I love these kinds of setups, it's like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - also by Wes Craven - where a group of people go on some kind of road trip only to get stranded and be hunted down by a group of crazies. There must be a name for this sub-genre because there are plenty of examples and it's not just your average slasher film. I guess The Evil Dead (1981) and some other Cabin in the Woods movies are very similar.
For me this is a classic tale, something I grew up with but never actually got the chance to see - and until now never felt the need to return to. I absolutely love the setup, it's the perfect story for a movie. I first heard about this film back when it came out and some kids in the neighborhood or school or whatever in South Africa saw it and told me about it. It sounded so creepy and interesting and I would have loved to see it but back then horror movies were strictly prohibited. The best I got was the Alien movies or The Terminator, and these certainly didn't seem like horror to me. Yet my dad or friends would also tell me what horror movies that they saw were about and I loved the idea of these films. Later on I found their limited descriptions based on fading memories were way more intriguing and creepy than the films themselves usually turned out being, for this reason I avoided The Hills Have Eyes for a long time. It was such a wonderful concept and had such a unique tone in my head that I didn't want to ruin it for myself by seeing the mediocre reality of what they actually made. I am very happy to say The Hills Have Eyes was everything I could have hoped for albeit a bit different to my own preconceptions.
I had a lot of fun with this film, again the thing I always come back to to describe why I enjoyed a film, it's usually this and the unpredictability of the plot but I think that's where this one differs. The Hills Have Eyes didn't really subvert any of my expectations, other than the fact that it was better than I had anticipated. The plot points are quite generic and you can tell what's generally going to happen before they do, however unlike many films like this I enjoyed this one far more. This is because it's well executed and the film has fun with every aspect of its being.
The interesting thing with the main character in this film is that we don't really know who it is for a majority of the films' run time.
The character who turns into the protagonist, this being his bloody rebirth scene
One of the mutants, the make-up effects here are amazing
_________________________________________________________________________________
I think taking inspiration from some of the prolific filmmakers in the genre, like James Wan & Leigh Whannell, Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi is a good idea. They all went above and beyond to make what they wanted to see, I've got my own ideas for horror movies and while they seem unrealistic considering my situation they can become a reality if only I try hard enough.
I did have one idea while watching this film so here it is:
While watching this film I had a weird thought that it would be really cool if the mutants were somehow alternate versions of the main characters - like parallel dimension versions where they all turned out to be mutants or something. I don't know why and this thought was very quickly dismissed during my viewing of the film, but I found that it stuck around a bit and I developed it into something that I think could work.
Imagine Annihilation (2018) meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers:
I saw the Body Snatchers movie from 1956 years ago in school when I was doing a study of science fiction films from the cold war era and it has stuck with me forever since as a potential property to adapt or incorporate into my own work. I just love the idea and always thought it could be very creepy, it's just like other public domain IP's like Tarzan and Robin Hood everyone already knows the story too well to just remake, even though these probably deserve definitive film versions.
Annihilation on the other hand is one of my favourite movies of the year so far, that being said I came to use it as inspiration because I was trying to find a way to incorporate the mutated clone / alternate universe idea I had originally. In that film the characters enter a danger zone where an alien force has set up a force field type thing that works as a prism that mixes DNA.
Logline:
After some boys stray too far and go missing in the woods a search and rescue party sets out to find them, supernatural shenanigans ensue.
More specifically they enter a part of the forest where an alien presence resides, it's created a circumference in which it copies organisms and objects in an attempt to communicate back to the scientists who originally made contact with it.
Again for the advertising of the film itself I think the latter half should be kept a secret, there should be enough creepiness to the basic concept to build mystery and interest from the potential audience, finding out the clone stuff during your first viewing of the film would be way more entertaining and rewarding than knowing that going in.
I think the reason Annihilation didn't work for mainstream audiences was that it was just a bit too vague and serious science fiction-y. I want to avoid this with my concept so what I've done is chosen just the most basic foundation of my idea and chosen to focus on that. At first while brainstorming I immediately thought about having the aliens duplicate things from the characters' minds and memories as well - implying they can't really tell the difference between the physical and metaphysical that well. It's a very science fiction-y idea and so I've decided I don't need it. Too vague and audiences might sign out, instead I've decided to focus purely on the idea that the Aliens duplicate physical things - including organisms.
I think there is enough to play with here to make the film entertaining and shouldn't really confuse audiences. It's also a bit cleaner and the limitation forces me to be creative with what I have, The Hills Have Eyes had a very simple foundation but had a lot of fun with it and anything more complicated would have become a chore to watch. I feel like The Hills Have Eyes has such a good concept that they could have done a lot more with it if they wanted but that's another subject entirely.
The movie would be set in a forest, which is great 'cause we've got a lot of that here in New Zealand.
Some of the interesting ideas I want to explore with this base idea are:
- The young boy changing into one of the other characters
I want them to find a clone of one of the boys (who they don't know is an alien invader at first) who starts aging at a rapid pace right in front of them, slowly turning into one of the other characters.
- Forest of fetuses
I want the bodies that grow in the plant like manner in the ground to be like growing fetuses and there's a section of forest filled with these that the characters find. By the end of the film one of the characters can burn this forest with a flame thrower as the spine tingling shrieks fill the air.
- Character bonding with clone over music
I had this image in my head of one of the characters bonding with his alter ego, he can be established as being into music or karaoke or something and not having anyone else who shares his passion. There can be an awesomely weird sequence where he bonds with his (hopefully somewhat deformed) clone.
- Person born with disability that was fixed, clone's not fixed
As per usual I've broken my idea into five parts with an intro:
Intro - Three boys are out in the woods looking for an abandoned town that one of them claims to have been to before, but they are taking a path through the woods with their bikes. Soon one of them finds something off - a broken bike and a child's body-like shape in the foliage.
ACT I - We open this sequence with a search and rescue party about to set off to find the boys who we learn have been missing for three days, some of the parents and friends are concerned and doubt the ability of the search and rescue team and insist on going with. They know where the boys went because of some other kids at school being told.
This Act sees the party set off, we get some development and our first bits of creepy supernatural activity. Weird things that they find in the forest, some creepy stories retold by the search and rescue officers and them getting lost when elements and landmarks start repeating.
ACT II - By the start of this Act the party is completely lost, it gets late and they have to camp out, they find an old research base and decide to do so there. Mystery starts unfolding as we find out about the attempted alien contact and there are some scary bumps in the night.
The chapter ends when they find one of the boys in the forest.
ACT III - This Act sees the group trying to find their way back, the boy starts showing weird signs, seemingly aging in front of their eyes. They find a scientists in the base who explains some of what's happening. The boy ages into one of the other characters.
ACT IV - This Act is where all hell starts going off and we get to explore all the crazy ideas, like the different types of clones and the fetus forest and things get violent.
ACT V - We lead into Act V with a montage type deal connecting the different story strands, the glue being the musical sequence with the one character bonding with the clone. The final act is the awesome and chaotic release of tension, full on craziness and action as the characters try to fight their way out.
I don't know if I'll ever get around to writing this, it's not one of my better ideas but it was fun to inhabit this story for a day. As it stands now I think it does a good job of emulating the feel of Annihilation, something which I think would definitely appeal to a certain group of people.
If I do write it at the very least it would be good practice.
_________________________________________________________________________________
I've done a quick treatment-like thing for the intro:
EXT. FOREST, MID-DAY
Three boys walk their bikes along a dirt path through the forest.
THEY DISCUSS WHERE THEY ARE GOING, THE LEADER INSISTS HE'S NOT ONLY ON THE RIGHT PATH BUT THAT IT'S A FASTER WAY TO GO THAN TAKING THE MAIN ROAD. ONE OF THEM SAYS THEY'RE LOST AND POINTS OUT THAT THEY'VE ALREADY BEEN PAST A CERTAIN TREE. ANOTHER DOUBTS HIS ABILITY TO NOTICE A SINGLE TREE, THE OTHER BOY AGREES THAT THE PLACE FEELS FAMILIAR AND WANTS TO GO BACK. HE SAYS THEY CAN JUST TAKE THE MAIN ROAD AGAIN THE NEXT DAY AND ACTUALLY ARRIVE AT THE GHOST TOWN THAT THEY'RE HEADING TOWARDS.
THE LEADER INSISTS HE TOOK THIS VERY PATH THE OTHER DAY, AND POINTS AT A STRUCTURE IN THE FOREST. THEY MOVE TOWARDS IT, SOMEWHAT RELUCTANT. ITS A RANDOM STAIRCASE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST, THE LEADER SAYS "SEE, TOLD YOU, WE HAVEN'T PASSED THAT, HOW CAN YOU MISS SOMETHING LIKE THAT". ONE BOY IS SILENTLY SURVEYING THE AREA, THE OTHER WONDERS HOW A STAIRCASE GOT THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, THE LEADER SAYS THAT'S WHAT THE GHOST TOWN'S LIKE, IT WAS ONLY HALF BUILT AND ABANDONED YEARS AGO. THE OTHER BOY SAYS HE HEARD THEY DID SCIENTIFIC TESTS OUT HERE, THAT'S WHY THE LEFT THE TOWN IN THE FIRST PLACE.
THE SILENT BOY FINDS SOMETHING COLOURFUL IN THE BUSHES, ITS A BIKE AS WELL, IT'S BENT, IT LOOKS NEW, THE OTHER BOYS ARE CONSIDERING WHETHER OR NOT THEY SHOULD CLIMB THE STAIRCASE, ONE SAYS HE'LL TAKE A PHOTO OF THE OTHER IF HE DOES SO - THE SILENT BOY CALLS THE OTHERS BUT THEY ARE TOO BUSY, HE SEES SOMETHING ELSE BY THE BIKE, IT'S SOMETHING UNDER THE TREE.
IT LOOKS LIKE THE BODY OF A CHILD, BUT ITS FEATURELESS LIKE A MANNEQUIN, THE OTHER BOY IS CLIMBING THE STAIRCASE, THE LEADER READYING HIS PHONE TO SNAP A PICTURE, HIS VOICE WEAK THE BOY BY THE BIKE CALLS OUT AGAIN TO HIS FRIENDS BUT NOW THEY ARE GONE, CUT TO BLACK.
_________________________________________________________________________________
I should break the film down into the main themes like Duncan did for his thing, I should probably come up with some main themes, probably come up with some characters as well.
Some themes I could explore (quick brainstorm):
Regret and what could have been - this could be present with the guy born with a disability and whose now able to live a full life due to that being repaired, this could also be shown with a clone or something making better or different choices
Connecting with others and the separation we have from others because of always being in our own head - could be shown with dancing connection, this is something I think we all wonder (would I get along best with myself? Am I only attracted to people like me and how selfish is that?)
- Selfishness
-Communication
- Loneliness
Bringing up kids to be like you - little versions of ourselves?
- Reproduction
I think individuality and selfishness are becoming the prominent ideas I want to explore.
Characters:
- Rescue Officers
I definitely want a team of search and rescue officers, three should do. I'm thinking two male and one female.
- Mother
- Big Brother
No comments:
Post a Comment