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Originally Posted by Straker
Our story begins following the savvy deadbeat, John, doing what he does best, hunting ghosts and investigating the paranormal. John makes a lucrative living selling his brand of paranormal services to wealthy individuals who believe there homes are haunted. For a ‘modest’ fee he can guarantee to provide customers with a ‘complete paranormal cleansing’ of their home. John is ably assisted by his mexican sidekick who occasionally works hard but importantly works for peanuts. While John has a whole host of fancy ghost hunting equipment and furthermore delights in putting on a show for his customers, there can be no mistake that when the job is done, John is no more than a sceptic looking to make ‘big bucks from rich people’.
After completing his most recent job, a paranormal cleansing of a thought to be haunted apartment block, our hero receives a call asking for his services. The job is an out of town mansion that the new owners believe to be haunted. John explains that due to the nature of the job his services won’t come cheap. His new mark, sorry customer, appears unconcerned with cost and our intrepid ghost hunter soon realises this is a job that could pay for his whole summer.
Sidekick in tow, John heads out of town to what will be his home for the duration of the job. Upon arrival, John allows his sidekick to unload the van while further discussing costs with his customers. John is soon given a tour of his latest paranormal challenge and delights in demonstrating the complex nature of his work to his new customers and finally, of course, asking them to stay away until the cleansing is complete. Customers out the way, John and his sidekick crack open a few beers and settle in for a lazy weekend of ghost hunting…. If it isn’t already apparent at this point, it should be known that the main drive of the film is comedic rather than serious.
Now our two hero’s are at their destination and alone and the real fun can begin. The first night our hero’s discover their ghost hunting equipment giving off some strange readings. From here we are plunged into a banquet of bumps in the night, poltergeists and ghostly figures prowling the hallways.
By the 3rd and final night of the job and indeed our story our hero’s are resolved to getting out of the house and heading home. Of course its not that easy as our hero's find themselves trapped. The slapstick horror is taken up to the extreme ultimately culminating in the destruction of the house just before day break. As our hero’s stumble from the wreckage they are greeted by the home owners pulling into the driveway who ask ‘are we still going get billed for this’.... Roll credits.
While the movie would be filled with scares, plenty of suspense and laced with dark humour it is, essentially, driven towards being all out fun. Little bit cheesy, little bit camp, but ultimately exciting and uplifting. No tortured souls or hidden secrets, no sophistication or subtle plot twists. What you see is what you get, two flawed but likeable characters in a tongue in cheek supernatural survival romp.
Its international and even universal appeal is born out of simple and honest fun. Attempting to offer an antidote to the ever so serious world of modern cinema, the movie aims to demonstrate a return to honest entertainment rather than emotional claptrap. The budget constraints would be ample to ensure the production, direction and script were well delivered.
As for our cast and crew, we have a more than ample budget to entice the Bubba Ho- tep partnership of director Don Coscarelli and living legend Bruce Campbell to play our hero, with his mexican sidekick being played by the cult legend, Cheech Marin. Coscarelli ensures our scares pack a decent punch and brings a quality and creativity to the project while Campbell ensures a high level of slapstick, camp entertainment guaranteed to be fun. Having these guys on board opens up the avenue of further cameo appearances from guys like Reggie Bannister, Ted Rami and no doubt gives us access, in a consultancy capacity, to the master of horror, Sami Rami. Almost guaranteed cult success will likely ensure the movie finds its audience and proves a financial success. Even with some high quality special effects and stunts from guys like Bob Ivy et al, it is unlikely that the budget of $10 million would be stretched, leaving plenty of cash for a solid ad campaign for a small budget movie or even the possibility of a few straight to DvD sequels.
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