Blogging CineVegas: An Introduction to the Festival

A still from Kerry Prior's "zompire" movie, The Revenant.

A god lands in a Nevada Suburb. The mentally insane compete for the last bed in a fancy asylum. A dead man rises for a joyride in a Camaro. Yes, it's just another day at CineVegas at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas.

Drama, comedy, horror, short and long, the films at CineVegas this year definitely fill every variety. Las Vegas itself offers a unique venue to the attendees. Cirque, which has become an entity in and of itself, offered a screening of the Beatles film Yellow Submarine held on a beach, at a casino. Monday was another step back in time with a screening of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, shown at the drive-in. The venue itself, the Palms, is also the home of the Playboy Club, Rain, and Ghostbar, many of which are hosting parties for the event.

The festival hosted the world premiere of Daylight, a suspense thriller written and directed by David Barker of Afraid of Everything. The film is the story of how a carjacking and kidnapping influence the life of the pregnant main character, as she first deals with and then escapes her traumatic experience.

During the Q&A, the director revealed that the plot was inspired by his pregnant female lead and a desire to make a film with a fancy European car. The entire film was written and rehearsed in three weeks and filmed in two. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Q&A was a bit tense, with some rather scrutinizing questions and sarcastic comments from some audience members, but the cast and crew answered politely and the session finished with several well-thought out questions and informative answers.

Overall, Daylight is an intense film, with no comedic break from the tension that builds throughout. Reveals were often understated to promote realism, and the ending left many unanswered questions. This was prompted, Barker said, by a string of real kidnappings around the same time period that were left unsolved causing families to be torn apart.

Later that night the same theater hosted a different crowd for The Revenant, directed by Las Vegas local Kerry Prior. The theater was packed with his fans and, perhaps because he is a Vegas local, Prior definitely knew how to promote the show. Bloody models in skimpy gothic outfits and knee-high vinyl boots handed out fliers all night. Attendees were handed souvenir practical jokes the minute they walked through the door and the atmosphere was lighthearted .

The 11:30 p.m. premiere was standing room only and every time Prior's name came up in the opening credits, the audience cheered wildly. The film features a young war victim that comes back to life, not as vampire or zombie, but as a kind of “zompire” that the film identified as a revenant. He then proceeded to joyride, fight crime and, well you’re just going to have to see the ending for yourself—no spoilers here. But be assured, while the film starts out as a campy Camaro ride, there is depth here as well. The director shows us that living forever is not necessarily a good thing. Social themes like racism, police brutality and human nature are addressed in a not-so-in-your-face way that makes an impression on the viewer without taking them out of the story.

The effects hold enough blood and gore to satisfy the most die-hard zombie fan, but are done realistically. Dismembered heads, for example, are not able to talk without a little help. A corpse is not left underwater for days without a few gruesome consequences. And small details like not having clear-eyed dead people make for a very engaging film.

The Q&A for this film was less like a panel and more like a chat between friends. The cast talked about the annoyances of blood and contacts, the audience joked with the director, and of course, in true Vegas style, at the end, everyone was off to the after party!

For more information on CineVegas and a listing of films, go to

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