SCREENPLAY:
RATTLING CHAINS
written by ROBERT BRUINEWOUD
GENRE: thriller / horror – SHORT, 25-pages
LOGLINE:
An untrained newbie is sent to a remote secret facility, to help guard a deep pit, which is rumoured to hold a woman who has been bound in chains for over 150 years.
SYNOPSIS:
A young man, TOM, is driven to a remote location with five other passengers. On his arrival he learns that he is the “new guy” and his new partner, JAN, is not happy with the change.
The other passengers, or “observers” as they are called, know each other well, but are not overly friendly. When they learn Tom hasn’t completed his training, they are disturbed by the breach of procedure and wonder what it means.
Early next morning, Tom learns that their job is to keep watch over “The Well” in a chamber that can only be accessed after descending 6-flights of stairs.
The observers don’t know what is in the hole, but there are stories. According to the most-believed story, the thing in the hole has not been directly observed for 150 years. Despite that, they know it’s still down there and “alive” because sometimes people report hearing the sound of chains rattling.
Jan admits to Tom, that her and her partner were there to experience the last time this happened. It was just two-months earlier, after thirty years of silence.
Jan’s hope that it will be another thirty years before they hear from it again, is shattered during their next shift.
THE VIBE:
The all-too-familiar experience of being dropped into a role you haven’t been properly trained for.
NOTE:
While the script works as a standalone short, it could be expanded into a feature – either by:
• treating the short as Act 1 of a longer story, or
• inserting more events and story within the current outline.
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If you’re a producer, director or production company interested in a script to play with, Rattling Chains is available to read at Script Revolution or you can contact me via the contact form.
Here’s the ‘logistical’ details:
locations
• exterior: buildings in forest
• interior: old house
• interior: a concrete chamber (set)
actors
• Tom (man, 20s)
• Jan (woman, 50s)
• other characters – speaking (7x men and women)
• other characters – non-speaking (12x men and women)
effects etc
• concrete chamber (set)
• gas lanterns (need to flicker and go out on cue)
• practical effects, human-sized “thing in the well”