Slow start horror, will it work?

[thefilmgeek]

The first act of my screenplay lasts roughly 25-28 pages. It isn't until then that the horror elements start to be introduced (aka, the Zombies).

It's a horror/thriller/tragic love story... (lol, I know)

I just don't know if waiting until the second act to introduce the real horror elements, the zombies and etc, will keep people watching through act 1. Act 1 is just setting up the protag and his love interest and building towards how the zombies finally arrive (however they aren't even MENTIONED in the least until page 2. Up until that it's just more character driven with plot and build up into the catalyst that throws the story into zombie world, yar!

Any thoughts on if this will flop, or if an audience will lose interest before page 28? (barring epic-level boring writing in act 1)

 

[directorik]

... as long as he is happy with the story he has created then all of our opinions don't matter.

My assumption was thefilmgeek asked for our opinions. So perhaps our opinions matter.

 

[wcmartell]

The great thing with THE DESCENT is that it sets the stage for horror in the post-river drive home. We know that sudden horrible violence is possible in this film.

Then we have a great DELIVERANCE style conflict between the women as they are climbing through the cave - and some more horrible climbing accidents - we may not be primed for the things in the cave, but the story is in the horror genre - not a drama and not a comedy and not some genre that would make the things in the cave unexpected. I saw the film in London and hadn't seen a trailer or anything - so I didn't know what was coming. But it completely fit - and when we get than quick shot of the thing, I jumped right out of my seat. That was still probably in the first half of the film.

So I think it depends on how well you prepare us for the zombies and how well you keep ratcheting up the conflict *before* the zombies.

And the opening of the DAWN remake is great - I used it one year when I did a horror class in London. Before the titles, the world has gone to hell... and the titles are over The Authorities on TV telling us they don't know what is causing this or what to do to resolve it.

- Bill

 

[Weaponx]

I completely agree with what wcmartell. It is a terrific point. Another film that I thought built tension in an amazing way was Misery. You would get a glimpse here or there of strange behavior from Annie Wilkes but the full extent of her insanity was not witnessed for most of the movie.

My assumption was thefilmgeek asked for our opinions. So perhaps our opinions matter.

Then state your opinion so we can continue trying to help thefilmgeek.

 

[Will Write For Latte]

Yep, basically. The script will end up being roughly 100 pages now that I've reviewed all my outlines and work. The first 28 pages is Act 1, before any crap hits the fan.

By the time page 30 hits and Act 2 is swinging, I want the audience to really care about what is happening to the protagonist, and not just associate a name and face with him.

The movies I hate the most are the ones with weak protagonists, who are just a face, a name, and maybe a basic idea of who they are like "the jock guy" or "new kid in town."

I'm Kinda in the same situation as you are, I'm sick and Tired of the Same Weak Protagonist Also. But I find myself in the same as Story Also, I too Am Writing a "Slow-to -start-Zombie-Flick", maybe I said too much but thats the way it seems to me. I'm more Interested in the way the "Audience" is gonna see the movie.

I want to explain how the "Protag" came to be. And thats gonna take some time. Also I want to touch on the Back story and Keep the Focus on his being Involved in the whole Plan.

Theres Action in the "Zombie Movie", Plenty of it, Zombies will Mutate, Limbs will grow back, and to the Point of being "BulletProof".

The Way to Kill them will be sending a "Classified-Code-String" to all Satelites and Alligning all Communication Satelites and causing a "World-Wide-EMP" Electro Magnetic Pulse using all cell-phones and Laptops and cause the "Alien-Nanotechnology" in the Zombies to Short-Circuit.

Thats it, I told too Much.

 

[BVproductions]

Go with your gut feeling, or in this case, you're vision. Play finished product to select audience who you trust to give an honest opinion, get feedback without "leading" them. If you need to add a short 1-minute gory clip of zombies at the beginning then do it. It would be an easy fix. In my opinion, as is all this, sometimes a brief seemingly non-related clip at the beginning can keep a viewer on the edge of their seat wondering in suspense when the main characters are going to "cross paths" with these zombies. Again, all my opinion, but so are all the other posts (opinions). Hope it works out.

 

[wolftoy]

You say your not worried about a producer reading this as your him. But it'll still be a hard sell to others as their not sure how to push the film. I've been told that you 1st need to condense your whole story in a few quick minutes to sell the idea and if it makes sense then they'll like it no matter how it's written. This because you can make your changes along the way. But I agree with earlier posts that their should be some mention of the zombies (s) in the 1st act so the audience isn't thrown off by them showing up. Remember how the orignial Blob movie went and use that as an example for setting up your characters and bringing in the monster.
Just a thought.

 

[wcmartell]

SHAUN OF THE DEAD starts out as kind of a doomed love story - but funny. Though the full-on zombie attack doesn't come until 25 minutes into the film, there are plenty of hints along the way.

At the 8 minute mark, Shaun is on the bus to work and sees a man just fall over on the street - dead. From that point on, all kinds of zombie related things happen in the background, and part of the fun is that Shaun and his mate are oblivious to this. At work, Shaun is showing televisions to a customer, and every channel he flips to has an emergency news report. His step father comes to see him at work, and when he leaves a bunch of military vehicles zoom by on the street. After work, Shaun goes to the flower shop... passing a man dead in a car causing a traffic jamb. At the flower shop he sees a man (zombie) across the street eating a live pigeon! After he gets dumped an is in the pub with his mate, there are emergency news reports on the television behind the bar... and when they walk outside drunk at the 20 minute mark, they encounter the singing zombie. The next morning, at the 25 minute mark, the world has gone to hell and there are zombies everywhere - like that girl in the backyard.

Chekhov (the playwright, not the STAR TREK character) said that if you show a gun in act 1 you must use the gun in act 3 - things established must be used and things used must be established. Since you are using zombies later in the script, you need to find some way to sneak them in during act 1.

(Should be noted, Chekhov never read Syd Field's book, as he died around 1900.)

Find a way to sneak the zombies into the background some way - so that we know they're coming.

- Bill

 

[Ian Losz]

Zombies

I think it was mentioned here before, but subtle ways to introduct the subject (in this case zombies) along with the development of your characters will make it easier to present later in your story.

Some examples would be - to have an classic zombie movie playing on a tv during the couples' romantic scene ...
or one of the charactors is reading a book on zombies ... or one has a heated discussion with an office friend about zombies ... or one has a dream about zombies.

Then when the zombies finally appear, there are experts, novices and amateurs already involved that are conflicting with them - but none are totally foreign to their introduction.

Good luck.