This is meant to be a short to the point thriller with lots of weird cinematography and supernatural events. All feedback wil be appreciated.

"THE DOOR"

INT. OF HOUSE
Carl Newman gets out of his bed and walks to his kitchen. He opens the refrigerator and retrieves a soda. All of the sudden a voice calls out to him. Carl turns around and finds himself in a hallway. There is a door at the end of the hallway. A light begins to shine behind it, and the door begins to shake violently. An unseen force begins to pull at Carl. He tries to fight whatever it is that has a grip on him, but it won’t let him go. Then he wakes up to his alarm clock buzzing. Carl gets out of his bed and notices that his nose is bleeding. He goes to the bathroom and washes his face and sighs heavily.

Opening Credits

INT. PSYCHIATRIST’S OFFICE- DAY

Dr. Henry Gross is seated behind his desk. He is busily working on some papers. His secretary walks into the room.

SECRETARY
Your new patient is here Dr. Gross.

HENRY
Thank you, Cindy, send him in please.

SECRETARY
Yes Doctor.

The secretary exits the room. After a few minutes, Carl enters the room. Henry stands up to shake hands with him. Carl walks over to Henry.

HENRY
Good afternoon, Mr. Newman. My name is Dr. Henry Gross.

CARL
I know who you are.

The two men shake hands.

HENRY
Why don’t you sit down?

Carl looks around for a seat and finally settles for a chair.

CARL
No couch?

HENRY
No, but I have very comfortable seats.

CARL
They are comfortable.

HENRY
I’m glad you like them. So (he reaches for his pad and pencil) Why have you come here?

CARL
I have nightmares.

HENRY
Yes… And what happens in these nightmares?

CARL
I am in my house, and there’s a door in a hallway. It feels like the door is pulling me towards it. But something inside me is fighting and won’t let the door have me. Am I crazy?

HENRY
No, you’re perfectly sane. I have seen this same exact version of a dream in some of my previous patients. Now, do you have trouble sleeping at night?

CARL
I can’t sleep most of the times. But my body becomes so tired that I have to rest sometimes. And that’s when I have the nightmares.


HENRY
So when did you start to have these nightmares?

CARL
Well, I guess they started six months ago or so.

HENRY
You’ve been without sleep for almost six months.

CARL
Yes.

HENRY
Well, this certainly is very interesting. Is there some certain event that sparked these nightmares?

CARL
Not that I know of.

HENRY
Have you ever had any family deaths?

CARL
I don’t know.

HENRY
What do you mean you don’t know?

CARL
I suffer from long term memory loss. Almost five years ago…

CUT TO NEXT SCENE:
OUT. BAY- DAY

Carl is lying on the bank of the bay. He is soaked with water and shivering violently.

NARRATION
I was found shivering by the bay in Bay County. They said I was almost dead.

A man runs up to Carl and starts to shake him.

FADE OUT:
INT. OFFICE- DAY

CARL
Ever since that day, I can’t remember my past.

HENRY
Very interesting. I think your dream is trying to show you something. I think the door is withholding a secret, maybe to your past, but you don’t want to know what it is. I think you are afraid of the unknown.

CARL
So what should I do?

HENRY
Open the door. Find out what it is that you are trying to tell yourself. I think you could learn a great deal. Like I’ve said, I had patients that had your same troubles, but once they opened the door they became free. I tell you what, our time is up, but do what I suggested and open the door. Tomorrow come back to my office and we will talk about it.

CARL
Thank you, Doctor.

INT. CARL'S HOUSE
Carl walks in and sits in his recliner. He stares up at the ceiling watching the fan slowly turn. It's blades captivate him and he slowly begins to fall asleep. As soon as his eyes close a quick image of a bloody knife flashes in his head. Carl sits up and realizes his nose is bleeding. He exits the room and enters his bathroom were he washes his face. Once again when he closes his eyes he has an image of himself standing by the bay. Carl shakes his head as he dries his face.

CARL(To himself)
What in god's name is going on with me.

Carl paces his house.

CARL(To himself)
Why have I never looked for my family? Why am I content with knowing nothing about myself? I have to have something linked to my past.

He walks to his desk and looks around. He notices his filing cabinet.

CARL(To himself)
Why have I never opened my filing cabinet?

He goes to open the top drawer and finds nothing inside. He tries to open the second drawer and finds that it is locked. Frustrated by the fact that he doesn't know where the key is, he walks into his kitchen and gets a large flat head screwdriver. After working at prying for quite a while, Carl gives up and kicks the drawer in anger. The drawer pops open when he does this. Carl looks inside and slowly draws out what appears to be a photo album. ON the front of the album in big letters are the words, Your past lies within. Carl looks at it strangely then finally opens it. Even though there is a large number of pages, there are no pictures. Only at the back of the book is a peice of paper that says, go to sleep.

CUT TO NEXT SCENE:

INT. CARL'S HOUSE- NIGHT
Carl paces his house. He finally takes a sleeping draught and falls asleep. Carl is standing in a hallway. There is a door straight ahead of him. It begins to shake violently. Lights emerge from cracks in the door. Carl walks towards it, as he does the voices get louder. Carl reaches the door and grabs the handle, when he does everything stops. He steps back as the door slowly opens. Then darkness engulfs him. CArl is standing in front of a mirror. He is looking at himself. The reflection begins to speak.

REFLECTION
I was beginning to wonder if you ever would come.

CARL
Who are you?

REFLECTION
My god, I didn’t know you had become this stupid. Oh well, at least you kept the character up.

CARL
What are you talking about?

REFLECTION
I’m talking to you, my friend. Come on I know you remember. Think back; back a couple of years ago.

The reflection goes and sits down in a chair. Carl remains standing.

REFLECTION
Just close your eyes, and you will remember.

Carl closes his eyes. He begins to squint. The reflection looks hard at Carl and smiles. Carl is suddenly transported to a bedroom. Everything is turned upside down. He sees blood on the sheets. Carl looks around, and then he hears screams coming from a bathroom. He runs into the nearby bathroom. There is a woman on the floor, and it appears the blood is coming from her. A man is standing over her; he has a knife in his left hand. Blood is dripping from the knife. Carl lunges at the man, and tackles him. But when the man turns around, Carl realizes he is face to face with himself. Carl screams, and falls backwards. As he tries to crawl backwards, he sees himself turn back to the woman and raise his knife. Carl quickly looks away, and finds himself back in the room with a mirror. Carl slowly gets up to his feet. The reflection is grinning.

CARL
What… What am I?

The reflection stands up and walks closer to
Carl.

REFLECTION
You are me. And I am Jacob Woolfe.

Carl has quick flashbacks of hearing about Jacob Woolfe The Midnight Slasher.

CARL
No!

JACOB
I am afraid so. You are nothing more than a character I made up when the F.B.I was close on my heels. Remember the fake I.D.

Carl keeps having quick flashbacks. In one flashback he sees himself standing by the bay dumping bags of ashes into the water. Then jumping into the water himself.

JACOB
I am surprised at how well I managed to emerge myself into character, making myself lie in that cold water for hours, intending on getting hypothermia. But then again that’s why they call me the most brilliant serial killer in history. So if you don’t mind, I want my body back.

CARL
I can’t let you.

JACOB
I’m not asking you I’m commanding you!

CARL
No!

Jacob begins to look hard at Carl. Carl starts to scream and falls to the ground.

JACOB
I made you, and I can destroy you!

Carl still is screaming.

CARL
NO!!!

BLACK SCREEN
FADE IN:

INT. OF CAR
Radio is on and a newscaster is speaking.

NEWSCASTER
A young psychiatrist was found dead in his home this morning. The psychiatrist was identified to be Dr. Henry Gross. Police speculate that he died during the night, close to midnight. The police have no suspects as of yet.

A hand reaches down to the radio and turns it to another station. The camera pans up to show Jacob Woolfe smiling as he drives along.

JACOB
I guess Dr. Gross was wrong on this one. But I appreciate what he did anyways. I was starting to lose myself.
(Laughs)

Jacob keeps smiling and laughing as he drives.

FADE TO BLACK:
THE END

That was pretty good. With the right effort and talent involved, and the right overall mood (ex. The Exorcist), you could make a pretty good short. But I would change the name of the protagonist, because when you think of the name Thomas Newman, you immediately think of the composer. I would also try to make it longer by adding scenes that really develop this character and give him a personality (or non-personality, as the case may be), to amplify the moment when the big twist comes that he doesn't exist. If you do decide to give this character personality, try to make him the alter-ego of Jacob (which means you should throw in more criminal characteristics to define Jacob), and try to add little clues that there's something very odd about Thomas's existence (ex. The Sixth Sense).

But other than those changes, this script is pretty good. But it is very ambitious, and your budget, actors, and crewmembers should match that ambition, otherwise this movie may fall apart. Good luck!

Yeah I guess I should change his name, done. I have secrets placed in all the character's names. For example, Thomas New Man. ;-) There's something in the pshyciatrists's name as well, see if you can figure it out. I put a line in the original that kind of gave it away too much, but maybe I should put it back in. HINT: It has to do with Henry's advice.

Oh and I am adding a couple of extra scenes to Carl's character, should have them up by tommorow

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Matthew Fuster,

All right, the name Carl Newman is better. And I have some ideas as to clues you could use as to Carl's real identity...

One idea you could do is you could add some additional dialogue in the psychiarist scene that reveals that Carl has no memories of his past, and the last thing he can remember is vague memories of bloody bedsheets (and have these images flash quickly during Carl's dream), and have Carl assume that a brutal attack robbed him of his memory (ex. Memento).

Another idea is you could have Carl, on one of his sleepless nights, stumble upon a very old-looking photo album he doesn't remember, only to discover that there are no pictures in it.

These are just my suggestions, but I think they would add some depth to the script.

added some new stuff. check it out. Thanks for the help Dan.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Matthew Fuster,

I like this a lot. It is kinda short and too much to the point but it seems like you're extending it more. It definetly sounds freaky, I also like the ending, even though it would have been neat to see him actually kill Dr. Gross. And after reading it three times, I get your joke hehe. And you should write it in and make it more apparent.

Overall, i am exccited to see the finished product. That is if you are going to put it on here.

"I guess Dr. Gross was wrong." -THE DOOR

Thanks for the help Prometheus, and yes I will be posting it on Studentfilms.com. More feedback would be much appreciated. I'm going to start shooting tommorrow.

P.S. I added the little name joke at the end.

Nothin' like being the butt of an inside joke...

This movie sounds so awesome. You did a great job at writing it Fuster. Obviously you have already revised it, so I have no complaints. This is the type of script that could be made into an awesome feature length film in the future, kind of like Memento. Great job on this short. Now I want to see the film!

reall really really really cool

if you pull this off it will rock!!

I cant wait to see this!

Really cool, great job!

One last suggestion...I would remove the "your past lies here" note on the album, because it spoils the twist.

Amazing script. Can't wait till the video is up.

thanks for the responses. I am almost finished filming it, and then will go into post production (which shouldn't take long). So it will be up on the site relatively soon.

Wow, you're finishing filming already!? Jeez, you're fast...

Well since I'm doing 95% of the work, and I only go to classes two days a week, I have lots of time. I got a friend to help with camera work, but after playing it back, he really didn't captivate the suspensefulness of the film. So it looks like I'm going to have to go back and redo some scenes myself. I don't want to rush but everything is rolling along.