It's the End of the World as We Know It

Shelter

by Karl Mueller

The director Xavier Gens has recently been tapped to direct the spec film The Fallout which, from what I gather is a rewrite and retooling of Shelter by Karl Mueller. The new version was written by Mueller and Eron Sheean who are both going to be co-producers on the film.

Ross Dinerstein (“Powder Blue”), Darren Welch (“The Bang Bang Club”) and Tony Krantz (“Mulholland Drive”) are producing.

You might recognize Xavier Gens from his film The Hitman based on the popular video game franchise. I cannot vouch for his directing ability, though I've heard bad things.

Synopsis
A group of tenants in a New York apartment building are forced down to the basement apartment of their landlord because of a nuclear fallout that has leveled most of the city.

They are soon beset with hunger for food other than beans and a little more excitement than watching three nerds play a game similar to Dungeons & Dragons.

Things really get out of hand when the group starts to turn on each other, making it more of a question of survival of wits than a survival from starvation.

Thoughts
When I read the synopsis for this film my heart instantly sank. I had just barely come up with and was working on the exact same idea (with the exact same tentative title).

After reading, I'm not so scared anymore about my own idea. This is a far-removed concept from my own. It just sounded like the same thing at the beginning.

I mostly liked this story. It was fun and spooky and a bit thrilling at times. At one moment in the script I was so on edge that when someone opened a door I jumped in my seat about five feet.

The best I can describe it is a survivalist, entrapped horror/thriller. It combines elements of the trapped within confined spaces (like in Cube or The Descent) with the idea that given time and enough hatred for one another, a small community would utterly waste each other for control (the best examples of this are zombie films like Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead - originals or remakes).

Unfortunately it did not live completely up to my expectations and left me rather wanting. There were times when the script became ridiculous and hard to ingest, especially when dealing with characters that go over the edge with power or greed.

Either way though, I will be excited to go see this in the theaters, hopefully they can do it justice and not take away from it's suspense.

Excerpt
This is a small snippet from the beginning, right after the introduction of characters. It sets an eerie tone for the desperate situation that they are all in.
[scrippet]
INT. CENTRAL CHAMBER - DAY

Someone SOBS LOUDLY.

It's not Marilyn; she stares blankly at the ground. It's not Julie, either; she does the same.

It's Delvin. He covers his face and cries.

The light from the lantern begins to die. The eight faces gradually fade into DARKNESS.

INT. CENTRAL CHAMBER - DAY
A loud WHIRRING SOUND.

Slowly, slowly, LIGHT returns, illuminating Delvin as he holds his head in despair.

The light grows. Josh rocks back and forth, nearly catatonic. Mike stares forward in shock.

The WHIRRING continues. Finally, Mike looks up the source of the sound. Mickey sits peddling on a rickety EXERCISE BIKE, huffing and puffing with a strange grin on his face and a BANDANA wrapped around his already-sweaty brow.

Mike slowly looks down the bike. He sees that it's jerry-rigged into a crude GENERATOR. Mike follows a cable from the generator to a small LANTERN that's providing the light.

INT. CENTRAL CHAMBER - NIGHT
RADIO STATIC. Mickey turns a HAND-CRANKED RADIO TRANSMITTER to different frequencies.

All static. Mike and Josh lock eyes. Mike slowly shakes his head and lowers it to the ground.

INT. CENTRAL CHAMBER - NIGHT
The eight sit in their original positions amidst the LOOSE BRICKS and PAINTING EQUIPMENT of the unfinished basement.
[/scrippet]

Title: Shelter
Writer: Karl Mueller
Pages: 107 (undated draft)
Status: Pre-Production
Opinion: Thrilling, but a bit too overindulgent at times