This is my third Horror Movie pitch, my fourth horror pitch overall, and my most experimental, messed up, controversial and honestly just
dark one yet. I'm not even sure this would be allowed to be filmed in the 80's. But it is a critique of cults of personality. Journalism, Media and the ethics of reporters and news
Here are my
other pitches for
horror flicks
Let me know what you think.
Limitation of Harm
Note: The movie takes the form of a fake documentary, being presented as a in depth journalistic endeavour in the 'trenches', similar to the documentary Lucasfilm created about the Romanian Revolution.
Failing news reporter, John Cooke, is still reeling after his reputation was destroyed after being forced to return his Reporting Prize three years ago when it was discovered he had falsified a documentary about a young child who died from a heroin addiction, the child actually being an actor and the story being false.
After hearing about a string of murders and a potential serial killer stalking New York, he convinces his friend and cameraman, Richard Lazarus, to help him make a documentary and investigative piece detailing how and why serial killers do what they do. John quickly becomes obsessed with the specific serial killer stalking New York however, who has been dubbed, the 'The Nurse' as the police think it's a woman due to the usage of poison in early kills, and targeting elderly, isolated, senior women who could be easily overpowered by such a person.
Richard is called by John to meet him very suddenly one day, there he finds John talking to a man called Joseph Kirk, the man seems very charming and affable, but becomes enraged when Richard tried to call him 'Joe'. John takes him aside and says that Joseph may be 'The Nurse', much to Richard's disbelief.
Returning to talking to Joseph, John interviews him, and both he and Richard continue to find him charming, witty and intelligent, however Joseph blatantly admits to being 'The Nurse' though he gets enraged when called that, and demands to be called 'The Aficionado'. He offers to show John and Richard how he disposes of bodies. Richard asks John to call the police, but John convinces him Joseph is likely not a serial killer, and instead a crazy looking for attention, and that this experience will be great for their documentary as it will show the mass hysteria and psychological impact on civilians in New York while 'The Nurse' stalks the streets. Richard believes John is lying and actually thinks Joseph is The Nurse, but allows himself to be lulled in by the possibility he isn't.
The next night the two meet Joseph just outside of New York, where he shows the two the body of an old woman wrapped in a blanket, Richard becomes terrified, but John convinces him trying to call the police immediately would get them both killed. They instead listen to Joseph as he explains his methodology of getting rid of bodies, the kinds of weights that need to be used and that the bodies need to be stabbed to release the trapped air. His almost professionally detached, yet enthusiastic and casual explanations, briefly lull the men into a sense of normality. When Richard questions how the police keep finding the bodies if Joseph is so skilled at disposing of them, Joseph again becomes agitated and threatening, but states they've only found a fraction of them. He quickly changes the subject to John's career, stroking his ego. The two watch the killer dispose of the body, recording it.
Afterwards John convinces Richard what they have done is a good thing. That now they have video evidence of Joseph disposing of a body, Richard points out he never admitted to killing the old woman on tape. John uses this to convince Richard to continue with the documentary, stating they can get a confession and become heroes as well as famous.
They once again interview Joseph, following him around in a day of his life at an art gallery, he impresses the two men with his intelligence and charisma once more, mentioning in passing that he is an artist himself, when Richard questions if he's sold anything yet, Joseph gets agitated and changes topics, meanwhile John finds himself increasingly charmed by Joseph.
Joseph offers to show the two some of his 'Night Work' in a few days time. John convinces Richard they can stop Joseph in the middle of any attempt to murder his next victim and be both heroes and get famous. The two men accompany Joseph, who uses them and the explanation of making a documentary on the isolation of the senior community in America to gain access to an elderly ladies home under the excuse they will interview her. Joseph becomes increasing cruel and hostile to the elderly woman while interviewing her, eventually starting to lay hands on and hurt her. She makes excuses and goes to the bathroom to escape. Joseph states he is going to get a snack, Richard demands they call the police while John notes they haven't got any evidence yet. Joseph returns to the room and returns to his charming self, putting the two men at ease, before he abruptly starts to loot the elderly ladies home of valuables like cutlery and jewellery, when questioned what he is doing, he announces the elderly woman is dead in the bathroom. Richard and John go and find her neck broken and head beaten in on the floor.
Richard again tries to convince John to go to the police, but John again used excuses that there isn't enough evidence on tape, as they didn't actually see Joseph kill or attempt to kill the elderly woman. Joseph meanwhile offers to do another interview at a local wine club.
The next night Joseph sits down and is interviewed by John regarding his motivations, but Joseph deflects with excuses and complaints about the state of New York, from the wave of immigrants, to the abandonment of family values, to the organised crime history, using each as an example of why life in the city is worthless, and what he does is hence meaningless, all while avoiding a direct confession. Richard questions if he started killing because of money, noting he is wearing a stolen ring from the old ladies apartment and he took her valuables, and that before tonight he hadn't paid for anything himself, Richard also notes that his art gallery, where they met before going to the wine club, was nearly empty, same as when they first went there. Joseph deflects, while denigrating Richard as merely a follower and helper, while praising John's intelligence and commitment and scorning the fact his prize was taken, questioning the morality of taking it for him lying in his documentary when news reports lie and omit evidence all the time.
Joseph then repeats his reasons for killing, this time however he claims it is patriotic, getting rid of the elderly who take up so much space, his tone changing from nihilistic to angry after being annoyed, he incorrectly quotes the Poem Dulce eh Decorum Est, by Wilfred Owen, which he takes as a praise of dying for patriotic reasons, instead of the rebuke it actually is.
Afterwards Richard is verbally put down by a happy and encouraged John, who uses similar terminology as Joseph. Neither realise Joseph slipped and admitted to being a serial killer when he claimed he was killing for patriotic reasons.
They once again meet Joseph, this time however, he is deeply agitated, John shows sympathy and tries to comfort him. Joseph it turns out is greatly angered by the police's continued insistence that he is 'The Nurse' and a woman, stating that a woman would not have been able to crush that elderly woman's skull. Instead of an interview he takes them on an impromptu hunt, where he stalks a young man, planning to kill him, but becomes too afraid, claiming the man has no elegance or refinement and would be a waste to kill, saying he kills for the purpose of beauty, once again changing his reasons.
Richard questions this, and asks John if maybe Joseph targets old ladies because he can easily overpower and then rob them. Joseph hears this and changes tactics, he very impulsively, abruptly and violently stalks and kills a young prostitute all on camera, horrifying his two followers. He however quickly returns to his charming self and convinces John to help him pose the body for a more cinematic shot. John excuses himself to Richard by saying they will call the police afterwards.
However, after separating from Joseph, John again refuses to call the police or allow Richard too, stating that they need to know the truth of why Joseph kills to prevent others like him from being made, Richard states this is an excuse, but John, acting suddenly violent and aggressive like Joseph, intimidates him into staying silent.
The next meeting sees Joseph take the two out to a fancy restaurant, where Richard deduces that Joseph has killed more young women from his jewellery and the fact he is spending a lot of money where before he did not. He convinces John to ask Joseph how many he has killed since they last saw him, and Joseph replies five, noting the police have now given him a new designation and mistaken him for an entirely new Serial Killer, 'The Hammer Hand Killer' due to his habit of breaking open his victims skulls. Joseph is still annoyed as, though the police now recognise him as a male killer, they do not recognise his 'earlier work' and the name is 'too thuggish'.
John manages to convince Joseph to allow them to visit his home. There they find his elderly mother. Joseph's mother it turns out, is unaware of what her son is doing, Joseph didn't know his father, and Richard discovers that Joseph hasn't sold a single painting, or made any profit at his art gallery, and the home is in his grandmothers name. Further Joseph is extremely meek and skittish around his mother, instead of his usual charming and confident self, further investigation finds that Joseph's mother used to viciously beat him. Richard tries to convince John they now have his motive, Joseph started his career as a serial killer killing proxies for his mother and to obtain financial independence from her. John refuses this, enamoured by Joseph and seeing him as too charming, confident and intelligent for such a simple and brutal motive.
In their next meeting Joseph is dressed even better and admits to killing more young women, however, he is deeply angry and agitated by the police's failure to give him an appropriate name, even after he left a request for them to call him 'The Aficionado' in the blood of a wealthy socialite he deceived, raped, and murdered. In a rage he stalks a police officer, and attacks them after using John and Richard as bait to lead him into an alleyway. Despite attacking the cop from behind with a knife, Joseph is overpowered and restrained, however John distracts the police officer 'accidentally' and Joseph manages to kill him.
Dressing in the officers clothes, Joseph leads them towards a poor neighbourhood, while John excuses Josephs actions on account of the fact the police officer would've possibly killed Joseph if John hadn't distracted him. Once there, Joseph uses the uniform he's wearing to earn some small amount of trust, before giving the cops gun, with a note stating 'from the Aficionado' wrapped around the barrel, to two kids, convincing them it is a toy. He watches from afar as one kid shoots the other by mistake. John excuses the act as Joseph not doing it himself, and blames the parents for being too poor and lazy to look after their kids, echoing some of Joseph's rants from earlier.
The next meeting sees Richard and John follow Joseph while still filming him as he uses the police uniform to gain access to the house of a young couple, he kills the man from behind and then proceeds to murder the woman on camera in front of Richard and John. He has done this because there is a copycat who has begun 'stealing his work' out in New York, enraging him and making him want to show up the 'coward who only targets women and children'. Richard, finally breaking, rants at Joseph.
He points out Joseph is basically unemployed, lives off his mother and his victims money, cloaks his failures as a human being and a person under the facade of false intelligence (recounting every time Joseph said something to sound smart but actually showed his ignorance) and charm and is in fact a racist, misogynistic, egomaniacal serial killer, out to kill old ladies first because he was too scared to kill his mother, then young women because he had been called out as a coward, now he kills men only from behind to impress his audience. Joseph attacks Richard, but Richard beats him and begins to strangle Joseph, John pulls him off and hits him and Richard flees while Joseph gives chase.
In a stroke of bad luck and coincidence, Richard, still holding the camera, runs across a crime scene in the alley outside. It is the copycat, who, in a panic, draws a gun and shoots Richard dead, John, seeing Richards dead body, becomes enraged and attacks the copycat while Joseph hides until John has taken the man's gun, the two kill the copycat, but Joseph forbids John from mourning Nathan. John takes the camera to continue the documentary.
The next meeting is simply between John and Joseph. Joseph gets John drunk, and manipulates him into airing his grievances against the dead Richard. John reveals Richard and John both competed for the affection of the same woman, Maria Fernandez. Getting John drunk and egging on his rage, Joseph convinced John that Maria only chose Richard because his award had been rescinded, and she was a gold digger and a liar. Joseph convinces John to go to Richard's house with him and kill Maria.
When they arrive they find Maria mourning Richard, looked after by her sister, John acts erratic and angry, but the sober Joseph manages to sweet talk their way in while continuing to film. He then urges John to kill them both. John proceeds to do so, before passing out in their blood.
John wakes up the next morning still being filmed by Joseph, who has set up the camera on the other side of the room. Initially supportive he eases John's worries and horror at what he has done and convinces John to admit he liked it. He then abruptly shifts, and points to the camera, noting he has it all on tape and will blackmail John unless he pays for Joseph's expensive lifestyle. Realising it was all a lie and Richard was always right, John overpowers and murders Joseph, who begs for his life before he is killed and his final words are asking 'who will take care of my mother?'
John looks down at the corpse of Joseph, and then announces he will, he strips the body and wears Joseph's clothes, before leaving the room, the camera still recording, showing Joseph, Maria and her sister, all naked and dead, laying together on the floor.
Alright this one is dark as hell, let me know what you think, criticisms for the next horror pitch I write etc. Just some feedback to know if I've gone too far or if this level of dark in horror pitches is alright.
