Watch the Screenplay Reading:

A sixteen year old receives an old car as a birthday gift from his stepfather. When he drives it for the first time, he realizes it isn’t powered by conventional gasoline – but instead, an engine of pure evil.

http://www.vanstralenwrites.com/https://twitter.com/vanstral

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
Jim/Radio: Sean Ballantyne
Billy: Steve Rizzo
Abby: Hannah Ehman
Taylor: Julie Sheppard

Get to know the writer:

1. What is your screenplay about?

Engine of Evil is about a belligerent 16 year old who receives a car for his birthday. Only instead of being ecstatic like most 16 year olds would be to receive such a gift, he doesn’t appreciate it. Little does he know that what powers the car is anything but ordinary – instead, it’s an engine powered by pure evil.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Horror-Comedy!

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

As a huge fan of cars (and evil car movies like Christine), I feel like “possessed car stories” are a bit absent of late. For many people, cars are integral to their daily lives. We even develop relationships with them to some extent, learn their quirks, and come to understand their personalities. And we probably remember the very first car we ever owned – it’s a significant milestone, at least it was for me. I’m actually in the process of developing this short script into a full length feature, and I want to explore the aspects of the relationship one has with their vehicle – except the key difference is the vehicle has its own thoughts and opinions as well. And they may not come with the best of intentions…

4. How would you describe this script in two words?

High-octane absurdity! Hopefully that counts as two words.

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

The Matrix, hands down. I distinctly remember the first time I watched Neo waking up in the real world. 9 year old me was terrified, but I couldn’t look away. You just can’t beat the late 90’s aesthetic, the soundtrack, the raw and visceral fight choreography. And of course, Keanu Reeves. I still watch it multiple times a year – it’s one of my comfort movies.

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?

I started writing this while I was in film school for my horror class, so probably about 6 months (including the time I’ve put into turning it into a feature). As soon as I saw that I’d be concluding my last term with a horror class, I knew that I wanted to write a script about an evil car. I didn’t realize it was going to become a horror-comedy until I started writing it.

7. How many stories have you written?

I’ve written a handful of scripts – a “horror-lite” spec script for The Mandalorian, a TV Pilot, a Silent Hill-inspired video game script, and a full length horror-thriller feature. But before I started writing for film, television, and video games, I was trying to be an author. I’ve finished my first book but there’s still a lot of work to be done on it.

8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

That’s a tough question! It’s probably “Everything In Its Right Place” by Radiohead, but “A Perfect Drug” by Nine Inch Nails would come in close second.

9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?

Surprisingly, not too many! Writing this script was such a fun process. I think the biggest obstacle was probably stepping out of my comfort zone and trying my hand at writing a bit of comedy. I’m a horror writer through and through, but I think injecting a bit of comedy into it worked out well overall.

10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

When I’m not writing, I love playing video games, watching television and movies, and hanging out with my wife and our two cats, Fox and Scully (yes, we are X-Files fans). I also love cars – especially my 1989 Toyota LE Van.

11. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?

Film Freeway has been wonderful to use. Once you upload your screenplay, the platform makes it incredibly easy to submit your screenplay to as many festivals as you want. The reviews for each festival give the screenwriters a clear picture of what to expect, and the ability to search for festivals by genre is super useful – and that was how I found out about Horror Underground!

12. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?

I wanted to introduce Engine of Evil to the world! And I hope to come back with a full length screenplay in the near future. The feedback touched on all aspects of the script and was concise and great to read.