A Eulogy for Ted Manthorn

The setting for this short film is a retirement home.

Sunset Drift is a three story structure located in the outskirts of a mid sized city. On an average day the resident occupancy is around 180 people. There are a total of forty employees filling positions like house doctor, event organizers, administration, site manager, nurse, cook and janitor. Four well respected religious leaders who represent different popular area faiths make almost daily visits. Every day there are constant friends and family members of the residents making visits, however, there is a strong essence of vacancy and loneliness that fills the halls.

Each week approximately six residents die, a total which equals the average amount of new residents during the same time period.

Sunset Drift has a blank, sterile look about it. There is not much in terms of decoration in the public areas. Areas of the facility that employees have tried to make homey or warm have been dressed ineffectively, with scenic oil painting wall art that is lack of life and vibrancy. The fake flowers and the faint stench of old people blended with bad potpourri and 409 make for a very unwelcoming aura.

The public activity room at the retirement home is a place that wears many hats. The first floor room acts as a theater for visiting children’s choirs and improve theater groups which frequently visit. On Sunday’s it is the setting for prayer groups. On Wednesday’s it is a bingo hall, and on Thursday and Friday evenings the room fills with hungry senior citizens who feast on sugar cookies and coffee.

At the start of our story the public activity room is serving a different purpose. Today it is a funeral home.

The deceased is Tom Manthorn. At his wishes he has been cremated. A golden urn sits on top of a small table. Next to his ashes is a fairly recent photo of Tom. In the picture he sits alone at a table and is not smiling.

Tom Manthorn was a man that kept mostly to himself during his stay at Sunset Drift. During his 11 month residency he made no effort to socialize with other residents or staff members. He ate alone and he didn’t play dominos or bingo. He watched from a distance.

In front of the public activity there are three rows of five chairs. However, the majority of them are empty. Only four people are present for Tom’s funeral. One is a young nurse who was probably the person he spoke with the most and probably was the most fond of. Today she is not on duty, but felt she should come since she expected to see a poor turnout. Another attendant is an old man who goes to every memorial service that is held at the facility. Paying his respects to those who have died in the building, even if he didn’t know them, somehow makes him feel as if he’ll be more prepared when his day doesn’t come. The third is a man with such dementia that he probably is not even aware that he is attending a funeral.

The forth man present is not a resident of Sunset Drift, although, he looks old enough to be. He is dressed in his Sunday best and has a sense of purpose about him. When he walks up to the podium he introduces himself as Phillip Terveer, a man who was a good friend of the deceased.

He tells the small group that he had previously served with Ted in the army and that Ted was a hero then and was until the moment he died.

Phillip serves as the films narrator and tells a very brief story about Ted saving his platoon from an evil that was not of the human kind. It was an evil that most people couldn’t understand unless they experienced it for themselves. He looks at the man suffering from dementia and says “However, I’m sure there are people here who could relate.” He goes on to tell the attendants that Ted Manthorn was just as big of a hero here right up until the moment he passed.

Through the film we cut back and forth from Ted’s eulogy to flashbacks that show glimpses of Ted’s 11 month stay at Sunset Drift.

We come to find out that Ted willingly admitted himself into the retirement home because he, unlike anyone else in the entire world, sensed the same evil he defeated years ago in the war lurking inside of Sunset Drift.

Without blantly describing exactly what happened Phil will expose through his words (and through scenes with Ted) how he made the staff and other residents think he was more mentally lost than he truly was.

Basically the evil he defeated while he was serving in the army is an evil being that travels from another dimension to feed on human fear. Back in WWII battle grounds were places of great fear. At night the Demon would come to the camps of soldiers, who were already scared and distraught and terrorize them thus growing stronger from their fear and staying alive.

Years later a similar creature found the retirement home. A place where old people are left alone and there memories and thoughts are blended and cluttered. Often at night some of them would experience true terror.

The staff doctors would attribute their night terrors to sickness of the brain and medicate. The residents of Sunset Drift would either not remember the specifics of the terrifying experience with the demon (as many of us don’t remember our dreams) or would be too embarrassed to explain the details and happily take any pill that would help get their mind off of the experience.

Ted, however, realized the demon was present and that it had a feast of fear in front of it at Sunset Drift. So at dinner he would act cold, frail and confused when he really was not. He would watch people and eavesdrop on the conversation they had with the resident doctors, nurses, psychologist and visiting family members.

Like a prisoner he would steal knives and silverware at dinner. At night he would listen through the walls as his fellow residents howled in terror (actually being terrorized). He would act sickly and afraid but would actually be stalking the demon and practicing… waiting for his time to kill.

One night we follow an old man to bed as a nurse tucks him away for the night and locks the door from the outside. The man lies in bed, with his eyes wide open waitng to once again be haunted by the horrible demon. Time passes and he decides to use the restroom. It is there that he is attacked, gagged and bound and left in the bathtub by Tom.

Next we see the demon (we’ll show glimpses of it earlier in the film) as it fades out of the vent. Long fingers, a strangely shaped skull, and abnormal knees which bend backwards. Something that looks like it could come out of “Pans Labyrinth”. It creeps to the old mans bed, pleased to see that the fearful old man already has the covers pulled over its head. The demon wants to show itself to the old man so it can get a big whiff of his fear.

When it pulls off the covers it is surprised to see Tom Manthorn instead of the familiar victim. Tom puts a knife into its stomach. He gets up and the demon and Tom proceed to have a long and very violent fight.

Tom bashes the demons skull into the porcilin sink. He beats the demon to a pulp as its blood splatters across his face. The whole time Tom looks cold and unemotional.

The demon disappears or something… whatever the case there is no evidence of the struggle. Tom unties the man and puts him back in his bed. The man seems lost and very confused… he needs his pills.

Tom returns to his room as the victor. He has once again defeated a demon that no one else has had the courage to even look at. That night he has a heart attack and dies happy and fulfilled.

Phillip’s final offering in the eulogy is that Tom got to do what few of us are lucky enough to. “He got to die doing what he loved… being a hero.”

The whole eulogy and narration would be offered in a way that would make Phillip seem sane and believable. He would never go into description. This is were the script would gain some sophistication. With a sort of outrageous plot and action sequence the demon would have to look very unique. I see glitter falling from the ceiling every time it appears to feast on the fear of old people.

The script and overall theme would aim to ultimately make those who are old and made to feel they are losing their minds with age gain a sense of empowerment. That and be very strange and scary and funny and interesting.

I hope to develop this further.

Copyright Steve Burns 2008