Left To Die… Any Eye for an Eye by Rip Van Winklestein

Siblings abandoned and left for dead, go through a transformation while held captive by a hermit in the woods.

Short Psychological Horror based on Hansel and Gretel

I am still laughing about this dialogue gem between an 11 and 14 yr old.

Quoted Text GRETTA Bitch.She must'a drugged us. HENRY Like date rape?

Classic.

Lots a grammer issues throughout.

Story wise, I felt this was gory for the sake of it. Gretta ripping/biting her own flesh is not believable at all. Obviously this is a work of fiction but this is too far over the top for me.

Probably the most horrific script I've read so far but still not for me.

It's a pass.

As I go:

• Page 1.  DAMN!  You have a naked blonde in the second action block.  I have to read this one now!
  
• Page 1.  You use "blond" and "filet" which screams Jean-Pierre to me.  But "blond" is masculine and it's a female on the table.  I'm over thinking this.  Continue...
  
• Page 2.  You had me until, "We need to get outta here."  It's on-the-nose.  No shit they gotta get out of there.  A simple, "Shit" would work.  "Fuck" if you're feeling froggy.
  
• "Gonna be a bumpy ride..."  Unnecessary dialogue.
  
• Page 6.  "My feet, Gretta.  She's going to kill us isn't she?"  On-the-nose.
  Of course she plans on killing them.
  Suggestion:  I don't wanna die.
  
• Page 8.  Hmmm.  I would have liked to see Bertha suffer a little more.
  Wait... Did I say that out loud?  I mean...Uh...Bertha's actions weren't on par with her consequences.
  
• Page 8.  The ending seemed forced, but acceptable.
  

Overall this was entertaining.  It had an air of German digestif to it.  We shall see.

Jordan

No time wasted at all to get right into the gore, I like it.

Quoted Text A bird lands near the wheelchair. Pecks the ground. Uproots a caterpillar. With the prize in its beak, it takes flight up into the towering trees overhead. From above we look down on the two kids alone in the forest.

I feel the bird will be better starting off the scene rather than ending it. The bird will take flight as mother dearest come into shot sort of thing. As is you go from a quiet forest scene to a hectic getaway, then back to the forest

Quoted Text Bertha cooks the skewered little toes over the fire like shish kabob.

Reminds me of the story behind Rammstein's Mein Teil....although a different body part was cut off in that one.

I too am not feeling that scene where Gretta chewed off her food, my thought was how she got through the bone? Perhaps you could let her find some sort of sharp object when she is confronted by the bear?

Not too bad of a story here, loved the gore and especially the mother getting what was coming to her, was hoping you'd tie this end up, good job

This didn't do much for me. Dialogue in particular needs work. They talk like grown adults. An eleven year old should not be referencing date rape. You need to find subtler ways to convey information and be on the lookout for unnecessary dialogue.

Quoted Text HENRY It’s my fault for my legs. This...chair

How is an eleven year old divining these motives?

You have two kids waking up in the middle of the woods. At least one should be scared, confused, unable to deal. Probably the younger one. He could be crying, asking why would mother leave us - Gretta glances at the wheelchair - she knows why, he doesn't - instead she changes the subject.

Point is, always be on the lookout for subtler ways to convey information and build tension. Uncertainty, doubt, fear, these are the emotions that should be running through this scene. Right know, you have two kids completely in control of their faculties and practically omniscient. That's not a recipe for tension.

As for the unnecessary dialogue:

Quoted Text GRETTA What’s wrong is we’re in the middle of the woods somewhere.

I'd find a different start. We already know they're in the middle of the woods. They wouldn't come out and explicitly state this.

Quoted Text GRETTA We need to get outta here.

Same thing here.

Quoted Text GRETTA Your trap nearly killed me and my brother. Just sayin’.

You're introducing a creepy, wild-haired woman with a shotgun - just have Gretta shrink back in fear instead of stating the obvious. Sometimes no dialogue speaks volumes.

Besides what's been stated above, there's not much I can add. You do have a lot of coma issues, and you could tighten up the dialogue. The characters stating the obvious and being genre-savvy/sarcastic gave off Scream vibes; a great film, but being lost in the woods needed more tension and uncertainty.

I LOVED the opening scene with the blonde on the table being hacked up; you went straight into the horror without missing a beat. Wish it had carried over into the next scene.

Story-wise, you're fine. Just need to tighten up the screws.

RE: Dialogue, try this experiment (which I've never done myself):

Do the whole thing without dialogue and see where/if dialogue fits, and try to come up with the best lines. Subtext goes a long way.

Quoted from ChrisBodily RE: Dialogue, try this experiment (which I've never done myself): Do the whole thing without dialogue and see where/if dialogue fits, and try to come up with the best lines. Subtext goes a long way.

Chris -- I have not read this script yet (nor is it mine!), but I read your suggestion and wanted to respond: This is excellent advice. I tried it myself, in my very first script, and the exercise taught me a lot. That is, how much of the story can I show without anyone speaking.

Like the opening, reminds me of something but can't remember what splatterfest I'm thinking of, certainly grabs the attention.

'and bears live in the woods' made me laugh

There's a few typos and such, but most OWC entries have that due to time constraints.

So there's some funny lines in here that made me chuckle but wasn't really convinced it was different enough from the original... why can't the witch win for a change?

Anyway a polish or two is needed but overall good effort.

Anthony

I like the revenge ending, but other than that this wasn't my cup of tea. That's not to say that this wasn't good, because it was - nicely done, intriguing story and gore - lots of gore - too much gore for me and I can handle a lot. So I guess it's just personal opinion, but this made me feel a little sick.

I guess I was also trying to picture Henry and Gretta as 11 and 14, which IMO didn't work - I have both 12yr old and 14yr old and they would be shittin themselves, trust me. With the dialogue you gave them they would have suited being older more mature teens and the gore would have worked better.

Gretta also needed a little more time & button pushing before she decided to gnaw at her own leg - I think it was a good choice and good set up for it with the coyote, but I don't think she would have instantly done it. I know there were page constraints, but you had a couple left to play with. Also, I don't think Gretta would be able to gnaw at it without letting out a few screams - seemed too easy for her.

There is some good writing on display here, but definitely needs a few tweaks.

Couldn't really get into this one. The two kids don't act like kids and the dialogue overall is pretty weak. Having said that, the full on action and nice gore were plus points, and the ending was pretty good.

Definitely needs a polishing, but there's something here.

Best of luck,

Glenn.

My last read, and you know what that means, right?  Detailed review, baby...detailed review!

Here we go...

OK, so we're fading in on a table without a Slug...let's see if it works...

A big old juicy aside to start things off...uh oh...I'm worried...

"A naked BLOND" - Blond refers to a male, while blonde refers to a female.  But you say this is a female, so I'll go with that visual, thank you.

The FADE OUT you have chosen just shows how heavily you're trying to direct this and it's not a good idea, nor does this FADE OUT read well.

"Sound" - should be "Sounds", as there are obviously more than a single sound.

Damn...Mother was pretty damn young when she popped these 2 kids out, huh?   And WTF are they doing in the woods with a wheelchair bound kid?

So, once again, you go with a very detailed (and expensive) shot that you are directing.  It would look great, but remember, this is a short and I highly doubt you're going to get an aerial view like this in a forest.

Page 2 - "SAME TIME" - CONTINUOUS

"The trees and sky swirl like cream in latte. Henry blinks his eyes bringing things into focus." - Interesting description, but understand this is 2 completely different shots, so should be 2 completely different passages as well.

The kids' dialogue does not sound remotely realistic.

If the mother could push the wheelchair with both kids on it into these woods, they can't be far away, but yes, I know...this is a retelling of a fairy tale.  Ill try and buy in.

Oh boy...first their mother drugs them and wheels them into the woods and leaves them, then they fall into some sort of handmade pit, and then, a bear is waiting fro them when they climb out!  These 2 kids are having a lousy day.

Damn...what kind of gun is Bertha firing?  A single shot and the bear is dead?

"BERTHA, haggard of a woman, ageless under unkempt frazzled hair, stomps over shotgun by her  side." - awkwardly written.  Missing a comma between "shotgun" and "by".

Page 5 - The writing seems to be changing a bit, not for the better, but the dialogue continues to be very poor and unrealistic.

"The toes did belong to Henry who’s bound on the same table the Blond was on earlier." - Very awkwardly phrased.

Page 6 - Henry's last dialogue on the page pretty much sums up the problem with your dialogue - it's redorkulous!  Really?  The kid just had most of his toes cut off and this is what he says?

Page 7 - Gretta would have one Hell of a time chewing through her ankle.

Page 8 - "EXT./INT. DOOR" - Really?  We're inside and outside the door?  Think about this..does it make any sense?  Actually, it's Hallway or the like.  You can't be inside the actual door.

The end.

I don't buy any of this, but appreciate the gore and attempt at horror.  There's just nothing new here, nothing believable, and because of that, it does very little for me, sorry to say.

Grades

Challenge parameters - C

Script/Story/Execution - C-

I like your take on an old classic. I found the  story engaging but the dialogue pulled me out alot. Work on the dialogue and I think you have something.

A pet hate of mine is when we have an exciting opening scene which is done purely to grab the attention of the audience. This happens a lot in TV programs and even some feature films, quite often they are followed by a SUPER like "THREE DAYS EARLIER" - which does my head in!

I'm sure this is a direct result of script readers throwing scripts into the bin if the opening few pages doesn't grip them.

Anyway, I digress with my ranting.

Although the opening scene is gory and tense, it didn't continue and didn't add anything to the story. In fact it kind of spoiled it as you knew what fate the children were heading towards.

I think the old saying, 'start late' should have applied here. If this started with the kids waking up in the forest, it would have created a sense of tension and mystery for the kids (and therefore the audience) to unravel.

As others have mentioned the way the kids talked didn't seem like kids and I didn't buy the girl chewing her own foot off. I couldn't even work out how she could reach it!

Some good gore and action but this wasn't for me, a pass.

-Mark

I'm just an old man who thought the original "Night of the Living Dead" was gory.  Was difficult for me to move past the opening scene but then I kinda got into it.

"Bertha cooks the skewered little toes  over the fire like shish kabob."  (toes of a handicapped kid, I might add)   And I'm laughing.  What's going on?

Can't wait to read the rest of these little gems.
  

Writer,

I really ain't a fan of gore and slasher scripts, but for the sake of the challenge I tried to push my preferences to one side. I really tried, but that was waaaaay too much, it felt like it was being brutal just for brutality's sake.

I did kinda like the kids characters, they seemed genuine and a slight antidote to all of the other bits.

Maybe the gore and shock was the point, but as a central theme it just wasn't for me.

I liked the fact that the two kids faced multiple obstacles. Abandoned then the mad bone knife wielding nut case. It kept the tension and what would happen next.

Some of the dialogue, e.g. Date rape stuff, chicken nuggets etc ...was highly unlikely and jarred a touch.

The conclusion of them settling  in the cabin seemed fine, get away from the world, but overall it didn't Quite hit the spot for me and needs a polish.

Bad title choice, good logline

Super visual from the start.

The stunt feels complicated.

Okay, I think the ending implies the cabin has become their new home…

I think the story is too laden with stunts, effects, cgi and complicated costumes. I liked the opening pretty much and am not sure if you took the best route from there. Sure it was gruesome. There was a part where you accelerated the narrative too much for my taste. They were well at Berta's place, in the very next scene not so…

Solid entry. I fear things are too complicated to execute them in the end.

@ in general it is a good story. I liked the characters' transformation. At the end, it's as if they both aquired adulthood and are differnt persons now for the rest of their life. Good enjoyable characters. You need a better title writer - it is soooo important.

Writer,

Had to write, before I've finished the script, that I love the line -- The trees and sky swirl like cream in latte. Love it. May steal it some day. :)   Although written well in some spots, it's hard for me to say this doesn't work. I really can't explain why, either. I guess it might be because Mother left them alone in the forest to die, but other than Mother's appearance, we really get no explanation or motivation as to why she would do this. And I think this story needs it. As it also needs a reason for why the kids go back and hack her to death. Are they killers now based on their ordeal. I'll buy it. Weak, but I'll buy it. Anyway, pretty good writing on display. A bit choppy here and there, but overall written well. Good job.

Steve

Any Eye for an Eye

That would be a great title!!

A compelling mix between a fairytale and SAW.
Well told story, but way too fast at some points.
But all in all - Thumbs up.

Opening scene- is it an INT or EXT.? Tough to visualize this because I don't know if I'm in a kitchen or outside on a picnic table.

[quote]
HENRY
Hello Mother.

MOTHER
Oh Henry...

WHACK! An axe splits her face. She stumbles backwards and
falls down dead.
[b]
Gretta[/b] bends down and jerks the axe from Mother’s face.
[/quote

Oops. Wrong character. Anyway, this seems to have been written a bit too quickly, as characters multi-task actions and emotions, and the logic of using an axe just to cut off a young man's toes (and Henry does not seem to be in much pain) At the most my vibe is "It's horror! There MUST be blood!"  ::)

Not a bad effort though. Not sure about the date rape line however.

]

This was a whirlwind, difficult to read but worth the effort.  The writing is good, the characters are interesting and the story is strange -- but the source material is plenty strange, too -- this new version seems awfully brutal until one remembers that, for all the blood letting, much of the horror is left to the imagination.  The kids' final visit to the mother's house could be filmed in such a way that we see the kids' exertion, fury and relief more than any part of the mother.
The ending is excellent, makes everything seem more vivid.