The Neighbor – Script / Screenplay

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The laws of the ten commandments are enforced, when Deacon Patrick Graves discovers his wife cheating, leading to a gruesome murder. He goes on a holy rampage of murder, killing those who break the commandments, eating their flesh, which in his mind is cleansing their souls.

Synopsis: “THE NEIGHBOR” is about Deacon Patrick Graves. A God-fearing man, loved and respected by the people in church. When he discovers his wife has committed adultery, he takes the laws of the commandments into his own hands.

Patrick, Danielle and Michael sit at the dinning room table having dinner with a glass of wine. Danielle compliments Patrick on his sermon, and Michael agrees with what she said. Patrick takes a sip from his wine, before telling them, he knows about the video. Stunned. The two try explaining the situation, but Patrick tells them he’s a man of God, and their sins will take a toll when the time comes.

Patrick asks for a toast, and the two look confused, lifting their glass. They all take a sip, and within seconds, Danielle and Michael feel dizzy, trying to stand, falling back down in their seats, dropping their heads on the table. Patrick leans over kissing Danielle’s forehead, laughing at the fact he laced their wine with GHB.
On the same night, inside of an old abandon church. Michael is naked, tied down to a chair with his arms pulled behind him. On his wrist are ropes connecting to the back axles on Patrick’s truck. Danielle is on her knees naked, with her head between Michael’s legs. Ropes hold her down, and her arms are pulled around the chair with ropes on her wrist, connecting to the axles as well.

Patrick gets out of the truck making his way to the two, taking a sip from the whiskey bottle in his hand. He gets to Michael offering him a sip, and Michael turns his head. Michael tries reasoning with him, but doesn’t prevail. Patrick gets back into his truck starting it, slowly moving forward, until their arms come from the sockets. He gets out with a combat knife, walking back over to Michael, placing the knife to his throat. He tells him, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.” and then slits his throat.

At Patrick’s house knocking on the door getting no response, is Fred, Michael’s ten-year-old son. He comes from the porch prepared to go home, when he looks in the back seeing the lights on in the garage. He makes his way to the garage, unable to see anything from the slits, so he makes his way over to the door, kneeling down looking through the keyhole. Inside the garage, Patrick has Michael and Danielle’s dead bodies on top of some plastic, cutting pieces of flesh from their bodies, eating it. Fred shrieks, and footsteps are heard coming towards the door. Patrick opens the door, getting a glimpse of Fred, before he gets up running away.

Fred gets to his grandmother’s house hysterical. She comes from upstairs, running over to him, trying to calm him down, while he repeats, “Call the police! He’s eating dad!”. Patrick stands on his porch with his ten-year-old daughter Bridgette, while police officers come out his house, and from the backyard. One of the officers comes up to Thompson, telling him everything is clear. Thompson tells Patrick he can carry on with his evening, and Patrick looks at Fred and his grandmother standing in the street. He tells Thompson, “A man of God wouldn’t do what I’ve been accused of.”, before him and Bridgette go in the house.

Thompson tells Fred’s grandmother this was a false alarm, and she’s outraged, walking off with Fred. On Sunday, Patrick stands behind the pulpit, asking the members of the church why are they blessed, and the demon they want off of their back? Greg Green confesses he stopped drinking, so he can hopefully reunite with his wife and daughter. Bradley Summers confesses he’s been clean from heroin, and instead of using, he helps those in need at a clinic. Eric Heap confesses he was a thief, and what changed his life, is when he broke into a woman’s house, and she greeted him with the barrel of a shotgun. Ashley Turner confesses she was a nympho, and her wake up call, was when she contracted a disease, luckily for her was curable.

Each person who confessed, meets a gruesome death at the hands of Patrick. Even with the tips Fred’s grandmother tries giving the police to catch him, they have no solid proof to arrest him.

Creative notes: The mother of my daughter was telling me about a dream she had, about a man killing and eating people in front of his daughter in his basement, and she told me, use that as an idea. From there, I came up with Deacon Patrick Graves, because I never seen a movie with a religious base, and the main character being a believer in God as the killer.

Read the script

The Neighbor ©

An Original Screenplay by Bernard Mersier