Ghost Pictures is a never-released film that was going to coincide with the Five Year Celebration and Halloween. It was based on a dream that Daniel Bermudez had earlier that year.
Plot Summary[]
The film opens with two boys, Tom and Sam Rawlins, watching a movie on their TV. While they're watching, the phone rings and Tom picks up the phone. It is their Grandpa Bob, and he lets Tom know that he thinks that his house is haunted. His wife Grandma Sally packs up, as they both do not want to live in a haunted house. But the reason that Bob calls is to ask Tom if they can move in with them. Tom is reluctant, but Bob says that there is proof in the form of photos.
Sam gets the mail and opens a manila envelope containing the photos. All of the photos feature a generic ghost in random locations, including a sports riot, the Kremlin, and a lake. However, the grandparents do not give up their story, claiming that the ghost is of their great aunt Mary.
Just when Tom becomes convinced that their story is true, their dad comes home and hears the ghost story. He casts some doubt on the story, which is confirmed by Bob, who admits that their house went into foreclosure and he invented the ghost story to cover it up. He then explains what happened: they bought a new computer to restore some of their photos, but not keeping their finances in check, they couldn't pay off their house, causing the bank to repossess it. To cover up the issue and to come up with an excuse to move into their house, the ghost story was invented. After an exchange of words, they are allowed to move in, but the grandparents are given a stern reminder that they spent money they don't have.
Production History[]
Early on in 2009, after the success of Johnny Thunder and the Secret of Marco Polo and the predicted success of The Adventures of Legoman, Andrew Bermudez wanted to create something with a different tone, something a little spookier. The only question was what to make. Then Daniel Bermudez came up with what seemed like a winning idea.
At the end of February, he had a dream that his grandparents called and said that their house was haunted and they had photos to prove it. Getting photos in the mail, they all showed the ghost in random locations around the world. Thinking that the story was funny, it was immediately adapted into a script.
Ghost Pictures was announced on February 3, 2009, with a projected release that Halloween. However, the script went through troubled re-writes, including one that would have completely changed the ending. However, after desperately trying to make the script work, the film was canceled on March 23, 2009, with some alternative stories to hypothetically put into production. This prospect did not go through, either.
Mistakes[]
- Plot Hole: How was Tom won over by the photos and convinced that his grandparents' house was truly haunted? After all, he was the one who mentioned that none of the photos were taken in their house, and he even does comment that six weeks is a long waiting period to report a suspected haunting.
Characters[]
- Tom Rawlins (n/a)
- Sam Rawlins (n/a)
- Dan Rawlins (n/a)
- Tammy Rawlins (n/a)
- Grandpa Bob (n/a)
- Grandma Sally (n/a)
Locations[]
- Rawlins House
Credits[]
- Daniel Bermudez - Original Idea
- Andrew Bermudez - Writer
Tropes[]
Ghost Pictures contains examples of the following tropes.
- An Aesop: Don't spend money you don't have. The script literally ends with this moral in place of the typical fade out.
- Bedsheet Ghost: Only one image exists from this production, which is a concept image for one of the namesake ghost pictures. The ghost in this image has the look of bed sheets.
- Broke Episode: It turns out that the grandparents' house is about to be repossessed by the bank, as they are unable to pay off their mortgage. The ghost story was invented to cover up their financial difficulties.
- A Fool and His Money Are Soon Parted: It's explained that the grandparents fell on hard times because they bought a new computer and a copy of Photoshop to restore old photos.
- Haunted House: This is what the grandparents claim that their house is.
- Instant Home Delivery: While it doesn't arrive instantly, the envelope containing the letters is already in the mailbox when the grandparents call.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: In this case, the ghost has no will over the living because it doesn't exist; it's an elaborate hoax.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: It turns out at the end of the story that the entire haunting story was made up to cover up financial debt.
- Shout-Out: In a weird twist, this film's beginning serves as a shout out to other Mustache Maniacs Film Co. movies. The movies that are referenced are Johnny Thunder and the Secret of Marco Polo, Alpha Team vs. The Black Cat, and Kilroy Was Here!.
- Stylistic Suck: The concept image for one of the ghost pictures was intentionally made to be as crude and poorly-made as possible, in order to set up the hoax reveal.
Trivia[]
- The last name of the family members, Rawlins, was recycled for the characters of Mary and Leo from Forest of Fear, this film's replacement.
- This is the only Mustache Maniacs Film Co. script written to take place in real time.
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