Writer's Workshop

In the past I've largely written feature-length scripts (a chapter at a time on this site). But sometimes, for one reason or another, shorter ideas have come into my head. I was working with a rag-tag production company a few years back and they wanted to do an anthology horror film. One idea I came up with (along side fellow Asteroid G contributor, Josh) was a werewolf on the moon. "Wouldn't that be cool?" we thought. I filed it away because the production values would have been too expensive at the time, but we'd both hoped one day we could make the short. That didn't happen, but the idea stuck with me long enough that I had to write it. So while we take a short break from Bride of Dracula let's visit a wolf on the moon.

Thankfully this is a new script so you don't have to catch up on any previous details. Enjoy!

Moon Wolf: Part 1

EXT: THE MOON, ECLIPSE.

We see stars, and then slowly pan over to the moon itself, which is bathed in darkness. A small set of lights are visible and we zoom in. Steadily the moon base comes into view, with international flags painted on its side. We see that the base is in a bad state, with emergency lights blinking.

INT: MOON BASE, STORAGE ROOM, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

SFX: Emergency klaxons

STAN, the janitor, wakes in the storage room of the moon base. He's groggy, confused. He picks himself up, stumbled, rights himself. Looking around he sees the emergency lights blinking, covers his ears against the sound of the klaxons. He moves to the door, finds it locked. Confused, he looks around again and spots a blinking light by a communication screen in the wall. He moves over to it and hits the button.

The screen boots and loads a prerecorded video, from STAN to STAN.

STAN (VIDEO):

STAN. I know this is confusing, but I need you to take a deep breath because things have gone very wrong.

STAN looks around the room, with the blinking lights, and nods.

STAN:

No joke.

STAN (VIDEO):

You're probably groggy and confused.

STAN:

I am.

STAN (VIDEO):

That's to be expected. A lot has happened for you, and it's likely going to leave your memories confused and muddled.

CLOSE UP: STAN's face.

We see his eyes go wide as he remembers flashes of… something.

INT: MOON BASE, HALLWAY, DAY, PAST.

We see soldiers firing, as something, some kind of beast attacks them.

INT: MOON BASE, STORAGE ROOM, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

STAN:

Oh god.

STAN (VIDEO):

A monster is on the moon base. It's big, it's nasty, and it's killing everyone. Depending on the time now, it might have killed everyone.

STAN:

Everyone?

STAN (VIDEO):

Unfortunately that might make you the only person left on the base. You have to send out a warning, tell Earth. They need to-

Video cuts to static.

STAN:

They need to what?

STAN looks around.

STAN:

First thing, I need to get out of here.

He moves back to the door and starts checking it over. It's locked, from the outside. STAN, though, is the janitor and knows what to do. He sees his cart, moves over to it, and grabs up some tools. He's able to get into the gears of the door, pry open the hinges, and force the door open.

SFX: Door swoosh.

INT: MOON BASE, BACK HALLWAY, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

STAN steps out into the hallway and finds that it's an absolute wreck. The lights are flickering, the walls are splashed with blood, and there are a few bodies on the floor. These bodies, it should be noted, have been bitten, large chunks missing from their flesh. STAN has to swallow back some vomit.

Bending down by a body he grabs up a gun, then stands. He checks the ammo on the gun, looks around, then heads back into the storage room. A few moments later he comes out with his cart, the gun sticking out from his waste bin.

SFX: Wheels squeaking as STAN pushes his cart.

Moving down the hall, STAN looks around, trying to get his bearings. The whole place is a mess, and it's pretty clear that the monsters had ravaged whole portions of the base.

STAN:

Command. I need to get to the command deck.

He moves off, pushing his cart in front of him, heading towards the likely spot to find people.

EXT: MOON BASE, PERIMETER, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

We see STAN moving through the halls in the base as, in the distance, we see the EARTH surrounded by the corona of the Sun, clearly indicating we're in the middle of a lunar ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

INT: MOON BASE, COMMAND HALLWAY, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

STAN arrives outside the command deck. He finds the doors onto the bridge locked. He pushes the chime on the door but no one answers. Moving over to the communication screen, he scans through the menus until he gets to the bridge prompt. He pushes this, but again gets no response.

STAN:

Right. Okay. Just have to do it myself.

STAN then grabs his tools and works on the door, prying it open, too, before getting the doors to move out of his way.

SFX: Door swoosh.

INT: MOON BASE, COMMAND DECK, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

STAN sees the bridge, which is pristine, unlike the rest of the base. Moving around he finds much of the command deck on lock down. He tries to get any of the controls to function, but they prompt for a command password, which he doesn't have.

STAN:

Damn.

Moving around, he checks the emergency escape pods, finds them all launched.

STAN:

They left without me. Dicks.

He does find one console that works, though, and it lets him scroll through the cameras around the base. He scans the various views.

INT: MOON BASE, CAFETERIA, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

The cafeteria is a mess, but empty of any monsters.

INT: MOON BASE, BRIG, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

The brig is a mess, but empty of any monsters.

INT: MOON BASE, EXERCISE ROOM, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

The workout area is a mess, but empty of any monsters.

INT: MOON BASE, COMMAND DECK, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

STAN:

Well, it does look like I'm alone. Everyone else is gone… or dead.

STAN then notices a history button and starts going through past video logs of the base.

INT: MOON BASE, CAFETERIA, NIGHT, PAST.

We see soldiers and workers moving through the cafeteria, going about their meal break. People work the line, serving food, while others grab trays and get their meals. Into the CAFETERIA comes the LIEUTENANT, followed by a bunch of new recruits for the base, including STAN.

STAN (V.O.):

This was two weeks back.

The LIEUTENANT shows the cafeteria off, motioning around the room as he talks.

LIEUTENANT:

And this is the canteen. I'm sure you all know how to handle your meals. It's staffed all shifts, and workers are welcome to three full meals a day. Grab what you want, food is always available.

He turns back to his group of new workers.

LIEUTENANT:

Any questions?

No one has any.

LIEUTENANT:

Good, then lets find your bunks so you can get settled in before your first shift on the base.

The group heads out.

INT: MOON BASE, COMMAND DECK, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

STAN:

Too far back.

He scrolls through the menus until he finds a much more recent time stamp. He clicks the item, loading it on screen.

INT: MOON BASE, HALLWAY, DAY, PAST.

Soldiers go running through the hallway, guns drawn.

LIEUTENANT:

Go! Go! Go1

He waves at his men, getting them to run down towards, what we assume, would be safety.

SFX: Beastly roar.

LIEUTENANT:

Oh god.

He turns and sees a shadow of the monster. He pulls his gun, and other soldiers follow suit.

SFX: Gun fire, and lots of it.

The soldiers all begin firing as the beast slowly turns the corner. The camera doesn't initially get a good view, but what we can see of the beast shows us that it doesn't care about the gun fire. Steadily it moves down the hall, grabbing people and tearing them apart, throwing bodies this way and that. Soon we see a good view and it's a werewolf, giant and hulking. It's fur is matted, covered in blood.

LIEUTENANT:

Retreat!

He shouts at his men, and they break, running, but the LIEUTENANT isn't so lucky and gets grabbed by the werewolf. It rips him in half and starts chewing on his head.

INT: MOON BASE, COMMAND DECK, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

STAN turns from the video screen and has to force himself not to vomit. After a few moments he's able to breathe without puking. Then he turns back to the screen which, at this point, is just showing an empty, blood-drenched hallway.

STAN:

What the fuck is that?

Scrolling through the menus, STAN tries to find a video that can tell him what happened.

STAN:

How did it get on the base? Where did it come from?

Instead of finding that answer, STAN does find a video of the command deck from around the time of the attack. He pushes the play button.

INT: MOON BASE, COMMAND DECK, DAY, PAST.

We see the command crew putting the base on lock-down. CREWMAN one goes from one console to the next, pushing buttons, while CREWMAN 2 and CREWMAN 3 guard the door. The CAPTAIN moves around, giving orders and getting the place set.

CAPTAIN:

Lock it all. All controls secured.

CREWMAN 1:

Aye, captain.

SFX: Banging at the door.

CREWMAN 2:

The thing is out there!

CAPTAIN:

Stand ready. Soon as we have this bridge secured, we're out of here.

CREWMAN 1:

All consoles locked, sir.

CAPTAIN:

Get to the escape pods.

The CAPTAIN then goes on the intercom.

CAPTAIN:

All crew, this is the captain. Head to escape pods, if you can. Abandon base. I repeat, abandon base.

With that, the crew and CAPTAIN head to the escape pods in the wall. The CAPTAIN ushers each crew person in, securing them before hitting the launch button. He then straps himself into the last pod and presses a button, sealing himself in. The pod launches and we watch, through the main view-port on the bridge, as the various pods shoot off from the moon, little engines firing, as they make a route back to the Earth.

INT: MOON BASE, COMMAND DECK, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

STAN:

Maybe an escape pod is still available elsewhere on the base.

STAN leaves, pushing his cart with him, heading out across the base to find other pods.

EXT: MOON BASE, PERIMETER, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

We watch from the outside as STAN moves through another section of the base.

INT: MOON BASE, ESCAPE BAY, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

STAN checks the various pods. Some have been launched, but others have been broken. Ruined, so they can't be used.

STAN:

Why? They broke all of these.

STAN looks around, dejected.

STAN:

I'm stuck here. Alone on the base. I don't even know if they realize I'm still here.

STAN heads out, dejectedly dragging his cart behind him.

INT: MOON BASE, CAFETERIA, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

STAN comes into the cafeteria and, despite it being a total mess, he heads over to the food line to find something to eat. He grabs a tray, finds some random food bars in the buffet, then sits at a table and begins to eat. After a few bites he pushes the tray away and looks out, through the bay windows, at the surface of the moon.

STAN:

No. There has to be something I can do.

He gets up, grabs his cart, and moves with purpose back the way he came.

INT: MOON BASE, ESCAPE BAY, ECLIPSE, PRESENT.

STAN comes into the bay and immediately moves to the pods, checking them over to see if any of them are usable enough.

STAN:

Maybe one of these can be repaired.

As he works he moves past a monitor with a light blinking. It takes him three or four times going past, as we slowly focus on the monitor, to realize that the light is blinking. He stops, turns, and then pushes a button. A prerecorded message loads from JACKSON.

JACKSON:

Moon Base 1, this is COMMANDER JACKSON. We received your distress signal but haven't received any further communication. Are you able to respond? Please come in. If we don't receive a response within the next hour, a crew will be sent to investigate. Please respond.

STAN checks the time stamp.

STAN:

That was a few hours ago!

He looks around the bay.

STAN:

Rescue! Someone is coming to save me!

STAN drops his tools and gives out a little cheer. Then he goes running from the bay. But instead of following him, we stay focused on the monitor. Eventually, a second video plays, and we see the STAN, in video form.

STAN (VIDEO):

My name is STAN of Moon Base 1. If you’re seeing this it’s because the base received a response to an emergency signal. Do not come here. There is something on this base. A creature, very violent and very deadly. It’s killed most of the people on this station. Whatever you do, do not come here. Stay away. Stay away. The moon is too dangerous.

Then a prompt appears saying: “Send Response?” With buttons for “Yes” and “No”.

End of Part 1:

I'm expecting this will be a two-parter my goal is to get it somewhere around 20 minutes, just long enough to make it's effective story and then get out. I think any longer than that (maybe a very short third part, if needed) would drag out the idea beyond it's natural story needs. We shall see.