Lesson 1

[Kenneth Wood]

Ken Wood

What I learned:

Watching my choice of horror movie, “A Quiet Place”, while looking for the horror concepts listed in this lesson, helped me identify them as they were used throughout the movie.

This exercise helped me brainstorm how to use them throughout my own script outline.

Movie Title: A Quiet Place

Horror Conventions I found:

Opening Scene: Setting: Ominous dystopian setting. -Departure from Reality

1 – Family searching for food in abandon town, signing so as to not make noise and attract the aliens/“monsters”. —Departure from Reality, High Tension

Smallest child grabs a toy that potentially would make noise. – High Tension

2 – Go to a farm where they “hide” from the aliens in the barn. Here we see all of the safety measures which they have employed to stay safe.- Departure from Reality

3 The small child plays with the toy and gets killed – High Tension, Death/Monster/Villian, Terrorizing of Characters

4 Other people get killed nearby. – Terrorizing of Characters, High Tension, Death

5 Other living son is terrified, even at waterfall. Terrorizing of Characters

6 A way to kill them is not known, but is being researched. – High Tension

7 Wife is on the verge of having a baby. – High tension

8 An accidental noise causes the aliens to come to the farm. High Tension, Terrorizing of Characters.

9 We see the aliens are grotesque, have sharp blade-like arms, and stalk their prey. We know they are intent on wiping out all human and animal lifeforms on earth. Monster/Villian. High Tension, Terrorizing of Characters

10 Wife steps on a nail and almost screams bringing the aliens. High Tension, Terrorizing of Character, Isolation

11 They have to hide in small spaces in an already small basement in a barn structure. – Isolation

12 Wife has to go to farm house to wash clothes. Her birth pangs begin. An alien hears her. She retreats to upstairs bathroom-High tension, Terrorizing of Characters, Isolation

13 Her water breaks, she gets in the tub and the birth contractions intensify. -High Tension, Terrorizing the character, Isolation

14 She delivers the baby. – High Tension, Terrorizing of Character

15 Can’t shoot for fear of bringing other aliens. – High Tension, Monster/Villian

16 Choose diversion of fireworks to draw aliens away. Departure from Reality

17 Husband comes and sees blood in tub thinking that his wife has been killed – Death Imagined, Terrorizing of Character

18 Newborn makes noise, attracting the alien.

High Tension, Terrorizing of Characters

19 As they figure out what can kill the alien, there is a confrontation. – High Tension, Monster/Villian, Terrorizing of Characters

20 Too many aliens converge, Daughter and Son are put in danger. Father sacrifices himself so they can escape. – Terrorizing of Characters, High Tension, Death

There was not anything substantial in this movie that one could say was a moral failure on any of the character’s parts. There was nothing that caused them to deserve terror, mutilation and/or death from the aliens.

________

Brainstorming of Conventions for my movie:

Horror Concept:

A leading arachnologist is tasked with catching the newest and most venomous species of spider known to man, and developing an anti-venom for its bite. But, she experiences that the spider is too aggressive, deadly, and intelligent to be controlled, and may have even been bred for a sinister purpose.

A spider

A spider boards a Brazilian-based cargo boat full of bananas headed for America.—Isolation

By the time it reaches port in the U.S., it has killed four of the crew and has the captain in hysteria locked in his cabin. Isolation

The spider’s venom, once injected in a victim, acts within the minute, causing paralysis, then a violent seizure, then decay. Terror of Characters. Monster/Villian

The spider’s digestive juices are so potent, they cause flesh and muscle to turn to mush, also within the minute. Monster/Villian

Captain too hysterical to turn off boat, causing it to repetitively ram and damage the dock. All he can say is “Aranha” (Portuguese for Spider)- Departure from Reality, Terrorizing of Character

The Port Supervisor goes into the engine room below to shut off engine. -Isolation, High Tension

A silk strand hits the back of his head and he is pulled into the void. Terror of Character, Monster/Villian, Death

Autopsy of the dead finds the spider’s venom and digestive juices are stronger than any known venomous creature. – Monster/Villian

Finding and catching the spider. High Tension, Monster/Villian

Taken to an Anti-venom Laboratory in the Entomology Department of the local University, where numerous other venomous creatures are held. – Isolation. Departure from most peoples’ Reality.

Get first real face-to-face view of the grotesque spider. -Monster/Villian

First attempt at putting it to sleep in order to extract venom, puts main characters in deadly position. -Isolation

The spider wakes too soon. High Tension, Terrorizing of Characters

Two college lab assistants, a guy and girl, enter the lab for a scheduled feeding, are careless and the spider gets out. High Tension. The spider intelligently stalks them and kills them. Terrorizing of Characters, High Tension, Death, Isolation, Monster/Villian, Moral Statement

After recapture, one night the spider gets provoked by another spider in an adjoining terrarium. The spider gets out of its enclosure and into the other’s to kill it. High Tension. Terrorizing of Character.

Once killing the provoking spider, it goes on to kill every other creature in the lab. The scene climaxes in a battle with a King Cobra. – Terrorizing of Characters, Isolation, Monster/Villian, Death, Departure from Reality

The Night Janitor arrives, and is quickly subdued and killed. -Death.

Anytime the spider gets loose and no one knows where it is, elevates the scene. High Tension.

By now, we have seen how aggressive, deadly and highly intelligent the spider is. So, when we are confronted with it head on, we are in panic or shock. -Terrorizing of Characters

When we see it’s eight eyes close up, we wonder, what is it thinking? Will it attack? -Terrorizing of Characters

As the chief Arachnologist, Dr. Lambert, and other officials arrive. An unproductive search commences in the lab. We see the spider crawl into her large purse. High Tension.

She is encouraged to go home and carries the spider in her purse in her car and into the house. High Tension, Isolation.

At her home, her daughter and dog have breakfast. Dr. Lambert tells her daughter that she bought her a present. It is in her purse. The girl goes to get it, reaches in. Nothing happens. High Tension, Isolation

The spider climbs up on the napping daughter, while Dr. Lambert takes a shower. Daughter awakes. Cries for mother. Mother can’t hear because of hair dryer. Isolation, Terrorizing of Characters, Monster/Villian

Mother finally hears. Gets daughter to brush it off quickly. She tries to hit it, but it dodges and jumps on her towel. Panic and hysteria! -High Tension, Monster/Villian, Terrorizing of Characters

Dog takes on spider. Fights with it down the stairs to the first floor. Monster/Villian, Terrorizing of Characters

Dog gets bitten, but Dr. Lambert remembers the “untested” anti-venom is in her purse. She gives it to the dog. Death (at least the fear).

The spider escapes out a doggie door. We learn that spiders have a heightened sense of smell. Dr. Lambert’s house is close to the Port, where the banana shipment, with its smells of home, is stored. Dr. Lambert deduces that the Warehouse is where the spider is headed. -Monster/Villian, Departure from Reality

This spider, above all others, is the ultimate escape artist and has been trying to get back to the banana shipment in the Warehouse for more than just the smell of home.

At the Warehouse, we discover that she has laid a number of egg sacs in the bananas and is determined to protect them. She will kill any human or creature who poses a threat. -Monster/Villian, Terrorizing the Characters

As the Main Team of Characters discovers one of the egg sacs, one Team Member tries to smash it underfoot, but only succeeds in breaking it open. A thousand baby spiders pour out and crawl up the person. -High Tension, Terrorizing the Character, Monster Villian

As the person tries to kill them. The mother spider attacks and kills him. -Terrorizing the Character, Death

Soon, the baby spiders come from other egg sacs and swarm the warehouse. -Monster/Villians, Terrorizing the Characters, High Tension, Departure from Reality, Isolation, Moral Statement, Death

[Christopher Confer]

Assignment One Horror Concept and Conventions

What I learned doing this assignment is…

I picked on older horror movie to watch and analyze called Grizzly (1977). By the way, there is a Grizzly 2: Revenge with Charlie Sheen, George Clooney and Laura Dern and it is really bad. What intrigued me about this movie is that is a bit of a Jaws copycat but nowhere as good as Jaws and more horror than Jaws as Jaws has a bit more thriller aspect to it. This movie cost 750,000 dollars to make in 1977 which would be 3.9 million dollars in 2023. That is definitely low cost.

Grizzly / Concept: A smart Grizzly has come down from more remote Grizzly territory and is hunting campers in a national forest for no reason.

Terrorize The Characters: Girls attacked while packing up their campsite, arm goes flying off. A park ranger, Gail is showering under a waterfall and it kills her there, just see blood going down the river. Woman attacked in her tent near a crowd of people. Posse guy narrowly escapes the bear by jumping in the river and outswimming it with the current. Bear tips over a watchtower and kills Tom, if the fall didn’t him. Mom and son killed for no reason. Scotty the bear expert gets tracked by the bear and killed violently. Helicopter pilot gets mauled and killed by the bear. Finally, Kelly shoots a bazooka at the bear and the predator is dead.

Isolation: National forest, pretty isolated.

Death: Lots of death as listed above.

Monster/Villain: Huge grizzly bear.

High Tension: You never know when it will appear and attack.

Departure from Reality: The odds of it happening are low and it’s not everyday the audience will go camping in a National Forest.

Moral Statement: At the beginning of the movie the helicopter pilot is flying some senators in to the forest and says more legislation is needed to cordon off areas in order to prevent too many people from destroying the natural beauty.

Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great horror film?

Not sure if it is great but it only cost 3.9 million dollars in today’s money. It’s pretty good. The bear, the apex predator, killing for no reason other than maybe it is a “psychotic” intelligent bear is scary.

With your concept, fill in each of these Conventions for your story.

Concept: A thirty foot albino python with red eyes handles cold winter no problem and lives in a forest that is surrounded by an upper middle class Detroit suburb

Terrorize the Characters: It blends into the snow and can morph through walls. They never know when it is coming.

Isolation:The woods are pretty isolated and since neighbors often don’t know each other the houses around it can have an isolated feeling despite being in a metro area.

Death: Yes. Maybe first will be a tomboy who likes plowing the snow off oh her parents’ driveway.

Monster/Villain: Thirty foot white constrictor that blends into the snow.

High Tension: It can morph through walls and other objects.

Departure from Reality: Yes, no such thing as snake that can endure icy conditions and morph through walls.

Moral Statement: To be determined. Maybe: know your neighbors in order to be able to mount a combined defense.

Originally I was going to have this set at a ski resort in Montana which would cost a fortune to film.

[Andre]

Subject line: The Omen Horror Conventions.

What I learned doing this assignment…are the conventions of horror genre:

· Terrorize The Characters.

· Isolation.

· Death.

· Monster/Villain.

· High Tension.

· Departure from Reality.

· Moral Statement.

1. Watch the movie. Note Conventions,

Title/Concept. “The Omen”/ Is the Devil’s son responsible for series of mysterious deaths?

Terrorize The Characters. Yes, psychologically and

Isolation. mostly the mansion/property.

Death. The original child died, Damien is the replacement child from the convent, his mother dies. His nanny commits suicide. And the priest warns he will kill the unborn child and the mother to have everything that is his, the future potus.

Monster/Villain. A child, the devil’s son.

High Tension. Moments of suspense. Mostly through sound score and natural elements such as wind. The Devil’s son!

Departure from Reality. Is there a departure from reality? is there?

Moral Statement. The ultimate cost of Abortion. Accept Jesus into your heart.

-Andre

• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by  Andre Howard.

[Chris Spizuoco]

Lot 36 from Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities

What I learned doing this assignment is: I have a lot to learn about this genre.

CONVENTIONS:

Title / Concept: Lot 36: To pay off his debt, a man secures a storage unit filled with mysterious items to sell but soon finds himself in a desperate situation.<div>

Terrorize The Characters: the one book that would bring him a fortune blazes up in flames.

Isolation: alone in an old decrepit locker storage with no way out.

Death: Bones crunch as he’s devoured by the demon.

Monster/Villain: an octopus type critter in the body of a deceased woman from WWII era.

High Tension: a demon hidden in the body of a women; the trapped sister of an evil Nazi.

Departure from Reality: we see the demon hidden where her face used to be.

Moral Statement: greed and internal hate. A story of our deeds, darkness, and sins told through a key to lot 36.

My Concept: after a storage locker auction winner sells all the contents, the demonic possessed former owner traces back to him one purchased item slaughter at a time.

Terrorize The Characters: each with their own deadly sin are stalked and slaughtered by the object they had recently purchased.</div>

Isolation: the original buyer knows he’ll eventually be the final target.

Death: you’ll have to watch the movie

Monster/Villain: he’s an amalgam of almost everything that’s wrong with shitty people today.

High Tension: cat and mouse game as our reluctant hero is repeatedly set up and toyed with.

Departure from Reality: the characters killed are a caricature of today’s biggest a holes.

Moral Statement: karma – you dish it out; it will eventually come back and bite you…hard.

[Kenneth Wood]

I’ve been watching the episodes on Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Reminds me of The Twilight Zone.

Best wishes on developing your story. I’ll keep in touch.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by  Kenneth Wood.

[Rachelle Storti]

Have you ever heard of a dybbuk box? There is a story about one I think you’d be interested in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf_9w1vpq50

[Jonathan Clark]

Jon Clark

Assignment 1.

What I learned: It was a much better movie than I remembered! The scares and nightmare scare sequences were well laid out and conceived right from the very beginning. And for the time I’d say the movie is very fresh. The climax was somewhat disappointing visually and thematically but I understand why it was done that way. There’s also a nice sense of uncovering the mystery over who the villain is that Nancy works out along the way.

Movie Title: NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (Original 1984)

Concept: A disfigured murderer preys on teenagers in their dreams which kills them in reality.

Terrorize The Characters: Multiple nightmare scenarios that confuse reality, forcing characters to do anything they can to survive and then once free from the dream, they struggle to stay awake.

Isolation: We’re all alone in our dreams. In the waking world for the teens, there’s the compounded isolation that “others” don’t believe them, the police, their parents, even each other at first.

Death: Viscerally slashed apart under a blanket, then floating to the ceiling as the attack continues. A bed sheet that comes alive to strangle you. Getting sucked into a bed that turns into a geyser of blood (suggesting-not showing). There are also many near misses and disturbing sequences: A body dragged through the school’s hallway. Getting sucked down into a bathtub.

Monster/Villain: Freddy Kreuger. A former child murderer who’s weapon of choice is a glove with knives welded onto it. In life he was burned alive and now attacks in dreams, twisting and controlling the victim’s dream any way he likes, to induce the most terror.

High Tension: Everyone must sleep. You can’t stop it. It’s going to happen. And the added suspense of: once you do, you know that, “One two, Freddy’s coming for you”.

Departure From Reality: In the dreams anything can happen.

Moral Statement: Vigilantism is wrong, and stains your bloodline.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Movie Title:

SECRET SANTA

Tagline:

You have a Secret Santa. But instead of giving, this one’s taking-a small piece at a time. Then it will take all. You have five days.

Concept:

Three “mean girl” teenage besties learn that they have a Secret Santa, but instead of it giving, each day their reality is warped into a living nightmare as a cruel and unstoppable supernatural presence attacks them. It masquerades behind the regalia of the festive season, but they discover that it’s a curse designed to torment them, and if they don’t find a way to break it within their five allotted days, they will not survive.

Terrorize The Characters:

From the very opening scene, one by one each character is attacked by a presence that literally warps their reality, twisting it into a waking nightmare. Each day it attacks. Getting closer to taking them. (Death by a thousand cuts.)

Isolation:

No one believes the girls (their parents, the police). Their peers think they deserve it. There is nowhere they can hide from a presence that can warp reality. The only way to stop it is to uncover why this curse was placed upon them, and by whom.

Death:

One by one the girls are picked off. Worse, is when the attacks occur in front of the two other girls, and in school, right in front of students and teachers who don’t seem to notice or care and do absolutely nothing to help and sometimes aid in the attack… Not only that, they were each given their Secret Santa notification on different days, and one was given a letter, but didn’t discover it until days later – meaning the end can happen at any time.

Monster/Villain:

Secret Santa. A thin, dark, man-shaped demonic presence that wickedly masquerades behind the trappings of the festive season. It cannot be stopped. It’s a curse. It enjoys their torment. Ultimately it will take them home with it never to be seen again. The second villain/antagonist is the person who placed the curse on them. A spurned former friend to the girls whose life was destroyed when the girls cast her out of their group.

High Tension:

Each day, it’s going to come for you. You won’t know when, or how, or even if you’ll escape this time: Walking to school. Looking at your phone. Taking a shower. Cutting your nails. Eating lunch. Sitting in a class trying to focus. Finding an outfit in your closet. Nowhere is safe and anything can become a terrifying scenario there’s no escape from.

Departure From Reality:

Constantly. There’s no waking from reality.

Moral Statement:

Cruelty to others can come back to you in horrible-horrible ways.

[Kenneth Wood]

Interested in seeing how you develop this story, Jon.

[Christopher Confer]

Jon, this is scary stuff. Love it. The five day deadline really cranks up the pressure and fear of the inevitable. I’d pay money to see it.

[Aram Bauman]

EDITED with new concept.

Assignment 1. John Carpenter’s “The Thing”

Still to this day this movie kicks ass.

This movie hit all the bullet points listed but I am having trouble finding the moral statement.

My guess is kill the alien at all costs knowing they will die also so it can’t make it to civilization.

My concept I was working on had to change after I listened to the audio clip you guys put up because it would be an expensive movie or series to make. I’m still thinking up another idea. I hope I can catch up in the next day or two.

NEW CONCEPT:

Horror Concept:

Influencer and his friend who play jokes on people decides to go into a Voodoo shop and play a joke on the person (priestess) behind the counter. When they get home things start to happen. A really old neighbor in the main influencer’s apartment tries to warn him hes marked but he’s a young kid that doesn’t believe in this stuff.

Isolation: Voodoo priestess haunts their dreams. Seems there is always someone staring no matter where they go. No one sees what they see.

Terrorize the Characters: They experience pain and things like throwing up a long worm-like creatures. The dreams of disfigurement and creatures are too real.

Death: Influencer sees his friend kill himself on a live feed on Tictok type app. The influencer can see the lady from the shop actually holding the friend’s arm to make him kill himself. No one else can see this.

Monster/Villain: Voodoo priestess/ creatures conjured up from the depths of the imagination.

High Tension: Old neighbor is a Bruja and tries to help the influencer with Brujeria but the voodoo priestess’ powers are too strong. (No shooting sparks out of fingers or stuff like that)

Departure from reality: Their lives become unlivable with the visions they see and the mind games that happen. Who really believes in this stuff anyway?

Moral Statement: Fuck around and find out.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by  Aram Bauman. Reason: Had to come up with a "low budget" concept

[Kenneth Wood]

Good concept, Aram.

Making fun of a Voodoo Priestess, maybe even calling her a fake, then, she lets him/them have it, driving them insane.

It will be interesting to see how you envision enlightening the “survivors” to overcome the “monster/villian”.

[Kris Kristensen]

Movie I watched:

THE FOG

Concept: Ghosts return for their gold, and to take six lives, one for each of the conspirators that lead their ship aground 100 years ago.

Terrorize the characters: People around town are randomly killed.

Isolation: A small fishing village on the west coast. San Antonio Bay. Within this, one of the main characters is isolated in her lighthouse which is the local radio station.

Death: 6 people must die.

Monster/Villain: 100 year old ghosts that travel via a fog bank that they can control.

High tension: The fog can move wherever it needs to go.

Departure from reality: Sentient fog. Fog causes shenanigans during the witching hour, lights flicker, dogs howl, car alarms go off, etc. Ghosts.

Moral statement: You can’t outrun the past.

What I learned: I have a resistance to jump scares, because I think they’re cheap, but I gotta admit – they can be your friend. Re: Departure from reality… the super natural events that enter the town before the story kicks into gear, really help set the tone.

My Script: THE QUARTERMAN

Concept: When 1200 year human remains are uncovered in an Irish peat bog, the Quarterman reassembles himself limb by limb from the descendants who conspired to kill him in the year 800.

Terrorize the characters: A series of gruesome murders about town put the townsfolk on edge. Who will be next.

Isolation: A quaint Irish village.

Death: Citizens being killed and limbs torn off.

Monster/Villain: The Quarterman, allegedly a fictitious bogeyman to keep children in line, turns out to be real. When first discovered, he’s only an arm and head, but slowly he puts himself limb by limb.

High Tension: Gruesome murders, that at first seem random. Eventually our protagonist discovers that his family is the final target.

Departure from Reality: Human remains having lain dormant in a peat bog for 1200 years come back to life when unearthed and go on a killing spree.

Moral Statement: The sins of the father are visited upon the son.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by  Kris Kristensen.

[Kenneth Wood]

Love the concept and the setting in Ireland.

[Kris Kristensen]

Thanks, Kenneth. Glad it’s resonating with you

[Mike Coste]

What I learned from this assignment is how the use of innocent characters can heighten terror.

My movie was Malevolent. In this movie we have a group of people who pose as people who can help with spirits, fraudulently to make money. They finally end up with a job with real ghosts, children who had been found dead with their mouth sewn up years earlier.

At first one of the women on the team starts to see and feel things. Her mother, who had died by suicide had similar experiences, so she begins to doubt her sanity. The children begin to reveal themselves more until others see them as well. It turns out the women who hired them had killed the children. She is another source of terror as she begins to capture each of them and sew up their mouths.

The house itself is isolated, so it is difficult to escape. When they do finally try to escape, the car crashes, killing one of them and trapping the rest.

We have the deaths of the children, as well as the mother who dies by suicide and makes appearances. One of them die in the car crash, and the woman who hired them intends to kill the rest.

In the end, the monster is the woman who hired them. She killed the children and wants their ghosts removed. She also wants to kill the group that she hired.

Tension starts with the woman’s visions. We’re not sure if she’s crazy. Then we don’t know what the children intend to do. Finally there is the tension of the group trying to escape from the woman.

The ghosts of the children and of the mother represent a departure from reality.

The biggest moral statement here is that the team are trying to con the woman, and they end up finding that there is truth behind what they pretend to be.

I think the psychological tension of the woman who first sees the children and begins to doubt her sanity is a strong element in this film

My Story.

This is very rough. I’m thinking about a deranged former teacher, maybe dead, who traps some students in an old building and and takes them one at a time, putting them in precarious situations where the others have to figure out how to get them out it. I’ll call it “Final Exam.”

The characters are terrorize by having one of them put in a dangerous situation that the others have to solve. Who’s next?

They are in an isolated building (an old school building), and one is isolated from the rest.

The old teacher is the villain.

The tension in whether each solution will work, and who is the next subject.

The situation itself is a departure from reality.

I’m still working on the moral statement–maybe something about not blowing off school

[Kenneth Wood]

Love the name, FINAL EXAM, Mike, and the concept. It got me in brainstorm mode.

Use any of the following ideas if they will help.

I like the idea that, in order for a student to be saved from being killed, the others have to solve a problem.

Maybe the Moral Statement could be, “You should have paid attention in school kids.”

Perhaps the teacher gets so frustrated with kids who no longer care about learning and just want to make trouble and are disrespectful. The teacher turns from “really caring” to “demeaning, condescending and hateful”.

When the kids finally have had enough, they conspire to get the teacher fired. Under those circumstances, the teacher looses all retirement benefits, and reputation. He/she devises a series of escape room scenarios based on subject matter they should have learned.

[Mike Coste]

Thanks, Ken! These are all great ideas. I appreciate your thougtful comments.

[Rachelle Storti]

IT (2017) horror conventions

Title/Concept: IT (2017) In the summer of 1989, a group of bullied kids band together to destroy a shape-shifting monster, which disguises itself as a clown and preys on the children of Derry, their small Maine town (IMDB).

Terrorize Characters: Kids misunderstood/mistreated by adults, children going missing, each character’s greatest fear manifested into reality, psychological and physical harm, death.

Isolation: Psychological torture unique/private to each kid until they share what they’ve seen. If they are alone they are more vulnerable.

Death: Several kids missing, presumed dead, audience sees Georgie/others die.

Monster: Killer clown, cursed town.

High tension: Kids keep going missing, dodging the town bullies, terrifying visions, awful adults, threat of physical harm/death from a monster they don’t know how to protect themselves from.

Departure from reality: Fears are made physical that can harm a person. The clown can show up anywhere any time in any form, can communicate through television, and seems to be everywhere at once.

Moral Statement: Cooperation, stronger together, conquer your fears.

IT is a classic; a highly relatable horror.

My Concept (Needs a title)

Concept: A deranged surgeon forces colleagues to aid him in his mission to create mythical beings from the bodies of his victims.

Terrorize the characters: The colleagues will be terrorized potentially through blackmail, forcing them to aid the surgeon in his mission. The group which finds themselves trapped in his compound will be terrorized by the fear of being his next experiment and by happening across those he has already transformed.

Isolation: Once inside, nobody can leave. The building is like a maze so people will be separated at times.

Death: Losing patients on the table, members of the group being killed by the surgeon’s creations.

Monster/Villain: The deranged surgeon as well as the people he has transformed.

High tension: Will they escape? Will the colleagues continue to operate or will they overcome their fear of exposing the secrets held against them and quit? What mythical creations are hidden within the compound and how dangerous are they?

Departure from reality: Surgically altering humans/animals into Medusas, sirens, etc.

Moral Statement: Don’t play God. Something with the secrets of each member of the operating team akin to the seven deadly sins. Members of the group have the opportunity to reveal a moral statement as well.

What I learned doing this assignment is that when you search for “the top horror films,” a lot of them should really be categorized as thrillers. I was able to find some horrors involving surgery, which I will be able to watch as research for my idea. I WILL NOT, however, watch Human Centipede!

[Kenneth Wood]

Interesting concept, Chelle.

What location will you use for your compound? Someplace here in the U.S., a foreign country, an isolated island?

This made me think one of those Mission of Mercy group of surgeons going to some mystical place in a jungle.

[Rachelle Storti]

I am thinking of something along the lines of being isolated/wooded, not necessarily tropical. I want it to be a place that is almost in plain sight of the town living around it. Difinetly U.S.

[Bill Anderson]

What I learned doing this assignment is that the High Tension convention in my story needs much more work!

A QUIET PLACE : in a post-apocalyptic world, earth has been invaded by aliens that feed off humans – their only sense is super-human hearing: if you make a sound you’re eaten – family with a deaf daughter try to survive.

Terrorise the characters: pre-title, the family are travelling barefoot with their 3 children – the youngest boy defies specific warning and plays with a toy that makes sound – his father can’t rescue the child from an alien – all the family witness the child’s demise. Main timeline, mom is pregnant – how do you give birth without making a sound? Banging on roof just animals – release – but the animals make sound near the family home and are eaten by aliens. Mom in labor impales her foot on a nail – makes sound – aliens come for a feast…

Isolation: beacons show neighbouring farms are distant – sources of sound are separated for protection – but this also means isolation: nobody nearby to help. Family are split up, separated, isolated at the birthing climax when maximum number of aliens descend on the farm.

Death: aliens kill all living creatures they hear – the first devastating pre-title child loss haunts the family with guilt/horror. We see snuffling animals killed just outside the family home. We see an old man grieving for his dead wife deliberately screams so the aliens will end his life. The only other death we see is the father, deliberately sacrificing himself to fulfil the promise he makes to his wife to protect his two older children – by screaming so the alien attacking his children kills him instead and they escape.

Monster: huge grotesque alien creatures with segmented, armour-plated bodies, massive rows of razor sharp teeth, and complex, highly sensitive, organic ears. They have an Achilles Ear – the frequency of the deaf daughter’s hearing aid that dad modified incapacitates them in agony.

High Tension: constant threat – if you make the tiniest sound the aliens will hear and come to eat you. Because the aliens cannot see or smell, they might be inches away from you but don’t know you’re there – a chance to survive if only you can overcome your fear and remain completely silent.

Departure from reality: alien invasion

Moral statement: do whatever you can to protect your family – you may be surprised what delivers – dad’s continuing (failed) work on improving his deaf daughter’s hearing aid is emotionally rejected by her – but his work is key to his family’s survival after he sacrifices himself.

I really liked the counterpoint of the deaf daughter with the super-hearing aliens, and the emotionally true frustration she had with her Dad’s continued failures to make a hearing aid that worked for her, and his faith that he would eventually succeed.

I also like the care taken in the pre-title to show that the family had tried to protect their youngest as much as possible – from mom catching the toy before it hit the floor and made a noise, to dad removing the batteries and telling his son the toy would be too loud. When the child was taken by the alien, it was as emotionally true as if the child had been run down by a real-world truck, and the devastation that haunts the family gave great truth to their character journeys.

My story:

MOTHERLAND

Horror Concept:

A. The monster/villain.

B. The interesting terror.

C. An isolated and horrific environment

D. The people who will be terrorized.

A. Mother: the ghost/life force of a mother secretly buried on a family farm

B. The dirt on the farm, and everything alive in it, can supernaturally kill.

C. The isolated family farm – which the dirt moves to completely cut off.

D. The farmer, his three daughters, two husbands.

When a family consider leaving/selling their failing farm, the ghost of their mother, secretly buried there 30 years ago rises up to stop them leaving, and claim them permanently…

Terrorize the characters: “Accidents” and “disasters” of extreme elemental nature – earth, air, fire and water – start to befall the father, his 3 daughters and their 2 husbands after a storm uproots a tree on their land and reveals to the daughters (discreetly, one by one) the skeleton of their Mother – the father’s account of her death is no longer credible – the belief that the dead mother is seeking vengeance for what was done to her destroys trust in the family.

Isolation: Gathered to “celebrate” the father’s 70^th birthday (and divide the farm) the mother-skeleton-revealing storm cuts off access/power/internet to the isolated farmhouse. Subsequent “natural” events isolate the family on the farm even more.

Death: The whole family will be killed by extreme/supernatural forces we believe are summoned by the mother – except the youngest daughter (deaf veterinarian), the newborn baby the veterinarian has to cut out of her dead middle sister, and the father’s wise collie dog.

The Monster: The mother’s skeleton rising up out of the ground entwined in the root bolus of a tree, and permeated by a mycelial web is the manifestation of a malign force that can and will destroy you wherever there are roots and fungus…

High Tension: Will anyone have the strength and the wit to survive the forces that have been released?

Departure from Reality: Nature becomes so extremely malign it’s unnatural.

Moral Statement: Treat mother earth with respect and she will look after you – mess with her at your peril.

[Kenneth Wood]

I like your concept, Bill.

“Once you live here you can never leave. If you try, you die.”

[Jalynn Venis]

Horror Conventions

What I learned doing this assignment is that horror writers are very familiar with horror conventions and appear to make an effort to put as many of these into their stories as possible.

<div>
Dreams
in the Witch House / Concept: A 19^th Century spiritualist tries
to connect with his deceased twin sister with catastrophic results.
</div><div>

Terrorize
The Characters: The writer used the fears of the dark, the unknown, pain
and death, along with a scary witch and disgusting rodent with a human
head.

Isolation:
The man takes a room in a “witch’s house” because he thinks he’ll likely
experience something other-worldly there.

Death:
He fears the dead witch that he sees in his dreams is trying to take his
life.

Monster/Villain:
The monster is the witch who appears to him and wants his life to
reanimate her own, and the true villain is her familiar, a monkey with a
human face who kills the man after the witch is killed by his sister.

High
Tension: The puzzles included how to get to another plane of existence to
connect with his dead sister, using an unknown drug to induce an altered
state, contending with a witch chasing him around his room and into the
death forest vortex where his sister went after dying unexpectedly.

Departure
from Reality: When the witch appears outside of her house, follows him
into the death forest where he looks for his sister, and later to a church
where he’s hiding. There the witch throws open the church’s door and drags
him across the pews and back to her house. His sister reappears there in
time to prevent the witch from killing him and destroys the witch. After
that, she tells her brother she’s not afraid to leave the earth plane
anymore and to let her go.

Moral
Statement: The dead should stay dead. Don’t attempt to bring them back to
life. Drugs kill (ultimately).

</div>

Jalynn’s Story

Concept 1: Wildcat

Monster/Villain: 3 Big Cats (Cougar, Black Panther, Cheetah)

Terror: The Big Cats are pets that get loose when a group of Frat boys decide to play a drinking game and it spills over into the cats’ water bowl.

Environment: An oilman’s ranch in Wyoming

Victims: Some of the Frat boys and an innocent housekeeper

Fears: Fear of creatures, fear of the unknown, fear of darkness, fear that something terrible will happen, fear of pain, fear of death.

Conventions

<div>
Concept:
Fraternity brothers play a drinking game with deadly results at the family
estate of one of them and get the family’s big cats to eat the evidence of
the “dead pledge.”
</div><div>

Terrorize
The Characters: After the cats are given alcohol while loose in the house,
they react badly and start attacking the frat boys. The boys try to get
away from the maneaters and sacrifice each other in some cases. Fear of
the unknown, fear of death, fear of the unseen, fear of being stalked,
fear of pain, fear of torture, fear that something terrible will happen, fear
of creatures.

</div><div>

Isolation:
The group of boys is spending a weekend at an oilman’s estate where he has
big cats as pets. His son is one of the frat boys.

Death:
Each frat boy is afraid they’ll be the next victim of the cats, and most
of them do die.

Monster/Villain:
The cats look like monsters, but the real villain is the boy who forced
the pledges to drink until they had alcohol poisoning and one died. He’s
also the one who suggested they feed the dead kid to the cats and gave
them their first taste of man-meat.

High
Tension: Scenes with each of the cats stalking and killing the boys, each
kill more gruesome; scenes where the son of the ranch owner is trying to
trap the cats and get them back in their cages.

Departure
from Reality: The last kid to get killed is the boy who started this whole
deadly weekend. His death, seen from his POV, while the cats devour him,
is the most horrible.

Moral
Statement: It’s not all right to force someone to do something that goes
against their will or moral values, and it’s especially not OK to bend
someone to your crazy-assed twisted will while others stand by and watch,
allowing it to happen and making them all complicit in the crime.

</div>

[Radford White]

Hi Cheryl, for some reason, Im not getting my emails for homework. Not in my inbox, nor my junk folder. It’s rad@radfordwhite.com – dont want to fall further behind – or is there another way I should raise this?

[Radford White]

What I learned:

This film was more of a thriller than horror, as hardly anybody died and was mainly about mystery, intrigue and suspense instead of panic, terror and hysteria.

The black goo was a great monster device but too much was spent on the relationship between mother and daughter, building suspense.

A bit of a disappointment to realise it wasnt a horror film after committing to it but there will be others!

Title / Concept:

Matriarch

Terrorize The Characters:

Main character is bulimic, alcoholic, drug taking, promiscuous and lonely but presents as “modern woman” in advertising.

Going insane, high anxiety, hysteria at home

Has an overdose episode

Contemplates suicide with a knife

Gets a call from long lost mother

Mother tries to poison, but unwittingly her bulimia helps her get rid of the poison

Isolation:

Lives alone.

Drives out to the isolated countryside to visit Mother at farm

Ran out into a paddock by herself

Death:

Man (Father) disappears underwater in a swamp at intro

Dead animal at driveway entrance of Mother’s farm

Mother dies at the hands of the daughter Laura – smashes head in with butt of rifle

Monster/Villain:

Self abuse – Alcohol, vodka, Cocaine, Casual sex, Loneliness

Mother trying to kill her but never doing it

High Tension:

Black nose bleed, anxiety at work, quit job, home, mother who she hasnt spoken to for 20 years calls and invites home

Mother screamed at Laura the main character when she was asleep

Mother in overcoat chants Laura’s name in her room again, slaps her face. Laura is unconscious from the water her mother gave her, drags her into the garden but wakes up.

Black goo festering in the greenhouse

Laura gets taken by a villager to the greenhouse

Departure from Reality:

When Main character dies from an overdose, black goo spreads across the bathroom floor into her mouth, which then brings her back to life.

Outside, she sees white milk coming towards her on the wet pavement and sees a woman eating a baby, but is a nightmare.

Mother hasnt aged since she saw her 20 years earlier

Black goo coming as period blood

Mother has black goo coming from nose and panics

Mother tries to convince Laura to “talk to father (black goo)” in the greenhouse and attempts to hit her on the head, but hides intention at last minute.

Mother is deteriorating from black goo in mouth

Strange stuff going on under Laura’s skin, and all blackened.

People drink black goo from her mothers breasts in a “church” service, then all have sex.

Tree in greenhouse is “Matriach” eating the villager

Matriacrch is the black good who is released by Laura main character somehow (not clear)

Laura takes herself to the marsh to give herself to the Matriarch like her father did

Moral Statement:

Taking life for granted when others would do anything to keep theirs going.

3. Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great horror film?

Four locations – her apartment, her work, her mother’s house and the church. Great contrast between modern life and old life.

MY CONCEPT:

Working Title: The Creative Curse

Monster: Supernatural artist spirit searching for truth

Terror: Sucks people being lied to and cheated into being subject of the painting; they’re painted into and trapped in the canvas together with their worst fears of which they can’t escape.

Environment: Art galleries

Victims: The innocent people deceived by the Liar / cheater into the painting and makes them live their worst fears and the liar watches the pain they’ve inflicted until the liar confesses ALL of their wrong doing in which case the spirit then releases the innocent to carry out their revenge on the Liar / cheater.

Terrorize The Characters:

Having to face their fears whether they’re ready to or not in a truth reckoning

Isolation:

Entombed inside a painting with their worst fears

Death:

Innocent people die when the liar / cheater doesnt confess, also the Cheater dies if they do confess

Monster/Villain:

Artist spirit searching for and playing with perverse rewards for telling the truth

High Tension:

Why are these people taken by a spirit and put into a canvas prison? Will the liar / cheater confess? Will the innocent get out? Are they so innocent after all when it comes to seeking revenge?

Departure from Reality:

Being sucked into a painting, bound within the frame with worst fears.

Moral Statement:

Trust no-one.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by  Radford White.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by  Radford White.