Sins of Our Forefathers is a new concept for a film I’ve wanted to write for years. Horror is not my most sought after genre in terms of watching but it is a genre that is often used for up and coming filmmakers. I have pitched this idea to friends and acquaintances and they have responded quite positively.
The story so far: During the outbreak of the American Civil War, a brigand of Confederate soldiers ambush a village of Shawnee natives, killing the men, women and children and laying waste to their homes. The lone survivor is the village shaman. Devastated and enraged by the heinous attack, the shaman places a curse on the land. Whosoever decides to build on this land will meet misfortune.
Months after the attack, a group of settlers lay claim to the land and begin to build the town of Nazarene, Texas. Over the years of the town’s existence, the townsfolk are met with tragic incidents, ultimately leading to the town being razed to the ground during a catastrophic fire. At the turn of the 20th century, Nazarene is practically a ghost town until 1949, with the construction of a maximum security prison, which has a housing capacity of 1200 inmates. As expected, accidents and deaths between inmates and correctional officers began to rise.
Our story takes place in 1980, a FBI agent, who is of mixed heritage (part Shawnee, Caucasian) arriving at the prison to collect his estranged father’s remains.His father was a correctional officer for the prisoner and died under mysterious circumstances. Looking to make sense of this, our protagonist investigates and looks to find a connection to the prison and the peculiar rise in accidents and deaths.
IDEAS AND CONCEPTS
Protagonist will be of mixed heritage (Native American and Caucasian). Father (Caucasian) is a correctional officer at a prison and a veteran of WWII. Mother (Native American) was a waitress at a diner the protagonist’s father frequented. During this time in America, interracial couples were highly frowned upon, which meant that they would have to hide the fact they were together, even though they were very much in love.
The protagonist’s mother eventually moved to the state of Washington. Protagonist would spend his school years (elementary through college) there, ultimately majoring in Criminal Justice. He entered the FBI as a special agent after successfully completing the training at the FBI academy. His father would continue his work at a maximum security prison in the area. He would remain there until his death. Due to the strange circumstances surrounding his death, there are no concrete answers as to why this happened.
Visually, the look of the Native Americans that will appear at crucial moments in the story will have pale faces with black eyes (achieved through contact lenses or paint around their eyes). They will appear somber, lamenting over something. They will be wearing the clothing indicative of their tribe. No blood will be shown on their bodies but we will see the wounds that mortally injured them, whether they are by gun or other means of violence.
Overall tone of the film will be reminiscent of 1980’s The Shining and 2008’s The Happening. The violence will be visceral but will serve the story, not just for the sake of violence.
The Musings of an Average Guy 