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The
lineup at this year's Nevermore
Film Festival at Durham's
classy, classic Carolina Theatre set attendance records with its
lineup of new and recent Indie horror films.
The unquestionable
hit was "Bubba Ho-Tep," staring horror vet Bruce Campbell
of "Army of Darkness" and "Evil Dead"
fame playing Elvis vs. a six-gun totin' mummy. It soldout the
Theatre's 1,000 seat main screen and had people in the aisles
and on the floor, all of them laughing aerobically for most of
the film.
[Read Allan's review of Bubba Ho-Tep..]
Monster Man
"Monster
Man," which screened once the first night of the festival,
ran a close second in my book.
Released
in 2003, it's a road-horror flick. With echoes of Spielberg's
"Duel," John Dahl's "Joyride, " Toby Hooper's "Texas
Chainsaw Massacre," and uncountable others in the same genre,
it nevertheless comes up with more than a few original frights.
The monster
trucker in this movie really is a monster trucker. His modified
earth moving machine or whatever the heck the tank-like vehicle
he drives was originally, is at least as effective as the monster
trailer trucks used to similar effect in other films. The really
spooky part of the film, however, derives more from the limbless
rural yokels they find everywhere they stop on their journey into
horrorland.
The whole
thing degenerates into exaggerated weirdness about witchcraft
and trying to keep mutilated family members missing vital parts
alive. One for instance, has nothing but air in the chest under
a barely attached head. It's a bit much, and any lingering fear
escapes into laughter.
The production
values of "Monster Man" and "Bubba Ho-Tep" match
those of any Hollywood production, despite their relatively minimal
budgets.
The same
can't be said for most of the regional independent fare at the
festival, although I enjoyed the entire program, accepting lessor
entries as what they are, straight-to-video-if-they're-lucky exploitation
films by ultra-low-budget filmmakers.
BEST FROM ATLANTA:
Ghost of the Needle
The best
of the regionally produced Indies at the fest came from Atlanta.
"Ghost
of the
Needle,"
which has already collected awards at festivals from Rhode Island
to Charlotte, not only manages some scary moments, it looks like
film, not video.
The story:
Jacob, a crazed photographer (played by Brian Avenet-Bradley,
who is also director) who lures comely young models to his studio,
kills them, takes their photographs, then saves them in body bags
in his gallery storage room. Although they are vacuum-sealed in
plastic, the dead begin to return, shattering the photographer's
previously emotionless existence.
"Ghost
of the Needle" manages a suspense-feel with a Hitchcock/DePalma
edge.
Avenet-Bradley
says Atlanta actors are willing to perform in his productions
for lower-than-normal fees because they know they'll get something
good to put on their sample reel.
While not
in the same league as "Bubba
Ho-Tep," Ghost retains
a stylish and relatively sophisticated approach to its horror
effects. Darkness itself is used to good effect, reminding us
that the absence of light alone can evoke our trepidation in the
face of the unknown.
The same
can't be said for the straight-to-video offerings by Indie filmmakers
from Eastern North Carolina, New Jersey and LA who showed new
work at the festival.
At Night With No
Curtains
Now I love
film festivals. I even enjoy the movies so bad they'd drive anyone
less than a pure cinephile from the theater.
"At
Night With No Curtains," is probably one of those. Made
by a group of teenage high school graduates in Eastern NC, it
suffers from crippling technical difficulties.
Filmed with
a Cannon video camera, the black and white movie does not work
well on a large screen. While the camerawork, script, and acting
all show promise and you have to respect these folks for getting
a movie made, period, nearly every aspect of the production is
raw, raw, raw.
The director,
Ian Brett told us in an interview the night before the
screening that it was supposed to be a cross between a horror
film and John Hughes' "The Breakfast Club," where a group
of teenagers confined in detention talk. It unfortunately has
way too much ersatz Breakfast Club and not nearly enough
horror to work for me.
The film
has some successful moments. It abjures cheap special effects
and makes do with offscreen horrors, which is a better route to
take than that of another festival entry, "The Ghosts of Edendale,"
which overuses video effects. But that film had better production
values than this one. The lighting, camerawork, and editing of
"Night With No Curtains" make Ed Wood's abysmal "Plan
Nine From Outer Space" look like a high budget production.
DARKNESS
WORKS
Darkness
works to the director's advantage, and his slow pans up from a
character's feet to his face and other relatively sophisticated
uses of his camera show talent. But just a hint of noirish lighting,
just a brush of moonlight and play of shadows would give the flat,
lackluster images more power. A hint of lighting above the actors
would give the whole thing some depth. Many people don't know
this, but the lighting that outlines actors in decently budgeted
Hollywood films is part of what gives them their distinctive three-dimensional
quality and makes cheaper films look flat.
The acting,
while understandably uneven considering the weekend production
schedule, is rather better than the technical aspects. Marcus
M'teo as Jake, Rhonda Cobb as Linda-Lee,
Parker Britt as Monty, April Hope Smith as
Aggie, Sterlin Lake as Sam, and Jennifer
Joyner as Elizabeth, all acquit themselves admirably,
despite occasional out of hand hysterics and lack of experience
and polish.
This isn't
the only screening I've ever attended that had technical difficulties
during projection, but when they occurred during this screening,
a blue screen of death similar to what happens when Microsoft's
computer operation system crashes popped up. Going fully digital
has its disadvantages.
VIDEO
EXCESS: GHOSTS OF EDENDALE
"The
Ghosts of Edendale," another straight-to-video offering
shown at the festival, lacks the more sophisticated look and feel
of "Ghost of the Needle."
I rather
liked it for its Hollywood ghost story about Tom Mix and
Edendale, where he once lived. The suspense flags now and then
and the video-effects get in the way too often.
On the other
hand, the story involves real conflicts between two would-be screenwriters.
The acting goes over-the-top like the special effects, but there's
a place for that in horror films.
What's most
difficult about watching Ghost of Edendale on a big screen
is the lack of high definition video. It may look fine on a TV
screen, but it looks like cheap video at moviescreen size.
I frequently
bring my friend, movie buff and poet Shawn Pavey along
when I attend these festivals as a second voice. After the film,
which I thought was fairly entertaining and might have been much
better with fewer of those digital video ghosts, he commented,
"Yeah, if you're going to use cheesy ten-year old video effects,
you shouldn't use a lot of them."
Actually,
I found the filmmakers more interesting than their film. Look
for a story based on an interview with all these filmmakers upcoming
on CarolinasBest.com and Bestfilmfests.com.
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