Howdy Everyone,
Just wanted to share something I've found to be interesting about my script, The Strongman, that might be relevant to anyone with a thriller on their hands.
Now, I'm a HUGE horror fan, overall it's definitely my favorite genre. For whatever reason though, my first idea for a complete script/story was not a horror movie, but what I describe to people as "a gritty, action-crime thriller with some heavy elements of horror".
One of my favorite horror documentaries is Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments. If you haven't seen it, please do, it's a lot of fun and I'll bet you come away from it with a nice little list of movies that you've never seen.
What's really interesting about some of the choices on that list of 100 scariest movie moments is that not all of them are from actual horror movies. The one that stood out to me the most was the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple. Not a horror movie at all, but when they play those certain clips...yup, totally creepy, with some good shock value too.
It was pretty much for that specific reason that I started looking into horror themed screenwriting competitions for my script. Most, if not all of them, accept both horror AND thrillers. With those 100 Scariest Movie Moments in mind, I decided "what the heck" and started submitting to them.
As of this writing, and much to my genuine surprise, that "gritty, action-crime thriller with some heavy elements of horror" has at least placed in every single horror themed competition that I've entered it in. Even the pitch deck for the project just won "Best Pitch" in the HorrOrigins contest, which is sponsored by some well-known companies.
So there you have it, folks. If you have a thriller with some genuinely scary moments, even if it's not a straight up horror script, you might want to start looking into those genre themed competitions. You're chances of racking up those winner laurels are probably higher than you might think!
-Todd
Congratulations on your script placing in the competitions and winning Best Pitch, Todd Jones!
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Maurice Vaughan thank you!
You're welcome, Todd Jones. I've seen competitions that accept Horror and Thriller scripts. Both genres have some of the same elements, like suspense, fear, and shock like you mentioned. I haven't seen Blood Simple. but Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men could definitely be a villain in a Horror movie.
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Maurice Vaughan yup that's another good example, creepy AF