Zombie Movie Idea Pitch

[IEditYourWorld]

Hi all.

After talking about ideas for movies with a friend, I told him about a zombie movie I have had an idea for, and he just loves the idea. I haven't had a chance to really write out how I wanted it to go until now, so please, put this under your microscopes people, and pick away at it. I'm pitching it and I REALLY need useful feedback, especially on the ending.

Also, I need a title for this thing. I'm not the best at creating titles so I need help.

So here goes:




I'd like to make a zombie movie, this taking place from the zombie's point of view as she goes through the seven stages of grief before zombification. Act one will pertain to our protagonist gradually losing everything, including her life, only to discover the freedom that accepting her fate will give her.

To better explain her loss, let me explain what she had to lose to begin with. Our protagonist, who I would like to name Leah Karaluch (Leah meaning weary and Karaluch meaning cockroach in Polish. I like the idea of calling her a cockroach because they are tenacious little bugs and hard as hell to kill) is a recent college grad who is working as a field reporter's go-fer (or some other job out in the field, you can think of something different if you like) at a news station. She got the job after busting her butt doing an internship at the news station, and during that time met and started dating a young guy in (insert department here, ie: marketing, billing, accounting, mail room, you get the idea.) She lives in a crappy, run down apartment and is swimming in debt. She has to take the bus to work since she can't afford a car.

As the first few scenes play out, Leah is having concerns about her relationship with her boyfriend. (I'm thinking Kevin is a good name for this guy. Every office seems to need a Kevin.) He seems distant and disinterested in her lately. No time to argue though, as she and the hot, sexy looking news reporter (Sarah maybe? Sara means princess.) are assigned to go to a local hospital do to a news story on a strange new disease that has been putting people in quarantine.

After taking a break, Leah sees Sara's phone has a text from Kevin, and it's flirty, sexy, and proof of Kevin's disloyalty. After pretending to be Sara in text to see if maybe Kevin dialed the wrong number, Sara sees Leah with her phone and gets angry, telling her to keep her hands off her stuff. Leah replies with a similar answer and a cat fight breaks out. The resulting fight ends Leah's job at the news station and her relationship with Kevin.

Going home to her apartment, she gets into a colorful discussion with her landlord, Mr. Lakos (Lakos meaning dweller in Hungarian) about how her rent is late and that he is going to have her thrown out of her place. Leah, who has been coughing ever since she finished the news segment, goes upstairs to unwind and finds a pest (roach, mouse, whatever we can find) in her apartment and flips out. Mr. Lakos is not impressed with her crazy tantrum and throws her out.

The next morning, Leah is found on a park bench where she has tried to sleep the night, and her coloring looks terrible. After being found by a police officer named Officer Truaillithe (truaillithe meaning corrupt in Gaelic) for loitering, she is arrested after Leah complains and starts putting up a fight. While in the cop car, she begins coughing up blood.

The police officer, after giving her a hard time, takes her to the local hospital, stating that when she's better she belongs to the law. While there, she is taken to the quarantine room she was just doing the news package at the day before.

While there, she is getting worse. No matter what medication the hazard suited nurses give her, she is not getting better. Others around her talk in various tones, each going through one of the seven stages of grief for themselves. Leah herself is experiencing these stages, terrified of what might happen should she recover or not.

In case you are not familiar with these stages, they are as follows:

1. Shock or Disbelief
2. Denial
3. Bargaining
4. Guilt
5. Anger
6. Depression
7. Acceptance and Hope

In the second act, the final stage of grief, that being Acceptance and Hope, will really come into play as Leah accepts death as her fate after battling the disease for a few weeks. After her death, the nurses put her in a body bag and begin to wheel her corpse away. Just as they are about to put her into the morgue for further study before sending her to her final resting place, the body bag lurches forward, falling off the gurney. They are shocked to see a pale eyed Leah tearing through the body bag, her voice giving off a raspy, terrified wail at being claustrophobic.

Thinking it a miracle, one of the doctors, Dr. Arzt, (arzt meaning doctor in German) begins examining her to see if she has begun to build up immunity to this strange disease in hopes of creating a vaccination. With Nobel Peace Prize on his selfish mind, the self centered doctor volunteers to examine Leah. While talking to Leah, she tells him that she is starting to feel better, and for the first time in weeks she actually has an apatite. Upon examining Leah, he is surprised to see that she does not have a heart beat. During the examination, Leah stares pale eyed and hungrily at the doctor's wrists exposed by his rolled up sleeves. As the doctor brings to her a tongue depressor and asks her to say "ahhh," he becomes Leah's first kill.

Leah doesn't understand what came over her, but she does know that it felt good to see that condescending jerk of a doctor go down hard. And he tasted good. Really good.

Feeling a surge of power along with muscle strength she couldn't have dreamed possible, Leah ventures forth to clean the doctor's blood off. Shortly after she leaves the examining room, a nurse screams at the sight of the dead doctor. The screams attract the attention of Officer Truaillithe, the police officer who just happened to have brought Leah to the hospital to begin with, who sees the blood all over the front of Leah and begins to give chase.

Officer Truaillithe chases her out of the hospital and across the street to the park where he found her in the first place. Leah, feeling strangely hungry again, sees the overweight pig of a police officer lumbering toward her, breathing hard as he calls for back up. Seeing those love handles bouncing ever so temptingly like dough in a bread machine, Leah stops to gaze gray eyed and hungry at the lumbering meal coming at her with a night stick.

Taking a swing at Leah, Officer Truaillithe is surprised to see she was able to catch it perfectly, and even more surprised to see the mad, hungry look in her eyes as she rips the night stick from his hands with strength she never knew she had. A swift blow to the abundant gut brings the cop down hard, but Leah isn't done with him yet. She wants to hand cuff this pig to a park bench so that when people find his dead body, it'll be in the same place he found her. Once cuffed, Leah takes liberty of his generous flesh until she's had her fill. Taking the night stick, she smiles with bloodied lips before running off from the sound of sirens as Officer Truaillithe bleeds to death.

After taking out the jerk doctor and outrunning the cops after killing the one who put her through hell, Leah is beginning to feel a rush of freedom she has never in her life felt. For the first time ever, she is in control of her life, or in this case after life. And she is out to seek revenge.

Act three opens with Sara doing a news report from the safety of the studio on the recent surge of what people are calling the Zombie Apocalypse. (Could insert crazy footage of bible thumping wackos, end of world party goers, and so on.) After the news cast has concluded, we see her and Kevin having a very serious discussion about what is happening. They walk out together to Sara's car when they are ambushed by a small group of zombies, one of them being Leah. They recognize Leah and find it really odd that she seems to be instructing other zombies to tip the car over. Escaping with their lives and the car intact, Sara speeds off.

Giving chase, Leah is not fast enough to catch the car. While stopping to catch her breath and rethink her plans, Leah and her gang of zombies are nearly hit by a falling potted plant. She hears a familiar, shrill voice from above threatening to throw another plant if "you damn kids don't clear out." It's Leah's landlord, Mr. Lakos, tending to her old apartment complex. She's surprised she missed it!

The gang quickly storms the complex, some taking the time to break into windows to have a snack on the residents who haven't done a very good job of boarding up their windows, much to Leah's annoyance. She has a goal in mind, and she doesn't want to be kept waiting.

After breaking down Mr. Lakos's heavily fortified door, Leah is surprised to see Mr. Lakos is packing heat. He shoots another one of the zombies in the head, taking him down. Ducking to avoid the next shot, Mr. Lakos shoots a religious idol or shrine of some sort (I'm thinking of making him Hindi or something, not sure what.) While low, Leah goes for the ankles, bringing the landlord down and making him drop his gun. Defenseless, Mr. Lakos's screams are muffled by Leah shoving a wad of "past due" slips in his mouth as he bleeds to death.

In the next scene, Sara and Kevin are in Sara's posh apartment, watching the news. Kevin is quite shaken as he huddles with a couch pillow while Sara is on the phone with her boss complaining about how security wasn't around while they got ambushed, not caring that security had been attacked earlier in the day. Hanging up her phone in disgust, Sara switches off the television which freaks out Kevin. They get into an argument over their situation, which ends in them holding each other in fear and apology. The tender moment is interrupted by an ominous knock at the door.

Peeping through the look hole, Sara lets out a scream as the door is forced open. Kevin forgot to lock the door, which swings open to reveal a revenge intended Leah. Knowing that it was Sara's beauty and charm that stole Kevin away, Leah jumps on top of Sara, beating her face into the hard wood floor until it's mutilated to her liking before taking a good hard bite out of her head of perfect hair. Rather than being a hero, Kevin grabs a blunt object and Sara's keys so that he can escape in Sara's car.

A week later, Kevin notices that the staff at the news station has significantly shrunk. So much so that people in other departments have had to double as news crew. Nervously, Kevin tries to read the terrifying news off of a teleprompter, his lack of experience showing. He is almost done with the news read, apologizing repeatedly for his blunders when he hears a noise that scares him. He then hears someone off camera screaming as a chorus of low grumbles emanates around the building. He's surrounded.

As the camera cuts, Kevin makes a run for it, locking himself in his old (insert department here) office and hiding himself in the supply closet. He tries to muffle his fears as he hears the door crashing down, followed by a raspy but familiar voice. Leah knows he's in there. She can smell his cheap cologne. It's only a matter of time before he is cowering before her in front of cleaning supplies, begging for his life. While Leah finds him pathetic like the others she has killed, she can't help feeling an almost sympathetic pity for the man she once loved. Still feeling a sense of loyalty in spite of it all, she closes the supply closet and walks away.

Running to the bathroom after a sudden feeling of sickness, Leah finally gets a good look at herself in the mirror. She is surprised at the wreck of a former person she sees staring back at her with blank, gray eyes. She begins to wonder what she has become as the words Kevin said to her sink in. Was she really at one time a good person?

In the mean time, Kevin peeks out of the closet to see that Leah is gone and the room is clear of zombies. Grabbing a mop, Kevin slowly ventures out of the closet to see if the zombies have left. He looks out the office door, seeing that one hallway is clear. Upon looking in the opposite direction, he sees that he is not alone. After being grabbed in the throat, he sees the mutilated Sara staring back at him, ready to kill.

Leah sees Sara ripping out Kevin's heart as she leaves the bathroom, a bit shocked by what she sees. After feeling a recent sense of remorse, to see the act done anyway by someone who she herself killed feels odd. After Kevin drops dead, Sara walks up to Leah and hands her the heart she ripped out of Kevin's chest, saying "I think this belongs to you." After accepting the organ, Leah drops it to the floor, saying "I don't need it anymore, and neither do you."

As the two women walk away, the abandoned heart begins to slowly start beating again as we see the two women walking away from it. Or we can use the heart beat sound effect with some music and get a similar effect. Whatever works better.




Soooooooo... feedback?
IEditYourWorld  

[LilChibiusa]

That sounds like a really cool movie plot! xd If you make it, you'll have to give me the name so I can get it from Netflix.

Okay! Feedback time! Kevin strikes me as a guy from marketing for some odd reason. Those people are usually more outgoing, flamboyant, and adept at lying. At least, those are my observations. It seems to fit. The part about Leah being kicked out of her apartment seems a little weak. If she had a lease, it would kind of hard to be evicted simply over an argument over rats. Maybe another scenario could land her on that park bench. Perhaps she lost her key, and the jerk landlord won't open it for her. She would have to take the bus to work in the beginning though to keep her from sleeping in her car. The very end seems cool, but odd. Can zombies talk? I haven't seen a precedent for it. Maybe Sarah could drop the beating heart, and the two women walk out together while loud rock music begins to play in the background while focusing in on the heart.

Those were my suggestions anyway. I hope my feedback was useful. biggrin  

[IEditYourWorld]

Your feedback was very useful. Thank you!

I had thought about having the movie start with her on the bus on her way to work to emphasize how poor she is, so you read my mind there.

I had thought that the kicked out was a little weak too, but it was the only idea I had. I like your idea better though. Either that or she can play music too loud and the police get called or something. If you've got more ideas, I would love to hear them.

Lastly, I will have zombies talk. I got the idea after thinking about how zombies are typically killed: remove the head or destroy the brain. If their brains are still fully intact, why would they not be able to use them on a more basic level. Look at the bottom rung of Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs to get a feel for their behavior in this piece.

Thank you!
IEditYourWorld  

[LilChibiusa]

IEditYourWorld

Your feedback was very useful. Thank you!

I had thought about having the movie start with her on the bus on her way to work to emphasize how poor she is, so you read my mind there.

I had thought that the kicked out was a little weak too, but it was the only idea I had. I like your idea better though. Either that or she can play music too loud and the police get called or something. If you've got more ideas, I would love to hear them.

Lastly, I will have zombies talk. I got the idea after thinking about how zombies are typically killed: remove the head or destroy the brain. If their brains are still fully intact, why would they not be able to use them on a more basic level. Look at the bottom rung of Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs to get a feel for their behavior in this piece.

Thank you!
IEditYourWorld

Hmm... Loud music and the police sounds like a night in jail to me. Losing her keys sounds more practical.

Maybe you could have a bit of narration at some point describing how zombies can talk. Maybe when Leah first realizes she's a zombie and utters her first word. Either that, or have her talk to herself about it. It seems odd though that zombies can be fully cognizant and have emotions enough to care about a cheating boyfriend, and still be able to heartlessly kill people. confused Btw, wasn't physical needs at the bottom rung of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs? That means that a person can't function unless they have the most basic food and water needs met. So, in my mind, the brain is working just enough to help the zombies get food. Safety needs comes next. It isn't until the top when you get self-actualization where speaking would come in. I have a psychology minor, so I'm super familiar with these theories.  

[IEditYourWorld]

Quote:

Hmm... Loud music and the police sounds like a night in jail to me. Losing her keys sounds more practical.

Hadn't thought about that. Though that could be her first encounter with Officer Truaillithe too. I'm sure running from the police would be traumatic. If not, than the key idea would work too.

Quote:

Maybe when Leah first realizes she's a zombie and utters her first word.

I'm thinking that having Leah scream from the body bag will be a good time for that. She'll sound a little groany at first, then start to holler, than shout, "Oh God! I'm claustrophobic! Where the hell am I?!?"

Quote:

Btw, wasn't physical needs at the bottom rung of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs? That means that a person can't function unless they have the most basic food and water needs met.

Precisely. While in that mode, zombies will tend to be more, well, zombie like. After eating, they'll tend to be able to think more clearly. It'll be a lot like going into work after very little sleep and not having anything to eat, causing you to not function normally and only thinking about food and rest and how much you want to get the hell out of there. Granted, this will be an exaggeration on that due to the fact that it's a movie about zombies, but you get the idea.

I like the idea of zombies traveling in packs to help with the hierarchy idea. They'll feel safer in a pack and able to express themselves easier after having being fed.

As part of a B-story line, I'm thinking of developing a few of the zombies in Leah's pack. I'd almost like for Leah to grieve again in death, and that plot line can help with that. That and it'll be a good way to insert some zombie humor in clever ways.

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I have a psychology minor, so I'm super familiar with these theories.

Can I borrow you for script writing? I'd love for your to read the drafts as I finish them!

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It actually reminds me of one of the things that movie productions of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein have often left out: In the novel, the monster is intelligent and articulate; he can read and discuss complex works of literature, and in general, he operates on a very human level; in the movie adaptations, however, he's just a crazy rampaging creature with no humanity at all. (I haven't read the book, but during my senior year of high school, I was an aide to an English teacher who had her class read the book, and I remember this point being discussed. The book is on my bucket list and I have a copy, but other things--especially the fact that I approach horror novels with a lot of caution--keep getting in the way.) The fact that the original monster actually IS intelligent makes me actually want to read the book!

I would definitely recommend it! It's a great read, and for me it taught me how book adaptations of movies can be nothing like the books they came from. In my opinion, Mary is a much better writer than her husband, Percy. While you're looking for a good read, look into what inspired Mary to write Frankenstein. Interesting stuff, but scarier and more scandalous than the actual book.

I got a lot of inspiration for this film from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I don't want mindless monsters. While I don't want Leah to be a good guy in the film, I want her to be identifiable as a protagonist like Frankenstein was in the book.

Thank you ladies for your feedback.
IEditYourWorld  

[LilChibiusa]

@IEditYourWorld - Feel free to borrow me! I enjoy this kind of thing. biggrin

@Alvinette - You must read Frankenstein!!!! xd It's a fabulous book. I wouldn't even really classify it as horror as much as drama. It's actually a really sad story, but not in a scary way. It's hard not to feel compassion for the monster. And, I agree with Edit, Mary really is a better writer than her husband. I don't know why, but everyone in the English department thought that Percy Shelley was a better writer than Mary Shelley. I was the silent dissenter. Other than "Ozymandias," I can't even remember any of his poems. They made that little impression on me.  

[LilChibiusa]

Mademoiselle Alvinette

Ah, you're welcome! And feel free to take whatever I say with a grain of salt; I avoid most horror movies like the plague because I scare easily and gross out even more easily. When I get curious about the plot of a horror flick, I just read the synopsis instead of going to see it; I've seen a couple of horror movies and it was enough for me to decide that's not my idea of entertainment! ( I have enough nightmares without cinematic nightmare fuel!) I am a little bit better with novels (mainly because of the gross-out factor; I can block out a little bit of it in my mind if I'm not actually looking at it), but yeah. I am definitely a wimp!

Actually, a couple of years ago I tried to read Dracula and decided to quit because I had a nightmare. The funny thing is that the vampire stuff didn't bother me; it was the blue lights in the forest at the beginning of the book that gave me the nightmare. I guess it's mainly because I don't necessarily believe in vampires but I DO believe in ghosts/ghostly phenomena (as Shakespeare's Hamlet put it, "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies."), as well as the Biblical definition of spiritual warfare, so I'm reeeeeeeeally susceptible to those kinds of fears.

That said, even though I don't want to see scary movies, I love reading original ideas, as well as different takes on old ideas. I appreciate creativity, and I love seeing what people come up with, especially if they ask for feedback. (Although I will say that I worry about the people who write all those movies where the whole point is seeing people getting tortured and killed, but that's why I just don't go see those movies!)

I don't like most modern horror films for the same reason. The creepy but not gorey ones are the best in my opinion. Although, tasteful gore in stuff like Dawn of the Dead also works. But, try reading Dracula again. It's one of my favorite books just because Mina Harker is just about the coolest heroine you can get in classic literature. xd  

[IEditYourWorld]

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Anyway, I've hijacked your thread enough, Edit, and for that I apologize. Back to you now...

Nonsense! I'm glad you feel comfortable enough to put some insight of your own into this discussion. I would definitely love to read the book you intend to write.

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The creepy but not gorey ones are the best in my opinion. Although, tasteful gore in stuff like Dawn of the Dead also works

You read my mind. As for this movie, it will have some gore, though I want the gore to be intentional and more ironic than anything. I want Leah's kills to mean something to her, and not just "bite and bamm."

Thank you both!
IEditYourWorld  

[LilChibiusa]

IEditYourWorld

Quote:

Anyway, I've hijacked your thread enough, Edit, and for that I apologize. Back to you now...

Nonsense! I'm glad you feel comfortable enough to put some insight of your own into this discussion. I would definitely love to read the book you intend to write.

Quote:

The creepy but not gorey ones are the best in my opinion. Although, tasteful gore in stuff like Dawn of the Dead also works

You read my mind. As for this movie, it will have some gore, though I want the gore to be intentional and more ironic than anything. I want Leah's kills to mean something to her, and not just "bite and bamm."

Thank you both!
IEditYourWorld

Do you have any resources to make this movie happen? Hopefully it will appear on IFC someday.

@Alvinette - You really should turn that paper into a book! Make the font size larger, make big margins, and add additional info, and voila! You have a book that will surely be part of the curriculum of any women's college in the country!  

[Oranoriel of Tir na NOg]

Hi! How's this for a Title? Through Leah Karaluch's Eyes: Zombie Coping