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Family of Cannibals (Horror / Thriller)

Log Line

Lured into a remote forest, two brothers are captured by a deranged family of super Christian cannibals and must escape before they are eaten one limb at a time.

Script Info

Script Type: Feature
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Length: 85 pages
Est. Budget: Micro Budget (less than $100K)

Screenplay Synopsis

One evening at a dive bar two mechanic brothers, Zach and Carl, meet Abe, a crazy old religious zealot who claims to have found several thousand gold coins in the mountains. Abe tells them that hell give them half the gold if they help him bring it back to town.

Zach's wife, Shawna, is pissed about Zach taking off for the weekend to go on what she considers a wild goose chase instead of spending the time with her and their daughter, Daisy. But Zach and Carl need the money to open their own shop, and the lure of easy is too much for him.

Early the next morning the three men drive off into the mountains. As theyre driving they pass a group of rangers organizing a search party. A ranger tells them that some folks went missing a few days ago.

They arrive high up in the mountains and away from any signs of other people. Abe discreetly hides Zach's GPS in the car and they hike off into the woods.

As they get close to the area where the gold is hidden, Carl stumbles over a human arm, cleanly chopped off from the body. Zach and Carl are horrified but Abe insists that they can alert the authorities as soon as they get back to town.

Before Zach and Carl can figure out what they should do they're shot with tranquilizer darts and thrown in a jail cell in an old barn.

They regain consciousness and wonder why they've been captured.

Another man in the jail with them slithers out of the darkness. The man is missing both arms and both legs. He tells Zach and Carl that they've been captured by cannibals and will be eaten one limb at a time.

Zach and Carl watch in horror as the man is pulled out of the jail by Abe and his two sons, Caleb and Daniel, beheaded, roasted on an open fire, and eaten by Abe and his family.

Abe's granddaughter, Eve, is tasked with feeding the sub-humans. Shes sixteen years old and lonely from the years without any peers in the isolated mountains. As she feeds them she flirts with Zach.

A few days later Abe, Daniel, and Caleb pull Carl out of the jail cell. Zach tries to fight them off but they shoot him with another tranquilizer dart and he passes out. They proceed to chop Carl's leg off and feast on the roasted leg.

One evening, Carl and Zach are able to pull the tranquilizer darts into the jail cell and remove the tranquilizer liquid from them.

The next day Abe, Daniel, and Caleb come to get Zachs leg but Zach and Carl put up a fight. Caleb shoots them with several tranquilizer darts but the disarmed darts have no effect on Zach and Carl and they're able to escape into the woods.

But Abe, Daniel, and Caleb know the surrounding woods very well and quickly capture them again. Carl is mortally wounded so Abe chops him up and cooks him.

The next day, Abe leaves the camp to go get more sub-humans. Eve wants to go with him but he refuses to take her.

Zach befriends Eve and eventually convinces her that he wants to escape with her and marry her. Shes skeptical, but lonely. She knows that shes never going to be allowed to leave. They begin to kiss through the metal bars of the jail cell.

Daniel, who has a crush on Eve, enters, and see this. Enraged, he opens the jail cell and storms in and tries to kill Zach, but Zach pokes him with one of the tranquilizer darts that he kept.

Daniel quickly passes out and Zach brutally chops him to pieces.

Zach throws Eve in Jail.

Zach attacks Caleb and, after a vicious fight, chops him to pieces, too.

Zach staggers out of the woods and eventually finds a few rangers.

In an emotional moment, Zach is reunited with his loving wife and daughter.

Later that night Zach wakes up and remembers his lost GPS. It had an online tracking component in case it was stolen and Zach is able to track its location to a local diner.

Zach drives to the diner and finds Abe weaving the same story about lost gold to a young couple.

Zach waits outside for Abe and exacts revenge on him as he exits.

WGA Registration Number: 1715179

About This Screenplay

Family of Cannibals is a fast paced, gore laden thrill ride, think Hostel meets Deliverance.

The script is lean, only 85 pages. Nearly all the action of the film takes place in one location, a remote wooded area with a barn. The cast is very limited, only six main roles. So the film could be produced on a modest budget.