'THE WIDOW' Screen Rights bought by Ard Films (subject to contract)
'The Widow' is a contemporary gothic thriller with a beautiful heroine, a twisted antagonist, an ancient scandal and a long-dead victim still haunting the halls of a stately home. It is a story of thwarted ambition, corrupt servants, and unswerving maternal love.
Written by Merlin Ward (please click here to view promo)
Executive Producers: Alastair Dickson & Kelly Cooper Barr ofArd Films
"I started reading the script yesterday evening and finished it in one fell swoop! I couldn't put it down. Needless to say, I slept with the bedside lamp on!
You create atmosphere beautifully - it's creepy, haunting and eerie from beginning to end. I think one of the reasons I couldn't put it down is that you build the suspense and mystery so well.
Catherine is a great character. Her warmth and good heart allowed me to like her immediately. Elizabeth is a ghastly witch, impossible to empathise with (even given her son's situation.) Joshua's frailty and sickliness fills you with disgust although I warmed to him because of the cancer and having to live with a domineering and controlling mother. I also like the characters of Mrs O'Brien and Mr Turnbull - they are superb aids to the "spookiness".
This is a great ghost story, with an old fashioned ambiance. Providing it is well made, internationally it will do well as it has all the right ingredients to make it commercially viable - sex, violence, ghosts, and beautiful women.
Thank you for letting me read it, you're onto a good one here!"
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Brief story outline:
Catherine, a beautiful model, is offered a photographic assignment in a remote Victorian mansion for a fee she cannot refuse. The house is owned by Elizabeth, an American, whose son, Joshua, has arrived from New York to spend his last days in his ancestors' family seat.
Catherine undertakes the photo shoot and while staying in the house gets to know Joshua who is dying from a brain tumour. Despite looking pale and weak, Catherine is captivated by the young man and he is entranced by her; but what Catherine is unaware of, is that the photo shoot is a sham and that the reason why Elizabeth lured Catherine to the house dates back to the 1830s when a young widow suffered a terrible fate.
Bound by love to Joshua and trapped by Elizabeth and two sinister servants, Catherine has to face the ghostly presence of ‘the widow’ if she is to escape the horror of Longden Hall.
'The Widow' is a supernatural thriller in a similar genre to 'The Others' and 'The Orphanage'.
"I started reading the script yesterday evening and finished it in one fell swoop! I couldn't put it down. Needless to say, I slept with the bedside lamp on!