Nevermore returns to the Carolina

Some of the gory scenes from the many scary, blood-curdling

horror films at the Nevermore Film Festival

From the blood-splattered Christ allusions of Gory Gory Hallelujah to the non-linear absurdism of Corner of Your Eye, the Carolina Theatre’s sixth annual Nevermore Horror, Gothic, and Fantasy Film Festival offers everything from the disgusting to the spine-tingling to the macabre, with more than a few artsy misfits along the way. Featuring 10 films in limited theatrical release or without release planned in the Triangle, Nevermore presents a unique opportunity for horror fans to see the latest in both low-budget innovation and expensive cinema spectacle.

Festival programmer and Carolina Theatre director Jim Carl noted the difficulty in getting some of the non-mainstream works before they are either released on DVD or sold to a distributor. “The hardest thing about programming these festivals is the turnaround time between when the filmmaker finishes the film and when it shows up on DVD. You’ve got a three-to-four-month window, max.”

Another obstacle is the indecision of distributors about what approach they want to take in marketing a given film. “We had at least three titles,” added Carl, “that we pursued—and I thought for sure we were going to have—and we did not get.” Carl noted that many other festivals supplement the new work they have with classic titles, but explained he’s always wanted Nevermore and The Carolina’s other festivals to offer fresh material and provide a much-needed outlet for budding filmmakers.

Jesse Spencer, writer and director of Corner of Your Eye, has benefited from Carl’s persistence in seeking out unusual, challenging works. “[My film] is a non-traditional horror movie,” Spencer noted, “and currently there’s a big trend towards traditional horror movies, slasher movies.” Spencer explained how unusual it is to find a festival willing to “go out on a limb” for less common titles. “To find something really strange and different takes a true curator,” Spencer remarked of Carl’s efforts.

The Nevermore selections occasionally push the genre boundaries, featuring the seemingly incongruous films House of Flying Daggers and Sky Blue, a Matrix-like post-apocalyptic animé spectacular, as part of its fantasy component. Carl explained these selections represent an effort to challenge conventional perceptions of what a fantasy film should be.

MOVIE REVIEW: Precinct remake assaults original

The 1976 John Carpenter version of Assault on Precinct 13 is a cult classic with lots of violence and arguably one of the most memorable scenes in film history. What it lacks is a coherent plot and character motivations. The 2005 Jean-François Richet version of Assault succeeds by tweaking the plot to correct previous shortcomings, but loses a lot of the original’s shock value. The 2005 Assault contains some inspired moments of violence, however the audience in our society, desensitized by ultraviolent movies like Pulp Fiction and Man on Fire, barely blinks an eye when a character takes a bullet to the forehead.

Both the old and the new Assault revolve around the premise that a police precinct is shutting down forever, but a bus full of dangerous prisoners is forced to stop at the run-down, short-staffed station on its last night of operation. Then all hell breaks loose as a group of ruffians lay siege to the precinct for reasons that are unknown in the first film, and made clearer in the second. This time, L.A. has been changed to Detroit, the lead character has been recast as Ethan Hawke, and most notably, the street gang attacking the precinct of the first film has been changed to a startlingly different group.

The first Assault was littered with horrid dialogue (“Days are like women…,” “like chicken night in Turkey,” etc), but that was a big part of its campy appeal. Though the main actors in the new Assault do a much more credible job than in the first—Laurence Fishburne is the essence of cool in his role as a gangster—the supporting characters are rather one-dimensional. It's hard to tell if it's the acting or the writing, but Drea de Matteo's sexed up secretary, John Leguizamo's loudmouth junkie, and Maria Bello's cutesy psychologist are all pretty expendable. Not to mention Ja Rule and his penchant for speaking in the third person.

Despite a commendable directing effort and great leaps in plot, acting, and dialogue, the new Assault on Precinct 13 is inferior to the old for one single reason: Richet’s terror resides solely in the corporeal whereas Carpenter’s managed to strike a much deeper chord.

—Katie Somers

MOVIE REVIEW: Grace, Quaid make good company

In Good Company exemplifies the safe filmmaking style that has taken over Hollywood. It is a good film that chugs along nicely, with strong performances from leads Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace. But there’s something missing, and when the film turns sappy in the last third, the result is something enjoyable but forgettable.

Paul Weitz, who wrote, directed and produced the film, is clearly trying to carve out his niche in the genre of male-friendly romantic comedies. His directing has a nice fluidity to it, and he does a good job eliciting poignant performances from his male actors. However, Weitz may also have hit his peak with About a Boy, a brilliant adaptation of Nick Hornby’s novel that somehow managed to avoid Hollywood clichés better than his latest effort.

In Good Company tells the story of Dan Foreman (Quaid), a veteran ad sales executive forced to adapt when the popular sports magazine for which he works is sold to a modern media conglomerate. In comes Carter Duryea (Grace), a rising star in the organization, who becomes Dan’s boss, and it doesn’t take long for the Dan vs. Carter soap opera to begin.

There’s a huge opportunity here for Weitz to challenge the current corporate landscape, but instead he chooses to play it safe. Weitz does throw us a twist, but it’s sadly not that groundbreaking: the two salesmen kind of like each other.

It turns out that Dan has always wanted a son, and, well, you wouldn’t believe it, but Carter is one lonely corporate phenom. Soon, Carter has taken the newly demoted Dan under his wing, and Dan has brought Carter into his home for a lovely pizza dinner.

Just when you think the two are going to coexist peacefully, Carter decides that Dan’s daughter (Scarlett Johansson) is what he’s been looking for in a companion. The narrative strands collide and Weitz rachets up the emotional tension, before completely abandoning the romantic subplot. The movie refocuses on the relationship between Carter and Dan and finally sputters to a contrived, happy conclusion.

The performances are quite good: Quaid continues to establish himself as a great middle-aged leading man, and TV’s Grace shows that he’s got what it takes to play on the big screen. Johansson sleepwalks through her performance, but she’s so talented that it doesn’t really matter.

All in all, In Good Company is a fine film, although it passes on the opportunity to really attack the hypercompetitive mentality of corporate society. Instead, the film is stuck somewhere between the mainstream and art-house markets. Weitz may continue to make his mark in this genre, but it would be to his advantage to return to the literature-based source material that he found in Hornby’s novel.

—Brian McGinn