Old Creep
A shy and withdrawn young woman finds herself stalked by a mysterious stranger.
Twenty-something Annie Perkins should be in the prime of her life; instead, she’s in a rut.
Burdened by loneliness and stifled by routine, Annie shuffles between a numbing 9-5 and evenings spent alone in her new apartment, lost to wine-fuelled doom-scrolls and comfort food.
Then one day, while trying to fix her temperamental boiler, Annie stumbles on a mysterious photograph:
Annie tries in vain to ignite the pilot light, fervently pressing the ignition switch repeatedly. She calls her landlord, but it goes straight to voicemail.
Determined to resolve the issue, she tries to remove the access panel, but it won't budge. Frustrated, she reaches under the boiler to push it out from the inside.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shoots through Annie’s arm, and she recoils in agony. Nursing her injured hand, she finds a small bleeding wound on her fingertip.
Curious to know the cause, she uses her phone's torch to illuminate the space under the boiler where her hand was placed. Peering up, she spots something peculiar stuck to the back of the panel.
With cautious fingers, she retrieves a polaroid of an elderly man with grey hair and a prominent scar under his left eye. A draw pin is oddly pierced through the middle of the picture.
Turning it over, she notices a hand-drawn symbol with the sharp pin protruding from its centre. A few drops of her blood permeate the heart of the symbol, marking it with an ominous significance.
It’s an odd yet seemingly innocuous discovery that sets in motion a waking nightmare as Annie inexplicably finds herself stalked by a mysterious old man who appears closer and closer each day, and whose every movement is a mirror of her own:
Annie rushes up the stairs, the sound of two sets of FOOTSTEPS echoing in the enclosed space. Breathless, she stops and listens, but hears only silence.
Anxiety creeps in as she leans over the handrail, scanning the stairs below.
She spots the old man's hand resting on a lower handrail, his body still facing backward. Annie continues upward, each step mirrored by the mysterious man pursuing her.
With no one to believe her, Annie must fend for herself, searching for answers while doing all she can to keep the stranger at bay.
Just who is this old creep, and what does he want with the meek and unassuming Annie?
Luke Anthony Walker’s Old Creep delivers a chilling mystery with deeper questions of fear and desire at its supernatural core. The narrative style builds on layers of dread while keeping dialogue and characters to a minimum, making this an attractive short script for a filmmaker looking to add a micro-budget horror to their portfolio.