First Generation
When a female android takes her pedroid dog in for repairs, an accident turns her
world upside down and reveals her entire existence has been a lie.

We open in a baby nursery, where a newborn is given a small, mechanical ankle bracelet, applied by a robot hand operating from the ceiling above.

We’re then introduced to the world in which the story is set in – it’s written and described in a way that the reader can EASILY picture it. So much so, that it almost feels like you’re there; jam-packed with holographic signs, flying cars and kids riding hover boards, it feels like Back to the Future meets The Jetsons.

Arriving at PETE’S PEDROID REPAIR SHOP, we meet Evie, who leaves her 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible, entering the repair shop with her bulldog tagging along. What’s a pedroid, exactly? We find out as Evie enters the shop – animals of all kinds crawling and flying around, it looks like something out of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

We meet Pete, the owner of the shop, who flicks a parrot off his shoulder as he tends to Evie.

PETER
How may I assist you, madam?

EVIE
My pedroid unit is behaving erratically.

Peter pats a workbench. The Bulldog leaps onto it. He grabs the dog’s tongue and gives it a yank. It stretches out while the dog’s head tilts back and opens to reveal electro-mechanical components.

But, before he can repair the pedroid, his ankle unit starts to malfunction. At the same time, Evie also has a malfunctioning ankle unit – in a meet-cute moment, their malfunctioning ankle units react magnetically, drawing their ankles together. As they try to pull apart from each other, their flung in opposite directions – Evie hits the floor hard, banging her noggin as her robot ankle is busted open, the exposed wires sparking, fluid spewing.

But while shaking off the cobwebs, her vision becomes blurry and her perception of reality alters – no longer are we in this colorful, futuristic reality but we’re in the present day. The pedroid shop is now a dingy repair shop. Her fancy convertible is now a beat-up jalopy. And her robot ankle is no longer spewing robot fluid – it’s now bleeding. She’s 100% human.

Neither Pete nor Evie know exactly what’s going on. She asks if Pete can fix them up, but he only knows how to fix pedroids – they’d have to go to a “humdroid” repair shop aka hospital. En route, in the back of an ambulance, Pete is seeing the same depressing world that Evie is seeing, surely a product of their ankle units malfunctioning. Is this the real world? And are their ankle units merely altering their perception of reality? Creating a better, virtual alternate reality?

They gaze at the depressing scenery as the vehicle clunks and stumbles along. Pete turns to Evie with fear in his eyes.

PETER
What’s happening to us?

She reaches out, her hand finding his. They clasp hands like it’s a life line.

EVIE
It’s okay. They’ll fix us. They have to.

At the medical clinic, the furniture old and worn, paint peeling off the crummy walls, Peter and Evie each lie in hospital beds. Instead of human doctors, they’re treated by DOCBOTS rather than actual human doctors – rusty, robotic arms operating from the ceiling, wrapping up their ankles in bandages rather than “repairing” them.

Unfortunately for Pete and Evie, they’re rare, first generation “models” and the technology to build and repair them has been lost. They can, however, self-repair minor damages. Instead of repairing them, the DOCBOT offers them new ankle units (like the babies in the opening scene).

DOCBOT (V.O.)
With these, I can monitor you, and they
make your limited lifespan more tolerable.
However, for your own safety, I do not
recommend you two come into close contact
again. Without them, you will continue to
experience conflicting sensations. The
environment is beyond our ability to repair.
Your existence will be disagreeable.

Now fully aware that they’ll remain stuck in this cruel and depressing-looking reality without the ankle units, they’re forced to make a decision – but if they choose the ankle units and this better reality, these two lovebirds will never be able to see each other again. So, they make their decision…

… Which I won’t give away in this review. You may be able to see where it’s going, but I highly recommend checking the rest out for yourself. Though the alternate reality paints a bleak picture of the future, we learn that nothing beats the feeling of being human and feeling human sensations… such as love.

There's Something Inside
A strange creature seeking shelter for the night finds itself 20,000 feet in the air
on an airplane wing with one passenger inside bent on its destruction.

Whether you’ve ever seen the Twilight Zone episode, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” starring William Shatner or the “Twilight Zone: The Movie” version starring John Lithgow, you know the gist of the very popular tale: Man sees a gremlin on the wing of an airplane plane but nobody believes him. The man believes the gremlin is there to destroy the airplane and decides to take matters into his own hands, no matter how crazy he looks. But, if you’re like me, you’ve always wondered why the gremlin was there in the first place? What were its motives?

Well, in this Twilight Zone-themed short writer Mark Renshaw answers that question with his clever take on the tale – writing it from the perspective of the gremlin.

The story opens with our gremlin roaming an airfield, minding its own business, innocently looking for a place to take a nap. He finds a nice, cozy spot under the wing of a plane. But, when he wakes up, he realizes that he’s 20,000 feet in the air! Confused and frightened, he looks to one of the plane’s windows and sees the Shatner/Lithgow character staring at him from inside the plane. And it’s clear that this passenger has some bad intentions towards our gremlin.

As clever as this premise and its execution was, what I was most impressed with is that this script pretty much has zero dialogue – and yet, I was completely absorbed into this story throughout.

For any filmmakers who are TZ fanatics like me, this would make an excellent fan film and will be sure to rack up some Youtube/Vimeo views.

An Occurrence on Owl Street
A man runs for his life in an attempt to get back home to his family after a case of mistaken identity.

If you recognize the title of this entry, the inspiration for it was a memorable Twilight Zone episode called “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (Season 5, Episode 22). If you haven’t seen the episode, I recommend watching it AFTER you read this script.

While this is a great stand-alone short, it also captures the spirit of the legendary television show by updating it to current times and adding some very powerful social commentary.

Our story opens in an urban neighborhood where our hero, Jack, a middle-aged black man, is leaving a store. After noticing that his keys are locked in his car, he tries to break in. Some cops take notice and immediately jump to the wrong conclusion, restraining the innocent family man with excessive force in a difficult-to-watch scene that reminds us of current, tragic injustices by police in today’s climate.

But Jack somehow breaks free and makes a run for it, drawing cheers from the neighborhood spectators rooting for him. Determined to get back home to his wife and child, the duration of the story is an intense, heart-pumping foot chase as Jack runs for his life, refusing to become another unfortunate statistic.

Now, some may read this and think “Too soon!”. Yes, this is very much ripped from today’s headlines. But it’s handled with delicate care and sensitivity. And, unfortunately, this story would have been relevant 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago and beyond. Hopefully, 10 years from now, we’ll look back on the subject matter and deem it archaic and dated… but we still have a long way to go, as this story reminds us.

The Monster in the Well
There’s a monster in the well. Don’t believe me? Take a peek…

On the surface, the story’s main character, Doug, might seem normal to friends, neighbors and people close to him, such as his wife. But, as we see him in his car parked outside of a children’s playground, we learn that he is far from normal. In fact, he’s hiding a very, very dark secret. One second, he’s checking in with his wife after a day at the office. Next second, he’s preying on small children.

On this day, his next target is Cherry, an innocent six-year-old girl. An expert at this point at luring in little kids, Doug makes easy work of Cherry in a very unsettling scene – I hadn’t squirmed this much since that “child catcher” scene in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Doug brings innocent little Cherry to a well, where he says a monster lives at the bottom of.

DOUG
No one knows exactly how he got
down there, but word is if you
get too close… He’ll pull you in.
 (pauses)
He sure is ugly. Blood red eyes.
Dark green skin. Teeth as long as
your adorable fingers… and they’re
really sharp.

Though many children are often drawn to campfire tales and spooky stories (Bloody Mary for instance), this frightens Cherry. At this point, all she wants to do is go home. Doug promises her that if she looks down the well just once, he’ll take her home. And, unfortunately for Cherry, like so many other children, she takes the bait and is thrown inside of the well.

Now, as the story progresses, it explores some very, very dark territory and might not be for everyone – it will FOR SURE make you very uncomfortable at parts. But Doug’s visually stunning comeuppance (SPOILER ALERT) might take the edge off.

Dark, edgy and controversial with some really creative horror visuals, THE MONSTER IN THE WELL will make you squirm and shudder long after FADE OUT. Especially if you have children of your own.