Chemistry of Life by David D. DeBord

 Maybe Timmy’s brilliant ten-year-old mind can fix the horrors of his life.  Right after he re-animates his dead gerbil.

 We’re all familiar with Mary Shelley’s story of Frankenstein – the mad doctor who creates a living, breathing monster by reanimating a corpse.   The film version starring Boris Karloff is an American classic that’s been scaring us for almost one hundred years.  In that time we’ve seen countless remakes and re-imaginings .  Not to mention merchandising, cartoons, and comics – the Frankenstein monster is an icon even preschoolers can identify.

With all that diluting, it’s easy to forget the truly horrific question posed by Shelley.   If it were possible, would you bring a dead person back to life?  And even more important: should you?

Chemistry of Life asks that very question, albeit on a smaller scale.

Timmy is the ten-year-old mad scientist from Jackson Heights Elementary School, with a home life that’s less than ideal.  He lives with his drug-addicted mother and her boyfriend Spider in the remnants of a dilapidated home.  His older brother recently died.  And if that isn’t depressing enough, his only friend in the world is a gerbil named Ralph.

One day after school, Timmy decides he must fix the horrors of his life – even if that means Ralphie has to take one for the team.  So little Timmy unpacks his back pack full of borrowed equipment from the school lab, assembles his Dr. Frankenstein Junior Starter Kit, and gets down to grisly work.

What happens to poor Ralphie? And what further horrors lie in store? Give this script a read, and you’ll see. We guarantee some shivers down your spine.

Decanted from the mind of scriptwriter David D. Debord, Chemistry of Life is a unique take on Frankenstein. A mini monster movie begging to be “brought to life”!

Budget:  Low to Medium.   The biggest cost will be the gerbil brain dissection scene.  (I told you this script was awesome.)

About the writer: David D. DeBord has been a professional scriptwriter for twenty years. Recently he had three short film scripts produced, one in Fairfield, Iowa, a second in Houston, Texas and a third in Matulji, Croatia. In past years, his award winning scripts have been produced on radio, stage, television, and film. He is a past president and founding member of the Iowa Scriptwriters Alliance and lives in Des Moines, Iowa with his wife, the best woman on the planet, Kris Sutton. Contact him at downtowndave “AT” att “DOT” net!

Read Chemistry of Life (five pages in PDF format)

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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.

About the reviewer:  David M Troop has been writing since he could hold a No.2 pencil. In 2011 he began writing short films for MoviePoet.com and Simplyscripts.com. His produced short scripts include INSOMNIAC and THE DINER. Born on the mean streets of Reading, PA, Dave now resides in Schuylkill Haven with his wife Jodi and their two lazy dogs Max and Mattie. He can be reached at dtroop506 (a) gmail.