DOOMSDAY FOR DENTON (6-page short drama screenplay) Written by Anthony Cawood

Some legends are best observed from a safe distance…

So, today’s review is of a script from October’s Twilight Zone themed OWC that I felt was a tad underrated – it was my 2nd favorite of all the entries. With its colorful dialogue and cleverly executed twist ending, this script definitely stood out.

If the title sounds familiar, the script was inspired by the 3rd episode of TZ’s very first season, “Mr. Denton on Doomsday”. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out AFTER reading this take on the source material.

The story opens when a tough, scrappy young man named Barry enters a bar called the Nag’s Head. Carrying with him a chip on his shoulder, he’s not here looking to knock a few back – he’s here looking for a fight. But not just with anybody – he wants to fight the legendary bare-knuckle brawler, Denton.

As Barry searches for Denton, who’s a known patron of the bar, bartender Danny points to a man nearly passed out at a table, drunk as a skunk. Determined to defeat the legend, Barry buys him a pint and challenges the drunken Denton, who’s obviously way past his prime. But not before praising the man who was formerly dubbed, “Destroyer” Denton.

            BARRY
Ma Dad still talks about when you
put O’Leary in the hospital.

            DENTON
Lucky shot.

Downplaying his accomplishments and seemingly not in the condition to fight, Denton turns down the challenge at first… emphasis on “seemingly”.

I won’t spoil the rest of it, but let’s just say when Denton eventually DOES accept the challenge, things don’t go as planned for young Barry.

A very fun script with great dialogue, it was easy to visualize this on a movie screen. And with essentially one simple location and small cast, it would be a piece of cake to shoot in this COVID climate.

BUDGET: Low. One location. Three main characters.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Anthony Cawood is an award-winning screenwriter with one feature produced and a further four features optioned or in pre-production. In addition to features, he has over forty short scripts produced/sold/optioned – including ten filmed. Also occasionally pens screenwriting articles, interviews with writers and filmmakers, and even a short story or two. He can be reached on his website AnthonyCawood.co.uk.

Read: DOOMSDAY FOR DENTON (6-page short drama screenplay)

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About the Reviewer: Michael J. Kospiah is the award-winning screenwriter of critically acclaimed indie-thriller, The Suicide Theory (79% Rotten Tomatoes – available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, Google Play, etc) and 2020’s upcoming Aussie thriller, Rage. His horror feature, They Never Left is currently in development.

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