A Taste of Redemption

Finally! A screenplay that doesn’t suck.

Of course, I don’t know if that’s an honest assessment, or if I’m just lowering my standards. But screenplay number five isn’t half bad. It’s nothing particularly original — basically just a haunted house/ghost story, with most of the usual formulaic elements firmly in place — but the writer knows what he/she is doing. The screenplay is properly written (with just a few “tells” to indicate amateur status), the story is suspenseful, the payoff is set up properly, and the societally-accepted “rules” of the genre are maintained.

Now, would I like to see this screenplay win the competition? Not particularly. At the very least, it needs substantial revision in a few areas. But compared with the preceding four, this is pure genius.

Frankly, I think the best part — for me, as a reviewer — is that I’ll be able to spend the allotted “critique” space offering truly constructive criticism on those few areas, rather than having to delicately tell the writer not to quit the day job.