5 characters and one location create suspense: Hush

On Netflix, there is movie called Hush. It only features 5 characters but executes suspense extremely well, considering it's shot in one location and never leaves this scene at any point during filming.

A female lead character plays the protagonist, who happens to be deaf/mute. She had a bout with meningitis at age 13, which caused her to go deaf and also damaged her voice box.

Interestingly, this protagonist plays a best-selling author. She lives alone in the woods. Her home is constructed with plenty of glass windows, empowering the natural lighting to enhance her mood.  

This disability sets up the conflict. We see a murder take place. A serial killer is on the loose, standing right outside of the protagonist's patio while he is killing his victim. Our protagonist can't help this victim because she is unable to hear her scream. Plus, this protagonist is a female with a disability. It is obvious she lacks in strength, unable to go toe-to-toe with this psychotic antagonist.

Hush is clever in execution, as a normal person experiencing this terror would be at a major disadvantage. Out in the middle of the woods, there is nobody capable of helping this deaf/mute woman in time. We know of her neighbor, a couple who befriended this protagonist.

The female neighbor is a friend who visits regularly to check on the well-being of this protagonist. On the opposing side, the plot thickens and we watch through the eyes of the protagonist how terror feels when a person is faced with many obstacles to stay alive. It's during this time, the protagonist is confronted with many challenges to keep ahead of the game.

Although this storyline has limitations, possibly due to budget constraints, the screenwriters keep the suspense high. Only 5 characters are featured in this movie, one of which is seen on computer Facetime for less than a few minutes. We have a protagonist, an antagonist, a sister, and a nearby couple. It doesn't require multiple settings and several characters to inject thrills into a movie plot.  

Definitely watch Hush, a clever home invasion movie that will put you on the edge of your chair. It creates that Strangers and No Good Deed movie feel.

2016 Horror Movies Coming Soon

Hollywood horror movies are losing their appeal. Jump scares, cheesy concepts and recurring themes injected in paranormal/supernatural movies make watching horror movies a yawn fest.

When did horror fans lose interest in horror films? The last time we enjoyed watching a horror movie is when The Conjuring dominated the opening weekend a few years ago. However, Hollywood ignored releasing horror movies on Friday the 13th three times last year. 

Third installment of Insidious and Paranormal Activity 5 each failed miserably to capture our attention. For the most part, horror movie remakes such as The Poltergeist, Evil Dead and Halloween gutted our interest, sending our attention span on a freefall dive into oblivion.  

Will 2016 reclaim the horror genre? The Forest is the first test. The Boy is another Annabelle-type movie awaiting release in 2016. Lastly, The Conjuring sequel is a guaranteed shoe-in to make a fortune in the movie box office. 

Check out the following movie website for upcoming horror movies awaiting 2016 release dates. 

http://moviepilot.com/posts/3707080

Write What you know

***Spoiler Alert***

***The Duplex***

I watched The Duplex movie last week. This is a good movie for aspiring authors and screenwriters to watch. Because Ben Stiller's character is an author, we see his conflicted life draw out on the silver screen. These events are especially valuable to writers, the type of authors and screenwriters who sought after writing books and movies about real stories.

"Write what you know" is what the antagonist shares in the movie ending. The old antagonist made the protagonists suffer beyond belief, which she has done to many couples to drive them crazy. Once the couples had enough, they sold their homes for cheap and left. It was a recurring theme to make money off these poor couples. 

As passionate writers, we realize the best material is made out of true events. Nonetheless, true events are always in high demand. Moviegoers crave watching movies based on true stories because they feel a connection with these characters. 

Horror movies based on true stories such as The Conjuring, The Rite, and The Possession involve evil themes which depict reality. Devil and demon themes are the epitome of evil. These unsettling topics make their way to our minds, provoking our subconscious to fear any notion of their influence. 

Write what you know. Inject your stories with real life. While you may experience unfortunate situations, these events become memorable stories that people want to watch at the movies and read in books. 

Write away! 

Humanizing characters in Screenplays can make a good movie

Have you ever questioned the reason some movies become blockbusters while others fail in the movie box office? After watching 11-11-11, we can suggest that bad screenwriting and directing will ruin a potentially good idea. The 11-11-11 movie concept is about a devil kid who may lead the world to the end. The end of the world/devil movie is consistent with The Omen movies. Good screenwriting involves humanizing characters in screenplays to attract the moviegoing interest.

The 11-11-11 movie is set in a neighborhood. We notice that this small town is obviously populated with many strange people. Nonetheless, the main characters rarely leave the neighborhood. There are two scenes that take us away from the neighborhood. The police officer transports an evil girl to the police station, only to crash into a pole and explode. The boy's father travels to teach at the local school.

The school scenes show exterior shots of the building. It is likely possible the interior scenes are shot in the same location. The police car explosion is special effects at its worst. I witnessed better special effects in De Anza College's film program than what is portrayed in this 11-11-11 movie disaster.

Besides the few scenes leaving the neighborhood, the movie is focused on the 11-11-11 number theme and the strange local characters. The screenwriter never builds an emotional connection with any of his characters. As a result, the screenwriter fails to humanize his characters, so nonetheless the talking heads and lost characters obviously hint to us that the main boy is evil. The movie does little to frighten the audience.

The best devil movies play on demonic possession and devil situations rather well. This is the moment when we see some creepy dialogue and disturbing scenes in devil, possession and exorcism movies. The best horror movies rely on humanizing the characters to build an emotional structure. The moviegoers must find an emotion connection to feel a sense of loss.

The 11-11-11 movie fails at humanizing the main characters. To be truthfully honest, the screenwriting and directing are awful. We feel like we're watching a Shaun of the Dead imitation. Shaun of the Dead is a great movie with excellent screenwriting and directing. On the opposing side, 11-11-11 is a horrible movie that never finds the right time to reveal the real danger. The beats are off topic and simply lame.  The boy is about to become a devil who will lead to the end of the world.

We sense the boy is evil. The 'number factor' in predicting catastrophic events failed many times. Knowing is the only past movie that managed to get the number concept right. In recent memory, The Number 23 is another bad number movie about numbers. 11-11-11 is probably the worst number-themed movie ever.

The evil babysitter girl keeps reading the 11-11-11 book to the boy. Thus, the father takes the book and tosses it in the trash. The girl retrieves the book yet again. These scenes are rather predictable. It is not like throwing away a ouija board game, only to find the game has returned in your home again. We never see the fear of possession, or The Omen evil that make past devil movies a frightening viewing experience.

Exorcism movies are usually evil. People fear watching these movies. Why did the screenwriting fail in 11-11-11? The screenwriter focused too much on establishing the number 11-11-11 theme rather than focus on building character development. His quest to humanize characters stalled out in the opening sequence.

One old woman attempted to insert herself in the plot design, but the writer never never established enough backstory to humanize the importance of her character. How did this old woman learn about the boy? Several of the neighbors are devil worshippers who denounce God and Jesus Christ. Their allegiance is devoted to the devil and the evil boy. We never find a connection with these characters.

The 11-11-11 movie is depicted as a horror movie. We can confirm the movie DVD cover is more frightening than the movie itself. The 'number concept' has worked in a few past movies. Nevertheless, the screenwriting in the so-called 11-11-111devil movie never humanized the characters to build a good story. Showing a dream sequence can achieve fear necessary to humanize characters. Hence, we can then see in the minds of the characters to understand their pain and suffering.

In essence, humanizing characters in screenplays can make a good movie a great viewing experience. Moviegoers can form a real connection with characters depicted in a movie. End of the world movies are popular because the screenwriting is effective enough to portray the characters as real humans with emotions. Watch the 11-11-11 movie to form your personal opinion of the screenwriting. Thanks for reading.

The Devil Inside movie ending: The Devil Inside movie script ends at the high point of tension

Good screenwriters understand how to engage their fans. Skilled screenwriters can hook moviegoers from beginning to the end of a movie. However, mediocre screenwriters trick their movie fans into thinking movie facts are true. They leave moviegoers hanging, unaware of the resolution. The Devil movie ending reveals bad screenwriting to resolve the theme. The Devil Inside movie script ends the movie at the high point of tension.

Moviegoers invested their time into watching The Devil Inside movie. The opening murder scene is referred to an actual 911 call. We are supposed to believe the 1989 murders are real. Once Isabella Rossi reveals to the camera she doing a documentary on her mother Maria Rossi, the story never revisits the 1989 murders again. Good screenwriting involves explaining the theme. The catalyst and or inciting incident is established rather quickly. Therefore, we believe the movie will explain the Maria Rossi exorcisms and the 1989 murders. 

The Devil Inside movie is based on the exorcism of Maria Rossi. What happened to Maria Rossi on the night of the 1989 that made her murder the exorcists and the nun? We never see evidence besides exposition in dialogue to address the murders in an exorcism gone wrong. 

Isabella Rossi visits Maria Rossi at the Centrino Hospital in Rome, Italy, an institution for the mentally insane. The backstory to relocating Maria Rossi to Italy is never explained. Why did the Church have interest in Maria Rossi? The Church rejected the request to perform an exorcism on Maria Rossi. 

Maria Rossi reveals that she is capable of clairvoyance. She mentions that Isabella aborted her baby. We never find a connection with Maria Rossi. She serves as a vehicle to advance the script, but the Maria Rossi story unravels to confuse moviegoers. If the screenwriters sought to end the movie without the last exorcism, they could have shown old videos of Maria Rossi on a video tape looking evil.

It is known that possessed people and possessed creatures enjoy watching pain and suffering. Demons usually harm the body of the possessed subject, demonstrating the control and their evil power. Maria Rossi never slices her forearm in plain sight. She shows the inverted crosses she self-mutilated on her limbs and under the lower lip.    

Demonic possessed people are subjected to demon control. The real life story of Anneliese Michel follows the young girl's path from time of possession to death. The truth to the multiple demonic possession is the destructive behavior and aggression exhibited at home. Anneliese shared that demon images appeared during prayer. She heard voices in her mind to do bad things. 

Revisiting the 1989 murders again would have closed the movie rather nicely. We can see what actually happened during the exorcism of Maria Rossi. How did Maria Rossi snap? Moviegoers could then see the priests and the nun run away from the possessed Maria Rossi. Good storytelling involves explaining the inciting incident. We want to know the source of the demonic possession and the events leading up to the murders. What voices played in Maria Rossi's mind? Who are the demons possessing Maria Rossi?

The screenwriting in The Devil Inside movie executed the plot. The high point of tension reached the top, and then just fell flat with like a bungy jump gone wrong. The Devil Inside screenwriters attempted to induce fear through playing on the Maria Rossi exorcism true story. In the end, the moviegoers leave the exorcism movie frustrated and angered. 

The reveal is supposed to represent the ultimate truth to explain a movie with flashbacks and or a moment of revelation. Screenwriters refer to the third act of the dramatic structure as the resolution. The Devil Inside movie ends at the high point of tension to avoid the resolution and the falling action. We watch Isabella, Ben and the camera guy race to save Isabella. She becomes possessed after attending the exorcism of her mother and up to the point in which David does the unthinkable. 

The film abruptly ends, displaying revealing the case is unsolved with The Rossi Files plastered on a dark black screen. Horrible screenwriting turned a possibly good movie into a box office disaster. The Devil Inside generated $34.5 million in the first weekend in release. However, the exorcism movie spiraled downward to make a meager $7.2 million to place seventh in the second box office weekend. 

The Devil Inside exorcism movie will likely miss the $100 million dollar blockbuster mark. Why? Bad screenwriting destroyed The Devil Inside movie. Bad word of mouth among moviegoers resulted in poor execution in the script. Good screenwriters understand the importance in closing the screenplay with a resolution. Even The Blair Witch Project ends with one of the main characters facing a dark wall. We learn the Blair Witch is indeed real.  The Devil Inside ends with a poor ending to cheat moviegoers of a good resolution. 

Watch The Devil Inside movie at your own risk. Better yet, visit ExorcismMovies.com to read articles about The Devil Inside movie, and then go to The Rossi Files to investigate the real facts.  

Pre-order The Devil Inside DVD and save 48% - due out May 15, 2012