Allured (pdf format) by Pii (Π) Anttonen

An eerie castle, dribbling candles, a lost officer and a bunch of ghosts. You know… the usual stuff.

“What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again?” – From Guillermo Del Torro’s “El Espinazo Del Diablo”

There’s something truly tragic about Ghosts. More than zombies, monsters and human serial kllers, ghosts feed on a viewer’s empathy. Phantasms that were once human… now condemned to suffer in eternity. When faced with a creature such as this, how can one not feel sympathy?

Especially with classic ghost tales, like Allured. Set in an Austrian castle, the script opens as Sergeant Franz stumbles to the door, battle beaten and weary. Although Franz is a stranger to the household, old servant Frederich lets him in – offering shelter from the war. The caretaker leads Franz towards an upstairs bedroom. He’s watching it for his master’s return, he tells his guest. They’re the sole inhabitants of the castle: Franz is sure to get some uninterrupted sleep.

Or will he?

Shortly after turning in for the night, Franz encounters a strange woman in his bed.* When he attempts to wake her, his hand goes through her body! He races to Frederich’s quarters to inform him of the intruder. But Frederich insists it was a dream – and implores the sergeant to go back to sleep. Needless to say, sleep proves to be… elusive. When Franz returns to his room, the woman is gone. But children’s footsteps echo in the hall. And then there are the sounds downstairs. Almost like a – party? Franz heads for the dining room to confront his fears, unsure what he’ll find…

Though once a staple of the horror genre, ghost stories have become a rare breed. Stylishly written with a touch of humor, Allured harkens back to a classier time in movies. When films were shot in black and white… and curtains blowing in the breeze brought a tingle to one’s spine. Perhaps that time has come again: in a cinematic world filled with slasher and torture porn shorts, Allured would be sure to stand out in festivals!

* Sleeping. That’s it! This is a classic ghost tale, folks – get your minds out of the gutter!

Pages: 8

Budget: Not quite as impossible as it seems. While the castle location, costumes and extras may seem daunting for production purposes, there are plenty of possible “cheats.” If skillfully applied, stock footage, generic “stone wall” spaces and just a touch of camera tricks could be all the set you need!

About the writer: Pii Anttonen (first name pronounced like Π, not like the bathroom activity) was previously known by some other name and while being being busy with that, edited the Voice Over online scriptwriting magazine, worked on several virtual shows, won a Simply Scripts One Week Challenge once and had some shorts produced. These days her writing duties consist mainly of writing on commission for production companies and groups, knowing full well that it’s unlikely that anything will see the light of day, but accepts that that kind of is what the scriptwriting job is. She can be reached at pii.anttonen (a) gmail.com!

About the reviewer: A film and video aficionado based in Mumbai, Rustom Irani works as a freelance editor and screenwriter for projects ranging from narratives, commercials, and documentaries to corporate and music videos. His website is available at PlanetRusty.com, and he can be reached at rustyirani “AT” gmail.com!

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This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.