As we come to the end of Horror Fest IV: The Final Chapter, I felt that as we began with a bang, so to would it be fair to end with a trifecta of fine films. Much like every other Horror Fest, I always program more films than we actually watch, but two of tonight's films have been longstanding "why haven't we watched this yet?" entries. The other, Drag Me to Hell, was a nearly-made-it Fan Favorite pick, so I gave it the Sunday spot in its "Unrated" form. Stay tuned for thoughts:
I've gone long stretches since seeing Cemetery Man the first time, although it nearly made it to Horror Fest 2. The film itself, directed by Michele Saovi, is an odd blend of black comedy, zombie gross-out, and existential angst. It probably would fly apart at the seams without Rupert Everett's Francesco Dellamorte anchoring the madness, although Anna Falchi's eternal siren beckoning Dellamorte to his doom doesn't hurt any.
Cemetery Man (or Dellamorte Dellamore) is a bit like Dead Alive without the wild gore and outlandish characters. Oh sure, there are flying heads, zombie boy scouts, and idiot savant sidekicks, but the film treats their presence as nothing out of the ordinary of Dellamorte. It's only in the second half of the film, when the surreal plot machinations kick in, resembling nothing so much as American Psycho, that Cemetery Man becomes more than another zombie film. The ending is still a kick, even if it only partially makes sense.
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Almost everything I said about Drag Me to Hell last July is still true, although my appreciation for what Sam Raimi did for modern horror has increased upon second viewing. The unrated cut isn't radically different, save for much more blood during the nosebleed scene and a slightly less suggestive version of the "cat" plot point. It's not that you really see anything other than blood, but it's certainly less ambiguous how Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) deals with the Lamia visit in her room.
The "food" theory, discussed here by Patton Oswalt, certainly holds up if you're watching the film from that lens. It's an interesting alternative to Raimi's deconstruction of modern horror techniques, although I'm still fond of the semi-auteur trickery Sam is cooking up in a less-seen-than-it-should-be original-ish horror film. Hopefully it finds new life on dvd and BD.
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Finally, in the big "DUH!" moment, we've never actually put An American Werewolf in London into a Horror Fest rotation. My original argument was that everyone's already seen the film, so let's try more obscure stuff, but after four years and nearly eight Fests, it's about time to bring the big boys to the table.
I'm glad I did, because I find new things every time I watch this movie. Andy proposed an interesting theory that the film is about survivor's guilt: since David Kessler (David Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) are openly identified as Jewish visitors to Europe from America, there's a hint of Nazi survivor guilt in both David's dreams and Jack's insistence that he kill himself in the "old world". It's a way to read the film I hadn't considered, but may well be worth looking into...
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So that's it. Tomorrow I go back to being a student, working on normal papers and what not, and Horror Fest as we know it in Greensboro is over. There's still one more Summer Fest to come, for which I have a few ideas, and one more Bad Movie Night in April, but the Final Chapter has come to a close. I'll put up a few pictures not from movies tomorrow, and if I can scan it in, a copy of the poster signed by attendees I hope to frame to remember an excellent Horror Fest.
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