HDC Idol 2008-09

[bwind22]

EATEN ALIVE

Plot Outline of Original-

Judd is the rambling, one legged, bible-thumping owner/operator of the Starlite Hotel, a run down roadside motel in the American deep south. In the swamp behind his hotel, Judd keeps a large African Crocodile.

A local hooker, Clara, rejects a customer, Buck, request to do her in the pooper and gets herself kicked out of her brothel. She seeks shelter for the night at the Starlite Hotel, where Judd takes exception to her line of work. He mutilates her with his pitchfork then feeds her, still alive, to his pet crocodile out back.

A family of three checks in with their dog. The dog quickly becomes Croc food. The family bickers amongst themselves, apparently trying to top Judd in the “crazy” department. The father, Roy, is killed with a scythe and tossed to the Croc. Judd then focuses his attention on the mother, Faye, but before he can finish her off, he’s distracted by the little girl, Angie, screaming. Judd takes a break on assaulting Faye long enough to chase Angie around until she ends up ditching him by hiding underneath the hotel. Judd goes back inside where he binds and gags Faye.

Clara’s father, Harvey, and sister, Libby, show up looking for Clara with the local Sheriff & the brothel Madame. Libby wanders off by herself to look for her sister while Judd launches a scythe attack on the others before tossing them to his Croc.

Buck, who got rejected by Clara the hooker at the start of the film, picks up a woman at a local bar and brings her to the Starlite Hotel for some sex. Judd ends up tossing Buck in the swamp to his Croc, but Buck’s woman takes off, and ultimately flags down a car and escapes.

Libby stumbles upon Faye, who is still bound and gagged and unties her. Just as the two women are about to flee the room, Judd appears and quarrels with Faye as Libby retrieves Angie from beneath the hotel.

As Judd battles with Faye, the Croc decides to help himself to some more chow, but mistakenly bites the hand, or should I say head, that feeds and drags Judd in to the swamp for a midnight snack. His wooden peg leg floats to the surface and that’s the last we see of him. Faye, Libby and Angie escape. The end.

Plot changes in the Remake-

Since Crocodiles are not found in the Louisiana Bayou, my first change would be switching the location of the film to the southern tip of Florida, in the Everglades where Crocodiles are found naturally. This location switch would lend credibility to the premise and realism to the film.

Since I’m switching the location, I’d do away with the sound stage settings they used in the original and shoot this film on location, which could ultimately lead to a different name for the hotel as well depending on what the location scouts can find.

For the most part, the characters were great and I wouldn’t change much there with the exception of the family that checks in and actually seems to be just as crazy as Judd. I think I’d normalize them a bit to make them more identifiable for the viewers, especially the father. I’d probably do away with Judd’s peg leg to give more credibility to the chase scenes. And the only other character change would be that I’d raise the age of Angie from 8-9 to about 15-16.

Instead of just one Crocodile in the swamp, I’d want to the remake to have several, maybe up to a half dozen or so. Since they are native to southern Florida, this would not be far fetched but would allow for a more terrifying experience for the viewers and victims alike, never knowing where the next attack might come from. Not to mention that it’d be gruesomely cool to see the Croc’s ripping their victims apart as they fight for a chunk of meat.

The other major plot point I’d change would be letting Judd survive at the end of the film. This would open the door for sequels and also enhance the creepiness factor as viewers consider the possibility that this guy could possibly be out there somewhere, still operating some backwater motel and feeding his patrons to the Croc’s out back.

The other main opportunities I see for improving this film are in the areas of plot and Special FX. I’d certainly get someone to rewrite the script so there’s more depth to the story and bring in someone with a lot of experience with creature FX to enhance the realism of the crocodile and the kills scenes. I would steer clear of CGI except in very small doses here or there. While the general plot would remain the same, I do believe that better writing with attentiveness to subplots could really help. I’d also have the rewrite focus on giving us a little bit more of Judd’s backstory since we know so little about this fascinatingly warped character. (More on the FX artist and writer selections can be found in the Crew section of my answer.)


Casting-

Judd (Hotel Owner)- Bill Moseley (I think he’s perfectly capable of filling the creepy southern redneck with murderous tendencies role.)
Roy (Family Father)- Nicky Katt (Under-rated actor that would fit superbly in to the role of a well meaning father that mistakenly leads his tourist family in to the middle of nowhere.)
Faye (Family Mother)- Gabrielle Anwar (Solid actress, sexy, believable in positions of vulnerability.)
Angie (Family Child)- Natalia Dyer (An unknown actress, but she looks the part. I think a teen in distress is less predictable than a younger child so I upped the age of this character a bit)
Libby (Hooker’s Sister)- Michelle Rodriguez (Strong, smart, and looks enough like Jessica Lucas that they would be believable as sisters.)
Clara (The Hooker)- Jessica Lucas (Young, sexy, vulnerable. A perfect first victim.)
Harvey (Hooker’s Father)- David Zayas (Good actor, has the “regular joe” look, Latino so he’d be believable as the father of Clara & Libby.)
Sheriff Martin- Cheech Marin (He’s been in some cool roles lately and think he’d fit in well here as a Hispanic sheriff that lends a little comedic relief to the film before he gets offed.)
Miss Hattie (Brothel Madame)- Sharon Stone (A fine actress, fully capable of playing the sultry, sexy, middle aged woman role)
Buck (Southern Sleaze ball)- Robert Englund (I’d bring him back to let him reprise his role from the original. There’s no reason Buck needs to be a young man and since he played the part so well in the first one, I see no reason to replace him in the remake. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”)



Crew-

Director – Eli Roth
Writer – Eli Roth, Steve Niles
Special FX – Tom Savini (for the gore), Roy Arbogast (for creature FX), Connie Brink (for any CGI)

All other Crew positions are of less importance than those mentioned above and I’d feel comfortable leaving them in the hands of the fully capable director. Music, editing, set decoration, cinematography, etc… were not poor in the original so as long as someone could be found to replicate or update what is in the original, those areas would be fine.

Marketing-

Posters – I’d go with a series of posters…
1 - Depicting a creepy, rundown motel surrounded by dark swampland on a desolate road with a ‘Vacancy’ sign with one of the letters burned out.
2 - Depicting a dark swamp with the eyes of a crocodile barely visible above the surface of the water.
3 - Depicting Bill Moseley as Judd behind the check-in counter of a run down motel wearing a creepy grin.

Print Ads – The print ads would mimic the poster campaign.

TV – I’d want the trailers to sell the cast, specifically Judd since he’s the central character here, but also Buck, the hooker, the unwitting tourist family and the crocodiles. I’d like to see a lot of fast editing of chases scenes, crocodile attacks and Judd, to let the viewers know it’ll be a fast paced gorefest. I’d also insert a one-liner or two from Judd or Buck to let them know they’ll be in for just a hint of comedy mixed in to their terror.

Viral –
1 - Mock missing persons news reports from the south Florida area, including interviews with proprietor of a local motel named Judd who claims he doesn’t know anything about the missing folks, but cautions viewers that the swamp can be a dangerous place, especially at night.
2 – Mock news reports interviewing families with loved ones that have seemingly vanished off the face of the Earth.

In regards to luring in old school horror fans, I’d make sure all the marketing pointed out that this is a remake of Tobe Hooper “video nasty” cult classic and also make sure the ads all inform that the films stars Robert Englund and Bill Moseley, both considered modern day horror icons. I’d also be sure to advertise the fact that Tom Savini is heading up the FX department and that Eli Roth is directing. Those are 4 big names in the horror world and when you add in the fact that we’re remaking a video nasty and giving it a modern spin, I think that be enough to tempt the diehard horror fans in to coming out and seeing it.

[roshiq]

Original Film: I BURY THE LIVING (1958)



Remake: BLACK PINS OF DEATH

Tagline: Witness the bizarre coincidences that are happening at the Immortal Hills Cemetery.

Original Plot Synopsis:
Robert Kraft (Richard Boone) is the newly appointed chairman of a committee that oversees a colossal cemetery….the Immortal Hills cemetery; where prominent citizens have the opportunity to reserve their final resting places. The cemetery is so large that a map is kept in the cemetery office displaying the grounds and each grave site. Filled graves are marked by black pins and unoccupied but sold graves are marked with white pins. New to the position and unobservant, Kraft accidentally places a pair of black pins where they don't belong, only to discover later that the young couple who had bought the grave sites in question died in an automobile accident soon afterward. Under repeated tries, he finds that every time he places a black pin over an unoccupied grave, someone dies. This knowledge scares him, and yet some character is around to convince him to try it again to make sure. Thus he's caught up between his conscience and the fear he might be going insane. Kraft slips into deep guilt and depression and believes he is cursed, while the cemetery caretaker (Theodore Bikel in a heavy Scots accent) knows more than he's telling. Meanwhile, it then dawns on him that if he can kills people by sticking black pins into the map maybe he can bring them back by substituting white pins. In finale, Robert goes running through the cemetery and sees that all the recent graves have been opened and the bodies are gone. His plan worked! But is it too late?

Positive remarks of the original movie:
'I Bury the Living' is a good example of a 50s low budget genre movie. Though there was very limited budget for the film and few filming locations and no special effects whatsoever, but this was largely made up by the creepy atmosphere and well-written dialogues. The blackly humorous undertones are sublime and the monotonous camera-work adds a great deal to the tension. Overall, it was a uniquely dreamlike horror picture. I Bury the Living is a psychological attack on the mind and the slow demise into despair and guilt.

Reasons behind the remake:
First of all, I need to clear that for a remake I didn’t like to go for a horror movie of those golden decades of cinema that already has a historical impact in the genre or has a strong fan base that even can’t bear the news like “___ decides to remake ‘___’, one of the classic horror gems/all time great horror movies ever made!” and create a bad impression to the ardent horror fans in it’s very initial stage of filming.
So I was looking for a 50’s/60’s or 70’s horror film that has the following 2 qualities:

• An unusual but simple story which is also equally effective and interesting.
• An underrated (or not so infamous) horror gem that has the potential or opportunities to remake in a better way and finally can at least get a reasonable positive response from the original old school horror fans.

To me, I BURY THE LIVING is a that kind of film. Though you can argue that today this may suitable for a TV film or an episode of a horror TV series but the plot device of the movie was so unique and appealing that just for that reason alone this film deserves to be remade as a subtle intelligent horror film; where in these days we are getting fade up with the movies full of unnecessary violence and gore to create ‘Horror’ on the screen.

Alteration in the storyline for the remake (Contains SPOILER for the Original film):
We’ll try not to put any major changes till the end as the creepy atmosphere, compelling background score, strong characterization carries the original storyline quite nicely which was simple but very effective. Especially the nightmarish visions of Robert like how the plot map continually grows bigger and bigger and some of the weird montage/super-imposition sequences that happen. Another vital interesting thing was about the cemetery map, the more the camera focuses on the map, the more it starts to look like an abstract drawing of a face glaring out at the viewer…try to maintain the same quality in the remake.
But the scene where the police officer asks Robert to put a pin on the map to capture a fugitive criminal dead while he was hiding in another country...I think it’d better to delete this part as it sounds quite funny.
Now the most important part…the ending. Many viewers have expressed some disappointment with the ending of this film.
The ending has Robert trying to right his wrongs by "reversing the curse".
When he replaces the black pins with white, there are several close-ups on the graves of the deceased that clearly show the ground rising from underneath as if a corpse was rising.
Now from here the ‘remake’ will greatly differ from the ‘Original’.
According to an online source the “original script” of the of I BURY THE LIVING had an ending that shows Robert was to have locked himself in the caretakers shed which was suddenly surrounded by the walking corpses of all the people he had killed by sticking black pins into their grave markers. They do not attack but stand patiently outside calling for him to join them. Richard's grief is so great at having caused their deaths that he dies of a heart attack. But that ISN'T the way it ended, rather it shows the caretaker…Andy McKee was the main culprit who killed the dead ones actually.
So at the ending of the remake I like to go with that ‘original script’ but definitely with some alteration like after finding the graves opened and absence of his victim’s corpses Robert will return to the office and locked himself inside by shutting down the windows and the front door under a massive fear of confronting with ‘them’; as if the white pins are also proving to work reverse. Then he’ll first hear some footsteps outside as if they are coming towards the office and after a while it’ll be like ‘they’ are trying to coming inside by breaking through the windows and the door. Here will be some close up plus long shot scenes of Robert (with the map behind him in the wall) which will be shot in a way that can portray an attack on his mind and the slow his demise into despair and guilt that eventually result in death by a heart attack. I don’t like to show the corpses outside the room in a zombie style as I have no intention at all to turn this supernatural as well as psychological thrill ride into a zombie flick at the end.
After the death when Robert’s body is lying on the floor the camera will be focus from the up to his body and remain same there but after while the morning comes and more or less every other important characters will be shown in the room around Robert’s dead body and trying to figure out what was happened there last night? The Doctor declared it was a heart attack and the caretaker, Andy tells that he was knocked several times at the doors & windows to call Mr. Robert but he didn’t answer, Andy thought that perhaps he already left the office. But later when others (his girlfriend-Ann and the priest-Jess) came in the morning & looking for him as he didn’t returned home last night then they breakdown the door and find him dead and called Lt. Clayborne (the police).
The movie will end when Jess (the priest) see a black pin that has already pinned into the map just at the Robert’s preserved place of grave and when he showed that to the others then Andy McKee..the caretaker who is trying to put the map on the wall (it was lying on the floor as if somehow it felled down) will reply (something like this) “perhaps Mr. Robert… himself… put that there…to finally prove the things that he was saying about the pins and the map!”
Mainly the ending will be left for the viewers judgment, like whether the things that happened last night with Ribert were real or just a series of Robert’s mental breakdown or insanity that caused his death!?! This will remain mystery.


(continue...)

[roshiq]

Cast & Crew:

Rufus Sewell as Robert Kraft
Robert Englund as Andy McKee
Marley Shelton as Ann Craig
Bruce McGill as George Kraft
Paul Giamatti as Jess Jessup
Jeffrey Wright Lt. Clayborne

Director: Brad Anderson
Screenplay: Bruce Joel Rubin
Cinematography: Gary B. Kibbe
Executive Producer: John Carpenter
Music: David Julyan

Marketing:
There will be some limited premier shows on some major cities of US for Black Pins of Death especially for the old school horror fans where they will get the chance to enjoy the original movie I bury the living just before the remake’s premier. That means there will be back to back shows of both the original & the remake. So that they can compare & judge whether the remakes has some improvements or not. And I think if this premier shows become a success then the positive reviews, news and comments of the viewers and critics on different websites, magazines and TV will definitely able to grab the attention of old movie lovers, which make them convinced to at least give it a watch.

As a viral campaign, there will be some mock/fake news at some newspapers plus TV about the temporary close down of the Immortal Hills Cemetery for some unknown/confidential reasons that the authority doesn’t like to disclose. At the bottom of the news (both on newspaper & TV screen) there will be a web site address www.immortalhillscemetery.com which will just look like the cemetery map from the movie with a close view. Every plot of the grave will be named after the different site options like Home page, about the story, cast & crew, related links etc. And when someone open the site his/her curser of mouse will turned into a black pin within the screen of the site.

In the release of 2-disc Special Edition DVD of Black Pins of Death, there will be also both versions (original & remake) of the film on the discs.

[ferretchucker]

Originally Posted by bwind22

It was a fairly slow night at work so I got a lot of this written up while I was there and then just put the finishing touches on when I got home.

I’ll start my entry by saying that I don’t agree with remakes in general. Once a film has been done, it should be left as is because that’s the director’s artistic vision and film is art. Remaking Night of the Living Dead is comparable to an artist repainting the Mona Lisa. No matter how good the remake is, it’s going to pale in comparison to the original. Modern day remakes show a complete lack of creativity and exemplify the studio’s pursuit of the almighty dollar over supporting the artistic vision of up and coming filmmakers that actually have original ideas. The only reason I can see for studio’s remaking classics is that they know it will sell. My general sentiment is that if a remake must be made, then they should be focusing on remaking films that can be improved upon, not the ones that are near perfection to begin with.

Okay, with my disclaimer out of the way, let’s get on with the show… I had my shortlist of three films, Rosemary’s Baby, Phantasm and Eaten Alive.

I scratched Rosemary’s Baby because I believe it falls in to the category of an already classic film that is near perfection and therefore I did not feel it could be improved upon.

Some of you are probably aware of my distaste for Phantasm and while I do feel it could have been a cooler film with better casting and gore FX, it is still considered by many to be a classic just as it is so I wouldn’t want to do wrong by it’s fans.

That leaves me with Tobe Hooper’s Eaten Alive as the film I’ve decided to remake due to the fact that there is plenty of room for improvement here, largely due to the low budget the original was filmed on and vast special FX improvements since it was filmed.

I agree completely. I chose Jaws simply because I had some ideas I think could work, I do not think it should be remade.

[Doc Faustus]

ferretchucker- the idea of remaking Jaws is not a terrible one, but enhancing the bigness of things by 20% isn't quite grounds for a remake. I think the problem here was that your respect for the source material got in the way of perceiving imperfections. The rival shark hunters were a good idea because Jaws' main problem is that the human drama, outside of the excellent bonding scenes with the main cast falls flat. Consider the motivations for these rival hunters. Maybe one of them is an ex-lover of Ellen Brody's. Or if Malcolm McDowell's your mayor, maybe he has a good reason for keeping the beach open, one besides tourism. The germ of a good idea is present. Also, perhaps look into an older, more interesting actor for Quint. Harvey Keitel has toughness, intellect and sensitivity to add dimensions to the old salt that are unexpected.
Bwind- Brilliant! This is definitely a film that could endure a remake and it would invigorate the original. I love this movie, but I can definitely see how it could bare a modern treatment. With a more creative viral marketing campaign, this one could be a fun, cult contemporary cult hit.
Roshiq-Creative choice. I'm not too sure what updating this movie does for it, but I like seeing out of the box thinking like this.

[bwind22]

Originally Posted by Doc Faustus

Bwind- Brilliant! This is definitely a film that could endure a remake and it would invigorate the original. I love this movie, but I can definitely see how it could bare a modern treatment. With a more creative viral marketing campaign, this one could be a fun, cult contemporary cult hit.

Thanks Doc!

[neverending]

Ferret- Agreeing with the Doc on this one. The solution of "we'll add CGI and everyone will come see it!" is one of the worst things about remakes of horror movies. Some of the casting seems off to me as well. Additionally- this doesn't seem like a likely Coen Brothers project. This was an average effort.

Bwind- You get major kudos for your diatribe about remakes. I couldn't say it any better myself. I also like your ideas for updating the script. Setting it in Florida is a perfect choice, and I like the emphasis on a grittier more realistic approach. However, in south Florida you are far more likely to have a mayor of Cuban ancestry than Hispanic. High marks from me.

Roshiq- Really an excellent choice for a remake, if done right. One major quibble right from the start though- in this day there would be no map with pins on it- it would all be computerized. If you can get past that, you have some excellent ideas. There are some missteps at the end, IMO. Why not have some brief shots of zombie like creatures? They could be explained as Robert's visions, and could be very scary. Too much explaination at the end. Just show the priest finding the black pin on Robert's location and end it there. Really excellent research on your part though, including finding the original script and deciding to go with the original ending. An excellent if flawed enffort.

And for all of you- enough with the "fake news reports" kind of marketing. It's tired and old already.

[ChronoGrl]

Personally, I am of the opinion that remakes are generally surperfluous unless they do one of the following:

1. Drastically re-interpret the original source material (be it the original movie, book, play, etc.) in a way that wasn’t done in previous interpretations.
2. Rectifies terrible direction, acting, editing, and etc. decisions of the original.
3. Drastically re-interpret cinema, be it the genre or the actual cinematic technique.

With my proposed remake, I plan to do at least two of those things when I pitch my remake for…

MATANGO, or ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE (1963)

Original Script Outline:
The story is framed by the off-screen narrative of the sole survivor of a failed pleasure cruise. From him we know the story:

A group of affluent tourists and their Skipper go off on a vacation yacht trip (not unlike Gilligan’s Island’s three hour tour and, coincidentally contains both a Professor AND a Skipper) when they run afoul of rough weather and crash on a seemingly deserted island. The characters are actual characatures: A Professor, his Assistant, a Movie Star, a Writer, a Skipper and First Mate. While stranded, they discover the remains of a research ship covered with mysterious mold and captain’s logs indicating “mysterious happenings.” Above all, they know that, no matter what, they should not eat the mushrooms on the island.

Eventually, it’s found that there is no food on the island, so they wind up eating the mushrooms, resulting in hallucinations, deformity, and insanity, attempting to convince the non-eaters (or, metaphorically, the “innocents) to eat the mushrooms. The overlying themes are Temptation (the players turning into modern-day Lotus-Eaters), indictment of drug-abuse (a relevant theme in the 60s), and changes mores in the younger generation in Japanese culture. Matango is also somewhat a precursor to Slashers (sexual people who succumb to their appetites wind up ultimately being destroyed).

Of course, our narrator escapes to tell the tale… From within a hospital.



Remake Script Outline and Changes:
To make an obvious nod to the original, we will entitle the movie The Matango Project, ironically titled by its characters within the film.

Instead of a group of hapless victims, we will remove the obvious Gilligan’s Island metaphor and morph our characters into purposeful visitors of this wilderness: A documentary film crew who are there to study a rare strain of the Cordyceps Fungus.

The frame of the movie will still be from the sole survivor, piecing together his team’s documentary footage to plead his case to his doctors and employers that he did not kill his team and using the bits and pieces of his documentary to frame his innocence.

Unlike the original movie, this film will be ground in “reality,” taking actual documentary footage to frame its introduction to both the audience and the on looking doctors within the frame of our narrative.

Five documentary filmmakers are stranded in Irian Jaya attempting to do research on this fungus. Instead of finding an abandoned research vessel, they find an old and abandoned research camp with notes in an unidentified and unreadable language. What they DO find is stop-motion footage:
(We will need to secure the rights to either this footage or similar footage to create the fungus horror metaphor that we are about to reveal):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCOQ0VU24xw

The above clip shows an ant infected by the Cordyceps Fungus. It becomes crazy, erratic. Its fellow colonists drag its body and abandon it away from the tribe so as not to infect its inhabitants. Then, finally, the fungus bursts through the ant’s head. Adding horror to this clip is the silence surrounding it.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, this is what our characters have to look forward to.

When one of them becomes ill, the remaining four are left to decide what to do – isolate the subject? Call for help and abandon the work? As the sickness begins to take effect, the primal side of humanity begins to come out: Can and should they isolate each other? Can they honestly abandon their team members?

Also, in a nice modern twist, the fungus is spread by an explosion of the head and possible transmition of the fungus into open orifices. Talk about a nice splatter addition!

Instead of the themes touched upon in the original film, The Matango Project will instead focus on more modern themes: Environmental horror (how our greed and need to invade nature can lead to our devise; how the environment has evolved to attack not just insects, but homo sapiens as well), man vs. nature, and man vs. The Machine (there is the undertone of complete this project to secure “funding” and satisfy the corporate backers of this documentary).


 
Cinematic Changes:
Also unlike the original movie, we will shift the third-person directorial focus to the first-person shaky cam perspective. While some critics might say that this medium has been done, The Matango Project will aim to reinvent how the first-person cinematic narrative has been executed with the added construct of the nature documentary. Our characters are professional photographers and will take first-person shooting to a new level with gorgeous, sweeping nature shots of the terrain intermixed with well-framed still shots and, of course, the first-person shaky cam.

Where the original film was shot in the South Pacific, The Matango Project will be shot in Irian Jaya, the northwest tip of Papua New Guinea. The reason for this location is that the Cordycepts Fungus is actually found here and this is still an incredibly remote and isolated location.

In short, The Matango Project will not only re-envision the viral horror of Matango, but also the shaky, first-person narrative film technique.


(Continued)

[ChronoGrl]

Cast and Crew:
Director(s): Eduardo Sánchez, who proved that he can capture raw human emotion and insanity in Altered, also proved that he can handle the first-person narrative (in Blair Witch Project). For the sweeping panoramic nature shots, he will collaborate with Alastair Fothergill, director of “Blue Planet.”
Writer: Eduardo Sánchez, brought in again for his experience with Blair Witch and Altered.

Cast: For the cast, I would like to hire mostly unknowns (or lesser-knowns), to emphasize the “found” element of this footage. Also, to emphasize the “reality” of the documentary, the characters will be named after the actors playing them out.

Wentworth (“The Professor”): The Matango Project is Professor Wentworth’s baby. He is a research scholar with a PhD and multiple nature documentaries under his belt. He is out living his dream – Filming the Cordyceps Fungus while being heavily financed by an unnamed corporate investor. Professor Wentworth will be played by Scott Wentworth, whose role in Diary of the Dead proves that he can be the self-preserving mentor under pressure. Not exactly a protector, but not a pure victim either.

Aaron: Aaron is our hero and sole survivor. He frames the narrative through which we see this film. He is the direct report and assistant of The Professor, who experiences conflict when he sees that this project is going downhill. How can he reason with the one whom he considers his mentor? For this role I would like to cast Aaron Douglas who, within his role on Battlestar Galactica has shown that he can play loyal follower, but also incensed leader.

Alanna: Alanna is the young, innocent film crew member and nature-lover. She is the love interest of Aaron and also the film’s paradigm of innocence (very much like her original Matango counterpart). Aside from her innocence, she also needs to be a believable threat when she is overcome by the virus. For this role, I would like to cast Alanna Chisholm who, in her role in The Chair, showed that she can go from innocent victim to deranged psychopath in the course of an evening.

Kim: Kim is the toughened outdoorsy adventurer film crew member, lending a slight foil to Alanna’s innocence. She is tough and hardened and the first person to suggest the abandoning of her fallen and falling comrades. She has had experience in documentary filmmaking before and seems to be most in-tuned with the dangers that nature has to offer (as opposed to Alanna’s flighty more simplistic nature sympathizer). Kim seems the first person to understand their peril. For this role, I would like to cast Kim Blair, the Odysseus-like ARMY homecoming daughter in Mulberry Street. No stranger to horror, she proves that she can act tough in even the most outrageous situations.

Jake: Jake is the more stereotypical documentary crew member – one part environmental activist, three parts hippy stoner (a nod to the anti-drug themes of the original, but not a central piece to his character nor of the plot). Jake is the one in the film who, jokingly, refers to their excursion as “The Matango Project;” the rube naming their fate. Jake is the first character to become ill from the fungus. For this role, I would cast Jake Muxworthy who, in Borderland, showed that he can play the smart but loose party boy but sober up quickly to become panicked, paranoid victim.



Marketing
The Matango Project will be pitched and marketed as a revisioning of the original. Fans of the original will not be turned off as this is not a carbon-copy, but rather a modernization of a cult classic with revised themes and cinematic technology.

In terms of viral marketing, we will create two fake websites: One is the personal website of Wentworth, chronicling and listing all of his “previous projects” (licensed actual documentary footage) with a blurb about his “current project.” The second website will be of a similar site: Planet Discovery, the environmental corporation funding this expedition. There will be various documentary footage in particular, footage showing the exploitation of nature for the cause of science (but pitched as “intellectual”). There will also be mention of their “current project.”

[neverending]

Holy crap, Chrono- that documentary footage is chilling. A truly plausable, harrowing premise for a horror film. You knocked it out of the ballpark, IMO. As to the marketing- why not actually sponsor some new research into this fungus? Your film could in fact become NEWS.