I am seeking financial backing or a production company looking to make a cult-film that will have a long shelf-life. By combining these two genres, fans of both will want to see this film and buy the associated merchandising. Much of the design work can be done in house by WoodyCompton.com.
The majority of the fun will be in the zombie attack scene in the 2nd act. Most of the plot is written to allow for many creative ways to dispatch zombies with traditional Japanese weapons. The film should be a hard R rating or unrated to allow for very gory scenes of zombie-related mayhem. This film will have an all-Asian cast and characters will be named for famous Japanese actors.
The film starts with avery delapidated han (village) that looks like it has fallen into severe disrepair. You see villagers going about their daily tasks, but they look thin, unhealthy, and depressed. As we enter the village the shot pans to a traditional Japanese dwelling where a meeting of the leaders of the village are discussing their plight.
A drought has left most of the crops dead and the village in a desperate situation. After paying taxes, the villagers have no money left to feed themselves or replant the village. The elders and leaders are discussing a solution to the drought and the idea of bringing in a "wizard" to try to bring rain. Even though they can't really afford to pay such a wizard, they have no choice but to try. They decide to put out the word that they need a rainmaker.
A wizened old tiny man sits in a tree sleeping balanced on a single branch. This is the traditional old wise-man character of many Japanese films on which they based Yoda: short, very wrinkled, and difficult to deal with. He is a smart-ass and a bit of a pervert. He overhears two villagers discussing the plan to find a rain-maker and decides to head towards the village. He drops down 20 or so feet and lands gracefully and effortlessly showing us there is more to him than we initially suspect.
He approaches the villagers with the promise of being able to cause rain. They discuss the payment with him but he is cranky and difficult to negotiate with. They offer money but he prefers to take a young girl as his wife. They harshly rebuff this offer as it is the leader's daughter (Zyang Ziyi); they eventually settle on gold. They don't believe he can really make rain, so they want proof. He says he will return the next evening to collect his money after they have their proof.
That night there is a brief misty rain that evaporates quickly but convinces the villagers that the old man is serious. They decide to pay him, but can not afford to do so. They scrape together everything from everyone in the village with the promise the money will only be gone for a few days. No other explanation is offered.
When the old man returns the following night, they give him his gold and he quickly leaves. later that evening the villagers are discussing the fact that they might have been had. There was no rain that night, and the misty rain might have been just luck. The old man was gone and they didn't have anything to show for it. They convince themselves to find the old man and get their gold back any way they can.
We see the old man sitting in the dark in a clearing with only a small fire. He is reciting an incantation and using Japanese magic symbols with hand gestures. He is obviously very focused and concentrating on the task at hand. Suddenly, a fabric bag covers the man. We see three villagers. One is holding the bag as the old man struggles and curses them. The samurai villagers stab their sheathed swords into the bag trying to get him to talk and reveal where the gold is hidden. They give up and tie him to a tree branch while he thrashes in the bag and curses them. They find the gold right out in the open and still in the box he received it in. They take the gold and just leave the old man tied to the tree.
We see the three samurai return to the village with the gold, and they talk about other possible solutions to the drought problem. We pull back as the talk fades away.
Cut to the old man freeing himself from the bag and falling onto a root head first. He is black and blue and angry. He speaks to himself promising rain for the village and laughs wickedly.
Cut to the village and their reactions as it slowly starts to sprinkle and builds to a full, heavy rain. The villagers cheer and celebrate, going to bed with hopes for a brighter future. Their double-cross of the old man is forgotten amongst the high hopes. The following morning, the rain has stopped and the earth appears cracked. As the villagers awake they see recently departed relatives and friends ambling around town (Romero style--no running). Due to the recent drought, there have been many deaths. The villagers approach the zombies and many are eaten and killed. As the police and samurai are made aware of the zombie threat a series of samurai/zombie battles begin. At first the samurai approach the undead as normal humans and attack with a single stroke. They quickly find that that does not kill the undead. Many fights occur with limbs flying and many zombies cut in half, but still coming forward.
Eventually the samurai realize that they have to behead or split the head to stop the zombies. Many beheadings ensue. A number of villagers are lost to the zombies and they have begun to attack the samurai. They find this very disturbing and seem to be overwhelmed with the growing attack. They defend the village elders and protect the leader's daughter bravely. As things look their worst...
The old man appears on one of the houses. He offers to stop the zombie horde for his gold back AND the head villager's daughter. They refuse, but as the zombies close in, the leader gives in a selflessly says yes.
The old man repeats the magic incantation and the zombies crawl back into the earth in a disturbing and unusual manner.
After the scene calms, the villagers curse the old man and tell the leader not to give up his daughter. But they all fear the old man and let them leave as his daughter cries and emotions run high.
Cut to: Another village but this time they are discussing the drought issue around a campfire outside. As they talk they don't notice a couple walk up. They are a slender woman and a short man only seen in silhouette. As the group stops talking they notice the couple. As they get closer to the fire you can see the old man and the villager's daughter who looks either VERY unhealthy or like the walking dead. The old man removes his large straw hat and says, "Did someone say, "rain?"
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Cigarette courtesy of The Tabacco Lobby
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