Okay, I recently got a hold of a video copy of the rarely seen Empire Pictures film TRANSFORMATIONS (1988). I watched it and thought, "Not bad, plausable idea and it entertained me, not better than Empire's GHOST WARRIOR and RE-ANIMATOR." Then I watched it alongside FROM BEYOND (1986), another Empire film and said the exact same quote for TRANSFORMATIONS. Anyway, you get the idea. So, one night I was sleeping and I had this strange dream about college students strangely turning into creatures from another dimension!
The next morning, I recall the dream and felt that it would be a good idea for a script. And since I am going to Columbia College in Chicago soon and one of the main elements to studying film direction is to also study scriptwriting, I would use this idea as an experimental script.
The idea is about a couple of college students going into an old abandoned mansion-like house. Inside the second floor is a lab that contains a machine that can open the doors into another dimension that we cannot see. However, the dimension spreads about half of the room and once you step in the dimension you are infected by certain creatures that we cannot see. Once outside the dimension, the creatures slowly begin to turn the infected college students into strange mutations. Apparently, the creatures need the newly infected bodies so they can survive better once when they return to the other dimension. One college student, who has not been infected, ends up staying at the house and tries to protect himself as the mutated beings start trying to break in a la THE EVIL DEAD.
I like the idea, but what do you think? It has a few shades of TRANSFORMATIONS and FROM BEYOND.
Maybe you could add an idea I've had; someone gaining the ability to see into another dimension that co-exists with ours. They can see the creatures that are around us all the time, but which nobody is aware of. Naturally everyone thinks they're crazy and the person IS slowly being driven crazy by seeing all these things. Not to mention other problems, like not being able to eat because they see other-dimensional bugs crawling on the food, not being able to sleep because they keep hearing the noises the creatures make.
It sounds very Lovecraft to me, probably because of the elements taken from "From beyond". Maybe you can use more inspiration from Lovecraft's short tales or his literary universe, but covering his weaker points with sci-fi elements or gothic touches a la "Frankenstein". Indeed, it would be a good point to see the creators of the dimensional machine be the first ones to suffer the consequences of the mutation.
If your story needs a hero, you can make one of the scientists to be less afected by the mutation or not affected at all and make him try to save the situation.
Well, since Chris said that one of the university students turns into a hero, a la Ash in The Evil Dead, I'm guessing the kid's the hero.
Sounds like a movie I'd watch...but methinks you should change the mansion into a closed military hospital or something, or at least something that could legitimately hide a top-secret experiment from everybody, because I have doubts that a mansion could house a trans-dimensional portal. Well, not really, but the mansion's done to death.
But yeah, good idea. And I'd just to add a minor tweak to it, or hell, you could make it 3 stories all having to do with inter-dimensional portals. John's idea, your idea, and this idea...
A student crosses over into the portal, and gets knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he finds that he is in the realm of the dead, where they are just as scared of the walking living as we are. See, in the realm of the dead, they live their lives much like we do, only when they "die," it means their spirit has crossed over into the realm of the living, erasing the knowledge of the dead world.
I stole elements of The Beyond and a Real Ghostbusters episode (with the People-Busters in the ghost world, my favorite episode ever) and combined them with just a random thought.
Sounds like an interesting premise. It would be a film I'd see.
I've always thought film school students were mutants from another dimension anyway. (Eh? Eh?)
Okay, bad jokes aside it does sound interesting.
I'd like to see a thread in the film dedicated to the experience of the "infected". Perhaps told from their POV, so we could see what they see as they go crazy/turn. It would be interesting to see the characters motivations slowly perverted over time by the invading creatures, as opposed to the usual transformation scene. Say Frank and Ernie's descent into zombie-dom in ROTLD, but more twisted. Or look at the game ETERNAL DARKNESS or Roman Polanski's REPULSION.
You could also make the invasion more of a symbiotic relationship than a possession. Those who accept the new cells would transition smoothly while those who rejected them could die horrible bloody deaths.
How would the infected act? Shambling zombies? Psychotics? SHIVERS-style pleasure junkies? Normal folks with flatlined emotions? Would their appearance change? Can you only see the "true" them by wearing special glasses?
Yup. Interesting idea.
how did this happen i post something saying the exact same thing about an idea for a movie, so its a different idea, i think its better, no one says anything and he posts this and everyone says something. what the hell?
u know y =)
sorry to say it josh, but your idea was much different and involved an underground race, which I find to be much less appealing, the thought of there being another dimension where when beings in that dimension die, cross over into our dimension sounds like a really cool a awesome idea that could work wonders when executed right, but your ide just sounded muddled not very developed.
This is just my opinion
-Dan
>John wrote:
>
>Maybe you could add an idea I've had; someone gaining the ability to see into >another dimension that co-exists with ours. They can see the creatures that are >around us all the time, but which nobody is aware of. Naturally everyone thinks >they're crazy and the person IS slowly being driven crazy by seeing all these >things. Not to mention other problems, like not being able to eat because they >see other-dimensional bugs crawling on the food, not being able to sleep >because they keep hearing the noises the creatures make.
This one intrigues me. And, I am really considering to add this idea to the written outline. After reading your comment, I actually thought up a couple of scenes. One in which our infected teen character Susan actually seeing some of the creatures when she is walking down the street. A POV shot shows that she sees the world in a flipsided negative (another FROM BEYOND-element) and slimy worms that slither around peoples legs, heads, etc. And yet, she is the only one who can see them (at least, at this time). She is driven mad, yet the sensation of being in this other world and her own creates a pleasurable sexuality (kind of like a drug, but a sexual kind). Even during the transformation from human to creature, she understands what these creatures want, she gives it to them, and she gets pleasure by becoming another being even though "they" take over and she no longer exists! Hey, it works in a strange kind of way.
>Neville wrote:
>
>It sounds very Lovecraft to me, probably because of the elements taken >from "From beyond". Maybe you can use more inspiration from Lovecraft's >short tales or his literary universe, but covering his weaker points with sci-fi >elements or gothic touches a la "Frankenstein". Indeed, it would be a good >point to see the creators of the dimensional machine be the first ones to suffer >the consequences of the mutation.
Indeed, it would be a good point to see the creators of the dimensional machine be the first ones to suffer the consequences of the mutation. And, how would the film survive if it wouldn't be included? This point would definately be in the pre-beginning sequence before the main titles roll. And, the one scientist who manages to escape, only to be locked up in the looney bin, is named Dr. Lovecraft! A little in-joke for Lovecraft fans all around.
> Andrew Crow wrote:
>
>Sounds like a movie I'd watch...but methinks you should change the mansion >into a closed military hospital or something, or at least something that could >legitimately hide a top-secret experiment from everybody, because I have >doubts that a mansion could house a trans-dimensional portal. Well, not really, >but the mansion's done to death.
Well, I have been toying around with that idea you suggested to me of making it take place in a closed military hospital rather than a mansion, which I agree has been done to death. But I would rather do it backwards. Meaning, in regular films the abandoned mansion is usually shown as broken down, full of cobwebs, windows broken, etc. But doing it backwards would be windows are intact, house is not full of cobwebs, not broken down, etc. as if the house itself has a dreamlike quality and cannot be torn down by act of nature. Basically, by doing it backwards it breaks the usual themes we grow so tired of. Yet, I do agree that it should be shown as a military experiment that eneded up being done in top-secret (which would rather work at a house rather than a military hospital, it adds greater mystery rather than giving it completely away). It's a good idea, but if the mansion idea doesn't work their is always re-writes.
> Mofo Rising wrote:
>
>I'd like to see a thread in the film dedicated to the experience of the "infected". >Perhaps told from their POV, so we could see what they see as they go >crazy/turn. It would be interesting to see the characters motivations slowly >perverted over time by the invading creatures, as opposed to the usual >transformation scene. You could also make the invasion more of a symbiotic >relationship than a possession. Those who accept the new cells would >transition smoothly while those who rejected them could die horrible bloody >deaths. How would the infected act? Shambling zombies? Psychotics? >SHIVERS-style pleasure junkies? Normal folks with flatlined emotions? Would >their appearance change? Can you only see the "true" them by wearing special >glasses?
I pretty much reffered to half of what you suggested on my comment to John, but I can keep on going. The transformation from human to creature varies with the characters infected. One is horrified by it and tries to reists, the other is also horrified but gives in, the other enjoyes it and does not reist, etc. So it would vary. But how would they act during the trasformations? Shocked or in extreme pain(imagine the scene of the birthday girl in DEMONS 2 when she becomes a demon, that was extreme pain) would be the reaction. Unfortunately, you cannot see the "true" them by wearing special glasses.
With all these great ideas for this little work of writing, I just have to start working on it.
>This one intrigues me.
Thanks. I can't claim it's a completely original idea though. It's inspired by episodes of Space 1999 and (I think) Beyond Reality. In the Space 1999, the commander is affected by an experimental procedure and when people from Earth show up, he sees them for what they really are; monsters. Also, I think an episode of Beyond Reality (the half-hour show on USA several years ago) had a character who could see a creature that nobody else could.