Eric Jackowitz started his career as a musician, co-founding the bands The Cooties and Wolves of Glendale, before turning to filmmaking. In 2018, he started directing music videos for his band Cape Weather, which then led him to write, direct, edit, and score his debut short film, The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much. From the dubbing, cinematography, over-the-top gore, and soundtracks, Jackowitz fell in love with the Giallo subgenre.
How did this come to be? According to Jackowitz: “Directors like Mario Bava and Dario Argento, who crafted the genre, were so ahead of their time, creating kills and camera moves that directly inspired the American slasher genre. John Carpenter, Quentin Tarantino, and Brian De Palma all stole from these amazing films, so I thought I'd steal from them too. We cast our friends, overdubbed their voices, put a colander on a dog's head, and thus The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much was born.”
In this Giallo spoof, Anne (Gabrielle Montes de Oca), a blind violinist, becomes the first chair at the Rome Symphony. A black-gloved killer then begins stalking the orchestra, and the only witness is her seeing-eye dog.
Also starring Anna Garcia (Fly Me to the Moon), Wolves of Glendale, and with a cameo from SNL alum Melissa Villaseñor, The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much premieres at SXSW on Saturday, March 14 at 9:15 pm at the South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX. And if you are unable to catch its premiere, you can see it two days later on March 16 at 7 pm.
Clocking in at just over 17 minutes, this is a short film you will not want to miss on the big screen. It's funny, gory, the soundtrack whips ass, and it's a ton of fun to watch. Plus, there's a really cool dog! Check out the trailer and poster art below and make sure this is on your watchlist for SXSW 2026.
