Rough Cut by Brian Pinkerton

Author:Brian Pinkerton [Pinkerton, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Horror
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2012-02-19T05:00:00+00:00

22

On the television monitor, a young woman ran screaming for help in dark wilderness, stumbling through foliage, a sketchy silhouette under a full moon. Her scream was a traditional horror movie scream — big and full, but without much genuine fear behind it. In the next shot, closer, she tripped and fell. In an instant, a young man with a savage expression reached her and pounced. The footage became much tighter, the framing less controlled, dancing to keep up with the action. The woman, thrashing, became pinned under the man.

The man held a dagger. With a strong thrust, he jammed the blade into her side; and the woman made an ugly, deep-throated groan. Her eyes bugged with surprise and shock. The blade returned, swiftly, practically to the same wound; and then she screamed full force —this time a harrowing cry —different than her earlier, theatrical scream.

The woman exploded with a burst of desperate energy, catching the man with a slap that appeared full and unexpected, nearly toppling him. The camera fought to stay close. The blade returned to the flesh, striking her stomach, cutting through the white T-shirt, bringing a fast flood of redness.

The woman started sobbing, losing strength. The man panted, real panting, wheezing. One side of his face was red from the slap. With steady chops, the blade kept coming, catching her in the chest, the stomach again, and the neck. Her spastic movements fell limp and the killer took complete control.

The image abruptly froze.

Walter Wiggins had jabbed the “pause” button on the DVD player in his office. He leaned forward in his chair to get a better look.

The frame was an unnerving close-up of the wound to the woman’s neck —a shot that lasted less than a second on screen, not enough to truly register —yet contained a chilling, clinical authenticity in freeze frame. Wiggins thought, Why go to all that trouble for such a realistic special effect and then not let the shot linger so the audience can see it? Very unusual for such a low-budget film, where every penny gets showcased.

He unfroze the image and continued watching.

The woman collapsed in a puddle of her own blood. The killer’s hands dripped red. He straightened up and looked around, as if waiting for a cue. He nearly glanced into the camera lens.

The camera zoomed in on the dead woman.

Her eyes remained open, yet empty, and did not blink.

There was something about the image that chilled Walter Wiggins to the bone. He had seen thousands of movie death scenes over the years, but none like this.

Walter stopped the playback. He wondered if he was bonkers, or truly onto something big. While PJ Productions had provided him with a DVD transfer stamped “Reviewer’s Copy,” the movie had not yet been released on DVD to the consumer market. The movie was still in its successful theatrical run. At this time, few people had the opportunity to freeze frames or rewatch scenes to get a better look.

Wiggins watched the death scene one more time, reducing portions to super slo-mo, frame-by-frame playback.

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