Screenplays for Production
Darkest Night:
To Premiere in Manila in early November 2011
Filmed in a "found video and mock-documentary" style, Darkest Night depicts a family holiday reunion at an isolated home in the Philippine Sagada Mountains. The family's happy time is shattered by bizarre, supernatural and tragic horrors no one can explain. Their house is cut off from civilization and plunged into darkness by forces that shut down much of modern technology. Strange events rapidly spread fear and panic. The area becomes totally isolated.
Then, one by one, the family members die or disappear in weird and
terrifying ways, defying natural laws. The few who are left, including
the main characters, young Susan and her fiancé Ken, struggle for
survival amid family conflicts and dark terrors. They must find out what
is happening to them so they can escape this deadly trap.
Shocked, they finally they discover who their true tormentor is, as well
as how and why these terrible things are happening. Is it too late to
keep the rest of them from dying? Is the fate that awaits them even
worse than death or hell? A mystical book they find seems to hold the
key to controlling unseen dark forces that threaten to unleash ghosts
from an evil past.
Finally, survival depends on Susan and Ken. Can they trust each other,
or even themselves, to contain the fears that threaten to destroy them?
Suspense and mystery keep you unsettled and guessing till the very end,
when they uncover and and confront their real enemy.
This film is a psychological horror story with intense family drama,
suspense, action and terror. It contains a minimum of gore, violence or
graphic special effects. There are no cliché or oft-used thrill
gimmicks. The viewer is led step by step into a dark world of sinister
and fantastical events, where the familiar meets the supernatural, and
your most cherished loved one could be your mortal enemy.
On the surface, Darkest Night is an entertaining and truly
scary thriller, in the best traditions of Asian and American horror
films. However, for those who want to probe deeper, the story has
multiple layers of family relationships, character motivation and
thematic depth. The film also provides insightful commentary on modern
society and how its elements have a corrupting influence on family
relationships.
Darkest Night reveals the potential for evil and domination
that often lurks under the smiling face of family
"togetherness." Even the most outwardly happy of modern families can
hide painful and twisted emotions.
Darkest Night is now in post production in Manila, Philippines, shot on
location in Luzon by Gothic Productions
International. The film is slated to premiere in Novermber or December
2011. For more information, see the
GPI website.
Good Night, Sweet Prince
A Hispanic high school girl discovers her white
boyfriend is part of a gang who murdered her best friend. She must make
a choice between love, safety, and silence, or going to the police. The
film' s story takes place in a working-class,
mostly Latino suburb of Los Angeles.
The main character is Maria
Lopez, who is in love with Bobby. They're both juniors at the local high
school and look forward to attending a big party celebration the next
weekend.
However, Maria has a "secret" friend, Andrea, who is not quite
conventional. Andrea is an older teenaged boy living as a girl. They are
extremely close and have been for many years. Andrea wants to attend the
party but feels she's too "abnormal" for such an event. Maria encourages
her to go as a girl and just have some fun meeting people.
Unknown to Maria, Bobby has a secret life with Jake and his friends who
are drug dealers. Bobby is rebellious and wants the money and macho
reputation that goes with Jake's crowd. Also, though Bobby puts up a big
"font" of romantic love for Maria, he just wants to have sex with her
and plans to drop her once he gets what he wants.
Maria is emotionally close to her family, especially her mother. Maria’s
Mom tries to warn her about Bobby, but she won't listen. Instead, she
makes plans with Bobby to attend the upcoming party and also bring
Andrea. What Maria doesn't know is that Jake and his gang plan on
crashing the event and taking it over.
The time for the party arrives, and everyone shows up, including Maria,
Bobby, and Andrea. They all have innocent fun till Jake and his thugs
show up. Immediately, everything goes wrong, and before anyone can
prevent it, he gets drunk and high then tries to rape Maria. Andrea
intervenes, so Jake forces her into giving him oral sex, while Maria
gets away.
The party ends badly, and afterward Bobby confesses a terrible
revelation to Maria. She is the only one outside his gang who knows the
awful truth. However, she now must face threats of violence from Jake,
even while she hides the reason for Andrea's mysterious disappearance
from her friend's distraught mother. Maria knows now that, if she tells
her secret, her life would be in danger.
What should she do? The hard choices Maria has to make determine the
rest of Good Night, Sweet Prince and change her forever.
Produced Film: The Last Year
To read about Russ Williams' produced film The
Last Year, available on DVD, click here.