DOOMSDAY FOR DENTON (6-page short drama screenplay) Written by Anthony Cawood

Some legends are best observed from a safe distance…

So, today’s review is of a script from October’s Twilight Zone themed OWC that I felt was a tad underrated – it was my 2nd favorite of all the entries. With its colorful dialogue and cleverly executed twist ending, this script definitely stood out.

If the title sounds familiar, the script was inspired by the 3rd episode of TZ’s very first season, “Mr. Denton on Doomsday”. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out AFTER reading this take on the source material.

The story opens when a tough, scrappy young man named Barry enters a bar called the Nag’s Head. Carrying with him a chip on his shoulder, he’s not here looking to knock a few back – he’s here looking for a fight. But not just with anybody – he wants to fight the legendary bare-knuckle brawler, Denton.

As Barry searches for Denton, who’s a known patron of the bar, bartender Danny points to a man nearly passed out at a table, drunk as a skunk. Determined to defeat the legend, Barry buys him a pint and challenges the drunken Denton, who’s obviously way past his prime. But not before praising the man who was formerly dubbed, “Destroyer” Denton.

            BARRY
Ma Dad still talks about when you
put O’Leary in the hospital.

            DENTON
Lucky shot.

Downplaying his accomplishments and seemingly not in the condition to fight, Denton turns down the challenge at first… emphasis on “seemingly”.

I won’t spoil the rest of it, but let’s just say when Denton eventually DOES accept the challenge, things don’t go as planned for young Barry.

A very fun script with great dialogue, it was easy to visualize this on a movie screen. And with essentially one simple location and small cast, it would be a piece of cake to shoot in this COVID climate.

BUDGET: Low. One location. Three main characters.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Anthony Cawood is an award-winning screenwriter with one feature produced and a further four features optioned or in pre-production. In addition to features, he has over forty short scripts produced/sold/optioned – including ten filmed. Also occasionally pens screenwriting articles, interviews with writers and filmmakers, and even a short story or two. He can be reached on his website AnthonyCawood.co.uk.

Read: DOOMSDAY FOR DENTON (6-page short drama screenplay)

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About the Reviewer: Michael J. Kospiah is the award-winning screenwriter of critically acclaimed indie-thriller, The Suicide Theory (79% Rotten Tomatoes – available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, Google Play, etc) and 2020’s upcoming Aussie thriller, Rage. His horror feature, They Never Left is currently in development.

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THERE’S SOMETHING INSIDE (4-page short horror screenplay) Written by Mark Renshaw

A strange creature seeking shelter for the night finds itself 20,000 feet in the air on an airplane wing with one passenger inside bent on its destruction.

Whether you’ve ever seen the Twilight Zone episode, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” starring William Shatner or the “Twilight Zone: The Movie” version starring John Lithgow, you know the gist of the very popular tale: Man sees a gremlin on the wing of an airplane plane but nobody believes him. The man believes the gremlin is there to destroy the airplane and decides to take matters into his own hands, no matter how crazy he looks. But, if you’re like me, you’ve always wondered why the gremlin was there in the first place? What were its motives?

Well, in this Twilight Zone-themed, October OWC 2nd place winner, writer Mark Renshaw answers that question with his clever take on the tale – writing it from the perspective of the gremlin.

The story opens with our gremlin roaming an airfield, minding its own business, innocently looking for a place to take a nap. He finds a nice, cozy spot under the wing of a plane. But, when he wakes up, he realizes that he’s 20,000 feet in the air! Confused and frightened, he looks to one of the plane’s windows and sees the Shatner/Lithgow character staring at him from inside the plane. And it’s clear that this passenger has some bad intentions towards our gremlin.

As clever as this premise and its execution was, what I was most impressed with is that this script pretty much has zero dialogue – and yet, I was completely absorbed into this story throughout.

For any filmmakers who are TZ fanatics like me, this would make an excellent fan film and will be sure to rack up some Youtube/Vimeo views.

BUDGET: Modest. Two words: Green. Screen. And a little set-building.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Mark Renshaw is an award-winning screenwriter and producer, his sci-fi TV pilot script “Nearscape” reaching the semifinals of the prestigious Page Awards and 2ndround of the Austin Film Festival. His short script, “Cyborn” was the inaugural winner of the Inroads Screenwriting Competition. Reaching the top 4% of the BBC’s Open Drama Submission, Mark has also been added to their list of promising writers. As a producer, his first two short films, “No More Tomorrows” and “Surrender” have enjoyed successful runs on the independent circuit, garnering several awards. His latest sci-fi short, “The Survivor: A Tale From the Nearscape”, which he wrote and produced, currently has a worldwide distribution deal with Meridian Releasing, also serving as a proof of concept for a TV series. Mark has also had several short stories published, including “Ragnarok” by Cohesion Press in the horror anthology, “SNAFU: Resurrection”. You can watch check out Mark’s produced films and scripts on his website at mark-renshaw.com.

Read: THERE’S SOMETHING INSIDE (4-page short horror screenplay)

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*This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.

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About the Reviewer: Michael J. Kospiah is the award-winning screenwriter of critically acclaimed indie-thriller, The Suicide Theory (79% Rotten Tomatoes – available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, Google Play, etc) and 2020’s upcoming Aussie thriller, Rage. His horror feature, They Never Left is currently in development.

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Over on the Unproduced Scripts page are ten original script for your reading pleasure.

– Don

Horrific Tales of the Wickedly Macabre is an anthology series that celebrates the ridiculous excess of ’80s horror. Eight separate terrifying stories, each told by horror fans, specifically for horror fans.

Next up is:
Roach Motel by Pia Cook (Wraparound Story Written by Sean Chipman) hosted by Simply Scripts

Five college students traveling back home from a vacation in Florida are forced by a hurricane to seek shelter in a roadside motel where guests check in but never check out. 37 pages (Short, Horror) pdf format

Episode Four of Horrific Tales of the Wickedly Macabre

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AN OCCURRENCE ON OWL STREET (5-page short thriller) Written by John Staats

A man runs for his life in an attempt to get back home to his family after a case of mistaken identity.

One of the top entries from October’s Twilight Zone-themed OWC was a personal favorite of mine. If you recognize the title of this entry, the inspiration for it was a memorable Twilight Zone episode called “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (Season 5, Episode 22). If you haven’t seen the episode, I recommend watching it AFTER you read this script.

The writer makes the episode his own – the object of the OWC was to take a premise from a Twilight Zone episode and create an original, stand-alone story that exists outside of the TZ universe (no Rod Serling intro). But, while this is a great stand-alone short, it also captures the spirit of the legendary television show by updating it to current times and adding some very powerful social commentary.

Our story opens in an urban neighborhood where our hero, Jack, a middle-aged black man, is leaving a store. After noticing that his keys are locked in his car, he tries to break in. Some cops take notice and immediately jump to the wrong conclusion, restraining the innocent family man with excessive force in a difficult-to-watch scene that reminds us of current, tragic injustices by police in today’s climate.

But Jack somehow breaks free and makes a run for it, drawing cheers from the neighborhood spectators rooting for him. Determined to get back home to his wife and child, the duration of the story is an intense, heart-pumping foot chase as Jack runs for his life, refusing to become another unfortunate statistic.

Now, some may read this and think “Too soon!”. Yes, this is very much ripped from today’s headlines. But it’s handled with delicate care and sensitivity. And, unfortunately, this story would have been relevant 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago and beyond. Hopefully, 10 years from now, we’ll look back on the subject matter and deem it archaic and dated… but we still have a long way to go, as this story reminds us.

BUDGET: Low. All exterior locations – outside a store, a playground. Minimal cast.

ABOUT THE WRITER: As a fly-fishing fanatic and skier living in the Arizona desert, John Staats finds plenty of time for writing. His feature Impasse was a 2019 Filmmatic Season 4 Drama Screenplay Finalist and has been published as an e-book on Amazon. In addition to features and shorts for the screen, John has found a niche writing for the illustrated page (comics!). John can be contacted at jestaats (a) hotmail.

Read: AN OCCURRENCE ON OWL STREET (5-page short thriller)

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*This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.

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About the Reviewer: Michael J. Kospiah is the award-winning screenwriter of critically acclaimed indie-thriller, The Suicide Theory (79% Rotten Tomatoes – available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, Google Play, etc) and 2020’s upcoming Aussie thriller, Rage. His horror feature, They Never Left is currently in development.

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Over on the Unproduced Scripts page are eleven original scripts for your reading pleasure.

– Don

ARE YOU LOOKING AFTER YOURSELF? (19-page short drama screenplay) Written by BEN CLIFFORD

After feeling his wife has checked out mentally, a young father bonds with a widower in his neighborhood over a shared sense of loss.

The story opens with a very dreamlike voice over as John, husband and father in his mid 30s, holds his breath underwater at a local public pool. He describes this reoccurring dream he’s been having: he’s driving his old car with his wife, Annette, in the passenger’s seat and son, Hayward, in the back. And they’re driving straight into a river. Is it an accident? Or is John purposely driving the car into the river with his family inside? He doesn’t know for sure because, before he can figure out that part of the dream, he wakes up.

If you haven’t guessed, John is having a bit of a mid-life crisis. His alcoholic wife, Annette, seems to be barely there, often times waking up on the couch, hungover. They rarely speak and, when she does attempt to do everyday things, like cooking dinner, she serves it under-cooked. Annette does seem to care, but there’s this distance between her and her family, John and Hayward often spending time together away from her. Things haven’t been right for a while. Perhaps she’s aware of John’s closeted homosexuality. But, even then, they don’t talk about it, which only creates more distance.

As his marriage continues to flounder, John becomes attracted to his neighbor, Alex, a single father who’s wife had recently passed away. Everyone has been really nice and helpful to Alex since the passing of his wife. Maybe a little TOO nice.

Even though John’s wife is very much alive, he relates to Alex, sharing his sense of loss. And the two men bond over it. But, as their bond continues to grow, so does their attraction to each other.

Part “American Beauty”, part “Happiness”, the complex, true-to-life characters in writer, Ben Clifford’s slice-of-life, coming-of-age drama highlight a very poignant, heartfelt script that hits all the right notes.

BUDGET: Low. Some locations, such as a public pool, may require extras. Other than that, there are six speaking roles (2 children).

ABOUT THE WRITER: Ben Clifford is an Australian screenwriter interested in writing drama and comedy. He’s greatly inspired by the works of Peter Weir, Harmony Korine, the Marx Brothers, Todd Solondz, Andrea Arnold, and Cate Shortland. Ben can be reached at: cliffordben502(a)gmail.

Read: ARE YOU LOOKING AFTER YOURSELF? (19-page short drama screenplay)

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*This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.

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About the Reviewer: Michael J. Kospiah is the award-winning screenwriter of critically acclaimed indie-thriller, The Suicide Theory (79% Rotten Tomatoes – available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, Google Play, etc) and 2020’s upcoming Aussie thriller, Rage. His horror feature, They Never Left is currently in development.

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Badman: Three of a Kind (5 page in pdf format ) by John Staats (JEStaats)

A new threat emerges from the depths with a score to settle.

Read Badman and Badman: Two in the Bush

(click the image to take you to the full version)

Read the rest at HyperEpics.com

About the writer: As a fly-fishing fanatic and skier living in the Arizona desert, John Staats has plenty of time for writing. After focusing on features and shorts for the screen, John has now ventured into writing for the illustrated page with hopes of eventually writing a full-feature graphic novel. His feature Impasse has also been published as an e-book on Amazon. John can be contacted at jestaats(a)hotmail.

About Hyper Epics: Home of the 3 page sagas, Hyper Epics is a bold anthology series that offers diverse and exciting comic book stories on its website – www.hyperepics.com – and in print form. Each original story is packed with stunning artwork, memorable characters, and captivating stories enhanced with dazzling soundtracks. It is quickly becoming a go-to destination for readers worldwide.

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Stewart is a hopeless romantic searching for the right girl. But it’s been difficult for him. He genuinely seems like a good person, but he’s not exactly the most charismatic person in the world. And his fashion sense can come across as a bit plain. He’s just a regular dude. But, overall, he also seems a bit uptight and conservative – or “stiff”, as his platonic friend Hannah tells him.

But Stewart has a date with a nurse soon. And, fully aware of his shortcomings in the fashion department, he invites his free-spirited friend, Hannah, to the mall with him to help him find a cool outfit for his hot date. On the surface, Hannah seems like Stewart’s complete opposite; she has tattoos and, even though she rocks thrift store duds, she looks pretty hip in a “grunge/skater” kind of way. But, because Stewart is completely aloof when it comes to women, Hannah seems like the right person to help him out.

As they shop around and hit up department stores, we see just how “stiff” Stewart really is when they have an exchange about coffee.

But as we follow them through the mall, through fantastic dialogue exchanges, we start to see a charming side to Stewart. And we also learn that he and Hannah tried dating at one time. Well, they had one date. Of course, it was Hannah who friend-zoned him.

However, Hannah soon learns that one date doesn’t reveal EVERYTHING about a person, as she peels back layers to Stewart’s personality and discovers a very charming side to him. In turn, Stewart learns to loosen up a little bit while finding out more about himself… ultimately revealing why he chose Hannah to come with him.

In what feels a little like “Before Sunrise” in a mall, the intelligent dialogue and charming characters really draw you into this story. Overall, this is an extremely cute, smart rom-com with natural yet witty dialogue… and a very satisfying conclusion.

BUDGET: Low… if you can find a department store or mall that is film-friendly.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Marnie is an award-winning screenwriter and 5-page contest junkie. Due to her addiction, she’s written over 80 shorts, 15 having been produced. Currently she’s working on her 8th feature, an adaptation of a horror short she wrote 10 years ago. Some of her work can be found on her site, BrainFluffs.com

Read YOU CAN’T FORCE LOVE (8-page short rom-com screenplay)

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*This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.

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About the Reviewer: Michael J. Kospiah is the award-winning screenwriter of critically acclaimed indie-thriller, The Suicide Theory (79% Rotten Tomatoes – available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, Google Play, etc) and 2020’s upcoming Aussie thriller, Rage. His horror feature, They Never Left is currently in development.

Subscribe to Michael’s YouTube Channel.