Stephen (Matt Duggan) and Brian (Trevor Boelter) are big-time Hollywood screenwriters that have run up against the deadline for their latest script. Facing unemployment, Brian hatches a plan where the two will be locked into a single room in a warehouse for two days to finish up their promised project. While the room is lacking in the sanitation department (there’s a bucket in the corner), Brian made sure to keep the room stocked with the necessities: weed, alcohol, laptop, typewriter and a hobo clown doll that may or may not be haunted (you know, for inspiration). Everything seems to be working out, until the two writers start conflicting creatively.
This is a case of an idea not overstaying its welcome and the running time perfectly matching up. This premise could’ve been stretched to a feature, but as a short, it really packs the best punch. As a statement on the creative process, or even how crazy writers are, it’s entertaining to experience and ponder. As a horror short (what, you think that clown doll doesn’t get involved somehow; it’s a CLOWN doll, nothing good EVER comes of those things), the film is true to the ambiguity and suspense that truly sells fear as opposed to just simple gore and surprise shocks.
At 15 minutes, this could be a segment on a show like “The Twilight Zone” or “The Outer Limits,” and it works just as effectively. I know I said that if it were stretched to a feature it would be lessened but, at the same time, the movie they’re talking about writing in the short COULD be a feature, and maybe if you tied the two together in a larger project…
Can’t wait to check it out – when will it be on sale?!! I’m always looking for great horror comedy and this sounds like it fits the bill!