Nevermore Film Festival

This weekend some friends and I attended the 11th Annual Nevermore Film Festival at the Carolina Theatre. This is a festival strictly dedicated to the macabre and all things horror, immediately evident when you arrive to the booming sounds of creepy music playing outside, and the fact that the staff of the Carolina lit the entire building in an eerie blood red glow. We instantly knew we were in for a treat when it seemed like Halloween had taken a break from October and taken over a new month. The ambiance didn't stop at the exterior of the building, as we walked in and were greeted by patrons in zombie makeup, vintage horror movie posters everywhere, skeletons hanging off of signs, and my favorite: the rules to surviving a zombie outbreak posted in the restrooms.

The schedule of films was robust and had something for everyone, from the classic slap stick Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, to independent films such as Scare Zone, and revival showings of classics like The Re-Animator. Overall, I was pleased with the line up and excited to have fun at the movies. My friends and I decided to attend the showings of 1988's Night of the Demons, 1986's Witchboard, and the classic 1986 Re-Animator.

Our day began with Night of the Demons, a pretty terrible film about a Halloween party gone wrong. It was a lot of fun and most of the audience knew exactly when to yell at the characters on screen, when to clap for the hero, and when to laugh at the horrible one liners. After the screening the director of the film held a short Q&A and then introduced his second film Witchboard. To say that we had a great time making fun of this film would be an understatement, it's true that the movie was pretty good to have been made in the mid 80's by a couple of straight out of school film students, but it was classic 80's cheese. The performances were over the top and almost seemed to beg for attention. At times the I was laughing so hard that I worried someone would ask me to leave the theater, but luckily the majority of the audience seemed to be in the same frame of mind and enjoyed laughing and screaming together.

We wrapped up the evening with a showing of H.P. Lovecraft's Re-Animator, shown in the 1,000 seat (and rumored to be haunted) Fletcher Hall. We sat in the balcony of the old theater and watched a truly grotesque tale of bringing back the dead unfold before us. The audience cheered for the creepy lead, they laughed when the headless corpse of the reanimated doctor carried his head around, and they screamed during the intense final moments of the film.

All around, we all had a great time and I really hope that some of you were able to take advantage of the festival. It's held every year, so if you missed it, be sure to look out for Nevermore 12 next February. The fact that the Hub sold 5 passes for $5 was a pretty good deal considering that quality of the total package: Cheesy Horror + Creepy Decor + Over the Top Fans = an amazing film festival.