Shameless Promotion of Screen Writer Ink

Writing is such a personal endeavor; the writer is immersed in the characters and world that they have created. This can be a wonderful thing, being so close to the work, but it can also cause us to be blind to short falls and problems. That is why it is a good idea to have someone read and analyze your screenplay.

Screen Writer Ink specializes in working with writers to create the very best possible screenplay or manuscript. With backgrounds in screenwriting, film production, story consultant, screen writing instructor and much more; Screen Writer Ink provides the best analysis and coverage possible.

Best of all Screen Writer Ink is now offering special Holiday rates for a wide variety of writing services. If you are a writer who is serious about your work, then you owe it to yourself to visit Screen Writer Ink and take advantage of these special rates on the highest quality screenplay analysis available.

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New Goal for Screen Writer Ink Story Blog

The new goal is to publish two articles a week, Yes I know I have been spending time writing scripts, but I believe I can at least post a movie review or something on the craft of screenwriting a couple of times a week. That is my goal at least, so hopefully you will come back now and then to check out what is going on around here. Thanks for checking us out.

Writers Workshop of Horrors: A Review

Hello gang, it has been awhile since I have been able to write here at the blog

Awhile back Woodland Press, LLC sent me a copy of Writers Workshop of Horror, edited by Michael Knost; to review and here now is my review.

Let me start off by say that I enjoyed Writers Workshop of Horror quite a bit. The book is a series of articles written by many notables in the field of horror fiction today; such as Joe R. Lansdale, Brian Keene,Tim Waggoner and many more. Each article tackles a different aspect of the craft of horror fiction writing. Elizabeth Massie’s article is appropriately titled Creating Effective Beginnings and is a good primer on how to begin your horror story. Michael A. Arnzen has an effective article about scene structure and how it can make or break a horror story in the piece: Scene and Structure in Horror. There is even an article about proper formatting in Jason Sizemore’s A Guide to Manuscript Formatting.

A treasure trove of insightful and interesting information on the craft of horror fiction and I highly recommend Writers Workshop of Horror by Michael Knost. The book does remind me of the book; On Writing Horror : A Handbook by The Horror Writers Association edited by Mort Castle ( who also has an article in Writers Workshop of Horror) another anthology of articles covering the craft of horror fiction by many masters of the genre; like Harlan Ellison, Jack Ketchum and David Morrell to name a few.

On Writing Horror : A Handbook by The Horror Writers Association is organized into seven different parts; each covering a different element of the craft and business of horror fiction. Part Two is An Education in Horror and consist of four articles giving an overview of horror and how it is presented in higher education. Part Seven is Genre and Subgenre and contains ten different articles discussing the horror genre and subgenres and how writers can use these to create better horror fiction. All and all a very good book on the craft of horror fiction.

Writers Workshop of Horror and On Writing Horror: A Handbook by The Horror Writers Association would be two good companion books for any writers bookshelf , especially if you enjoy writing horror fiction.

The Mutant Chronicles

At the end of the Ice Age, The Machine came from the outer space with the purpose to change men into mutants. However, a hero defeated the device and a great seal was laid over The Machine. In 2707, the depleted world is ruled by four Corporations: Mishima, Bauhaus, Capitol and Imperial that are in constant war. During a battle between Capitol and Bauhaus, the great seal is broken and The Machine comes to life once again and begins transforming soldiers and civilians into hordes of mutants.
A small part of the population escapes to Mars, leaving millions of people behind. The leader of an ancient brotherhood, Brother Samuel(Ron Perlman) is a believer of the Chronicles, a bible about the mutants. With the city under siege by the mutants, he visits the Corporations' leader Constantine(John Malkovich) asking for an aircraft and twenty men for a suicide mission to destroy The Machine,by planting a bomb and using an ancient detonator following the knowledge of the Chronicles.
Samuel recruits the tough Major 'Mitch' Hunter(Thomas Jane); the Bauhaus Lieutenant Maximillian von Steiner; the keeper of the Chronicles Severian(Anna Walton) is silent but deadly; the gorgeous & lethal Corporal Valerie Duval(Devon Aoki); Corporal Juba Kim Wu; Captain John McGuire; and Corporal Jesus 'El Jesus' de Barrera. Together they become the last hope of Earth against the evil mutants.
A futuristic "Dirty Dozen" by director Simon Hunter and written by Phillip Eisner. The film's look reminds me of "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow", which I think was an underrated film . The story for Mutant Chronicles breaks no new ground, but is an interesting twist on the group quest theme. The cast all give solid performances and Thomas Jane once again is top notch as the stoic Mitch Hunter.
If you are looking for something a little different in the SciFi vein , then check out The Mutant Chronicles and have some fun at the movies.

Screen Writer Ink

Punisher: War Zone DVD Release

Punisher: War Zone has just been release on DVD and unlike many of the critics that reviewed and panned this film; I actually rather enjoyed the movie. Why did I enjoy the film when so many others found it violent and frightening? Well for one thing I'm not a little nervous Nelly like the reviewer who shares the last name with his some what famous reviewer father, who will give any movie a positive review if he thinks his name will be featured in the ads. Punisher: War Zone was meant to be violent and out there. The Punisher is a violent man on a mission of vengeance.
Ray Stevenson does a very good job of portraying Frank Castle as a damaged man who knows that he is over the edge, but also knows that someone must step up and stop those criminals who are beyond the law.
The action is violent and non stop and that's exactly the way the Punisher is in the comic books. The film is for anyone who enjoys a good action movie which doesn't take itself too seriously. Now that the movie is out on DVD, pick up a copy, sit back ,relax and enjoy a action movie for action movie lovers.


Genre:Action/Adventure
MPAA Rating:R
Starring:Ray Stevenson, Dominic West
Director:Lexi Alexander
Running Time:1:47

Reviews of some newly relased films

Sorry for being away, I have been extremely busy with the courses I teach, script analysis and of course writing. I have been going to the movies and watch DVD's so it hasn't all been work. But after watching some of these movies it seemed like work just sitting through them.

Let's get started. First up is:

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The Unborn

The Unborn is the latest film from director and writer David Goyer. The film follows Casey Beldon, a young woman who is suddenly haunted by horrific nightmares that begin to intrude into real life. Casey is played by the lovely
-->Odette Yustman, who was last seen in the film Cloverfield. Miss Yustman does a serviceable job carrying the film, but is given very little to work with from writer/director Goyer. The supporting cast lead by Gary Oldman, Meagan Good and Cam Gigandet are little more than shadows. There is little character development and we really could care less if these characters live or die and in this kind of movie they usually die, but we should care if they do or not.

The main problem with the Unborn is that Director Goyer did not see the flaws in the screenplay by writer Goyer. The story at first concerns Casy being haunted by the spirt of her unborn dead twin brother that she never knew existed. If Goyer had stayed focused on this plot, then I believe he would have made a much stronger film. Unfortunately writer Goyer wanted to include elements of his vast research and the story goes off into Jewish demons and exorcism and the audience is lost in the process. The Unborn isn't a terrible movie, but few scares and little suspense.If you see it at a bargain matinee you may enjoy the time spent or better yet wait and rent it when it comes out on DVD.