From director Steven C. Miller (Automaton Transfusion) comes The Aggression Scale, the story of a war between four heavily armed hitmen and two teenagers over $500,000 in cash. Though the action thriller is set to premiere at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, Anchor Bay has preemptively picked up the rights. Screening as part of the Midnighter lineup, The Aggression Scale has been described as “A History of Violence with teens as the lead roles” and is “in the spirit of the 1980s canon.” Written by Ben Powell (Satanic), the film stars Ray Wise (RoboCop), Dana Ashbrook (Twin Peaks) and Derek Mears (Predators) in addition to an up-and-coming young cast. I wasn’t convinced to pay this film any attention until I watched the brutal trailer. Do yourself a favor and hit the jump to check it out.

THR reported on the acquisition of The Aggression Scale by Anchor Bay. Executive VP Kevin Kasha had this to say:

“Anchor Bay Films had the opportunity to get in on the ground floor with this film and we are thrilled at the results!"

The film, from Snowfort Pictures, is a high-octane genre flick that also stars Fabianne Therese (John Dies at the End) and Ryan Hartwig (The Death of Socrates). Check out the trailer below:

Here are some promo images from The Aggression Scale (as well as an answer to the question):

aggression-scale

aggression-scale-promo

 

What is The Aggression Scale?

ag·gres·sion scale: (noun) The Aggression Scale is a psychological test measuring the frequency of overt aggressive behaviors that may result in physical or psychological injury to others.