SXSW: Helen Hunt jokes horror film I See You will be just like the Mad About You reboot

Straddling the two genres of haunted house horror and home invasion thriller, I See You celebrated its world premiere earlier this week at SXSW. 

Helmed by director Adam Randall, the film examines the Harper family, who've been pushed to the brink due to an affair carried on by matriarch Jackie, played by Helen Hunt. While unexplained curiosities happen around their home, the real-world fallout from Jackie's affair continues to strain on her relationship with her husband, Greg (Jon Tenney) and her son, Connor (Judah Lewis). 

"This would be the most f*cked up episode of Mad About You ever," Hunt told the crowd, which included SYFY WIRE. She went on to joke that I See You is "what the reboot's gonna be like." 

Hunt, who rarely performs in genre work outside of the occasional animated film, said she was interested in the part of Jackie after she'd read the script, but admitted it wasn't until she met with director Adam Randall that she felt "safe" signing on. 

"All the things I was worried about, he said 'We figured that [out], we're taking that out, we're putting that in," Hunt explained. The work seems to have paid off, as she told the crowd that "I've never seen a movie like this before, and I feel like I've seen every movie." 

Randall, who's something of a newcomer director, said he was inspired to make the film after hearing about the internet phenomenon known as "phrogging," where people secretly hide out in another person's home, with the option to mildly disrupt their lives. 

"I thought there [are] two versions of the movie," Randall explained. "One, the people in the house seeing scary things happen. The other scary flipside would be the people hiding in the house seeing something the family's doing that's not savory. So, I thought why not do both movies in one?"

I See You is scheduled to bring its unique fusion of horror genres to the Cleveland International Film Festival later this month. There's no word on an official release date at this time. But, be sure to check out all of SYFY WIRE's extensive SXSW coverage here.