental illness.
With that question in mind I hit the red carpet to see what the cast and creators of OUTCAST thought of possession. Do they believe it is driven by demonic forces or simply a case of mental illness?
