DRUID'S DREAM
(A Witches Altar)
Logline:
Ritualistic cult murders resulted from two brothers' battle for power haunt dreamish nightmares of a reporter.
A LITTLE BACKGROUND INFO:
Druid's Dream tells a tale of two 19th century brothers battle for Power and Control in Narragansett, Rhode Island, through the eyes and nightmares of an extended distant fictional relative living in the 1990s.
JOSEPH PEACE HAZARD (45, white/British) was responsible for an enormous increase in tourism and profits during the mid to late 1800s. He worshipped Druid's, did seances in his tower, and planted trees by the thousands that sprung up overnight (according to local legends). THOMAS HAZARD (42, white/British) hated his brother and spent most of his life failing to destroy Joseph.
Druid's Dream is a magical, mystical and scary forest. I know, for I was taken through the dense forest to its center. Therein lay a circle of enchanted birdbaths, and center an altar. A local librarian told me (according to legends) after Joseph's death, Thomas created a cult. The cult still sacrifices animals on the altar.
Over the next decade, an exciting tale started to percolate in the back of my mind involving a small town, ritualistic cult murders, local legends, and a story of the Brothers Hazard.
Synopsis:
Bloody ritualistic sacrifices torture the dreams of New York Times Jr. reporter JEFFREY KENSINGTON (34, white/British). Piercing his nightmares glares a mysterious lone tower with etched stone letters "DRUID'S DREAM." Jeff's editor BETH (55, white/Hungarian/Jewish), alarmed at his sleep-deprived condition, suggests a working vacation involving a simple story. Tempers flare; an exhausted Jeff gives in.
In Rhode Island and talking to Narragansett's elders, Jeff stumbles onto a darker story involving disappearing girls. Local elder, FRED CANDON (41, white/Irish), weaves a demonic cult tale based on the ideals of Joseph Peace Hazard. Candon fails to mention; Hazard is responsible for building Narragansett into a significant tourist attraction. Jeff realizes his nightmares traveled across state lines.
Jeff enlists ERIC SANCHEZ (19, Native American), a college student he met on the train ride to RI, to uncover the meaning of a Lone Tower on Beach. They discover Hazard built the tower as a final resting place in the middle of a thick forest called Druid's Dream. Jeff's investigation goes noticed by the cult's sadistic leader. Jeff wearily attends a séance given by MADAM SANCHEZ (42, Native American, Eric's mom. That séance unlocks doors while creating questions.
To stop the bloody killings and end his nightmares, Jeff must exhume Hazard's body and bring Hazard home to DRUID'S DREAM. JENNY (21, Latina), whom Jeff met at the Kingston train station when he arrived in Rhode Island, falls in love with Jeff. As Jeff and Jenny's romantic relationship blossoms, she goes missing. Jeff fears the worst.
Jenny wakes up strapped to a stone altar, surrounded by cloaked men and birdbaths. Jenny living out Jeff's nightmare, screams! Jeff and Eric battle the cult. Hazard returns using Jeff's body as a vessel. His anger explodes, fueled by decades of manipulatory destruction of his philosophies, vanquishes the cult leaders into the Earth. Hazard restoring his peaceful doctrines enables all sacrificed girls to ascend. As the sacrificed spirits rise out of their imprisonments, locals begin to recognize dead relatives. The locals slowly wake up from a horrific generational trance. Local townspeople cry tears of shame from the history and shed tears of joyful hope to this nightmare's end. Witnessing this transfer of power and hope, LEO (32, East Indian), Jeff's roommate (and unbeknownst to Jeff), a cult member, drive the sacrificial dagger through Jenny's chest. Jeff screams as he kneels, cradles Jenny, and cries as her life ebbs away.
SCREENWRITER'S NOTE:
Just when Jeff thought he was going to get a good night's sleep from dismantling the cult. Jenny, whom Jeff has fallen head over heels for, is stabbed and bleeds out. Jenny's demise allows for the potential for Druid's Dream to be a multi-part journey.
DRUID'S DREAM part 2 (the search for Jenny) script is about halfway done, and ideas have been written for part 3.
© 2020 Craig Slivka