About the excerpt from my screenplay of The Encounter

Following this is an excerpt from my movie script of The Encounter, based on my novella of the same name. The story deals with ex-U.S. Army tunnel rat, Ben Freeman, and what happens when a creature from his Vietnam days appears again after four decades. The creature goes on a killing rampage in Las Vegas and eventually takes everything away that Freeman loves and holds dear in his life.

Later, Freeman, along with help from his brother-in-law, former-U.S. Army Special Forces Captain Mike Malloy, and Detective Frank Peterson of Las Vegas Metro's Homicide Division, will hunt the creature down with extreme prejudice. Not all the men will survive the final encounter with the creature as a battle of life and death breaks out in Freeman's neighborhood. The ending of the movie is one of the most powerful scenes I've ever written, demonstrating my belief in the power of love and what it can accomplish when evil is about to win. I got goose bumps when I wrote it.

Unfortuneately, the formatting on my blog isn't the correct formatting for a screenplay. Everything on the blog wants to move to the far left margin when saved. For that reason the "Cut To" isn't on the right side of the page, and the dialogue, along with the names of those speaking, isn't centered. Sorry about that.

My idea for the The Encounter came about when I was walking the real Betty (Betty is one of the most loving dogs I've ever known, but she's also fearless and would gladly sacrifice her life in order to save me or her owner) on Halloween night in 2007. We were going around the block, like in the movie, and someone I didn't know or recognize was following us. He was dressed like an Eighteenth Century British dandy with a top hat and overcoat. Not wanting to take a chance on getting mugged on a dark, quiet street, I turned Betty around and we approached the man at a quick pace. I was gearing myself up for a fight, but he took off before we could get to him. I told my roommate (Betty's owner) about the incident, and she shook her head at the whole thing.

A few years later we accidentally found out who the British dandy was that particular night. He lived in the condominum behind us with some other people. He was an actor in the community's litte theater. The man enjoyed dressing up on Halloween in outfits from the theater's wardrobe. The night I saw him, he recognized Betty but not me and was courious about who I was. He decided to take off when he saw me approaching him with a rather serious expression on my face.

Anyway, a couple of days after the Halloween incident, I started writing the whole thing down as a fictional horror story. My novella of The Encounter has gone through countless drafts over the last four years. I even intend on rewriting it one last time within the next few months to make it longer and more action oriented like the screenplay.

The excerpt is taken from the final draft of The Encounter (that was sixteen drafts from beginning to end) and is somewhat different from the previous excerpt that was on my blog. Actually, this is much, much better, and I'm proud of it.

The creature in the story has changed several times since the novella was originally written, as well as the screenplay. At first I used the description of the man I saw in the top hat and Eighteenth Century overcoat, but with a wild face that was similar to Afred E. Newman in Mad Magazine. Put some sharp teeth into Afred E. Newman's mouth and give his eyes a menacing red glow, and you have one hideous creature. Now, at least for the script, the creature has changed drastically.

In the screenplay, I have the creature morphing into a homeless man's body (Melvin) that it has killed earlier on. It uses the body to get around without drawing a lot of attention. Occasionally, when in the heat of battle, it morphs back into it's real self, and then back again to Melvin the homeless man. It does makes sense when the entire script is read.

Anyway, I wrote the screenplay with Ed Harris in mind for the role of ex-tunnel rat,Ben Freeman. That made the writing easier if I could picture a certain actor in the role. I also did that with the other major parts. I saw Harris' real-life wife, Amy Madigan, as Sheila Freeman. Morgan Freeman was always Detective Frank Peterson of the Las Vegas Robbery/Homicide Division since the story was conceived. The real-life Mike Malloy (yes, former-U.S. Army Special Forces Captain Mike Malloy is based on an actualperson) saw Tom Berenger playing him in the movie. I saw Bruce Willis. I also saw Ed Harris' dad, Bob Harris, playing the small, but pivitol role of Ed Kulczynski, who's based on a close friend of mine. I know that the real-life Ed Kulczynski would do exactly what the character does in the movie without a second thought. Ed is a brave man, though he doesn't see it himself. A man will do whatever it takes to save a close friend from harm.

Though The Encounter is basically a horror/action film, there are strong elements about the love Ben Freeman has for his wife of forty years. This is one reason why I saw Ed Harris and his wife, Amy, in the roles. They have been married for at least thirty years and still love each other as if they'd just met. I wanted to explore the power of that love and how it can sometimes transcend death to protect those we've left behind.

Last, but not least, in many ways Betty is the actual star of the movie. She's an American long nose pit bull who has always reminded me of Old Yellar from the Walt Disney movie. She's one of the smartest dogs I've ever known, and her love for those around her is endless. For a brief while, I was sending out photographs of Betty wearing a scarf and sunglasses with her paw print on it as an autographed picture. She was already playing the role of a movie star. Dean Koontz loved it!

Enjoy the excerpt.