Natman
08-25-2010, 08:12 PM
Hey, guys... I might need a little help here writing wise. I've got two movie ideas that I've wanted to come up with forever, and now that I've got a good hold on the story, I want to turn one of them into a fleshed out screenplay. But I can't decide which one. So, any input would be appreciated.
The first is Fright Night Part III. I am well aware a remake is on the way, but I've wanted to write this movie forever. And Children of the Corn seems to be taking the "ignore the remake and do another sequel" route anyway.
The idea is this: a young man named Freddie has been released from a mental hospital after five years. We don't right-out acknowledge what put him in there in the first scene, it's explained as the movie goes on, but basically it's revealed that when he was thirteen (he's eighteen now) he and his best friend were daring each other to go into this old haunted house, and when they went inside they saw something that really screwed them up. Freddie's best friend, Rick, moved away after that, refusing to talk about it, or even talk to him. He didn't want to acknowledge what he saw, but Freddie swore up and down that they found a vampire in that house.
Now, Freddie's moved back home to his quiet suburban life after finally 'conquering' his delusions of vampires. No more horror books, no more horror movies, and he's not allowed to watch another single episode of "Fright Night". His delusions caused his parents' divorce five years earlier, and it puts a strain on his relationship with his mother, but she says they've got another chance at happiness now that she has a new man in her life.
He just moved into the neighborhood.
And, as Freddie quickly discovers, that man is not just a vampire, he's the vampire that screwed up his whole life to begin with. So Freddie is all alone with no one to rely on, no one to talk to, because if he's the boy who cries "vampire", they'll just lock him up again. He soon realizes that he's out of options, and turns to the one man who *might* be able to help:
The host of "Fright Night", Charley Brewster.
Now, the idea for the Candyman remake: Basically, I want to stick a little closer to the Barker short story "The Forbidden" on which Candyman was based. It's set in London. And I thought of a beginning scene so that the film might not necessarily be a remake, per se, but more of another story of the Candyman. One kid is in an alley recapping the first movie, and the other kid says, "no, see, I heard it told like this..."
And then I go into the new story, with Helen as a university student studying urban mythology, getting drawn into the stories of the Candyman, and beginning to wonder if there's any truth to them. Once she meets Anne-Marie, who tells her Candyman killed her infant child, Helen is amazed to find some direct encounter and not just "it happened to a friend of a friend". She has Anne-Marie tell her the story, but quickly finds her belief only stretches so far, and when the story sounds suspicious, she has Anne-Marie put away for the murder of her baby boy. It's much easier for Helen to believe this woman killed her own son than to believe that the Candyman actually exists.
She tells her boyfriend, Trevor, about everything, and how she still can't put that miserable place and its stories out of her mind, that he'd understand if he knew what it was like. So he says, "show me" and they go. Trevor, having heard stories of Candyman and wanting to prove a point, says the name five times in a mirror (the mirror that Anne-Marie claims Candyman came out of to kill her boy) and he is, not surprisingly, killed by Candyman on the spot. (note: I believe with the structure of the story, despite differences, Candyman could still be played by Tony Todd)
Candyman says that he has waited for this, to visit Helen directly, because she did not believe. And her disbelief has become an obsession of his. He wants to know her, to understand her as much as she has been driven to understand him. Helen is almost as much of an intriguing story to the Candyman as he is to her. He asks her, "why are you so different?" before vanishing into the night.
Helen goes to Anne-Marie in prison to explain that she believes now, but Anne-Marie is (not surprisingly) unwilling to help. Helen almost talks her into helping, claiming she needs to know the truth. Anne-Marie responds that there are too many stories to know, and Helen says she doesn't want stories, damn it, she wants the truth.
Anne-Marie turns away, telling Helen that if she doesn't believe, she can't be helped. And Helen is on her own. Murders continue to pile up as Candyman continues to take from her, and eventually, Helen (though driven almost mad) still cannot go far enough to believe everything, and Candyman has to come to her directly, and seduce her into becoming part of the story, so that she can die, and he can die, and the tale can live on forever.
The first is Fright Night Part III. I am well aware a remake is on the way, but I've wanted to write this movie forever. And Children of the Corn seems to be taking the "ignore the remake and do another sequel" route anyway.
The idea is this: a young man named Freddie has been released from a mental hospital after five years. We don't right-out acknowledge what put him in there in the first scene, it's explained as the movie goes on, but basically it's revealed that when he was thirteen (he's eighteen now) he and his best friend were daring each other to go into this old haunted house, and when they went inside they saw something that really screwed them up. Freddie's best friend, Rick, moved away after that, refusing to talk about it, or even talk to him. He didn't want to acknowledge what he saw, but Freddie swore up and down that they found a vampire in that house.
Now, Freddie's moved back home to his quiet suburban life after finally 'conquering' his delusions of vampires. No more horror books, no more horror movies, and he's not allowed to watch another single episode of "Fright Night". His delusions caused his parents' divorce five years earlier, and it puts a strain on his relationship with his mother, but she says they've got another chance at happiness now that she has a new man in her life.
He just moved into the neighborhood.
And, as Freddie quickly discovers, that man is not just a vampire, he's the vampire that screwed up his whole life to begin with. So Freddie is all alone with no one to rely on, no one to talk to, because if he's the boy who cries "vampire", they'll just lock him up again. He soon realizes that he's out of options, and turns to the one man who *might* be able to help:
The host of "Fright Night", Charley Brewster.
Now, the idea for the Candyman remake: Basically, I want to stick a little closer to the Barker short story "The Forbidden" on which Candyman was based. It's set in London. And I thought of a beginning scene so that the film might not necessarily be a remake, per se, but more of another story of the Candyman. One kid is in an alley recapping the first movie, and the other kid says, "no, see, I heard it told like this..."
And then I go into the new story, with Helen as a university student studying urban mythology, getting drawn into the stories of the Candyman, and beginning to wonder if there's any truth to them. Once she meets Anne-Marie, who tells her Candyman killed her infant child, Helen is amazed to find some direct encounter and not just "it happened to a friend of a friend". She has Anne-Marie tell her the story, but quickly finds her belief only stretches so far, and when the story sounds suspicious, she has Anne-Marie put away for the murder of her baby boy. It's much easier for Helen to believe this woman killed her own son than to believe that the Candyman actually exists.
She tells her boyfriend, Trevor, about everything, and how she still can't put that miserable place and its stories out of her mind, that he'd understand if he knew what it was like. So he says, "show me" and they go. Trevor, having heard stories of Candyman and wanting to prove a point, says the name five times in a mirror (the mirror that Anne-Marie claims Candyman came out of to kill her boy) and he is, not surprisingly, killed by Candyman on the spot. (note: I believe with the structure of the story, despite differences, Candyman could still be played by Tony Todd)
Candyman says that he has waited for this, to visit Helen directly, because she did not believe. And her disbelief has become an obsession of his. He wants to know her, to understand her as much as she has been driven to understand him. Helen is almost as much of an intriguing story to the Candyman as he is to her. He asks her, "why are you so different?" before vanishing into the night.
Helen goes to Anne-Marie in prison to explain that she believes now, but Anne-Marie is (not surprisingly) unwilling to help. Helen almost talks her into helping, claiming she needs to know the truth. Anne-Marie responds that there are too many stories to know, and Helen says she doesn't want stories, damn it, she wants the truth.
Anne-Marie turns away, telling Helen that if she doesn't believe, she can't be helped. And Helen is on her own. Murders continue to pile up as Candyman continues to take from her, and eventually, Helen (though driven almost mad) still cannot go far enough to believe everything, and Candyman has to come to her directly, and seduce her into becoming part of the story, so that she can die, and he can die, and the tale can live on forever.