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THE POLAROID
KILLER
Feature Film Screenplay by Christopher Lombard
© Christopher Lombard +44 (0) 7590655109/ [email protected] / www.christopherlombard.com
GENRE: Psychological Horror Crime Thriller
LOGLINE: Five years after escaping the infamous ‘Polaroid Killer’, Vanessa Wade’s past comes back to haunt her when the serial killer resurfaces and takes her sister. With the clock now ticking, Vanessa seeks out the help of a hypnotherapist to unlock her repressed memories and save her sister...
THEME: Main characters haunted by past traumatic events, posing the notion – if you don’t deal with the past, it will deal with you…
SYNOPSIS: Bloodied, bruised, and barely conscious, VANESSA WADE staggers through desolate woodland having just escaped the infamous POLAROID KILLER within an inch of her life… Five years later – Still haunted by distorted memories of the brutal murder of her husband SEAN, along with her traumatic captivity, Vanessa has now turned to alcohol and medication, moving from city to city plying her trade as an Uber Driver in an attempt to escape her traumatic past. But when she returns to her home town to finalise the sale of her family home, Vanessa’s past comes back to haunt her when a Polaroid Picture taken the night she was abducted is left for her in the back of her car, and she begins to fear The Polaroid Killer has returned to finish what he started… Now on edge, Vanessa fears the killer’s evil presence at every turn. And when her brother in law, DEAN is brutally murdered and her sister, LEIGH is taken in what appears to be a carbon copy of five years previously, Vanessa’s fears of The Polaroid Killer’s return are confirmed. Vanessa is brought in for questioning by two London Met Detectives on the case – ALEXANDER NOVAK, and newly promoted Detective Constable ALICE KNIGHT. But with the trauma of her past ordeal causing severe memory loss, The Polaroid Killer remains a faceless demon of her dreams and thus is unable to give the Police any information that may help them identify the killer and find Leigh. Going by the killer’s previous MO, the Detectives estimate they have 72 hours to find Leigh before she becomes The Polaroid Killer’s latest victim. Deeply frustrated she is unable to remember any details, and with no faith in the Police capturing a killer that has eluded them for so many years, Vanessa is left feeling desperate and hopeless as the clock ticks down on Leigh’s life. But when she bumps into DOUGLAS WHITE, an American who she connected with at an AA meeting, she learns he is an ex NYPD officer now turned private investigator and offers his services to help track down Leigh. Vanessa visits her nephew WILLIAM now in child protective care, making a promise he will be reunited with his mother. Unable to sit back and wait, Vanessa seeks out the help of hypnotherapist KAREN FOSTER to try and help unlock her repressed memories. Vanessa faces the demons of her past as she relives the most traumatic night of her life in the hope of unearthing any clues that may help identify the killer. With the first session proving to be traumatic and unfruitful, Vanessa agrees to go under again for a second session where Karen takes Vanessa back to her time in captivity before she made her escape. Vanessa wakes at a pivotal moment unable to obtain any key Intel. Deeply frustrated, she agrees to go under a third time the following morning. But when the Polaroid Killer strikes again and brutally murders Karen later that night, all now seems lost for Vanessa and Leigh. On learning the news of Karen’s death whilst out in a local park, Vanessa finds herself being followed by a dark stranger who she believes could be the Polaroid Killer. Vanessa makes it home where the Police shortly arrive and arrest the dark stranger who turns out to be nothing more than a fan with an unhealthy obsession for Vanessa and The Polaroid Killer. But with hypnotherapy now unlocking some of her repressed memories, Vanessa starts to piece together fragmented information. And following another nightmare, she wakes and frantically draws an image – an image that will later help her identify the true identity of The Polaroid Killer. Discovering Vanessa has a private investigator looking for Leigh; Detective Novak starts looking into Doug and pays him a visit for questioning. As the two begin to play a game of mind chess, it becomes clear that Novak has finally found the serial killer he has been chasing all these years. In a tense showdown, Novak has his windpipe slashed and is left for dead as Doug aka The Polaroid Killer makes his escape. Doug visits Vanessa claiming he was attacked by The Polaroid Killer and knows where he has Leigh. Unknowing of Doug’s true identity, Vanessa insists she is going with him and they head out together – Vanessa seemingly falling into his trap. Detective Knight, accompanied by Armed Police, track down Doug’s hire car only to discover a teenage couple Doug paid to drive his car around for the night posing as a calculated decoy. Vanessa and Doug arrive at a rustic cabin on the outskirts of London where Doug finally reveals the true monster within, injecting Vanessa with a strong sedative. Vanessa wakes bound to a chair opposite a barely alive Leigh. Horrific photos of his victims over the last five years since her escape are laid out on the table in front of them. The Polaroid Killer continues to toy with Vanessa, but as he is about to kill Leigh, Vanessa lures him into her trap making the ultimate sacrifice and saves her sister. With the sound of Police sirens swelling in the distance, Vanessa and The Polaroid Killer lay side by side as they both die in a swelling pool of merging blood.
THE POLAROID
KILLER
© Christopher Lombard +44 (0) 7590655109/ [email protected] / www.christopherlombard.com
LEAD CHARACTERS: VANESSA WADE, mid 30’s, the only person to survive the infamous Polaroid Killer and live to tell the tale… Ex-military, now an Uber driver, and still haunted by the events five years earlier. Vanessa is tough, courageous, resourceful but pensive. She is ridden with guilt over her husband’s murder and has now developed an over dependency for alcohol and medication to try and nullify the horror, guilt, and pain. With the trauma of the ordeal causing severe memory loss, Vanessa has been left with horrific, fragmented, visions and nightmares of The Polaroid Killer. DOUGLAS WHITE/ THE POLAROID KILLER, mid 40’s, born Victor Ortega. Haunted by childhood memories of his father’s abuse and witnessing him killing his mother. Victor moved from foster home to foster home, eventually finding solace in his Polaroid Camera and photographing the dead. As dark thoughts consumed him, The Polaroid Killer was born. After fleeing his native United States, Victor moved around Europe developing and redefining his killing skills, ending up in the UK where he eventually crossed paths with Vanessa. Her escape enlightened him on a new direction as he returned to Europe on another killing spree before moving back to the UK to finish what he started. His way in, posing as Doug to get close to Vanessa before executing his final master plan. ALEXANDER NOVAK, mid 40’s, the Police constable who found Vanessa the night she escaped. Has since worked his way through the ranks to Detective Inspector, and now assigned to The Polaroid Killer case. Novak is obsessive, resourceful, persistent and a workaholic, hell bent on catching a killer that has eluded the Police for so long. He has similar traits to The Polaroid Killer, and when Doug plants the seed that Novak could be the killer, Vanessa starts having doubts over who Novak really is…
THE POLAROID
KILLER
© Christopher Lombard +44 (0) 7590655109/ [email protected] / www.christopherlombard.com
INFLUENCES:
THE POLAROID
KILLER
