Lesson 9

[Adam Wright]

What I learned is I have more of an outline than I thought but I feel like it’s still missing a lot. I’m hoping adding in the horror emotions will really help.

ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR

INT – FILM SET – DAY

Dylan, a director, is pushing the boundaries of Amanda, an actress who has had a recent scandal, telling her to do things that cross ethical lines and putting her in physical danger. When she pushes back he reminds her of the paycheck she has waiting for her.

Dylan has a frank meeting with the actors to tell them he wants everyone to be in method, and react to what they hear but understand that everything is fiction. They are in a situation where there is a killer on the loose and they are to play their parts.

The actors agree to the conditions although several are skeptical of both method acting and Dylan’s demands. But they play along because Dylan has a legendary reputation of being a difficult genius.

INT – LIVING ROOM – DAY

The actors are shown rehearsing dialogue, practicing their screams, putting makeup on etc. Amanda makes snide comments to Virginia who retorts about the recent scandal Amanda has had. Alessandra tries to make peace. Chuck prays and makes the sign of the cross. Ravi cracks jokes.

Amanda tells the other actors how difficult Dylan is being and says they should all walk out in protest. But these are young actors who want stardom and fame and know they are working with a legendary director so they decide to stay, even though there will be no car service for the remainder of the night.

EXT – DRIVEWAY – NIGHT

It’s dark and the roads get blocked by downed trees, rain is constant. Dylan tells the union guys and car service to make sure they don’t come back until morning. Chuck overhears this but thinks this is just part of Dylan’s method.

Chuck passes on what he just saw to the others. Most of them agree with Chuck, it’s just how Dylan is. But, Virginia and Alessandra are skeptical.

Ravi who has worked with Dylan talks about how ultimately it was a good experience for Dylan to push him to his limits and that Dylan knows what the rules are.

INT – KITCHEN – NIGHT

Dylan purposely injures an actor to elevate their performance to make it more believable.

Several actors disperse and try to get their thoughts together. They try to decide if Dylan is just pushing boundaries or if he is going too far.

Dylan passes the whole thing off as not meaning much and demands better performances from the actors.

INT – LIVING ROOM – NIGHT

Union workers leave due to regulations, the car service that takes actors to the woods leaves, and Dylan says he will take over camera and directing duties.

Chuck is warned away from Dylan as a director by union workers and/or drivers. He wants to stay to further his career. Chuck is sure things will work out.

The union worker reveals a little story about Dylan and how one of the actors he worked with quit acting completely because she was so traumatized.

Chuck is beginning to have an understanding of how far this could go.

INT – BEDROOM – NIGHT

After Virginia goes to shoot a scene, she doesn’t come back. Dylan insists she just went somewhere to be alone but there is blood on Dylan’s clothes. He says it’s just makeup. Alessandra is a full time nurse and realizes that if the blood is makeup, it’s very realistic.

The remaining actors make a plan to look for Virginia.

We see Dylan locking the door to the room Virginia was last seen in.

Some of the actors think Dylan has to have done something bad to Virginia. But a makeup person went into the room as well, so it could be nothing, Dylan, or the makeup person.

INT – BEDROOM – NIGHT

Virginia is stabbed over and over but the other actors think she’s just acting and they only hear her screams. Most of them are surprised at how real her screams sound.

ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN

EXT – DRIVEWAY – NIGHT

The actors are told the rest of the scenes will be filmed inside the house and so they all need to go in to get ready for their scenes. But once inside, the doors and windows automatically lock.

INT – KITCHEN – NIGHT

Dylan gets Amanda locked into a bear trap and refuses to let her out. He keeps rolling the camera and takes a knife and stabs into the actor.

The actors attempt to find ways out of the house but the house is trapped.

Amanda – The obnoxious one dies off screen when Dylan takes her to do a scene and stabs her to death. She is overconfident in her acting abilities because of her fame but Dylan knows she’s a terrible actress.

Despite the previous incidents, Dylan knows how to charm an actor. He uses that against Amanda, showing he is extremely persuasive.

INT – BEDROOM – NIGHT

While looking for ways out of the house, Jim and Carrie stumble upon the dead body of Virginia, her throat slit.

Dylan isolates pairs of actors but tells the others what doom is in store for each set of actors.

Some actors try to figure ways out of the trap while others decide to look for weapons.

MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!

INT – KITCHEN – NIGHT

Ravi sets off a trap and instead of helping, Dylan just keeps encouraging him to act like someone in the situation would. Dylan refuses to let him out. He keeps rolling the camera and takes a knife and stabs into the actor. Alessandra has to watch.

Dylan knows how to push the buttons of Alessandra and knows hurting her is less painful for her than watching someone else get hurt.

INT – HOUSE – DAY

Dylan takes glee in chasing actors around, setting off traps, and stabbing whoever he can corner. Dylan cuts the throat of Ravi right in front of the others. There is no denying he is actually killing people at this point.

The remaining actors can’t believe this is real and think Ravi is just pulling off some major acting.

Anyone who was still denying the situation is now confronted with the awful truth: there is a psychotic killer who controls their environment and is in hot pursuit of them.

ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR

INT – KITCHEN – NIGHT

The remaining male actors decide they can take Dylan down if they team up. Dylan cuts them down in the attempt but they survive, injured and weakened.

Dylan has the lovers trapped. Their only escape is to sacrifice the other or die.

Some fight Dylan and lose, while others try to get out but die in traps.

Carrie dies when her boyfriend chooses to stab her rather than die himself. James is killed by Dylan with a knife immediately after he kills Carrie.

Dylan only wants to see the deaths on film. When James breaks Dylan’s camera he snaps back to normal momentarily. But he finds a cell phone to use for footage and is right back to being a psychopath.

Dylan is telling the remaining characters what a wonderful film they are making as he cuts into them.

As the actors are quietly whispering to one another, trying to figure out what to do, Dylan pumps extremely loud music through the house, making it impossible to communicate verbally.

Chuck figures out how to cut the sound to the speakers.

While Dylan has control of the environment, he seems to forget actors have agency and can think outside of their assigned roles. The systems Dylan has in place can be overridden.

The actors who are left try to flee only to find more trapped rooms. But, they maneuver around so Dylan himself falls into the trap.

Alessandra and Chuck are the only ones left. Chuck goes to pray at a cross when the floor gives way. Alessandra tries to save him but is hit from behind by Dylan.

Chuck dives through the hole in the floor to get away from Dylan.

Chuck figures out how to open the doors to the house but when he presses the button to release the doors, a fatal electric shock is delivered.

Alessandra is the last one remaining after Dylan has killed everyone else.

Chuck dies in the attempt to escape but Alessandra, who Dylan thought was dead, regains consciousness. She stabs Dylan to death.

Dylan regrets what he’s done once the cameras are off.

EXT – DRIVEWAY – NIGHT

The last surviving member is in hysterics as she leaves the house to find the union workers and car service have returned and she is given treatment and asked to tell what happened.

We see some found footage of the film Dylan was making.

Alessandra is in shocked disbelief over what happened.

[Susannah Farrow]

Susannah’s Horror Outline Version 1

3. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
What I learned doing this assignment is how merging outlines can become the base of a script.

EXT – SWAMP / OUTSIDE – DAY
There is a fire, there are screams, there are gunshots. These are Bonnie’s memories that she’s remembering as she sits on the ground facing the endless, watery swamp that surrounds her hometown.
Time to get to work, she says. She stands and heads to the centre of town where people have gathered to search for a missing man. She is uncomfortable being there.
A town drunk, who they think fell into the swamp during a drunken stupor, is missing. Though not a very productive member of the community, the drunk is one of their own and is therefore valuable.
No one believes anything harmful has happened to him, with Bonnie saying there is nothing to be worried about at all. They deny anything more serious has happened.
One of the townspeople, Elijah, suggests they should all leave the town and abandon it – it has nothing but woe to offer and is a remnant of the past. The main characters argue against this, saying it is their home.
Horace tells the old man to leave them alone and starts searching for the drunk. Horace is certain nothing happened to drunk, as nothing happens in the town.
The local cop suggests the drunk could be dead and search efforts could become retrieval efforts after finding one of his belongings shredded and covered in blood. Our main group of characters find the drunk – murdered.
It looks like he’s been cut to ribbons with a sharp knife. Some of the townspeople think one of their own must have done it. Bonnie tries to keep everyone calm. Horace desperately makes plans to leave town.
One of the group, Waylon says there is no killer, but an animal must have got him and so tries to rally the group. Elijah says none of them are safe, but won’t confirm why, other than to say he suspects there is more going on than a simple murder.
There is a voodoo doll near the body, which makes Magnolia more afraid than the others. She wants to leave the group and go home, but she is pressured into staying with them.
The group heads back to the centre of town where everyone else is waiting. During a short speech, the local cop is decapitated in front of everyone, destroying the town’s beacon of safety. The killer’s features are hidden by his dark clothes and mask, but the killing is enough to make everyone panic.

[Carole Avila]

Carole Avila – Horror Outline Version 1

THIS IS ONLY A PART OF MY OUTLINE. IT WILL TAKE ME DAYS TO FINISH WRITING IT ALL OUT, SO I DECIDED TO POST WHAT I HAVE SO FAR. THE REST OF THE STORY IS FLESHED OUT, BUT NOT WRITTEN IN OUTLINE FORM.

What I learned is how all the pieces of the lessons we’ve learned knit into a cohesive script.

INT — MANSION STAIRWELL — NIGHT

An old lady, frightened and near tears, sticks her head out her bedroom door in a Spanish style mansion. She steps into the hallway in her night gown and robe clutching the neck. She steps barefooted to the top of the stairs, looking down at the mid-way landing. Nothing is there. She steps silently to the landing and scans the large foyer. Nothing is there. “Who’s there?” she calls out, and continues downstairs. After the first couple of steps, as she’s looking down, a sharp, skeletal finger pushes her in the back and she falls down the stairs hits the floor. She moans and then passes out.

EXT — MANSION FRONT OF HOUSE — DAY

Adley and her parents arrive at her deceased grandmother’s Spanish mission-style mansion in Hachita in the New Mexico desert. The nearest neighbor is a mile away. Adley is irritated. She forgot her cell phone at home and her father wouldn’t go back to get it because they were three hours out.
Her father mentions the mansion is called Capilla Manor and shares a little history of the building. At the front door, they’re greeted by a burst of cold air. Her father says that’s because the house was closed up for a several months.

INT — MANSION DOWNSTAIRS — DAY

Adley and her mother explore the house and Adley hears strange noises above the kitchen. Her mother, Caroline, says it’s probably Adley’s father, Roger, putting luggage away. In the foyer, her father enters with their bags, optimistic about their stay. Adley asks if he’s been upstairs, but he hasn’t.

INT — MANSION UPSTAIRS HALLWAY — DAY

Adley asks to sleep in the maid’s quarters downstairs, but her parents veto the idea, saying they’d rather have her upstairs near them. Adley picks the room at the farthest end of the hallway, and her parents try to convince her to take a room closer to theirs, which is Grandma Aggies former bedroom, but Adley makes a stink about getting the bedroom at the end of the hallway and her parents give in because they hate her temper tantrums.
A dark mist forms in front of Adley’s bedroom door, but only she can see it. She thinks it’s because the last lightbulb at the end of the hall is out. Adley grips the handle, and it’s freezing cold handle. She realizes the room is directly above the kitchen, where she heard the strange noises.
She enters the room and still has the creeps. She sees the dust ruffle move at the foot of her bed. Her mother enters and startles her. The mother says it’s time for dinner and leaves. The dust ruffle moves again. Adley rushes out after her.

INT — DINING ROOM — EVENING

During dinner, Roger and Caroline discuss potential improvements on the property. Adley is still feeling frightened and after dinner, goes up to her room, determined to find out what moved the dust ruffle.

INT — ADLEY’S BEDROOM — EVENING

Adley inspects her room and looks under the bed, seeing only dust balls. She changes into her jams and sits on the edge of the bed, thinking about where to hang a picture. Something tickles her foot and puts her feet on the bed. She looks under her bed again and sees a white blur crawling deeper beneath the bed. Scared, she sits up on the bed. Her father knocks on the door and sees her upset, wanting to know what is wrong. He says there’s nothing there. She said the dust ruffle moved, and he explains that old houses have lots of cracks in the floor or baseboard molding. He said she could have also made it flutter when she was moving on the bed. He leaves the room.
That night Adley falls asleep as a shadow slides off the wall and forms into a snaky mist. It slithers under the bed.

INT — DINING ROOM — DAY

During breakfast the parents ask Adley if she wants to drive to the small town of Minero. Her father explains it’s a great old mining town. After finding out there’s nothing to do there, Adley says she may go later when she’s desperate. After she leaves, Caroline assures Roger that Adley won’t be so grumpy after she settles in.

INT — ADLEY’S BEDROOM — DAY

Adley spends the day bored out of her skull and is actually grateful for bedtime. She gets in her pajamas and falls asleep.
Adley wakes in the middle of the night. She was having nightmares, thinking she heard something and that the room is ice cold. She wakes suddenly but can’t remember what her nightmare was about. As she’s drifting off to sleep, she hears a sound like a nail being filed. Then she hears a light drumming, like someone impatiently tapping their fingers. She hears someone in the hall and calls out for either parent.
Her mother comes to the room, and Adley says there’s something under the bed. Caroline looks under the bed and screams. She jumps on the bed with Adley, screaming for her husband. Her mother accidentally knocks the lamp off the nightstand, and it breaks. A mouse rushes across the floor. Roger finds a discarded shoebox and catches it.
Caroline asks Adley if she’s ready to switch rooms, and Adley goes into her cranky mood. The mother leaves, irritated, and shuts off the light and closes the door.
Adley is afraid to be alone, but is eventually so tired, she starts to fall asleep. A huge, dark figure forms into a deformed skeleton with fangs, but she’s sot tired, she thinks it’s the shadow of a tree from outside making the dark figure. It dances like a puppet without strings and thrusts claw-like hands at the bed. Its black pincers clamp onto one of Adley’s feet and moves it side-to-side. Adley shakes it off in her sleep. The pincers dissolve into a mist and drifts under the bed.

INT — ADLEY’S BEDROOM — DAY

Adley wakes up and rubs her foot, knowing something is off. She tumbles out of bed and gets things to wear for the day. She hears more tapping under the bed and rushes out the room. She looks back, but sees and hears nothing. She put her hand inside a sock so as not to feel the stinging cold on her hand.

She picks up her stuff and runs downstairs to change in the maid’s quarters. She meets her parents in the dining room for breakfast. They comment on how tired she looks. They say they’re going to clean up the bottom level of the house (dusting, washing windows), and Adley, who is behaving very pleasantly, offers to help. When she leaves the room, her father says they might have to buy more mice.

INT – ADLEY’S ROOM — NIGHT

Adley is exhausted after a day of cleaning. She grabs jams from her room and runs back into the hallway, not hearing or seeing anything. She showers in the bathroom. She concocts a plan to have one of her parents to to her room. There, she’ll see if they hear noises. If not, they could help her search the room for whatever is making the noise.
Her mother walks down the hall and at the door, watches Adley put a sock on her hand to open the door. Adley says the handle is dirty. She then asks inane questions to keep her mom in the room, hoping she’ll hear the noises. Caroline asks her what’s wrong and Adley says she doesn’t want to stay there. Caroline thinks she has the creeps because her grandmother died in the house, but Adley denies it.
Her mother leaves the room, and Adley hears and sees nothing. She gets in bed, leaving the light on, and is eventually so tired, she lulls off to sleep.
Adley snaps awake hours later. The light is off. Something tickled the bottom of her foot, then it jabs her. She screams for her parents, but they’re so tired and don’t hear her. Adley jumps off the bed and rushes to the door. She puts her hand on the icy handle, and it burns. She pulls her hand back and hears hissing. She looks over her shoulder and sees a skeletal hand crawling like a spider across the mattress, heading towards her. Adley grabs the handle and it burns her hand, but she tears the door open and jumps in the hallway. The hand crawls under the bed. She hears an ugly snicker and slams the door. She holds her hand and bolts downstairs.

INT — GREAT ROOM — NIGHT

Adley sits on the living room sofa and covers herself with a throw blanket. She waits and listens, but nothing happens. She starts to nod off. She hears an occasional thump or hiss and it wakes her. She stays on the sofa, going in and out of sleep.

INT — STAIRWELL — DAY

Adley is fully awake and has to go upstairs for clothing. She’s at the bottom of the steps and hears nothing. She quietly ascends the stairs. She looks left, but her parents’ door is closed. Adley stands in the hallway and pushes her bedroom door open. All is quiet. She surveys the dust ruffle. Her mother asks what’s wrong and Adley jumps.
She tells her mom about the “weird spindly-legged spider thing, and her mother thinks Adley saw another mouse. Caroline is going to get Roger, but Adley convinces her to say while she gets clothes. Her mom agrees, thinking Adley is afraid of the mouse.
In the hallway, Adley follows her mother, who goes into her room. Adley glances back down the hall and sees that the shadowed area has grown darker and is pulsating. She runs downstairs.

INT — GREAT ROOM — DAY

Adley spends another day bored. She reads old magazines and watches a bunch of old movies (DVDs.)

INT — UPSTAIRS HALLWAY — NIGHT

Roger said he found another lamp to put in Adley’s room since her mother broke the other one. Caroline sees her daughter’s unenthusiastic response and walks Adley to her room.

INT — ADLEY’S BEDROOM — NIGHT

Caroline steps right through the dark mist, not seeing it. She opens the door and has no reaction to the door handle. The lamp shade is awful—faded and looks like rawhide. She said the bed would be great without the ugly lampshade and the ugly headboard, made of yellowed, ivory sticks.
Adley sees this as a chance to get her pajamas and a change of clothes. Caroline says they can shop for a bed online, and Adley tells her it doesn’t matter because they’ll eventually return home. At this, Caroline presses her lips together and doesn’t say anything.
Her mom starts talking about decorating ideas while Adley gathers her stuff, yawning because she’s emotionally exhausted. Her mother mentions she wanted a degree in interior design and that surprises Adley, who rarely gets to share conversations like this with her mom. Caroline sits on the bed and tells Adley about her college days and pranks they played on other students.
Adley sets her pile of things on the dresser and sits next to Caroline against the headboard as she continues sharing funny college stories. Adley is so relaxed, she falls asleep. Caroline pulls the comforter over her and starts out of the room. She thinks she sees a black from rush across the room, like a hand with long fingers, but she decides it was probably an owl flying past the window. She shuts off the light and closes the door.

INT — ADLEY’S BEDROOM — EARLY MORNING

Adley dreams of being cold. She is startled into wakefulness, hearing a noise under the bed. She sees she’s in the dark and alone in her room. She scrambles to her feet and holds onto the ugly headboard for leverage. The cap is loose, but that doesn’t matter when she hears more noise under the bed.
She inches to the foot of the bed and hears tapping on the floor, crossing from the headboard to the foot of the mattress. She runs back to the headboard and the same tapping trails under the bed. Then a distinct hiss fills the room.
Adley has an idea. She puts a sock on one hand (to open the door quickly) and balls up the other, and throws it so whatever is below the bed will chase it, and she can run to the door. Just as she throws it, something tugs at the foot of the bed.
Adley grabs the lamp and the cord rips out of the socket. Her mother opens the door and turns on the light. Adley asks if she sees anything under the bed and her mother said the dust ruffle just moved. She screams and jumps onto the bed with Adley. They both cry out for him.
Roger enters with a golf club asking what’s wrong. Caroline shouts that’s there’s another mouse. He steps calmly to the bed to the bed .and Adley warns him that there’s a crawling hand under there. He lifts the bedskirt and yells. He holds a dirty sock like a soiled diaper and tells Adley she’s lucky he set the club down because he almost killed her sock.
Caroline is relieved and Roger helps her off the bed. Adley accuses her of seeing it, and Caroline says the dust ruffle moved because Adley was moving on the bed. Her parents are mad because of Adley arguing and leave.
Adley grabs her pile of stuff off the dresser and runs after them. She shuts the door and hears tapping on it. She runs to the stairwell as her parents start downstairs.

INT — DINING ROOM — DAY

Caroline and Roger feel sorry for Adley because she looks so exhausted. They ask her again to go into Minero, and she says okay.

EXT — GRAVEL PARKING LOT, MINERO — DAY

Adley is complaining about the sleepy old town as her father pulls into a gravel lot in front of a run down but open diner. Her parents are aggravated by her complaining. The server is on a break and puts out her cigarette underfoot. Roger and Caroline say hello, but Adley is frowning her father suggests she got to the library while he and her mom get coffee.
Adley stomps next door to the weed strewn lot and enters the plain building. She sees a horse tethered to a post and smirks.

INT — MINERO LIBRARY — DAY

The local sheriff stands at the counter, selling a newspaper to an old lady. She leaves, and the sheriff apparently knows who she is. He asks Adley if her parents are around. He goes to visit them in the diner. Adley explores the deserted library.
She sees Victor Trumillo and huffs. He says something snarky and engages her in conversation. He warns her of an ancient demonic curse that haunts her grandmother’s mansion, a thing that kills the first born child in every generation on their 16th birthday, and she’s about to turn 16. Victor tells Adley that her grandmother was attacked by the creature, and although it didn’t kill her, her health declined from her injuries.
Adley thinks he’s crazy but admits she hears and sees things, but doesn’t want to believe it’s more than mice. Victor says he’ll contact his great-uncle Pablo, a shaman, who is up north helping at someone’s ranch. Victor will talk to his great-uncle to see what they can do about the demon, although Adley still thinks it may be mice.
Victor tells her about a trail in the back of her house. He says he can meet her there and tell her more about the curse in Capilla Manor. She asks why he pronounces it the wrong way. She learns “capilla” means “chapel” but it also refers to a mortuary. “Death House” in Spanish. She agrees to call him and they exchange numbers. The sheriff calls out, saying her parents are leaving.

EXT — DINER IN MINERO — DAY

Adley walks to the car. The sheriff tells the parents it was nice meeting them. He asks Adley if she met Victor Trumillo and her mother clamps a hand over her mouth. Adley says yes and keeps an eye on her mother. Caroline asks the sheriff if he said “Trumillo.” The sheriff assures her the Trumillo’s are good people and keep to themselves.

EXT — IN THE CAR HEADING TO HACHITA — DAY

Adley learns from her parents that someone in the Trumillo family wrote letters to her parents, asking them not to come to Capilla Manor. Caroline says they have different beliefs, and wants her to stay away from “that Trumillo boy.” Roger agrees, but more to appease his wife.

EXT — MANSION DRIVEWAY — DAY

They pull into the driveway, and Adley sees that there are no trees outside her 2nd story window. Tree branches couldn’t have made shadows on her wall.
They get out of the car and hear glass shattering. Roger goes inside to inspect the house while Adley and her mother wait outside. He came back out and said he couldn’t find any broken glass. He even looked out back and didn’t see a thing. The house was locked up. Nothing was taken or damaged.
Caroline reminds him that once he said sound carried from the trail behind the house and they accept that as an explanation, although Roger didn’t see anything back there.

INT — MANSION FOYER — DAY

Adley asks if she can walk on the trail behind the house, and Roger says he’ll get his hiking boots on. Adley says she wants to go alone and will stay within calling distance.
Her parents go upstairs for a nap, and she calls Victor in the kitchen on the landline. He says to meet her at the big pine tree at the top of the trail leading from her backyard. Adley brushes her hair and puts on a little make-up, convincing herself it has nothing to do with Victor.
She packs her backpack with snacks and water.

EXT — MANSION BACKYARD TRAIL — DAY

Adley follows the weed-strewn trail in the back yard to a hiking trail in the backyard. She sees a big pine. Indigenous mesquite, pine trees, and shrubs hide the mansion. Victor rides up on a horse, the one tethered outside of the library.
They take a walk on the trail, and Victor tells her more about the history of the curse, where a gypsy is accused of grave robbing and is attacked by a guard. But the gypsy pushes down the guard, who falls on his knife. As he’s dying, the gypsy curses him, but the guard dies before the curse is completely said, which means the curse now falls onto the gypsy.
Victor also tells Adley that she is a descendant of the gypsy, which is why the curse is going after her. Adley denies it, saying their family is German, not Spanish. Still, she asks if the curse is real, how does she stop it. He says she needs the exact words of the counter-curse, but he doesn’t know it. It’s in a sacred gypsy manuscript but no one knows where it’s at. They believe it’s hidden somewhere in the mansion. He says his Great-uncle Pablo is a shaman and may know, but he’s helping someone on their ranch up north.
Victor tells Adley not to worry because it only gets bad if she starts to see a skeletal hand in the room. Adley tells him she saw something but thought it was an ugly mouse. She tells him about the shadow outside of her room and how cold the door handle is.
He says he tell his great-uncle and ask what to do. Adley tells him to hang up if one of her parents answers. He understands how they feel about his family. He walks her back to the top of the trail behind the mansion.

INT — CAPILLA MANOR LIVING ROOM — DAY

Adley needs an excuse to stay outside, away from her room, but also needs to search the property for the gypsy manuscript. She tells her parents she wants to garden, and they offer to get her some seeds. Roger says there are tools in the garage, and he’ll get them, but she says she’ll do it, surprising both her parents.

INT — CAPILLA MANOR GARAGE — DAY

Adley does a thorough search of the garage but doesn’t find the manuscript. She brings in trowels and gloves in a basket and a metal rake.

INT — CAPILLA MANOR BACKYARD — DAY

Adley sets them on the back patio to garden the next day. She looks longingly toward the back trail of the house, remembering her visit with Victor.

INT — CAPILLA MANOR MAID’S QUARTERS — DAY

After dinner she sneaks into the maid’s quarters to get her pajamas, but all her clothes are gone.

INT — CAPILLA MANOR PARENTS’ ROOM — DAY

Adley goes upstairs and asks her mom where her stuff is. Caroline said she put it back in Adley’s room because her parents already told her she can’t sleep downstairs.
Rather than argue about the clothing, Adley asks about her maternal grandparents. Her mom explains that her father was Russian and her mother was Scottish. Adley is relieved they’re not gypsies. Her dad reminds her that his father was German. She thanks him and as she’s leaving the room, he says that Grandma Aggie was Spanish.
Adley argues, saying that Grandma was born in London. Roger points out that Grandma Aggie was the daughter of an English woman, Sondra Wilkes, but her father was a Spaniard, Armando Rodrigues, but the Wilkes family frowned on him because he was a gypsy.

INT — ADLEY’S ROOM — EVENING

Adley grabs pajamas and a change of clothes from her room. The tapping and hissing starts and she runs out, slams the door, and goes downstairs.

INT — CAPILLA MANOR LIVING ROOM — EVENING

She gets comfortable on the couch and wakes throughout the night hearing noises from upstairs. It’s so loud, she is starting to believe it’s not mice.

INT — CAPILLA MANOR LIVING ROOM — DAY

The next morning after breakfast, her parents go upstairs and she scours the entire downstairs for the manuscript, looking behind and under furniture, looking for secret hiding places but finds nothing.

INT — CAPILLA MANOR KITCHEN — DAY

She calls Victor to tell him of her search and of her heritage. He’s still waiting to hear back from his great-uncle. He says he’ll finish his chores and see her in an hour at the pine tree.

INT — ADLEY’S ROOM — DAY

Adley figures she’d grab as many things from her room as possible. She meets her mom in the hallway. Not wanting to stay in her room alone, she asks her mom to help her pick out an outfit. Her mother is pleasantly surprise and helps her. Adley tells her that in the library, Victor told her about some girls who ride in the back trail, which makes Caroline happy. Caroline leaves, the noises start, and Adley takes her things downstairs to change.

INT — MAID’S QUARTERS — DAY

Adley hears noises while getting dressed. In the maid’s bathroom, she hears hissing, and then something sounds like it’s saying her name. (“Aaaa. Aaaad…”)

INT — LIVING ROOM — DAY

She grabs her stuff and hides her things in the living room behind the sofa. She runs to the French doors leading to the back patio, and she hears “Aaad-leeey!” behind her, but no one is there. Adley rushes outside.
EXT — TRAIL BEHIND HOUSE — DAY

Adley waits for Victor at the pine tree. He rides up on a different horse. His great-uncle can’t leave. Although his work isn’t finished, he’s having trouble with his truck. Victor explains how Aggie said she was pushed downstairs with sticks. His great-uncle knew there was something evil in the house. He nailed the windows in her bedroom shut after filling the sills with sacred objects, and poured them into the door frame and threshold so whatever was in there couldn’t leave the room with the door open.
Victor’s mother, who worked for Aggie and became good friends with her, said everyone heard glass breaking at one time or another. The gardener said he heard snakes hissing but never found one on the property.
Adley tells Victor how she heard it say her name. He says he’ll tell his great-uncle. Victor comforts her and is about to kiss her, but her father calls her. He gives her a quick kiss on the cheek and jumps on his horse, saying he’ll see her later and rides off.
Caroline only sees a dirt cloud and thinks Adley met with the girls Victor told her about. They say they’ll have lunch at the house and Adley offers to fix sandwiches for them, leaving her parents pleasantly surprised. They decide not to tell her that they’re planning of staying at Capilla Manor for good.

INT — KITCHEN — NIGHT

Adley calls Victor. She’s still thinking it could be mice in her room. While on the phone, she hears someone upstairs, thinking it could be her parents. She still needs to get more clean clothes from her room.

INT — UPSTAIRS HALLWAY — NIGHT

At the top of the stairs, Adley sees no one. The bulb is burned out at the end of the hallway. It’s darker than usual. Adley nudges the handle with her arm and the door opens. She turns on the light and leaves the door all the way open. She says to herself that clean clothes are so not worth it. She turns to leave, but the door is closed. A dark shape starts to materialize in the corner, but then the light goes out. She runs to the door and grabs the handle, but it is much colder. She yanks her hand back and turns on the light. In the corner, she sees the shadow is gone; now it’s right in front of her.

[Timothy G Winters]

Time: Horror Outline version 1
What I learned is that I am willing to accept creative defeat. ( I really wish your system of posting assignments was easier for me to grasp.

EXT – AFGHANISTAN DESERT – DAY
THREE MEN in Russian uniforms kneel in the blowing sand. Their uniforms are ragged. They are surrounded by Afghani fighters, all weapons trained on the prisoners. The Afghan leader, speaking Afghani, tells the Russians to get into the vehicle. Not sure if the Russians understand what is being said. The Russian commander studies the conveyance vehicle. He confers with his comrades in Russian. He spits and tells the rebels (Russian) to go to Hell and then repeats it in Afghani. The Rebel leader looks confused but then orders their execution. The Russians are shot.
EXT –OUTSIDE SAN ANGELO, TEXAS-/NIGHT
CHAS HOPPER kicked from the back of a pick-up . A THUG jumps out of the truck and and gives one last kick to the already beaten badly Chaz. Off the road is what looks like a used-car lot for old military vehicles. Chaz painfully moves to the locked gate of the compound: padlocked. He yells for help. Nothing, he is alone. He yells again, losing hope. In fury he tries breaking the lock. Too strong. Looking at the office door on the other side of the fence, he notices something move. There’s a man standing in front of the office now, dressed entirely in a white suit, not moving, no sound, just standing. “Hey, I need some help here!.” The padlock suddenly clicks open. Chas pushes through the gate his eyes on the figure in white. “I have a place for you, Chaz Hopper”, Says the white figure. The spectre slowly moves into the graveyard of broken military toys and as Chaz can’t do anything else he follows the creepy old guy, unable to see his face. Chaz is led to a particular old truck(a beat up Dodge Wc54 truck, circa 1942) and opens the driver’s side door for Chaz. “You need rest,’ says Gray. Chaz still can’t see the guy’s face but moves around and looks inside. Bad smelling thing but he could probably nap in there for a bit. Chaz doesn’t like it but could use some R and R right then. He catches sight of something chilling in the side view mirror: Looks like the guy in white has the face of a weird skull with glowing eyes. Chaz lets out a scream . . .

TRUCK INT – AFGHANISTAN CITY – DAY.
Chas awakens IN THE SCREAM. His left hand is cuffed to the steering wheel of the antique war surplus truck in familiar surroundings: Afghanistan? He reacts. Where is he? How’d he get here? He searches for a way to escape. No key to the cuffs. Tries to take off the steering wheel. Needs a wrench. GUNFIRE SOUNDS IN THE DISTANCE.

SARGEANT AMBROSE throws open the door and finds Chaz cuffed to the wheel.
Ambrose: What the hell you doin’ in my truck?
Chaz: I DON’T FUCKING KNOW!
Ambrose: Can You Drive?
Chaz: Ah-yeah . . .
Ambrose: You’re gonna drive!

Ambrose has Chaz drive the truck to a back entrance to a building. They wait. After hearing GUNFIRE, Ambrose says they have to go. There are several people trapped in the building but Ambrose gives up on them making it out alive. Chaz fights Ambrose to rescue the group in a building. Chaz backs the truck up to the door and is able to arrange the escape into the ambulance of JAMES HOWARD, PVT. DIANE SIKOWSKI, RAFI SAWRIZ, LELA MUHAMMED, and her baby Child, into the Dodge ambulance. They haul ass as gunmen shower the vehicle in bullets.

Corporal Ambrose says the truck and the package has to get to Mosul in less than 24 hours. Chaz can’t be in Afghanistan again. He was in Texas before; is this hell? Fired upon and the truck is damaged.
INT – TEMP. ARMY GARAGE – DAY
Ambrose gets the truck to mechanic ERIC COUSINS. The Mechanic is shocked when opening the hood, he has a vision of WWII Japanese soldiers dragging him from a sweat box. He reacts as if it’s just a static electricity. He can’t find any damage and doesn’t believe this old truck could have withstood the ambush. Warns them they will not get to Mosul but as the enemy moves in on the station, he joins them on the trip. The enemy is taking the city. Eric throws some tools in the back and goes with them as head out town.
INT — TRUCK – DAY.
While alone in the garage, Sikowski sees a uniformed Nazi in the empty truck with her. He tries to speak but there is no sound from him. He vanishes. She shakes it off, she’s got to be hallucinating…but the word “die” is etched into the truck’s side. A “W” is being etched above it. She jumps from the back as everyone else is getting back in. As she has no choi9ce, she joins them in the vehicle. GUNFIRE ERUPTS NEARBY.
EXT – AFGHANISTAN CITY – DAY.
The tank is filled and some spare cans of gas are hurriedly loaded. The truck speeds towards escape, Cousins is knocked unconscious. He nightmares that he is in that sweat box again. There is no organic sound as he is dragged out and a sword swings toward his neck. Upon waking, he is relieved that it was just an illusion. Visibility has gone down to zero in blowing sand. Ambrose tells him to lift himself out and see if he can get their bearings. Sikowski volunteers but Cousins does it anyway. He sticks his head above the truck and a low hung radio wire contacts his neck. The Mechanic is decapitated.
There is mayhem inside the ambulance. Sikowski wants to recover the body, but Howard won’t have it. They berate Ambrose for his sacrificing Cousins. Howard takes command.
INT — TRUCK – DAY.
Ambrose is sitting across from a man dressed in a white suit. Chaz is no longer there. The driver’s side window opens and the cab is filled with foul, burning fumes. Ambrose literally starts falling apart. He stumbles into the back and finds himself unharmed.
INT – TRUCK – DAY
A discussion with Howard, Sikowski and Ambrose about what is going on, as driver Chaz listens in. The Afghan mother remains silent. The only thing certain for Ambrose is that he has to get Howard to Mosul with the crate in the back. James Howard is with a company called Blackwater, and demands they get him there ASAP. It seems best that they all stay awake.

INT – TRUCK – NIGHT.
Chaz drives on. SHOTS wake everyone in the back of the truck. One of the gasoline cans is leaking around someone’s boots.

Chaz wants to stop. Howard takes the weapon and demands they drive on. What can they do?

Ambrose looks around at the group in the back trying not to succumb to sleep. He sees the man in white again. Or thinks he does.

Howard is glancing around the shadows also. He sees a vision of Vlad Tsepes and has a nightmare of having his hat nailed to his head. He wakes yelling and everyone else startles. Ambrose wrests the gun from Howard. Gun fires and nails Howard through the skull, as in the hallucination.

Ambrose’s gas-soaked uniform is ignited and he, their presumed leader dies in fire.: Incineration.

Chaz needs a bathroom break. The survivors decide to drive until there is a place along the highway that they can pull over safely.

EXT. – DESERT – NIGHT.

Chaz sees the beings of the truck clawing onto the exterior of the truck. He sees the bloodied Howard and burnt Ambrose.

Truck runs over an IED, EXPLOSION.

INT – TRUCK – NIGHT
Sikowski is touched by Gray. She is in a room with the Nazi, Old and decaying. He puts the Luger in her mouth, but then gives her the luger. With broken bayonet he finishes the inscription on the truck wall: Wir sind die Holle. Zerstore UNS!. NAZI KILLS HIMSELF.
SIKOWSKI wakes up and the Afghan women translates from the German: We are Hell. Destroy US!

The survivors burn the Truck, regardless of the peril of no other transport to Mosul. The next morning, the truck is again road worthy and waiting for them. The last of them make it to Mosul . . .
Resolution: Under US Surveillance, the WAR Surplus vehicle is placed in the center of a Taliban stronghold. The Colonel interacts with one of the fighters, just as Chaz was.
Chaz awakens from a night out in Texas, battered and bruised but…strangely, alive.
Chaz is back in Texas (with young mother?) and the truck is being used by the US Government to continue the chaos.

[j T]

Jessica Tremblay’s Horror Outline Version 1

What I learned is it’s hard to keep an outline under 10 pages when you include the headings. In my story, there’s a lot of short scenes and “locations within a location” (living room, bedroom, bathroom, hallway, lockers)

OPENING. INT. APARTMENT BUILDING, STORAGE LOCKERS – NIGHT
JOHN (60) stores a box in his locker. He breaks into a locker to rescue a trapped "animal" and is attacked by a vicious creature.
INT. JOHN'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
John stumbles in, clutching his heart. Scribbles a few words on a newspaper and dies (heart attack).
INT. JOANNA'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM €“ DAY
Joanna pulls out stolen sports outfits from her purse and removes their anti-theft devices. She takes a selfie with her new top.
EXT. PARK – DAY
Jogging, she throws the tags then runs after a white rabbit like her life depends on it. When it gets hit by a car, she's devastated. A passerby, MIKE (23), stops to ask if she's okay. His dog grabs the dead rabbit.
INT. JOANNA'S APARTMENT, ENTRANCE – DAY
Mike escorts Joanna home. She appears in shock. When he asks for her contact info to check on her later, she makes their phone kiss, then kisses him.
BEDROOM
They make love.
NEXT DAY.
She steals money from his wallet while he sleeps. He's a cop! She hides clothes with store tags still on.
LIVING ROOM
Practices yoga, distracted. In Downward Dog, her arm is shaky. Moving to Child's Pose, she massages her old shoulder injury. Hears noise. But it's not Mike. The spooky noise coming from —
KITCHEN
Mike's dog throws up — blood, bones, and fur — then lies motionless.
EXT. VETERINARIAN OFFICE, PARKING LOT – DAY
Mike and Joanna leave the office. Mike holds a leash. No dog. She tries to console him. He rejects her. Knows she stole money from him and leaves her in the parking lot.
INT. JOANNA'S APARTMENT, KITCHEN – DAY
Joanna cleans the blood on the floor. Grimaces —
INCITING INCIDENT. INT. BATHROOM – DAY
She throws up. Gets a phone call from Memento Mori.
EXT. MEMENTO MORI FUNERAL HOME €“ NIGHT
She picks up her father's urn and personal belongings at a cheap "drive-thru" funeral home. Finds his address and keys.
EXT. JOHN'S APARTMENT BUILDING – NIGHT
A sign NO PETS ALLOWED.
INT. JOHN'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
She opens a window to air out the place. Finds a picture of father and his dog. Calls for Charlie, but finds no trace of the dog.
Accidentally texts Mike. Says she's here to rescue her father's dog. He perks up a little at the mention of a dog.
He asks why she was chasing the rabbit. Conversation interrupted by strange noises. She chases a raccoon out of the apartment. Closes the window.
INT. JOHN'S BEDROOM- DAY
She wants to sleep in, but is awaken by bird singing from next door apartment, then footsteps in the living room. There's someone in the apartment!
INT. JOHN'S LIVING ROM – DAY
She catches the BUILDING MANAGER (late 50s, leather vest) going through her father's stuff. He didn't know John had family. Her father never mentioned her.
He gives her five days to empty the place or he'll charge her a month's rent. She pleads. He gives her business card of a junk removal company.
INT. JOHN'S APARTMENT BUILDING, HALLWAY – DAY
Back with takeout, she meets her father's neighbour MRS. LARSEN (70, bandaged hand) and asks about his dog. She says pets are not allowed in the building, and shuts the door.
INT. JOHN'S LIVING ROOM – DAY
She looks for money, valuables. Clean circles in the dust indicates apartment has been cleaned up (probably by Manager). Upset, she calls junk removal company. Drinks to he father's death certificate.
INT. JOHN'S BEDROOM €“ DAY
Hungover, she wakes up to find manager showing apartment to OLD MAN (a potential renter). Her body is exposed. Manager winks at her.
INT. JOHN'S KITCHEN €“ DAY
Manager escorts OLD MAN out then asks for her father's armchair.
INT. BUILDING MANAGER'S APARTMENT €“ DAY
They push armchair to his place. She's doing all the work.
INT. JOHN'S LIVING ROOM – DAY
She finds scribbled message – STOR – where armchair was. Doesn't know what it means.
She creates a KEEP pile. Pushes the urn out of it. Junk removal company arrives.
EXT. PARK – DAY
She waits in the park.
INT. JOHN'S LIVING ROOM €“ DAY
When she returns, urn still there. They don't take human remains. And they can't give her money because the stuff is worth nothing.
INT. APARTMENT BUILDING, LOBBY €“ DAY
She sees Junk Removal Guy give money to manager. She waits for mailman. Finds three pension cheques with different names sent to her father's address. Manager grabs them.
INT. JOHN'S LIVING ROOM €“ DAY
Joanna asks for her father's money, but Bank needs death certificate. It's gone! She phones Removal company but they remind her she signed a contract.
INT. JOHN'S BATHROOM €“ DAY
She throws up.
INT. PHARMACY €“ DAY
Exits with shopping bag.
INT. JOHN'S HALLWAY €“ DAY
Mrs. Larsen sees pregnancy test through plastic bag.
INT. MRS. LARSEN'S APARTMENT – DAY
Mrs. Larsen serves tea. Introduces her dead stuffed parrot and its audio recording. She confirms father's dog is dead – they had him stuffed.
She confirms names of previous residents from her father's place – same name she saw on envelops. They didn't stay long before disappearing. She warns Joanna to get out as soon as she can.
INT. JOHN'S BATHROOM €“ DAY
Pregnancy test is positive.
INT. JOHN'S LIVING ROOM €“ DAY
Calls Mike, but doesn't tell him about pregnancy. He asks again why she was chasing white rabbit. She doesn't answer. He hangs up.
She packs her suitcase. Manager inspects apartment. Wants her to clean the floor. She cleans floor with old t-shirt as OLD MAN watches, waiting to move in.
TURNING POINT 1. INT. BUILDING MANAGER'S APARTMENT – NIGHT
Manager won't take keys back and demands she empties her father's STORAGE locker before midnight or he'll charge her a month's rent. She remembers her father's scribbling STOR.
INT. JOHN'S HALLWAY – DAY
Drags her suitcase and bolt cutter to the elevator.
INT. STORAGE AREA- DAY
Going through boxes, she finds a few keepsakes, including a stitched Bunny (full of lavender buds) and a letter from father asking her to feed Charlie. She yells that his dog is dead.
She empties locker, piles up boxes outside the door.
LOCKERS
Eyeing some valuables, she breaks in lockers and steals items.
ENTRANCE
Wearing a rabbit fur coat from Mrs. Larsen's locker, her arms full, she tries to leave, but the pile of boxes (and stolen goods) collapses, blocking the door. She's trapped inside! No phone.
STORAGE
She looks for another exit – finds none.
She paints a message – HELP – and slips it under the door. (Doesn't notice the claw marks on the concrete floor)

A banging noise is revealed to be an old unstable air conditioning unit, dangling from a metal arm.
In another hallway, water PLOPS from a leaky pipe into a bucket underneath.
She hears snoring coming from a locker, but the loud AC comes on, drowning the sound.
Since JOHN'S LOCKER is now empty she takes refuge in —
MRS. LARSEN'S LOCKER
Joanna browses through Mrs. Larsen's photo albums and discovers she had a husband and child but they died. She tucks in a doll she found.
Suddenly, all lights go off, except for some emergency lights. Nobody is coming.
MINUTES LATER
Joanna gets ready to spend the night. Xmas lights plugged in. Annoyed by plopping sound.
HALLWAY
She puts fabric at the bottom of the bucket.
CREAK. She finds a locker with door ajar, swinging. She closes it. Finds a tennis ball and takes it
MRS. LARSEN'S LOCKER
Sleeping, her hand sticks out in hallway, under the door, between planks, holding the tennis ball. Something zeroes in on it. She removes her hand at last second, stirring in her sleep.
Baby spiders climbs on her. She slaps them. Sits on boxes to sleep.
Nightmare – a creature grabs her hair. Wakes up to find her hair was just stuck on a long nail.
Awake. The plop noise is louder.
HALLWAY
As she approaches bucket… the bucket falls…water spills… an animals scampers off. She's not alone!
EXIT
Runs to exit. Cardboard on floor was pushed back, smudged, now reads HELL.
HALLWAY
As she runs towards Mrs. Larsen's locker the door burst open. A hairy creature comes out, pulling out the sleeping bag. The string of Xmas lights unplug before she can see more.
When the coast is clear, she grabs Bunny in hallway and runs to —
NEW PLAN. LOCKER
She shelters in place. Creates a barricade.
Beast breaches barricade. Thinking it's gone, Joanna checks and comes face to face with it. Beast smells Joanna and attacks, ramming the door, about to break in. Joanna crawls over the wall to
ANOTHER LOCKER
Beast finds her smell. She throws her clothes in hallway. Beast shreds them and moves away.
She puts on old clothes – vintage shorts and top – found in locker.
Looking for objects to defend herself. Doll points to tool box in locker across hallway.
HALLWAY
She crosses over the hallway using a short ladder as a bridge.
CONSTRUCTION LOCKER
The only tool she finds is a mini exacto knife with one inch blade. She uses it to unscrew bicycle mirror and look in hallway. Beast is not there.
HALLWAY
Crossing back. The ladder falls in hallway. Beast chases.
She throws Bunny. Beast eats it. Gets sleepy. She saves bunny. (Beast weakness: lavender is like catnip to the beast.)
PLAN IN ACTION. LOCKER
Sows bunny. Overfeeds it. Gets an idea.
Fills balloon with rat poison. Throws it to the beast. It catches it, but beast sneezes poison in her face!
HALLWAY
They both run to the water hole from opposite direction. Temporary truce as beast drinks and Joanna washes her eyes.
They're face to face now. After a MIGHTY ROAR, the beast throws up the balloon and Joanna runs.
Big chase. She returns to
LOCKER
Doll is covered in poison. She peels off one layer of clothes (from pink to blue). Her stomach growls. She realizes monster is also hungry.
HALLWAY
Uses picnic basket with baby mice as bait but saves them as last minute, going inside
LOCKER
Except the beast breaks in and eats the baby mice anyway (and Mamma Mouse). Chase.
HALLWAY
She kisses and throws bunny like a grenade to slow down the beast. Loses Bunny.
LOCKER
Joanna ends up in locker where her father was attacked. Finds his cell phone. Her birthdate unlocks it.
HALLWAY
Running she uses flash of phone camera to blind the beast. Ends up taking weird selfies with the beast as she flees to –
MIDPOINT. LOCKER
Finds pictures of her mom on her dad's phone. It gives her energy to fight. Prep montage. She puts on hockey equipment and straps doll to her chest for protection. She's now ready to fight.
RETHINK EVERYTHING. HALLWAY
The doll strapped to herself like Rambo-with-a-baby, she attacks! They become ally in the fight, fist bumping and high fiving.
The attack fails. She gets injured.
FAILURE. LOCKER
As beast rams against door, Joanna removes a giant splinter. She bleeds heavily. She sows her wound with threads and needle.
She cleans doll, removes the last layer of slimy clothes. Discovers it's a girl. She names it (and her baby) Violet.
Hugging doll, she finds a battery holder. Struggles to insert battery. And just when she's about to press when – monster breaks in and steals doll!
Sound of doll crying Mamma awakens her maternal instinct.
Beast taunts her with doll. She can't help but want to save it.
She removes all protection. Time to get dirty!
VARIOUS LOCKERS
NEW PLAN. Prep montage – She breaks things. Creates traps and weapons.
MRS. LARSEN'S LOCKER
Stakeout – she waits under rabbit fur coat. Alerted of the beast movement by hooting owl, laughing Santa clause and cackling witch strategically placed. It's time. She steps out for the big showdown.
HALLWAY
She faces beast with a Super Soaker filled with urine. Sprays urine everywhere. Beast goes mad.
Saves doll by throwing it in another locker where it will be safe, out of reach. (She's done her job as a mother, by protecting the doll.)
She tries to scare beast by making herself look larger – making butterfly wings with sleeping bag over her head. She confronts beast-father: "Stop eating the rabbits! It's all we have left from mom!"
Except her arm gets tired. Beast inflates and becomes taller than her, looming over her.
Joanna bows in front of beast but only so she can pull the handle of inflatable raft. Rafts inflates, scaring beast, but then it hits a nail and deflates.
Chases. Beast pushes against raft. Rafts crashes on wall.
LOCKER
She falls in a trap. Gets injured. Beast drags her to a tunnel towards a certain death. Suddenly –
HALLWAY
Mrs. Larsen (who cleared the blocked door) arrives to check on Joanna. When beast attacks Mrs. Larsen, Joanna uses the diversion to reach the door and faces a dilemma: Leave or stay to help Mrs. Larsen? She decides to stay.
LOCKER
They flee in a locker, but Mrs. Larsen can't make it over the wall. Larsen dies.
HALLWAY
Joanna finally reaches door, but beast roars to get her attention. She sees it has her mother's brooch on fur. She closes door. This time it's personal.
She runs in a loop. Beast chases. Its heads get caught in a rope attached to all the locks — all locker doors open as beast pushes forward. It's held back, only inches from Joanna's face.
Beast backs away and door CLACKS in reverse. All doors are now open, obscuring view of hallway. Suddenly – CLACK CLACK CLACK – all doors slams back again as monster lunge forward. She runs as thee rope breaks and monster chases her.
Except now all lockers are open, so she can use the big objects from inside lockers. Weedwhackers, etc.
Beast gets entangled in Xmas lights. Exhilarating battle. But then things go sideways —
LOCKER
She takes refuge in a locker. Larsen grabs her ankle (not dead).
REVEALS how she found beast in park and brought it here as her secret pet. But it became aggressive. When it bit her, she stopped feeding it, thinking it would die, but it attacked Joanna's father (who was her lover). Following his death, she's been plagued with guilt. She dies from her wound.
Joanna removes all protective equipment.
HALLWAY
Chased by beast. She pulls on AC but it doesn't fall. Beast gets closer.
AC finally falls. Beast lies dead. It's over.
Except — beast not dead and grabs her ankle. She does yoga pose to grab object and strike the beast.
Execute new plan. Fights mano-a-mano and discovers beast has tits! The Beast is female! She punches beast in the tits and gets covered in bloody mucus.
Beast grunts in pain, walks away, steps on the cardboard sign.
Joanna crawls to exit, sees sign that now says HELL O. Frowns. Beast moans.
TURNING POINT 2. Beast drags itself aimlessly in hallway, followed by a trail of blood. Joanna opens door of a locker. Beast crawls in.
Beast gives birth to pups.
Joanna realizes all this was her fault. By closing door of the locker earlier, she had accidentally locked beast out of its lair and left it to roam in hallway. Beast was just protecting entrance of its lair. Its territory.
She gathers objects, opens a box she didn't notice before (the one from the beginning) and finds her father's stuffed dog Charlie and a note "Don't forget to feed Charlie". She sees $100 bill sticking out of mouth. The stomach is full of it. He used dog as piggy bank! That's her inheritance. Picks it up and faints before she can reach door.
Wakes up when Manager comes in. She tries to leave without being seen (if he finds out she was stealing stuff she'll go to prison). Cardboard sign says HE.
Meanwhile he sees the mess she did, finds Mrs. Larsen's body, the beast and puppies. He calls her name. Knows it's her. She tries to avoid him and reach the exit.
He catches her.
She smashes the stuffed dog on his head. It explodes with cash – her inheritance. Manager says he'll let her go, if she leaves the money, but when she walks by, he grabs her. She knows he steals cheques from dead residents so he wants to kill her.
Big chase.
LOCKER
Enters locker (the one with door swinging ajar that she had closed earlier) and discovers a tunnel.
TUNNEL
She crawls in the beast's tunnel — wondering where it will lead (mystery) — as Manager chases her.
CLIMAX. LAIR
Discovers tunnel leads to the furnace room.
It's hot. Discovers old resident's bodies that manager was cremating. He says he could have cremated her father for free if Mrs. Larsen hadn't found him first.
Fight. She knocks out Manager thanks to hot yoga move.
She crawls out of lair.
LOCKER
She uses beast against manager. He gets eaten.
RESOLUTION. HALLWAY
Washes at the leaky pipe. Puts on a new dress.
She gives bunny to beast. Grabs brooch from beast.
Forgives her dad.
Heads towards EXIT sign with her suitcase and Charlie the dog under her arms. Hear puppies whine. Looks back. She can't leave them.
PARK
Joanna caries suitcase near pond. Frees beast and pups hidden inside suitcase. They run into the wild.
LAKEHOUSE
She drives to lake house (we recognize it from childhood photos). Leaves a message to Mike and answers his question truthfully about why she was chasing rabbit). Story of her mom's rabbits.
ROAD
Phone rings. Reaching for her phone ringing, she finds a puppy on the back seat. Calls Mike, says she's coming home with a surprise.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 2 weeks ago by  j T.