Just got word from Jim Carl, director of the Nevermore Film Festival, that “The Familiar” will be screening in July at the Carolina Theater again — this time as part of their Retrofantasma series.

The best news?  It will be showing in front of John Carpenter’s “Dark Star” and “Prince of Darkness.”  Anyone who knows me can attest my admiration for Carpenter.  Hell, he’s my favorite filmmaker!  I could wax on forever how much I love his films and style — yes, even “Escape from L.A.”

“Dark Star” started out as a short film project for USC when a distributor asked Carpenter to tack on an additional 15 minutes to blow it up as a feature.   Co-written by the late, great Dan O’Bannon, “Dark Star” comes off as a Mad Magazine version of “Alien” and “2001: A Space Oddyssey.”  I first got to watch it when it was re-released on VHS by Anchor Bay in the mid-90’s.  It impressed me what these “kids” were able to pull off — Christ, they made a science fiction epic for $60 grand.

“Prince of Darkness” and I have a long history together.  I saw it at the Triple Horror Weekend at the Trail Drive-In back in 1987 (every long weekend, the local drive-in would screen three horror flicks in a row — “Texas Chainsaw 3”, “Candyman”, “The Believers,” “Monkey Shines” — it was a better education than the high school).  I instantly fell in love with “Prince of Darkness”: the driving score, the scientific angle for the supernatural, the creepy vibe of the possessed homeless.  This was Carpenter shaking off the Hollywood studio system (he had been kicked around quite a bit for “Big Trouble in Little China”), and was coming back to his low-budget roots.  It’s a great example of survival horror (where a band of characters are trapped in one setting for 90 minutes).  It’s smartly written — focussed on adult professionals rather than screaming teenagers, tense, gross, dread laden, at times funny without falling into camp.  To my best friend and I, this was our secret John Carpenter favorite: it’s easy to heap praise and favor on “Halloween” and “The Thing.”  “Prince of Darkness” is flawed, but unpredictable — an overlooked little gem.

I brought two things from John Carpenter’s movies over to “The Familiar.”  One, was the font.  Slightly different, but the same — Albertus MT.  Second, the quick cut to the movie title at the very end of the film.  I always say, John knows how to end a movie.

I hope with my feature, I can bring a lot more.