Nevermore

A friend of mine is currently attending grad school at Northern Illinois and was fortunate enough to receive passes to a "test screening" of this film. Knowing absolutely nothing about the film going in I had low expectations, more or less thinking I was about to sit through a student film. The misgivings continued through the credits when I saw a cast of names that, although recognizable, hardly signal quality in a motion picture. I was pleased to find, however, a true diamond in the rough; a decent tongue-in-cheek thriller that left everyone in the audience entertained throughout the entire film.

Basically, Judd's character is a rich hermit who insists on living a self-fulfilling prophesy of going insane, a notion that has been ingrained in him ever since his father flipped out and slaughtered his mother. Wrapped up in his own personal demons, he invites Vincent Spano along for the ride and asks him to investigate the motives of his trophy wife, Jennifer O'Dell, who he think is an ill-intentioned vamp trying to drive him insane and rob him blind. Drama and confrontation unfolds in a fairly simple fashion, but the result is a solid effort that is both tense and occasionally funny. While I would hardly call the movie a shocker, there are enough unexpected twists to keep you engrossed.

Since this was a test screening, the sound was still a little rough and the time code had yet to be removed, both of which proved to be a bit distracting. But all of the performances stood out, particularly Judd Nelson, who makes us completely forget about The Breakfast Club while reminding us that he can still act. Given that director lives in Michigan, the only member of the crew in attendance to talk about the film was the production manager, who acted more like an MC than a member of the crew. He suggested the crew was made up of a bunch of young first-timers, which I don't doubt given some of the experience listed on this page. After hearing that, I became more impressed with the end result and would gladly watch it again once the final product is released. The PM also said they were still searching for a distribution deal, so I would like to wish Mr. Zambeck best of luck in his endeavors and would strongly recommend checking this out once it becomes available.

"Nevermore" is the brainchild of Thomas Zambeck, a man who has worked in various capacities for the film industry all of his adult life, including employment with the biggest distributor of films today (which shall remain nameless). This is the story of John Usher (Judd Nelson), an ex-CEO who believes his wife (Jennifer O'Dell) is trying to drive him insane. To catch her in the act, he invites an old friend to watch over the house and keep an eye on his wife. But then john begins to suspect that his friend, Devin Blayliss (Vincent Spano), cannot be trusted either.

Zambeck has crafted his film as a combination of Edgar Allen Poe (note the use of "Usher" and the title) and 1940s films such as "Gaslight". His goal is to bring back real' suspense to the thriller, and I think we can say that he has succeeded in this respect. The plot unravels slowly -- but not too slowly -- and relies almost exclusively on dialogue to carry the film. Relying on dialogue can kill a film if you have an attention-deficit audience or poor scripting. While the former is unavoidable, the latter is not a problem here -- the dialogue is superb, through and through.

What shines is the way the conversations not only carry the plot forward, but stories that seem to be "subplots" are in many ways integral. Devin's explanation that an artist must play God with his audience turns out to be crucial, and even the sheriff's unusual gerbil story has a deeper significance when one opens their mind to the possibilities. (If the sheriff has any "stand-out" scene, it is the gerbil scene, and is worth watching twice.) The one technical problem I ran across was poor sound quality on occasion (lack of a proper sound stage caused echoes), but there was never a moment you couldn't hear the actors, so unless you're picky, you shouldn't have a problem with this. (Keep in mind our friend Rolfe Kanefsky had "Nightmare Man" in theaters and distributed on DVD everywhere, and his quality isn't particularly stunning.) Regardless of sound, the video quality was great (this is no mere indie film), the directing and cinematography is skilled (not innovative, but at certainly experienced and knowledgeable), and the acting is flawless.

And why shouldn't the acting be flawless? We're talking about Judd Nelson! "The Breakfast Club"? Or, perhaps horror fans have see "Cabin by the Lake" and its abysmal sequel? Nelson is the sort of actor you want in your film -- he brings the wit, animation and charm of Charlie Sheen without the unnecessary flash. (Had Sheen been in this picture, for example, I don't know if I would have remembered the character's name, or simply have referred to him as "Charlie Sheen".) I don't want to see Nelson become stretched too thin, but seeing him in more horror/thriller titles wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

At this time, "Nevermore" is not available to the general audience. But I want suspense fans to remember the name, because Zambeck brings classic suspense out of the attic, polishes it up, and displays it for the next generation. We've become accustomed to in your face action and excitement, but if done properly, slowing it down is a nice change of pace. And Zambeck does it properly. Keep your eyes open for "Nevermore".

NEVERMORE (2007) ** JUDD NELSON, VINCENT SPANO, JENNIFER O'DELL, SIDI HENDERSON. Middling yet affective neo-noir w/Hitchcockian underpinnings potboiler about a gradually drifting into madness self-made businessman/genius type (Nelson looking like an unmade bed, yet arguably the best thing about the film) who enlists his estranged college roommate (Spano, a bit one-note) who is visiting for a seminar on drama, to prove his trophy wife former escort girl (O'Dell, equally stiff/bland)is trying to drive him mad for his fortune. A decent effort overall by rookie filmmaker Thomas Zambeck who clearly loves the genre and does the best with a bare bones budget but makes up for it in spades with production design & moxie to spare; familiar and a bit forgettable except again for the unhinged, manic Nelson.

"i received "nevermore" on tuesday January 20 and decided to wait until Friday night to watch it and it was a very long wait but so worth it. i've never reviewed a movie before, but i just wanted to try and share my feelings with all of you. it's a movie you really have to experience.

i love scary, suspense and creepy movies, and i have to say "nevermore" did not disappoint. from the very first scene, i was hooked. it was suspense at it's best. not being partial, but judd was truly jonathan and fantastic and there is nobody else who could have played that role. it was so great to finally see him in a movie where he got more than 5 or 10 minutes. he carried the film beautifully. i also love his wicked sense of humor throughout. this was one of those cat & mouse thrillers, and it was hard to trust anyone. i will not give anything away, but the ending was shocking. i think that tom zambeck did a fantastic job, and i can't wait to see what other things he has in the works. i really enjoyed all of the acting, but outside of judd, i'd have to say that sidi henderson was fantastic as the sheriff. the one thing i hope is that people take the time to get this DVD and give it a chance. i wish that judd would get some kind of award for playing this tormented character but of course he won't. also, i forgot to mention that the music fit each scene, and i really wish there was a soundtrack. i also loved the creepiness of the house and how the scenes were mostly done in the dark. it gave it a very gloomy feel. the special features were also great, and hats off to the whole crew who did such a great job. i'm so happy to finally have this movie, and i'm going to watch it again tonight. i've also ordered a second copy just in case i wear this one out. also a little side note, judd looked adorable with his crazy hair & beard. i was in seventh heaven actually getting to see such close-ups of this amazing man. thanks again tom zambeck for a truly riveting movie!