When an unnatural storm unleashes hordes of shapeshifting monsters, five trapped mill workers will have to fight for their lives if they want to survive the night.

SYNOPSIS:

Knightvision Productions

THE ABERRATION (Adapted from my published novel)

WRITER: Lewis Knight / PHONE: (205)789-0493 / EMAIL: knightvisionltd@outlook.com

LOGLINE

When an unnatural storm unleashes hordes of shapeshifting monsters, five trapped mill workers will have to fight for their lives if they want to survive the night.

SYNOPSIS

ACT 1

The film opens with three characters: Guy, a perfectly nondescript man suffering from vivid nightmares who collects clippings and artifacts from paranormal events. Michael, who dotes on his perfect girlfriend, and Fran, who works in the lab at the flour processing mill.

When Guy arrives at work, he notices hundreds of ravens gathered in the parking lot and the building. As he approaches, a body falls right in front of him, splattering on the asphalt. Later, paramedics are on the scene as Rob, the slender, twitchy mill manager, informs Guy and Michael that the lab assistant committed suicide. They agree to stay and finish the shift.

In the mill office, Michael and Guy’s conversation is interrupted when Drake, the truck loader, calls over the radio, asking if anyone else is in the mill. Michael says the maintenance man might be making one last round. There is no response back from Drake. Guy says he’s about to make his rounds and will check on Drake on the way. In the lab, Rob is talking with Fran when Guy’s voice explodes over the radio, demanding that they call an ambulance. Michael tries, but the phones aren’t working. He goes outside to use the cell phone, but the unnatural storm blocks the signal. Meanwhile, Guy drags Drake into the lab. When Rob asks what happened, Guy tells them they found the maintenance man completely torn to pieces.

ACT 2

Guy takes Michael to the locker room, where he arms them with weapons he stashed there. Michael is shocked but can’t argue as Guy leads them into the storm outside, where they encounter a horde of faceless beings encircling the mill. Retreating, they go to the lab and report back. Guy tells them he’s been experiencing flashbacks of fighting the Others in the past. He calls the situation an Aberration: a threshold between our world and a nightmare one. He recalls flashes of a past life when he worked with others of his kind to stop the nightmare phenomena. Before he can finish, the lights are cut off.

They go downstairs to attempt escaping, but the faceless Others stand silently outside. Guy warns them to stay in, but Rob disobeys and is ripped apart by the creatures. When they finish, they all wear Rob’s screaming face. Using his memories, they use his key code and enter the building. When Guy shoots one, it disintegrates into a massive pile of pale insects. Guy and the rest flee back up to the lab, where they barricade themselves. Guy hastily explains that the Aberration must be shut down before it expands and engulfs the entire city and beyond. He says that the Threshold will be at the top of the building. When they leave, more Others attack. When killed, they meld into a giant rat then Guy kills with a machete.

Going upstairs, they find the maintenance man’s corpse. When Drake backs away, webbing drifts down and snatches him up the stairs. Blood rains down, followed by the top half of his body. Controlled by the webbing, he beckons, inviting them upstairs. Terrified, Michael and Fran flee back downstairs. As they cross one of the floors, they’re attacked by freakish mothmen that use hallucinogenic powder to trick Fran and Michael into attacking each other. They’re saved by Guy, who uses a gas mask while dispatching the mothmen. Injured but determined, the trio ascends to the top of the building.

ACT 3

On the top floor, they encounter the spider creature that killed Drake earlier. A disgusting blend of insect and human limbs, it attacks. Using flashlights to blind it, they fight back. Fran is impaled by one of its limbs, and Michael is knocked senseless. Guy stabs into the abdomen, nearly drowning in the viscera that erupts. The creature dies, and Fran soon after. Guy plants a bomb, telling Michael to use the fire ladder to escape. When he opens the door to the roof, a fiery world of horror is revealed. He says goodbye to Michael and enters, shutting the door. When Michael reopens the door, he sees only the deluge outside. Sobbing, he staggers to the fire ladder and descends.

Guy faces a tall, gaunt figure in the Aberration world, who tells him that the whole thing is Guy’s own madness and that he’s been murdering his coworkers the entire time. Disbelieving, Guy attacks and stabs the Other One in the heart. The tower collapses, and a horde of ravens pour from the sky, tearing Guy and the Other One apart.

The next morning, rescue and investigation units are at the remains of the mill, which exploded in the night. While trying to piece together what happened, they find a single dead body: Guy, who is inexplicably unscorched. They’re interrupted by the discovery of Michael, who survived the blast. As they run to him, Guy sits up from the gurney and walks away, disappearing into the darkness of the forest.

NOTES: Although this can easily be a grisly splatter film, I envision it in the vein of Annihilation: a trippy, mind-bending, visually striking nightmare.