Producer Rob Tapert (Ghost House Pictures) recently made a comment to ShockTillYouDrop.com regarding an in-the-works movie titled Burst.

One project we were curious about in particular was Burst, written by Gary Dauberman. Set during a vicious winter storm, the story focuses on disparate group of folks holed up in a lodge. Soon some of them literally begin to burst in a messy explosion.

This comes as a surprise to me in one way, but in another not at all. I was actually privy to the script of Burst several months ago when I interned at Little Magic Films in Manhattan, New York.  The chances of the script I read being the same exact one that Ghost House Pictures will be using are slim, however with bloody horror films like this there typically isn’t much tweaking done between the conceptualization stage and final draft.

Due to copyright issues and other legal red tape I’m not allowed to give away any specific details of the plot, however for my internship I was required to give my two cents in a couple short paragraphs, and so for those of you interested in getting a small idea of what Burst will be like, here was my short take on the script.

The script begins with a tone that could possibly be taken as self-reflexive, but any indication or hint of this is quickly lost once the story ventures into its second act. The concept of people spontaneously exploding/bursting is preposterous to the point where the idea of horror doesn’t even enter any trains of thought. The concept is purely comical. The problem being with that is the story isn’t trying to be funny. And if it is, writer Gary Dauberman fails horribly by not including any wit to accompany his ridiculousness. The script itself reads as though it is being dictated by an overzealous, horror-junked teenager with deplorable writing skills.

A movie like this would serve only as an excuse to showcase body horror, which of course is more popular these days than possibly ever with the success of what many (incorrectly) call “torture-porn.” The characters are one-dimensional (or in the case of the two leads, superficially three-dimensional), the ending is too quick, and – again – the concept is too easy to laugh at to be taken as horror. A film like this matches more with the 1950s era of horror films than today’s, with fear of extra-terrestrials and their power over the human body not at all a contemporary cultural concern. Neither Dauberman nor director Daniel Calparsoro [whom was signed on to the project at the time that this was written] have anywhere near the kind of success in their repertoires to be trusted with fixing this script and turning it into something worth pursuing or watching. And frankly, the script doesn’t deserve to be saved.

Suffice it to say, I didn’t like the script. You will have to pardon my relapse away from the type of criticism you’re used to reading from me on this site, as I didn’t have the same evaluative convictions I have now at the time I wrote my opinion. I am by no means against films which are considered to be “low brow.” Peter Jackson’s Bad Taste and Dead Alive are some of my favorite movies, and God help me I actually want to see each year’s newest Saw sequel. The script for Burst just simply had nothing to offer but a funny premise that probably would have best been suited for a cartoon (such as something along the lines of Superjail).

Being that I try to be open to pleasant surprises, I shall not give up on Burst. Indeed, I shall greatly anticipate the movie until its release. (There is no set release date as of yet). Unfounded optimism be damned.