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| SCREENPLAY FINALIST |
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| titles: |
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A
Taste For Blood |
| screenwriter: |
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Rebecca
Cantrell |
| location: |
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Kailua
Kona, HI U.S.A. |
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| log
line: |
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Born
with a vampire gene that expresses
itself on his 30th birthday, a
passionate vegetarian doctor must
battle his father to break free
of the family curse. |
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| synopsis: |
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Against
the backdrop of the black rock
of Hawaii, Nicodemus Bale, a vegetarian
doctor, lives in his domineering
father’s shadow. As his body
bleeds out its mortal life on
his 30th birthday, he discovers
the truth: he is a vampire. His
father sired him to take over
the vampire House of Balaur, of
whom Nic is the only other living
pure blood descendant.
But Nic refuses to kill. He wouldn’t
even eat meat when he was a human.
As he searches for a way out,
he learns that no new vampire
has ever lived more than three
nights without killing. He tries
to treat his condition with blood
transfusions and drinking blood
from a blood bank, but it doesn’t
help. His hunger drives him to
attack a hospice patient and almost
kill his own girlfriend during
sex.
Unable to control his growing
urges, he tries suicide, but his
vampiric healing powers save him.
When he flees in desperation,
his father’s ruthless lover,
Tatiana, follows. She attacks
him; he loses control, and kills
her. And drinks her blood.
Enraged, his father takes control
of him and forces him to murder
his own pregnant girlfriend in
retribution. On his hands he sees
Tatiana’s blood, the blood
of the woman he loves, and the
blood of his future victims.
Nic uses his medical skills to
bring his girlfriend back to life.
Although she tries to transfuse
him with human blood, it does
not take. He remains a vampire,
but can use his vampiric powers
as a doctor.. |
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| Q&A
with Rebecca Cantrell |
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| How
long did your screenplay
take to write, from conception
to final completion? |
| About
five years ago a reluctant
vampire climbed into my
head. I wrote a draft in
about two months, took it
to the Maui Writers Retreat
and worked on it there with
Michael Palmieri and Chris
Keane, then rewrote it again
for another two months,
let it sit, then did another
draft in a couple of weeks.
So, that's about five years
elapsed time, and four and
a half months of writing
time. |
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| Where
did your inspiration come
from? |
| I
had a dream about vampires
in Hawaii. It took a few
drafts to get back to the
inspiration of the vegetarian
vampire standing on the
black rock of the Big Island,
staring down at the moon
light on the ocean. I had
to know how he got there
and where he was going. |
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| Are
Horror or Sci-Fi your main
creative interests? |
| I
write whatever stories come
into my head. My Berlin
Mystery Series is set in
the 1930s and is pretty
noirish, but doesn't have
any horror elements. I have
written a TV script for
a sci-fi series that hasn't
made it into development
yet. |
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| Can
you describe a typical day
in the process of creating
your film or screenplay? |
| I
get up, drop my kid at school,
and retire to a cafe to
sip chai and write. When
I'm writing scary stuff
I have to have the corner
table where my back is against
the wall and I can see all
the doors. I live in Hawaii,
so the cafe is cold and
I have to bundle up to keep
warm and I like that feeling.
It's very comforting to
have on a fuzzy jacket and
face all my demons in the
cold and then go out into
the warmth and sunshine
and leave it all behind
me. |
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| Who
do you consider to be the
greatest horror writer? |
| Guillermo
Del Torro. I absolutely
love what he does with imagery,
especially his take on vampires
in Kronos. There's so little
dialogue, but the story
is all there. |
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| Can
you recall the first horror
film that left a lasting
impression on you? |
| Rosemary's
Baby. What's she to do,
abandon her baby? And was
she crazy after all?! |
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| Who
do you consider to be the
greatest 'Masters of Horror'? |
| Roman
Polanski |
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| Do
you currently have any attachments
and/or a cast wishlist for
your screenplay? |
Wishlist:
Jake Gyllenhall: Nicodemus
Liam Neeson: Uriel
Claire Danes: Meadow
Helena Bonham Carter: Tatiana
Jusin Long: Ted
Laura Linney: Agatha. |
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| Who
do you see directing your
screenplay? |
| In
a dream world: Kathryn Bigelow,
because she has the painter's
eye needed to capture the
location and is great with
men's relationships and
men/women relationships. |
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| How
many edits has your screenplay
gone through? |
| Countless.
Three serious rewrites.
I keep a file of stuff I
throw away, and I threw
away almost as much as I
put in. |
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Was
this your first screenplay?
If so, are you inspired
to write another? |
| No,
my first screenplay was
a romance called Gideon's
Will that dealt with an
arrogant architect who fixes
up his wife with the man
she should have married
from his deathbed (but nobody
is ever part of the undead
or anything). I definitely
will be writing more screenplays,
but right now I'm also under
contract to complete my
novel, Even Smoke Leaves
a Trace, and a second book
in that Berlin mystery series.
But I have an idea about
the golem that I really
want to work on... |
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