HDC Idol II 2011-2012

[hammerfan]

Thanks - I'm being a baby about it - Lying around and just eating Gingerale and saltines definitely helped - Taking it easy today, which is nice.

Taking it easy is exactly what you should be doing!

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ANNOUNCEMENT

The deadline has passed, and keeping some unforeseen circumstances in mind, it stands extended by 48 more hours starting from now.

You all have 48 more hours at your disposal. Start typing your entries!

[ChronoGrl]

Thanks, Mr. V - I'll write it up tomorrow as long as I continue to feel better.

Hope everything's well on your end.

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Thanks, Mr. V - I'll write it up tomorrow as long as I continue to feel better.

Hope everything's well on your end.

Good. Get well soon, love.

All the best.

[ChronoGrl]

Okee. Mine's in. :cool:

[roshiq]

Sent mine too last night. It was a crazy shit!%$#$!#:D But enjoyed a lot while framing the story for a remake.:D

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UPDATE


Received 2 entries at the end of the extended deadline and promptly forwarded it to our 3 Judges. I have received verdicts from 2 Judges, and waiting for the 3rd.

As soon as I get it, the entries will be posted.

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THE FOURTH TEST OF HDC IDOL II - ROUND 2


Choose a suitable horror film from the past to be remade into a contemporary horror film, interjected with your own unique changes in the storyline, complete with a script outline, casting, a chosen director and a suitable Hollywood studio. Also, give the reason why you chose that particular film.


Roshiq's entry -

First of all, I wouldn't like to go for a remake of an old/classic film. Cause we all know, remake sucks! and specially in American way. At the moment, I've actually no film in mind that I can say is suitable for a remake. But again for the sake of this particular challenge I have to choose a film. Now, on this regard I was quickly looking through any sort of old/classic horror film that supposed to be good or say has an good beginning or premise but didn't deliver the promised entertainment as well as a good finale at the end.
Anyway, after the "search" I've finally chose to butcher Richard Fleischer’s 1971 film SEE NO EVIL (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067727/) for the sake of this challenge. IMO, it's got a fantastic premise at the beginning & middle but a bad & disappointing ending. So let's see how wild I can run my imagination to remake Richard Fleischer’s SEE NO EVIL in today's or contemporary context.

Let the show begins..

Blind Terror

(Don’t want to use the other alternate popular/known title SEE NO EVIL, as there’s an unrelated slasher film released in 2006 with that title)

Plot Summary of the original film from wikipedia:

After being blinded in a horseback-riding accident, Sarah visits her uncle's home. Out on a date with her boyfriend Steve, she escapes the fate of her relatives, who are murdered at their home by a psychotic killer. Sarah returns from her date and spends the night in the house, unaware that three of her family members' corpses are strewn about the house.

She eventually discovers the bodies, as well as a bracelet containing the engraved name of the killer. The killer returns, searching for the lost bracelet and discovers Sarah, who manages to flee on horseback. Sarah encounters a family of gypsies and shows them the bracelet with the name "Jacko" inscribed. One of the gypsies concludes that his brother Jack must be responsible. In an effort to save Jack, the brother pretends to take Sarah to the police but, instead, locks her in a secluded shed.

Sarah eventually escapes from the shed and reunites with Steve. Steve and his grooms leave Sarah at his house and begin a search for the killer. They come across the two gypsy brothers and are about to kill them, when Jack reveals that he wears a bracelet with the name "Jack", and not "Jacko," inscribed. The boyfriend, upon learning that the real killer's name is "Jacko", doubles back to his house, where it is revealed that one of the grooms, Jacko, had been left behind to tend to Sarah. Back at the house, Jacko attempts to drown Sarah in a bathtub, but Steve returns just in time to rescue her.

The remake:


Without any opening title, the film will open in the nice country side 2 storage Rexton Residence. Mr. & Mrs. Rexton (George & Betty) & their young daughter Sandy are having a dinner. They are talking about their niece Sarah, who has been blinded (in a car accident) for last 6 months & have been moved from New York & started to living with them since the accident. Sarah isn’t home at that moment; she went to the town with her friend Emily to attend a Get2Gather party of their close school friends. Sarah already called & told her aunt Betty that she’ll be late as the girls planned to have the dinner in a restaurant. From the conversation between Mr. & Mrs. Rexton & their young daughter Sandy, it’ll also be clear that they all very much love & care about Sarah who lost her parents in a very early age and they’re very glad that Sarah has already started to nicely coping with everything after the terrible accident.

Suddenly they’ll hear a sound of knocking…the sound is coming from the drawing room. At first they thought someone’s knocking on the main door and they were bit surprised to realize that whoever is knocking, why he/she isn’t using the door bell?

At first Sandy & his dad wants to go & check but Mrs. Betty Rexton stops both of them & goes by herself to check it out & as soon as she get close to the main door she then understands that the unexpected visitor isn’t actually knocking on the door…he/she’s knocking on the glass of the window beside the door from the outside veranda.

Mrs. Rexton asks who is it but nobody answers. She tries to switch on the light at the veranda but strangely that isn’t working. She then tries to take a gaze on the window. From the background, the voices of George & Sandy are coming…they’re anxiously asking her about the visitor at this odd hour. It’s snowing outside. As soon Mrs. Rexton put her face into the window glass she sees somebody is attempting to hit the window with a big heavy sledgehammer that is coming fast towards the window/her face but it was too late for her to take her face away from the window glass. **BANG!** It hits the window & results some gore-e-fying moments. There are broken glasses all over Betty Rexton’s face that cuts it in places pretty badly along with injures of a smashed nose, eye & forehead.

The camera is now totally focused on Mrs. Rexton’s bloody face. She is groaning in pain. We can now see her bloody injures in detail. The rest 2 murders (killing of George & Sandy Rexton) are happening off-screen. From the background we’ll hear the visitor/invader/psychotic killer enters into the house by breaking the main door. George & Sandy are screaming & yelling in shock & terror. The killer knocks down George dead with the hammer. Sandy tried to runs into the kitchen to save herself but the killer captures her and grabs her hair, cut her throat with a kitchen knife & snatches her on the floor & takes her body to the upstairs. After some moments the killer returns & we see the hands (wearing gloves) of the killer grabs Mrs. Betty Rexton & takes her away. The camera doesn’t move from the spot where there’s now Betty Rexton’s blood on the carpet. The camera fades into the black & the opening title starts to appear on the screen.


Now, from the above beginning we can find some differences from the original Richard Fleischer’s film.

1. First of all, the killing of Rexton family wasn’t shown in the original film. The original film opens with the murderer walks past shops selling toy guns, violent comics, television sets (showing violent programs), and who has just been to the cinema to watch an exploitation sort of film (Rapist Cult!). And all we see of him is his cowboy boots. In the remake the psychotic killer’s reasons or background will be shown in the later part of the film.
2. In the original film, the central character Sarah has a boyfriend with whom she was out on a date at the night of the killing of Rexton /her uncle’s family. From the above details we can see that has changed. Sarah has no boyfriend; she was out with her friend Emily to attend the school friend’s Get2gather party.

Back to the film:

Sarah returned home from the party. Emily dropped her by car. As Emily was on hurry to meet her boyfriend & talking over her cell phone, she didn’t notice the broken window or slightly closed broken door from the gate. Meanwhile through the conversation between Sarah & Emily, we come to know that as it’s already pretty late & probably everybody is sleeping now, Sarah is not going to use the front door to enter, she will use the back door at the kitchen. And she does that pretty convincingly. As Sarah is living here for the last 6 months she knows her way around quite well.

She goes to bed not realizing that the entire family has been murdered while she was out. Very much like the original film, Sarah unknowingly sleeps overnight, among a houseful of corpses, arising the next morning to quietly creep out of bed, in order not to awaken the other members of the household. Now there’s a difference from the original film & that is we’ll see the killer never left actually, he was sleeping in some other room. So after, arising the next morning Sarah decides to relax and take a bath, only to discover just then in the bathtub that Sandy has been slaughtered. Sarah discovers the other 2 bodies of Mr. & Mrs. Rexton, one by one, murdered in her absence. Much like in Fleischer’s way, the camera will portray the awful progression of such a discovery in Sarah’s sightless world & the killer’s shadow lurking throughout the house while following her with a close & careful distance.


(TBC...)

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(Continued...)



Petrified in her darkness, Sarah stumbles towards the kitchen, to get out for help... She opens the wrong door and falls down the cellar steps...Recovering consciousness, she hears someone's footsteps overhead. (The tensed/thrilling background scores will totally stop at this point. For the next couple of scenes there will be no background score.) She warily makes it to the hall, feels her way towards the front door-but just then the killer suddenly grabs her from behind, takes her into the stairs, forces her from the back, rips off her pajamas and finally made a successful attempt to rape her. All the time Sarah was screaming & crying badly and the killer was cursing her with abusing words & slang. There was at one point when Sarah tried to remove the killer's hand from her mouth she was only able to breaks his bracelet that falls into Sarah's shirt pocket without any notice from either parties. The camera focuses on Sarah's tearful blind eyes. Some moments later the camera starts to move backwards & in a POV format we follow the camera on the dinning room/kitchen where we'll see totally devastated Sarah was seating on a chair (hands are tied down on the back of the chair) in front of the killer in the dinning table. The killer is eating some food that he found in the fridge. After finishing eating, the killer offers some pieces of a cake to Sarah. Sarah doesn't respond. Then he takes a big piece & stands up from his chair, comes towards Sarah, grabs her head back down, put the cake-piece on her mouth & says "Eat it!" Sarah shivers for a moment but doesn't respond positively. The killer then takes a fork from a plate & starts to poke the cake-piece which ultimate falls apart but poking with the fork now continues on Sarah's lips. And again some moments later the camera starts to move backwards & in a POV format we follow the camera on the drawing room where we'll see in front of the TV set, injured & devastated Sarah is seating down on the carpet. Both of her hands are still tied down on her back. The killer is seating on the couch behind her & watching some programs on TV.

(Though from the above mentioned direction of camera the scenes may be seemed like happening simultaneously but they are actually followed one after another.)

Some moments later the killer leaves the drawing room, goes to the upstairs at George & Betty's room. Takes a large pillow cover from the bed and then make a quick search on everything on the room. He discovers a baseball bat, a crossbow & a riffle in different parts (closet, drawer, and wardrobe) in the room. He left the crossbow & riffle on the bed & took the baseball bat & pillow cover with him & returns to downstairs in the drawing room. But the there is no sign of Sarah.

(The dramatic & tensed background scores starts over again at this point.)

Gripped by panic, Sarah makes her way cautiously to the outside. The whole Rexton residence is surrounded by woods. In the woods Sarah walks with uncertain, uneven steps but finally able to make her way to the nearby gas station. There she meets some members of a biker gang (instead of gypsies in the original)... Wendy, Billy & Matt, and utters breathlessly to them her story. Unsuspectingly, she hands over her one piece of vital evidence-a broken bracelet inscribed 'Jacko'. They can see, but she cannot.

They suspects it belongs to one of their old foes Mad Jacob. Wendy takes Sarah inside convenience store of the station to give her some first aid but the rest (Billy & Matt) calls their rest of the gang members & decides to go & closing down their long waited unfinished business with Mad Jacob.

In a thrilling scenario when there is in one side Sarah is getting some treatments inside the convenience store of the gas station, on the other side we'll see the armed biker gang members merge & move towards the Rexton residence to deal with Mad Jacob. They are using the road from the highway that goes straight into the Rexton house that actually situated in somewhat middle of the woods.

But they met with the killer in the halfway who skillfully able to kill them one by one by using the riffles, crossbow & a hatchet that he collected before from the Rexton house. And then he takes a bike from the dead gang members & rides it. Meanwhile now he also finds a shotgun & its rounds of shells in a bag that carried one of the gang members.


The Final showdown: The Gas station. 2 police cars are outside; one police officer is talking over a radio. Inside the station-convenience store two officers are talking with Sarah & Wendy. Suddenly Wendy gets a phone call from her friend who tells her that the guy they are after isn't Mad Jacob. The real Mad Jacob already died in an attempted bank robbery in Huston last summer.

Just after that phone call, we see the Killer of Rexton family & the biker gang fearlessly appears in the gas station riding a 2003 Harley-Davidson Sportster. It takes some moments for him to understand that Sarah is here & just probably for her the cops are here. He kills the officer outside by severely hitting him with a long claw-hammer. Then he comes towards the convenience store, one officer with a gun made a failed attempt to shot him as the killer quickly uses the shotgun & kills that officer. As soon as he enters inside the store a cat & mouse like game of shoot out begins between the killer vs. the store clerk & the remaining police officer. Wendy & Sarah try to hide in a store room/toilet. The store clerk gets shot & dies within a minute. The officer takes shelters in the counter while killer was running around from one row to another. Finally the killer gets a shot in a leg & officer got the same on his shoulder. The killer crawls towards the room/toilet where Sarah & Wendy were hiding. They were just about to jumps from the window but the killer takes down Wendy from her back & stabs into her breast. Then the killer move towards Sarah who is screaming & crying on the floor as she couldn't jump out from the window. Meantime, the sirens of an ambulance & some other police cars come outside the stores. "Why you didn't die in that accident, bitch?" as the killer says it he got several shots from behind. The wounded officer (who got shot earlier in the shoulder) appears in the door & sees Sarah is crying loud in fear and the flooding bloods of Wendy are all over in her hands & legs.


In the final scene we see Sarah lying on a hospital bed and that police officer is standing beside her bed & telling the background of the Killer. His name was Arnold Jacob... an ex marine officer of US army who got fired from the army in 2003 for his various questionable conducts & alarmingly growing disturbing behavior. After the court martial he slowly descends into madness & kills 4 of his relatives of his ex-wife in an attempt to "rescue" his only 12 year old son Martin. He got apprehended & got lifetime of imprisonment. But he escapes. But meantime Martin died on the same road accident where Sarah lost her eyesight. Martin was walking on the sideways when Sarah's car hit him from the back & instantly kills him on the spot. In a quick flashback we see it wasn't Sarah's fault as her car got hit too by another car of a criminal that was coming from the wrong side of the road which was chasing down by a police car. Arnold Jacob killed every person who somehow lived through in that accident. As being turned into a psychotic killer he didn't hesitate to kill their family too along in the way of revenge.

In last shot, the officer leaves Sarah's room. The camera focuses on Sarah's eye. She closes her eyes with tears.


Cast & Crew:

Blind Terror (2013) is a Lionsgate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_Gate_Films#Films) film

Director: Patrick Lussier (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0527261/#Director)

Executive producer: Alexandre Aja (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0014960/)


Sarah played by Yvonne Strahovski (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2088803/)

George Rexton played by Christopher Lloyd (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000502/)

Betty Rexton played by Lin Shaye (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005417/)

Sandy Rexton played by Johanna Braddy (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1715189/)

The Killer aka Arnold Jacob played by Peter Greene (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0338886/)

Wendy played by Bobbi Sue Luther (www.imdb.com/name/nm1550452/)

The police officer played by Kyle Chandler (www.imdb.com/name/nm0151419/)


(TBC...)

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Judge #1's verdict -

I give him a C+.

I was uncomfortable reading the things being done to Sarah. Not my kind of movie. And my OCD had a problem with the spelling and grammar.


Judge #2's verdict -

Pretty good choice for a remake, and you adapted it well. There are some holes, however, that would need to be addressed in a rewrite:
The killer smashes the window, and then goes around to smash open the door. Why? Why not just come in through the window?
In the rape scene you say the killer rips off Sarah's pajamas, and then immediately afterwards you say the bracelet falls in her shirt pocket. Did he rip off her clothes or not?
You take pains to mention she knows the layout of the house very well, and then she falls down the basement stairs. This one is not so bad as she could be in a state of panic at that point.

The revelation of the killer's backstory is a bit much. I'd like to see some forshadowing here. Perhaps Sarah is haunted by images of the boy that she inadvertantly killed. That way it's not completely out of the blue who the killer is.

You do have several terrifying set pieces that would be very effective- the murders, the discovery of the bodies, the shootout at the gas station. The story just needs to be tightened up.

GRADE: B


Judge #3's verdict -

B-.

Seems like it's riffed on well enough. I don't know how interesting or how much room to move around the original had as I have not seen it, but it was an okay choice and it certainly feels like the sort of thing Aja would be involved in. The perspiration's here but I'm not sure about the inspiration.


Overall Grade - B-

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Chronogrl's entry -

For this challenge, I looked back to horror movies that, to my personal horror history, I consider “classics.” Ultimately, I wanted to think of a movie that scared me when I was younger and revamp it so that the remake would scare me now as an adult.

The movie that I choose to remake is Carnival of Souls (1962) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055830/). I was in elementary school when I watched this movie with my parents, and it absolutely horrified me. What stands out about this movie and why it scared me was the corporeal nature of the ghouls in the movie – I was so scared that I would turn around and see The Man staring back and reaching out to me… These types of corporeal ghosts are something that I still find creepy in the ghost/supernatural horror that I enjoy watching today. I find corporeal ghost significantly more horrifying than the non-corporeal – There’s more of an immediate threat.

And the masters of the corporeal ghost, in my opinion, are the Japanese.

Takashi Shimizu’s The Grudge and Reincarnation are two of the creepier supernatural movies that I’ve seen in recent years, so I am proposing that I would like to see Takashi Shimizu remake Carnival of Souls. The Grudge legitimately scared me as an adult, just as Carnival of Souls scared me as a child, so I would like to marry Shimizu and my first horror experience to create a genuinely horrifying, atmospheric, supernatural movie.

Another reason why I’d like to go with a more Eastern take on this film is that I find Eastern ghosts more horrifying than their American counterparts. The concept that the monsters of The Grudge will keep killing every single person who enters the house is utterly horrifying and leaves the viewer feeling hopeless. Same with The Ring – Our apparition kills for killing sake… Eastern ghosts have a purpose, and the purpose in Carnival of Souls is to bring Mary to the afterlife.

NOTE: I do realize that there is an existing Carnival of Souls remake, but this movie has very little to do with the original other than the twist ending. My proposed movie will be significantly more faithful to the original.

Key Plot Changes from the Original

For those of you not familiar with the original Carnival of Souls, you can find a detailed plot outline here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_of_Souls

[1]In the original movie, Mary and her friends go off the bridge because they are drag racing. I’d like to make the remake a bit more modern – Instead of Mary and her friends drag racing, they are travelling over a bridge at night when a Japanese girl (long black hair, naturally), runs in front of their car. They swerve to avoid her, and as a result, careen off the bridge. There are two reasons why I don’t want them drag racing: First, the only people who still drag race in movies are part of The Fast and the Furious. ;) Secondly, (and more importantly), I want to use the girl on the bridge as a way to introduce them to the main antagonist (plus Mary is less implicated in the deaths of her and her friends).

[2]Instead of being haunted by the omnipresent “Man,” Mary is haunted by Aimi Hayashi, the girl who caused the crash in the opening scene. Aimi is the classic Onryō (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onry%C5%8D), thin, long black hair, who serves not only as a nod to Eastern spirits but also a red herring. As Mary is being haunted by Aimi, she researches the girl on the bridge and finds out that the death was a suicide attempt and that Aimi was always viewed by her family and friends as “troubled.” Mary believes, through her research, that Aimi is haunting Mary because she hit her with her car. Of course, the actual reason why Aimi is there is to bring Mary into the afterlife since she did, indeed, die in the car crash. The “twist” isn’t that Mary is being haunted because she killed Aimi; Mary is haunted because she is dead and doesn’t know it.

Another note about Aimi is that I would like to employ the same type emphasis on haunting foley work that is typical of Shimizu’s work when Aimi is present. Instead of the creepy throaty rattling (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Y82ifoTjs) of The Grudge, the creepy sound effect that will accompany Aimi is the scratching of metal, like a rusted door being pried open (because – REVEAL! – The final scene where the spirits are closing in on Mary, the metal screeching sound almost becomes unbearable as they close in on her, fade to black, and then fade up on the car being fished out of the water and the door being pried open, making the same sound, and revealing Mary within it).

[3]In the original Carnival of Souls, Mary works at a church playing the organ. In the remake I still want to use music as a vehicle for mood, but I want to get her out of the church and instead working in a private retirement home. She plays the piano at the retirement home. Conveniently, Mary finds out that Aimi’s grandmother is in the home, so Mary can find out about Aimi’s history through speaking with her grandmother. I also think that a retirement home is a good backdrop for a supernatural horror movie since death is always present there – It would provide a good backdrop because at no point is Mary certain whether or not she is in the presence of live inhabitants or ghosts.

[4]The Original takes place in Utah but I would like to place the remake in Coney Island, making the amusement park the location of the climactic scene at the end.


Plot Outline


The movie opens with Mary and her friends at the Amusement Park Dreamland on Coney Island – It is night and the Carnival lights up the sky with signs, noise, and laughter. They ride the Ferris Wheel, bumper cars, and go through a cheesy Dark Ride/haunted house, complete with fake ghouls popping up at them (there is a nod to the original where one of the fake ghouls looks exactly like The Man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:COS_10.JPG), who reaches out toward Mary in the car).

When it’s time to go home, Mary Henry takes the wheel of her car with one of her friends in the front and one in the back. As the pass over a bridge, she sees a girl run out in front of her. She swerves to miss the girl, and accidentally careens off the bridge. The following morning, police spend hours trying to drag the water for the car without success. Then, Mary miraculously comes out of the water. She cannot remember how she survived the crash or where the car is.

Mary goes home to rest. She lives at a private retirement home, where she also works playing the piano and conducting music therapy for the inhabitants. Almost immediately, Mary starts to see Aimi, first in the back of the room where she plays piano for all of the residents. Upon seeing Aimi, Mary almost immediately starts to go into a trance, her music becoming eerie and haunting until Madame Louise, owner of the home, stops her and tells her to leave and get some air.

Mary goes to the bus stop and decides to take the bus to the boardwalk. On the bus, the music is similar to the haunting tune that she was playing in the retirement home. She sways back and forth almost in a trance. Across the seat from her is a human blockhead. He looks at her, smiles, and then drives a nail into his nose with a hammer. Mary looks away in horror, out the window, and she is horrified with Aimi suddenly staring back at her. The music turns into the screeching sound of rusted metal on rusted metal as Aimi opens her mouth. Mary leaves the bus in horror.

After a few more appearances from Aimi, Mary decides to research recent obituaries on Coney Island. She discovers that the day after her crash, Aimi Hayashi was found dead. Interviews with police and family assume that she committed suicide. One of the interviews is with Aimi’s grandmother, Maiko Hayashi and Mary realizes that Maiko is a resident at the retirement home. Mary pays a visit to Maiko and pays her respects and asks about Aimi. Maiko says that Aimi was always a troubled girl who had a tough childhood and then also tells Aimi about the Japanese Onryō (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onry%C5%8D), who died violent deaths who haunt the world and she hopes that Aimi found peace in her last hours. Maiko also says that not all Onryos realize that they are dead and that their anger and desperation overshadows this reality.

At this point Mary thinks that Aimi is seeking vengeance on her for killing her when she starts to see other corporeal apparitions. First, she sees her friends who were in the car with her. Then, when an old man dies at the retirement home, she sees him playing the piano one night, the same haunting tune that had entranced her.

Finally, Mary comes into the common room one day and to her horror, she is invisible and inaudible to everyone in the room. She screams and plays the piano but no one reacts to her presence.


(TBC...)

[_____V_____]

In frustration, Mary takes the bus to Dreamland, but the amusement park is entirely empty. As she walks through the park, she sees that the rides still rotate, but there is no one there. She hears the same haunting tune from the merry-go-round and suddenly she sees Aimi in the distance, coming out of the Dark Ride. Mary runs but at almost every turn she is confronted by an apparition. She sees her friends, she sees the old man who died in the retirement home, and she sees other ghostly figures closing in on her. Mary tries frantically to escape, at one point boarding a bus to leave Dreamland, only to find that all the passengers are ghouls. She sees a pale version of herself as the driver.

Mary runs away toward the beach. She collapses, and they close in, the screeching noise becoming almost unbearable. In the final scene, the car is finally located and pulled from the river, opening the door makes the same screeching sound. Mary's body is in the front seat.


Cast and Director

Director: Takashi Shimizu – Shimizu is an amazing director. I think that he makes incredible ghost stories and I would like to see him take this project on. Also, it’s obvious that he can work with both Japanese and American actors and take on the tough job of the remake (I may be in the minority, but I think that his remake of The Grudge was well-done and I think he took it as an opportunity to edit himself).

Mary Henry: Briana Evigan (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0263759/) – When I watch horror movies, I prefer the leads to be little-know actresses else sometimes stardom distracts from the movie. I pick Briana because she’s hot, slightly badass, but can actually act as someone who is being targeted (thinking about her role in Sorority Row).

Madame Louise: Cameo by Jessica Lange

Aimi Hayashi: Megumi Okina (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0645648/) because of her work in Ju-on

Maiko Hayashi: The iconic Meiko Kaji (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0435299/), Lady Snowblood

Production Company: Ghost House Pictures, who have Produced The Grudge movies, 30 Days of Night, Drag Me to Hell – With the success of these movies within the genre, I think this will be a perfect fit for my movie.


Judge #1's verdict -

I give her an A+.

I want Shimizu to make this movie! I loved everything about it.


Judge #2's verdict -

Okay, at first, when you said Carnival of Souls, my reaction was "are you kidding me?" - but then when you said you wanted to combine it with Japanese horror motifs I said to myself "Now, that's VERY interesting and original." I like your plot and your approach. My only question would be- how successful would the melding of the two styles be? Still, it's been done before, as you take pains to mention in your scenario. I would go see this. You finally managed your:

GRADE: A


Judge #3's verdict -

B.

Slightly further out of the box then many of your previous entries. The one thing I feel is weak about this and keeps it from getting greater applause than prior entries is that the story is explained too much. There's an imposed narrativity that isn't necessary. A great deal of what goes on in Carnival of Souls is of a poetic nature and putting this into a traditional narrative context where you have an investigation instead of a character existing in a state of mortal terror and confusion, which is much scarier.


Overall Grade - A-.

[ChronoGrl]

Woohoo! Thanks, guys! Spent a lot of time thinking about this and now I want to see it done, too. :D

[roshiq]

Though Judge #3's verdict is still pending but sorry, I just like to share my appreciation on Chrono-Shimizu's Carnival of Souls.

As Judge #2 already mentioned, any true fan of the original naturally wouldn't like to bear the news of a modern remake of COS. But in the vein of a J-horror treatment from Takashi Shimuzi!!...really would be interesting to watch. Fascinating idea, Chrono! and also glad that how beautifully you plotted & developed it in a typical J-horror fashion. Particularly, I like to mention here some nice things of your COS remake treatment:
1) The little tribute or the way you gave nod to the original in the dark ride/haunted house.
2) The screeching of a metal door sound effects.
3) Mary's trance on the bus...specially when a 'man' drives a nail into his nose with a hammer...that's pretty sweet.:D
4) And finally the idea of adding Meiko Kaji in the cast.

Overall, awesome stuff, Chronogrl! Now, that's a champion's entry. :)

..........................................

Anyway, Now...about my Blind Terror remake...(:D)

Oh, I was actually thought this is going to be a disaster but eventually came out with grades better than my expectation. So thanks to the judges for their kind & honest verdicts.

Now like to clear some things that Judge#2 pointed out:

The killer smashes the window, and then goes around to smash open the door. Why? Why not just come in through the window?

The thing is I tried to (probably failed to portrayed it properly) make the killer's character so much menacingly unpredictable that the killer aka Arnold Jacob himself isn't sure about what's going to be his next moves regarding to kill somebody or any psychotic/destructive activity. There is no particular choice of weapons for him. He uses whatever he manages to get around anywhere. An unpredictable complete maniac with some flaws who just doesn't think much or plan carefully, otherwise Sarah wouldn't get the chance to run away from the house.

In the rape scene you say the killer rips off Sarah's pajamas, and then immediately afterwards you say the bracelet falls in her shirt pocket. Did he rip off her clothes or not?

Oops, sorry! I didn't clarify it properly...he just rips off her pajama pant not the entire clothing.

You take pains to mention she knows the layout of the house very well, and then she falls down the basement stairs. This one is not so bad as she could be in a state of panic at that point.

Yup! that's right.

The revelation of the killer's backstory is a bit much. I'd like to see some forshadowing here. Perhaps Sarah is haunted by images of the boy that she inadvertantly killed. That way it's not completely out of the blue who the killer is.

I agree, that would be surely better but the thing I forget to add was...Sarah actually forgot or didn't know at first that a kid was died in that accident as the others (doctors & relatives) hide that news to her for the more shock & grief that may caused to her.

You do have several terrifying set pieces that would be very effective- the murders, the discovery of the bodies, the shootout at the gas station. The story just needs to be tightened up.

Thank you and I agree on the last note. Actually all or any idea(s) of mine need some or in many cases severe adjustments as I'm actually pretty amateur in story telling or development parts.

I was uncomfortable reading the things being done to Sarah.

Actually, that was the intention from my side & would like to see this sorta reaction coming out from the viewers:D.

Anyway, Thank you, all.:)

[_____V_____]

Verdict & Overall Grade for Chronogrl updated.

The next Test will be up within the next 24 hours. Be prepared, all contestants.

[ChronoGrl]

B.

Slightly further out of the box then many of your previous entries. The one thing I feel is weak about this and keeps it from getting greater applause than prior entries is that the story is explained too much. There's an imposed narrativity that isn't necessary. A great deal of what goes on in Carnival of Souls is of a poetic nature and putting this into a traditional narrative context where you have an investigation instead of a character existing in a state of mortal terror and confusion, which is much scarier.

:rolleyes:

I get what you're saying and tend to agree with you, but I believe that a strong narrative is popular with American audiences - Think about how successful The Ring remake was. There's nothing wrong with keeping $$$$$ in mind when proposing a script.



Verdict & Overall Grade for Chronogrl updated.

The next Test will be up within the next 24 hours. Be prepared, all contestants.

Fantastic - I don't have time off this week so I'll otherwise be in the office twiddling my thumbs... Should keep me busy (and look like I'm doing something productive to the other poor sods that will be in here with me. ;)).

[_____V_____]

THE FIFTH TEST OF HDC IDOL II - ROUND 2


For this task, the common theme I have chosen is - SHORTS.

Here is your task, contestants -

Think of a suitable script/storyline for an effective horror short film of around 30 minutes (maximum). You may adapt a short horror story for your short film provided the length of your short film does not exceed 30 minutes in total.

Contestants - Despare, Roshiq, Zombieness, The Return, The Villain and Chronogrl - better start thinking, because the clock has started ticking. I urge ALL of you to participate, so that we have some increased participation in this round.

You may do any amount of research on your film short's topic, and on similar films. But remember, you cannot just copy an entire script/storyline from an existing horror film/short.

Once you are finished, please PM your entry to me, or send it via email to [email protected]. Do NOT post your entry directly in this thread.

You all have 120 hours at your disposal, starting from NOW! All the best!

[ChronoGrl]

Yeesh. Hopefully my writing anxiety doesn't take over. :o:(

I have an idea that I've been mulling over, but I'm not sure if it would fit better as a short film or a feature one.

[_____V_____]

UPDATE AND AN ANNOUNCEMENT


The 120 hours given till the deadline will be up in the next 12 minutes, and I have received NO entries so far.

Taking the fact into account that it was Thanksgiving weekend, the deadline stands extended by 48 hours.

If I receive no entries within the extended deadline, HDC Idol II will be immediately closed citing reason as Lack Of Participation.

Also, if I receive entries from ONLY either Chronogrl and/or Roshiq (yet again), HDC Idol II will be closed after the verdicts of the Judges are given, and crowning one/both of them as the Winner and/or First Runner-Up.

Sorry, but I have no alternative left.

[The Villain]

Sorry V. I really wanted to do this and was excited about it but i have such writer's block i can't even work on my novel anymore. Its actually been really depressing me.

[_____V_____]

UPDATE


48 hours of extended deadline was over, about 16 hours back. I received ONE entry by then, and duly forwarded it to our Judges.

Received the verdict from one Judge till now. As soon as I receive the other two verdicts, the entry will be up.

And after that, we will drop the curtains on HDC Idol II.

[Straker]

Sorry to see this never really hit its groove. Thought everyone that participated did an awesome job and I've enjoyed reading all the work submitted. It's clear alot of time and effort went into this, from everyone involved.

[ChronoGrl]

Just wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU to V for organizing... a big THANK YOU to the three Judges for taking the time out to read all of the entries and a MASSIVE THANK YOU to my competitor Roshiq - I always enjoy hearing your responses on this forum and your creative posts are always inspiring.

I tried my best, but got really frustrated when it was just Roshiq and I competing. I'm frustrated with the participants who volunteered but then didn't actually show up. I enjoyed the last HDC Idol and truly enjoyed what we had of this one.

I just wanted to make sure that V, The Judges, and Roshiq don't feel as though their efforts have been overlooked. I truly appreciate the effort and the experience. Sorry that it petered out.

[_____V_____]

Still waiting on Doc's verdict.

[_____V_____]

THE FIFTH TEST OF HDC IDOL II - ROUND 2


Think of a suitable script/storyline for an effective horror short film of around 30 minutes (maximum). You may adapt a short horror story for your short film provided the length of your short film does not exceed 30 minutes in total.


Roshiq's entry -

The Terror in the Trunk


In the opening title background we'll see 2 newspaper clips:

1) "January 14: A young woman's suffocated dead body found in the trunk of her car after 3 days!"
2) "February 10: Police have no progress in 'City Apartment's NATASHA GILBERT MURDER CASE!"

Along with the newspaper clips there's also some cut to cut blurry shots...about someone killing a young woman in the back of a car...trying to suffocate her by tightly wrapping her whole face with a polythene/plastic bag and finally leaving the dead body in the trunk of the car.

After the completion of opening titles, the film will start with (as the camera is focusing on) a notice or flyer: "WE deeply mourned for the untimely & shattering death of our beloved neighbor (flat 4C) Ms. Natasha Gilbert on January 14, 2011 in our parking garage area. We demand justice...".
Then as the camera starts to zoom out or moving backwards we'll see that bit tear out flyer/notice is actually glued to a pillar of a (may be underground) car parking lot. Now, just besides that pillar someone is parking a car in a signed car parking spot. After finely parking the car a young man comes out from the driving seat with a big grocery bag, makes sure the car has locked properly and then starts to walk.
It's somewhat dark in the whole parking area. Some light bulbs aren't working, some are blinking.
Just after passing only one or 2 cars on his left (next to his car) there's a strange sound (DHUUP!) comes from near by somewhere, which at first that young man doesn't hear/notice. But then the 2nd time when it repeats twice (DHUP-DHUP!) then the young man stops walking, looks around & tries to locate the sound but sees or hear nothing.
Just when he's about to give a step to start walking again then the sound repeats 3 times (DHUP-DHUP-DHUP!). This time the sound is more clear & louder. And it also becomes clear that it's actually somewhat like a sound of knocking...on a car's door...but from inside a car.
The whole parking lot is almost filled up with cars, only 1 or 2 spots are left. The sound is coming from one of these parked down cars. Particularly, the car that's just right next to him. The young man put downs the grocery bag on the hood of that car...a black Lexus CT. He tries to look inside of the black window glasses but can't see anything. Then the sound repeats more loudly and now there's no doubt left for him to realize that the sound is actually coming from the back of the car...from the trunk.
"Hello?...anybody there...?" he goes close to the trunk, the knocking sound from inside the trunk continues.
As he's about to put his hand or give a knock on the trunk, he now clearly hears that someone is groaning in pain inside the trunk. Someone is locked in the trunk.
Suddenly the knocking sound from inside the truck spreads all over the parking lot. It's now like every car in the parking lot has someone locked inside its trunk. Along with that loud knocking sounds coming inside the trunks now there are also some car alarms joins to the freaking chorus. As the freaked out young man quickly comes out from the back of that car, all of the freaking chorus of knocking inside the trunk doors & car alarms suddenly stops by the sound of a car's tire skidding inside the parking lot. The young man now sees a speedy car is coming towards him. He can't see the face of the driver as the headlights are on deeper or turning on too bright.
"Hey, stop!" The young man waves his hand & signals the driver but when the car comes close to him then the young man realizes that the driver on that car has no intention to respond positively or stops by; instead crashing him off. At the very last moment the young man manages to save himself by jumping off on the hood of the Lexus (the car where the knocking sound first came out & he just inspected). The grocery bag falls & the things on the grocery bag spreads all over the places. The speedy car with bright lights passes him. The young man slowly slips down from the hood & falls on the ground.

"Hey! You freak bastard...!" The young man yells & tries to stand up but get freaked out again as soon as he give a look on the back of that running speedy car. A young woman is somewhat like trying to coming out from the trunk of that running car...by pulling up the trunk door in one hand & trying to scream but seems groan mildly as her whole face is wrapped with a polythene/plastic bag. The car turns left to the way that goes outside the apartment building & runs away.

The camera moves back to the young man. He's looking very much shocked about the whole experience. He seats down on the ground and on his back there's that Lexus CT (...the car where it all started). But there's one thing changed. The car somehow turned 180 degree...means, the young man is seating not in front of the car; the back (the trunk side) of the car is behind him now. Suddenly the trunk door opens and the young man gets a hit on his back by that/the trunk door. A woman, groaning, whose face is wrapped with a polythene/plastic bag (same like the previous one in that speedy car) comes out from the dark of the trunk and grabs him from behind and slowly starts to take him inside the trunk. It's like there's an endless big dark hole in the trunk. The young man struggles & tries to scream but fails to do that as the ghost of Natasha Gilbert is holding his neck very tightly with one hand.
We see the next shot through the security camera (with night vision on) from a distance, as the camera is like placed on a top of a pillar of the parking lot: The young man is taking forcefully inside the trunk of a car (Lexus CT) by something which is not clear either for the lack of the lights in the parking lot or something by an invisible entity.
Last Shot: The camera is focusing the open trunk of the car. The young man is almost in there inside the truck. Both of his legs trembles on the air for the last couple of seconds before gone lost completely inside the trunk. In a POV style, as the camera quickly moves towards the trunk (like a hope to have a look inside of the trunk) the trunk door shuts down. And instead having any numbers...we see there are these 2 words written on the number plate with a big question mark: THE END?

----***----

Notes: I'm not sure how much clearly I have able to explain the events in the story but I think it won't take more than 5 to 7 minutes of time IF it is being made into a short film. May be the story kinda looks or sounds like somewhat JU-ONish as my intention is to create an open ended story/film which can be explain or work out further into some more sequels of this short films or in a full length feature film. The events in the film or some parts may be needed some explanation or left some unanswered questions but the thing is my intention was to create a story with uneven or bit strange ghostly encounters as I think - not all the ghostly encounters happens with a logical or sensible flow of events. It's mainly all about the fear of unknown where someone experiences some unexpected, weird & terrifying moments of terror with or without a safe escape at the end.


Judge #1's verdict -

This would make a good, shocking short film. I like the ambiguity at the end, and, as you say, it could be continued in more episodes, where next the man and the girl come back and get another victim, and then another, till there is a horde of ghosts haunting the parking garage and they won't be satisfied till the killer is brought to justice.

I give it an A.


Judge #2's verdict -

I hate to do this, but I give roshiq a D.
Not very clear writing, I found it very confusing and hard to follow.


Judge #3's verdict -

I give this a B-.

I like the reinterpretation of a very traditional ghost story. But, I think you would have benefited from not starting with the reveal. Move that to the end. As you said, you want to create the fear of the unknown, but you've given people a known quantity from the beginning. Horror is about the unexplained. One of the worst things Hollywood has done to the genre is drowned it in exposition. Continue to explore bolder, more distinctive terrors, to riff on the things you love and build a unique voice.



Overall Grade - B-

[_____V_____]

*****************HDC IDOL II STANDS CLOSED DUE TO LACK OF PARTICIPATION*****************






Thread moved to the Horror Fiction Post section.

[hammerfan]

So, we never finished this?