THE FILMS

IN THE WORLD / IN PRODUCTION / IN DEVELOPMENT

pot luck / the cold / a thousand guns / war path / the earth above / ghost soldiers

A THOUSAND GUNS / SCREENPLAY RUSSELL FRIEDENBERG

A THOUSAND GUNS is a rogue western with an unusual set of rules. A demon gun called El Rojo sets the stage in a world where the dead command the living.

SABINA, her Protestant Priest husband BENEDIKT and their son, CLAUDE have left their German homeland for the promise of the New World. There, set against the endless backdrop of the west, they build a Protestant Mission; a tiny outpost at the headwaters of colonization.

Sabina, finds herself in desperate times, when their congregation is attacked by a ruthless band of marauding STICK MEN led by the psychotic outlaw TIBURON VASQUEZ, who wields a demon gun called EL ROJO!

Sabina and Claude escape only to watch helplessly as Vasquez pulls El Rojo with its gold trigger and dark red ruby handle from his hip. The malice that drives him registers across his grinning face as he squeezes the trigger on El Rojo and murders Sabina’s husband.

Sabina, her eyes red and swollen, digs her husband’s grave. Claude listlessly flies a paper kite over the makeshift cemetery. Behind them BIG BULL, a middle-aged Indian man wearing a loose fitting leather vest and crossed ammunition belts holds his horse’s reigns. They turn and the Indian and his horse are gone!

Months pass and the time for mourning and ritual is over, it is now the time for Sabina and Claude to return to their homeland.

The stylish Hispanic assassin, NOCHE and his band of worn and weary Stick Men traverse the jagged red rocks of the Devil’s Horn’s to Vazquez’s cave. Dim candlelight mixes off the stone walls as Vazquez’s voice rings from the shadows. Vasquez shakes and sweats profusely as he pulls at the loose tendrils of his hair. He is a shadow of his former self. He demands to know whether Noche has found El Rojo. He is crippled without the devil’s iron. He knows the gun and nothing more. Noche proudly proclaims that the weapon has been located. It has been sold to a GYPSY and he has sent assassins after her. Vasquez with sudden fury attacks his son proclaiming him a fool, for no one or anything of this world could take on ‘El Diablo… the Gypsy!’

The melody of a Woman’s voice carries on the wind drawing Sabina to the cross-roads where a wooden wagon sits. Along side the wagon stands THE GYPSY. Outrageously painted, she ogles Sabina impudently with her large black eyes, her smile grossly alluring. Next to The Gypsy is CADAVER, a big mute oaf who plays the lyre as The Gypsy proposes to help – ‘a fortune perhaps?’ Sabina continues but The Gypsy stops her, pulling El Rojo from her satchel. Sabina is hypnotized by the weapon who’s destiny seems to be intertwined with hers. She touches it, its power surges through her. She tries it and finds she has somehow acquired the accuracy and stealth of a real pistolero!! What can she do, she has nothing to trade? Alas, The Gypsy is desperate and will trade for her last dollar; “…and everything in your Church.” Sabina is delighted and readily agrees. The Gypsy dances gleefully. “But remember”, she warns, “…with every gun comes a thousand others!”

Sabina returns to the burned remains of her home. She dismounts and moves from the shadows, fingering El Rojo. There is the creepy sound of wind howling and between the noises footsteps! A sudden scream rings out from inside the Church. A Stick Man rounds the corner, gun pointed at Sabina. Sabina wheels around, El Rojo snapping from the holster to her hand. Sabina moves toward the Stick Man firing repeatedly, the bullets riddle him, his body dancing like a puppet on a string. El Rojo pulls Sabina around, searching for others. The Stick Men pour from the shadows drawn to the sound of El Rojo. Bullets rip apart the Church; shards of glass penetrate Sabina’s skin. Sabina eliminates one Stick Man! Others come running, guns’ blazing. Sabina turns in a flash, shooting them dead. There is a brief moment of quiet as the dust settles. Sabina stands shaking, spellbound by her abilities. From inside the remains of the burned Church comes the distinct sound of a woman singing! The Gypsy steps from the Church holding Claude, singing a monotonous song. Sabina filled with rage, moves toward The Gypsy attempting to fire El Rojo, but the gun seems to have jammed and won’t shoot her! Suddenly smack, Sabina collapses to the ground. From behind her Cadaver emerges holding a shovel. Sabina struggles to rise. Claude frees himself from The Gypsy and runs toward Sabina. Before he can reach his mother, Cadaver picks the boy up and carries him off. The Gypsy bends to Sabina smiling, “A deal is a deal and a deal has been made!” The sun outlines The Gypsy and Claude, blinding them from Sabinas’s eyesight as Sabina loses consciousness.

Sabina lies on the muddy ground. Her face is caked with blood, sweat and dirt. She pounds the earth in anger and rage. Gathering herself she strikes a match and tosses it into the Church. Flames begin to consume what is left of the structure. She then turns her horse and heads out across the surreal, blood-spattered desert of a foreign land, to avenge the murder of her family, the flames and smoke of her past rising behind her.

Packing bullets in her carcass and the black magic of El Rojo on her hip, this lone missionary turned outlaw, doggedly pursued by a legion of Stick Men, embraces the unholy joy of murder, seeking revenge in a world where the dead command the living. ‘With every gun comes a thousand others’ and the power of El Rojo draws the darkened hearts of men to it, facing them off against one another in a series of bizarre and beautiful events where each is forced to confront the evil of his own soul and the terrifying and amusing powers of the spirit world.