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Scalping serial killers and zombie sheep and a mash-up of "Apocalypse Now" and "The Wizard of Oz" - oh, my!
If you look for any of those elements in a movie, or if you want to see a parody of "The Da Vinci Code," in which clues are hidden in Norman Rockwell drawings, then you might be a dork.
And you'll definitely love the Escapism Film Festival.
The Escapism Film Festival, which is a part of the ongoing festival series at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, begins Friday and runs until Sunday.
Started in 2003 by Jim Carl, senior director of the Carolina Theatre, the Escapism Film Festival originally sought to capitalize on the Asian-cinema trend.
"In 2002, Asian cinema was sweeping across the nation. We had 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,' John Woo directed 'Mission: Impossible II,'" Carl said. "Everything coming out seemed like a remake of an Asian horror film."
Despite the focus on Asian cinema, Carl wanted to keep the festival open to different types of movies.
That proved to be a good strategy when the decrease in ticket sales caused the festival to be suspended in 2006.
"Trends end," Carl said. "Asian films were becoming less popular."
Carl decided to revamp the festival before it lost too many fans, and he expanded the offerings of the festival and made it a little more family friendly.
"In the past, Escapism has been pretty much for grown-ups. ... We've expanded the program so that if you want to bring your kids, they're more than welcome."
He also decided he wanted more classic movies, which he calls "bringbacks," to be shown, as well as new films that might have yet to find a distributor.
Carl wanted to span genres including comedy, horror and sci-fi, and even one or two of the old Asian-influenced films.
No matter what the genre, the festival's unifying theme is simple: "Just things that are cool and fun."
A little bit of old
This year's festival includes 18 films in numerous genres, but the main event is the four classic movies that are being screened especially for the festival.
These bringbacks include two artist-in-attendance screenings, "The Monster Squad" and "Maniac," and two 25th-anniversary screenings, "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan," and "Tron."
"The Monster Squad" was the first movie scheduled and is the film around which the rest of the festival was anchored. A cast reunion and Q-and-A session after the movie will accompany the 20th-anniversary screening.
Released in 1987 because the movie studio was trying to capitalize on the success of "The Goonies" and "Ghostbusters," "The Monster Squad" was supposed to be a monster movie for kids.
"Like, you're watching it and saying, 'Who did they make this for?'" Carl said.
"It's so grown-up and so violent and so much cussing in it, no one under 10 or even 13 should see this - yet everyone in it was 10."
Another movie with the director in attendance is the screening of William Lustig's grindhouse classic "Maniac."
One of the true Times Square grindhouse movies, "Maniac" was given an X rating when it was released in 1980.
Lustig was forced to cut it extensively, and even though it eventually dropped to an R rating, it was considered one of the goriest movies ever made.
"'Maniac' is a very simple story line - a serial killer who stalks supermodels, scalps them, takes their scalp back to his apartment and dresses mannequins with their scalps," Carl said.
"If 'Maniac' had not existed, there probably would have been no 'Silence of the Lambs,'" he said.
If you'd rather see William Shatner than bloody scalps, the festival also is holding an anniversary screening of "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan."
The copy used in the screening is newly remastered from the original 35 mm print and will be like brand new, Carl said.
"Tron" is another one of the anniversary showings and is one Carl is particularly excited about.
Because Disney is so stingy with allowing prints of its movies to be shown at film festivals, Carl said, this is one of only three or four times that "Tron" has been played on a big screen since it left theaters.
"It's a huge deal," he said.
Released in 1982, "Tron" was one of the first movies to use computer-generated-imagery technology.
This technology was so new that the movie was overlooked for a Best Visual Effects Academy Award because the Academy felt producers had cheated by using a computer.
Aside from the four anniversary screenings, the majority of the films shown are new movies that haven't found wide distribution yet.
A little bit of new
Escapism is the first chance to see most of these movies in North Carolina because the festival is the state premiere of 13 of the 18 films.
"A lot of these haven't released in theaters," Carl said. "Right now is your exclusive chance."
Most of the movies have been screened to rave reviews at festivals throughout the world.
Here are some highlights:
"The Signal": It's New Year's Eve and a mysterious signal is being transmitted on all TVs, radios and cell phones. Then everyone goes insane.
"NetherBeast Incorporated": A dark comedy about a corporation run by vampires. As a bonus, it has Steve from "Blue's Clues."
"Apocalypse Oz": This short is a sober hybridization of "Apocalypse Now" and "The Wizard of Oz." It's being submitted for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.
More information
Tickets are $8, with a 10-movie pass available for $50. It is good for 10 tickets for any number of people to any movie except "The Monster Squad" showing, which is $15.
Information about show times and other movies playing at the festival can be found at festivals.carolinatheatre.org/escapism.
Contact the Diversions Editor
at dive@unc.edu.
