STEAL THIS IDEA, part IX

     Costello showed me the film, "House of a 1000 Corpses" the other day and while I cannot say I liked the film, that's not the point of this entry. What I couldn't help but notice was that while the two guys seemed very interested in what they were doing (investigated strange attractions across the country), the girls really could not be bothered.
     Now, being a horror/slasher film, these good times inevitably turn sour and our may-as-well-be-nameless characters get caught up in a terrifying experience from which none of them will escape. No, I'm not giving a SPOILER ALERT for a ten year old film. Now while it is entirely fair to say these characters were doomed from the moment they picked up Baby, who was hitchhiking in the rain, I'm not really so sure.
     Evidence that they were doomed anyway comes from the five abducted cheerleaders mentioned offhandedly by a news anchor earlier in the film. Cutaways in between scenes show them being tortured and killed all the while these kids are downstairs eating dinner and holding conversation with the rest of the weird family while Baby's brother fixes their car (he also caused their car to break down in the first place by shooting out the tire). So yes, they may have been doomed no matter what.
     However, it does all seem fun and games (at least for the non-cheerleader guests in this house), but each of the two girls were really annoyed by this experience. Denise, just scoffed at everything and Mary grew quite jealous when Baby seemed to be putting moves on her boyfriend during a performance she was doing of a Betty Boop song. At that point, when threatened, Baby pulls a knife on Mary threatening to cut her and blah, blah, blah tension raised. Their car was fixed and they were asked to leave by the mother. They do so, and are again ambushed by the other brothers and the torture-fest begins for all.

     But what had me wondering is, what if the girls were appreciative like the guys were? Or what if they simply hadn't come? Would they have been allowed to leave the house unscathed? Yes, that would have made for a pointless film...not that the actual film was any less pointless.
 
      Anyways, what I had in mind was making a DVD extra in which the characters are spared. This would take some planning. I'm using House of 1000 Corpses as an example because the girls' reactions seem to be what gets the action moving. Imagine if they weren't there? Done properly, only a few alternate takes would be needed and you could drop a line early on in the film where the guys complain that they should have left the girls at home (something to which the girls can agree).
      Activate the DVD extra, and the girls stay home (perhaps seen in a cutaway phone call wishing they could have come or some other bullshit), the guys end up at the same place, but they have a good time, the car gets fixed and they go off on their way. Fade to credits (this would be a much shorter film). It's like a Choose Your Own Adventure book and it could still end creepily like one of the guys thinking he's seeing a cheerleader being dragged to a shed or pleading from a window or them simply happening across part of a cheerleader's uniform.

      In summation, write a horror film where it is clear one character gets the horror ball rolling and if that one character weren't present, everything would have turned out just fine. Write the film so that character can be neatly cut out of it using a minimum of alternate takes and alternate dialog since I'm guessing the budget will not be high. I imagine that is where storyboarding comes to the rescue.
      Anyways, that's my stupid idea. Take it from me. Get it out of my head...

DISCLAIMER: To anyone reading this, you are welcome to not only use, but claim this idea as your own without giving credit to me. I sometimes have ideas, but I do not have the skills needed to express them. It is more important to me to see these ideas done than to receive recognition for them. That being said, giving me a mention anyway would make me giddy. If this idea has in fact already been done, then I strongly suggest you not actually steal it (at least not without major revisions) :-)