An excerpt from Reals’ script review for The Possession of Hannah Grace (2018) aka Cadaver which will be available 02/27/19:
What Worked
— Page 2 – HENRY LEWIS, Lead Pathologist. He’s heavy set and set in his ways.
This is a great, quick description of Henry Lewis and tells us both his physical state and how we should picture him delivering his lines.
— Pg. 3 – This is a good, quick description and dialogue exchange which presents the reason that she will be alone all night – “They don’t have the funds to hire more workers.”
— Also, I want to applaud the white space in this script – it made for a quick read and focused on visuals rather than dialogue or detailed description.
— Pg. 13 –
ANDREW
You think that’s a good idea? Spending so much time alone right now?
Megan sinks a little.MEGAN
What’s that supposed to mean?
ANDREW
It wasn’t an accusation. Too much time alone isn’t good for anyone.
MEGAN
Says the guy who moved out.
ANDREW
You didn’t give me much of a choice.
MEGAN
That’s not true. You know that’s not true.
ANDREW
Since when are you concerned with the truth?
I like this exchange between Megan and her Ex – it feels real, it’s quick and to-the-point and no one comes out and says exactly what the issue was or what ended their relationship, but we have enough clues in the dialogue to guess.
— Pg. 16 – 17 – This is a very creepy moment – when the locked doors to the morgue start to rattle and a random voice demands to be let in. Especially for someone working alone in the middle of the night, this could send chills up your spine.
— Pg. 19 –
IN THE BACKGROUND, BEHIND THEM
A FIGURE is sneaking through the intake bay door. A quick blur, disappearing inside just as —
This was a great moment! We know that she is all alone in there and essentially locked in and now we, the audience (readers), know that she is not alone!
— Pg. 19 –
— Now that they’re in the light, she can see that THE SHEET covering the corpse is drenched in blood.
RANDY
Yeah. It’s bad.
MEGAN
What happened?
RANDY
Police found her body in an alley. Some guy was still cutting her open. Ran off when they showed up. Still haven’t found him.
This is fantastic – we now know there is a killer on the loose which is always going to be in the back of our minds as things hit the fan in a few minutes. It also provides a great counter to the “supernatural angle” and, potentially – if done right – could leave the happenings of the night relatively ambiguous which is also really cool!
— Pg. 31 – I also like that there actually was a killer in there and they don’t try to spin the maybe “she’s crazy” plot line here. I feel like that would have been a bit cliche and we have seen that in a similar setting before.
— Pg. 38 – It’s an interesting twist that her ex is the cop that is sent to take her statement after the crazed killer. I was wondering how we were going to get him to the morgue for the later scenes, but this works as it is established that she was a cop and so it makes sense that she would have dated another officer.
— Pg. 39 + 40 –ANDREW
When I picked up my stuff last week, there was something missing.
MEGAN
Like I said, I’ll reimburse you for whatever —
ANDREW
— A bottle of Xanax.
Megan stares at him. A second too long.
This is also good – she is a flawed character – addicted to pills and a thief and her ex knows it. This is just more conflict between the two which is great and rare in horror that you have characters who are this established.
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