May 12, 2021

My morning is fairly back-to-back. Have to crank this out and then go take a shower.  I'm back in LA! It's good to be on my couch, in my apartment, with my coffee and my cat. I'm going to be back in person in July, got to soak up this work-from-home time. ("Soak up time" is my husband's expression. He's all about soaking.) 

Yesterday, I spent the night at my brother's house. I got to hang out with my sister-in-law and my nephews in the morning. They are so cute, but they are a lot of work. Constant work. Trying to keep them occupied and emotionally regulated is like a minute-by-minute thing. Every minute! You have to be on. 

Time for Slog. 

**SPOILERS** 

VIDEO NASTY

2020 Black List 

Written by: Chris Thomas Devlin 

Management: Bellevue Productions

Managers: Jeff Portnoy, John Zaozirny

Agency: UTA

Agent: Charles Ferraro 

Financier: Lionsgate

Producers: Point Grey Pictures, Stampede Ventures

Logline: Three teenagers who rent a cursed VHS tape are pulled into an 80s slasher movie that threatens to trap them forever. 

Read: 5/11/21 

Shawn and Lena Wright, 14 and 15, leave NYC with their mom after she gets divorced and move to a suburb in Pennsylvania. The siblings used to bond over horror movies, watching and making their own. But now, Lena’s moving on – she’s interested in a girl, Izzy – while Shawn is stuck in the past. He doesn’t want anything to change. Shawn rents a VHS – a video nasty – from an out-of-time movie rental store. When he pops it in, he, Lena, and Izzy get sucked into the movie. The three have to battle their way through an 80s thrasher movie. If they die, they’ll be stuck forever. 

I really enjoyed this script. It’s a meta horror, a love letter to the genre. A phrase that popped into my mind was “death in drag.” I was pleased with that. Here’s a couple of little bits I liked: 

 

That made me chuckle, but I also wondered if it was a bit cute? It’s the only time that sort of commentary happens in the action lines. It’s writerly, for sure, but not exactly practical. 

 

This part is calling back to an active shooter drill Shawn did in class. It both reflects his flaw – unwillingness to embrace the here and now – and also sets up a mini thesis you could broadly apply to horror movies: they’re more fun than the societal fuck ups and existential emptiness of daily life. 

 

That little “yes” is doing good work. 

Rating: ★★★★