The Mighty HDC Battle Royale III

[scouse mac]

Originally Posted by _____V_____

I hereby address all 3 of you with a common question -

• You're a producer of an upcoming low budget horror film.
  You have only $10 million budget.
  Your film is original and has no ties to any popular horror "franchise."
  Your film must have a supernatural element.
  It must appeal to an international audience.
  What is your storyline and how will you ensure a box office smash, given your small budget?

I always like these sort of question, getting to the heart of peoples creativity and ingenuity.

$10million is quite a healthy budget for an independent movie ;)

[_____V_____]

Maybe the Judge took some outdoor shooting and some B-star cameos into account and upped the budget slightly. :D



Almost 25 hours of the given 48 have passed...

...and still I have ZERO entries in with me.

[Zero]

Originally Posted by _____V_____

...and still I have ZERO entries in with me.

wait - I thought I was dead - did I somehow submit an entry??

uh, my movie is a monkey invasion starring Glenn Beck as the chief evil ape and Sarah Palin as chim-chim his faithful sidekick

wait - how much more money do I have??
:D

[_____V_____]

Someone shoot the monkey. :D


TWO entries have come in, and have been immediately sent to two Judges for evaluation, critical dissection and scoring. As soon as I receive the Judges' verdict through PMs, they will be posted here.

ONE Finalist is yet to submit his/her entry. The deadline expires in about 6 hours and 15 minutes, so he/she better hurry.

[_____V_____]

The deadline is UP!!!!!!


The third remaining Finalist, Roshiq, is asking for some extra time because he was really busy with some urgent office and personal work.

Can he be granted that, o Judges? Please?

[_____V_____]

HDC BATTLE ROYALE ROUND OF THREE - THE VERDICTS


The first reply, came from Finalist Straker.

"You're a producer of an upcoming low budget horror film.
You have only $10 million budget.
Your film is original and has no ties to any popular horror "franchise."
Your film must have a supernatural element.
It must appeal to an international audience.
What is your storyline and how will you ensure a box office smash, given your small budget?"

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.

This is what esteemed Judge had to say in his verdict...

"This comes across as sort of generic. The choice of Don Coscarelli and Cheech Marin are inspired, but I'm not sure there's that much of a concept here.
I'm going to give him a solid 6.5. Small reward."



So Straker, you have scored a pretty decent score for your effort. Good show. You also win a SHOTGUN WITH SIX SHELLS!

Congrats.


The other Judge hasn't turned in their verdict yet, and we are waiting to see if the Judges' agree to give Roshiq some more time.

Stay tuned for updates.

[_____V_____]

Originally Posted by _____V_____

The third remaining Finalist, Roshiq, is asking for some extra time because he was really busy with some urgent office and personal work.

Well, I haven't heard back from any of the Judges and Roshiq asked for about 5-6 more hours because of his genuine problem, and its almost 1 30 AM here so...if the Judges and the other two Finalists have no problem, I am willing to extend Roshiq's deadline for a period of no more than 12 hours from the moment the deadline expired.

So that leaves Roshiq with...around 8 hours from now to get an entry in, if he can.

Of course, this is if and only if the Judges agree with me. If he sends in an entry within the next 8 hours and even 1 Judge disagrees with my suggestion, his entry will stand scratched.

Sorry, Roshiq. That's the best I can do, buddy.

[neverending]

Give him the time, I say.

[_____V_____]

HDC BATTLE ROYALE III ROUND OF THREE - THE VERDICTS


The second reply, came from Finalist Michelle.

"You're a producer of an upcoming low budget horror film.
You have only $10 million budget.
Your film is original and has no ties to any popular horror "franchise."
Your film must have a supernatural element.
It must appeal to an international audience.
What is your storyline and how will you ensure a box office smash, given your small budget?"

Storyline:

A group of high school students set out to make their own horror movie with no budget. In select footage that was filmed in a garage setting, they find an apparition upon reviewing their footage for editing.
They return to the garage setting to determine if the apparation will reappear. It is here where they encounter a phantasmical entity.

Ensuring a box office smash:

To try to ensure a box office smash, I will pursue endorsing quotes from known authors, directors and producers. Aggressive advertising is also a key, perhaps focusing on test screening audience results, which would hopefully be terrifyingly shocking.

This is what the esteemed Judge had to say in his verdict...

"There is nothing original or interesting in this plot. It also lacks detail. The marketing plan is also uninspired and unoriginal. There's also no mention of how this will appeal to an international audience.

This answer FAILS.
Grade: 1/10
PUNISHMENT."



Sorry Michelle, but you FAILED this Challenge. The Judge has decided to punish you in big capital letters, so you have been SHOT ONCE SPREADSHOT STYLE BY HIS HAND CANNON!!

You use up 10 HPs in order to heal your injuries. Accordingly, you are left with 28 HPs.

[_____V_____]

Roshiq hasn't turned in his entry for this Challenge within the extra 12 hours given to him after the deadline had expired.

I leave his fate to be decided by the Judges - more time or punishment, your Honors. Please decide.