The Transparent

The Transparent is a 2013 American Psychological Supernatural Slasher horror film written, produced and directed by Terry Gilliam starring Mickey Rourke, Maya Rudolph, Johnny Simmons, Emma Watson, Julianne Hough, Rebel Wilson, Michael Cera, Luke Hemsworth, Zoë Kravitz, Skylar Astin and Brenda Song. The film quickly became a cult classic after it's pre-screening success at the Los Angeles, Cairns, Palm Beach, NY and Florida Film Festivals.

It was first screened on January 17th, 2013 and then theatrically on February 24th, 2013 to box office success and good critical reception.

The film has been nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Horror film (losing out to Joss Whedon's Goners), a Satellite Award for Best Ensemble Cast and MTV Scream awards for Best Actress: Emma Watson and Best Supporting Actress: Rebel Wilson.

The film is scheduled for DVD, Blu-Ray and Ultraviolet compact release on October 11th, 2013.

Plot

Professor Johnathen McCormack (Mickey Rourke) is the professor of film at Northern Wisconsin University.

He teaches a brilliant class of freshmen interested in breaking into the media industry and instructs them alongside assistant Professor Serian Isley (Maya Rudloph) his longtime friend and occasional girlfriend.

Having discovered an ancient uncovered woodland that has yet to be documented he warrants for an excursion for his freshmen film class to go out and capture the site and talk on how it once was the site for salem witch burnings in the 16th-17th century.

Renting out a tired old combi van he collects his partner Professor Isley and a group of eight students and his freshmen camera-man.

The group descend into the woodlands after their combi comes to a stop at a certain point and eventually stumble upon their pre-destined location.

From there the rumored ancient curses of the burnt witches are proven to be true and one by one the group succumbs to death, re-animation and the true history of the village that once stood there is revealed.

First shy asian girl Tina Burlingham the roommate of head strong photographer girl Penelope who succumbs to the Curse of the Smouldering Tar after hearing voices whilest crossing over Elaine Border.

She flees from the group seeing flashes of a burnt Ezetieth among the group and runs into a creek of hot tar which encompasses her.

Tina emerges screaming and her skin melts away and is instead then encased with the tar as she becomes a re-animated monster which advances the group and attacks Penelope and Elena.

Colton fends her off and hot tar comes from her arm onto his body injuring him as Hayley springs with a shovel and knocks her backwards causing her to dissolve.

Penelope, Elena and Hayley with Trackson and Professors McCormack and Isley tend to Colton's wounded right arm whilest Adam paces back and forth in shock and April has a breakdown screaming out about what's happened.

After the group tend to Colton's arm he tells Penelope he is sorry about her roommate Tina and she collapses into his arms crying as he notices his arm worsening from the injury sustained from her.

Adam and Elena approach the Professors demanding to know about where they are and what's going on and why one of them is a skinned puddle of tar lying by a creek bed.

Hayley comes to comfort a still distressed but now quiet April who is standing peering off into the distance and who remarks this is gonna end like any stupid horror movie they've seen: Blair Witch Project or Wrong Turn.

Hayley attempts to reassure her that this is real life and they are going to be fine because their not fictional characters in a fictional situation.

Professor Isley attempts to with Professor McCormack assure the group that the tragic demise of Tina may be just the result of whatever was in the creek she stumbled into and there may be something wrong with the water supply around the Northbound Woods and they better hike back to the combi and call the authorities.

The group come to the combi where they discover Thomas attempting to contact the authorities and who informs the patch through is busted.

The combi suddenly then sprouts a leak of gasoline which catches alight and Thomas evacuates from the combi running with the group away from the combi as Hayley and April look on as it catches fire and explodes.

Penelope who is supporting an injured Colton is knocked back by the blast as is Trackson and Adam and Professor McCormack is forced to take hold of Professor Isley and navigate her out the way.

Elena collapses to the ground sobbing believing them to be finished though Penelope and the two Professors interject stating they removed all their food, water and shelter supplies from the combi and have them partially set up over the hill and that might possibly be clean water in the forest past the Elaine Border field.

The group then roll up the tents and supplies and head into the woods despite Elena's objections.

Elena in an act of generosity as Penelope is called upon by Professor Isley to assist her offers to step in merely to help Hayley heave an injured Colton over to a shelter spot where they will set up her and his tent.

Professor McCormack then calls out and tells the group to acknowledge everything that has just happened: that they have lost one of their own under tragic circumstances and they themselves for the time being are deserted in unfamiliar territory and will be split into pairs of two divided amongst the tents: Professor Isley and myself to a tent, Colton and Penelope to their own tent, Hayley and Elena to a tent, Adam and April to a tent and Trackson and Thomas to a tent.

Professor McCormack also speaks to Thomas and Trackson on the side asking they alternate turns in looking over the injured Colton when Penelope takes her shifts in sleeping.

The group then seperate to their tents and suddenly after Penelope enters a disorientated state after taking a packed aspirin she awakens to discover Colton absent from their tent.

She then finds him scratching away at a fractured tree hollow and a plague of locusts is released swarming them.

Penelope screams and the group back at camp are alerted.

Trackson and Thomas accompanied by Hayley arrive first at the scene with the Professors, Adam and April and Elena onlooking in horror from a distance.

The swarms of locust then descend on the others of the group and as they swipe away at them they one by one knocked to the ground.

Professors McCormack and Isley then April, Adam and Elena followed by Trackson.

Penelope breaks through and runs towards Colton screaming but stops in shock as she sees his eyes begin to bleed and as he slowly brings his head up he roars in a monstrous voice "you've all been marked" before having his head explode as Thomas and Hayley break through to Penelope's location where she collapses to the ground supported by their arms.

The group then a morning following of grieving Colton's death where Penelope and Elena sit in absolute silence and Trackson sobs Professor McCormack degrees they head back to the shed they saw earlier in case there is a radio or something to contact help for.

April states they should head back past the Elaine Border field to what remains of the combi and start walking down the road till they reach a town or a gas station.

Professor Isley tells the group they follow along with Professor McCormack's plan though this ignites outrage with Adam who yells at him for his little getaway plan resulting in two of them being dead in the first place.

Penelope jumps forth in the commotion and screams for them to stop and that they will check out the shed and that's that.

Hayley however comes to April and states that once they give the shed a lookover if there is no radio and nothing that's going to them get out of here they will take Penelope, Adam, Thomas, Trackson and Elena to the highway where the blown-up combi is and begin a journey on foot till they reach a town or gas station or possibly another vehicle to flag down.

The group explore the shed and discover missing items of theirs' scattered throughout along with an ancient book of witchcraft depicting the Nine Deadly Curses Of The Sacramento and the Re-Animation Ritual.

They read that a witch is immortal and impervious to death apart from fire and death brought upon by another witch.

A diary is discovered by Penelope and Hayley chronicling the tragic story of a witch named Ezethieth who lived in the Northbound Village practicing the craft of the Sacramento with her coven of nine witches who ultimatley betrayed her.

Elena seems entranced by the shed and as the group depart the shed taking with them the diary, book and missing items Elena seperates from the group drawn back by whispering voices in a tranced state.

April, Penelope, Thomas, Hayley and Trackson look over the book before Professors McCormack and Isley confiscate it themselves to inspect the pages and Adam comes out to yell that Elena is gone.

The group then scatter looking for her and Hayley and Trackson rush to the shed as Penelope April mutters to Professor McCormack they're all going to die.

Hayley and Trackson enter the shed as a strong wind blows over Professors McCormack, Isley, Adam, Thomas, April and Penelope.

The book in Professor McCormack's hands suddenly starts flipping back and forth it's pages as does the diary in Penelope's hands.

Penelope checks the diary and sees an entry on an unnamed child of an unspecified gender whilest Professors McCormack, Isley, Adam and April look down upon the Book of Witchcraft which has landed on a page detailing The Curse Of The Misplaced Sight.

Professor McCormack then flips back a couple of pages and to his shock and the others finds two other pages pertaining to two other curses which seem to have been what killed Tina and Colton: The Curse Of The Smouldering Tar and The Curse Of The Swarming Locust.

Hayley and Trackson meanwhile then come out of the shed discovering Elena to be outside and happen upon her as a re-animated head evisorated Colton attacks Elena.

Elena flees as Trackson and Hayley struggle with the re-animated evil Colton.

Trackson yells out for the others who come running and Penelope looks on in horror at her undead monstrous boyfriend who grows back his head and then begins tormenting her about her watching as his head was ripped apart from the inside.

April then rushes forward and with a shovel begins attacking the re-animated Colton only to have her right leg clawed and thrusted to the ground as he spews forth a swarm of locust.

Penelope then finishes the maniacally laughing demonic re-animated Colton by decapitating him with the shovel.

The locust then disappear and Elena continues running through the woods until she reaches a cliffside where she suddenly steps into a weird invisible force.

Her eyes then go blank white and tears begin to turn to blood on her face.

The group eventually catch up with Elena and watch in horror as in a tranced state she marches off the cliff to her death.

The group then panics as they the sun sets and they retreat back into the woods setting up camp at a point further down towards the Elaine Border where Professors McCormack and Isley announce to the group that tomorrow the storm will break, the nightmare will be over and they will return to the road and begin on a journey on foot to the nearest town, rest stop or gas station.

The Professors tell they will leave the diary and Occult Book they discovered here and what we report to the authorities will go along the lines of the place being a pandemic site and Tina Burlingham, Colton Haynes and Elena Serville succumbed to the dormant sickness of the area.

Trackson argues against Professor McCormack on the subject but is comforted by by Professor Isley and Hayley consoles with an almost catatonic Penelope who is still reading through the diary of Ezethieth.

She shares with Hayley and Thomas that she believes that is no strange pandemic in the area that it's the curses described in the Book Of Witchcraft they took from the shed in the woods and she believes is related to witchcraft and the woman called Ezethieth whose diary she is reading.

Hayley settles her down and stays beside as she breaks down and Thomas holds her hand.

Adam confronts Professor McCormack with April stating they should leave now because if there if it's a so called pandemic doing this to them they shouldn't remain here he concludes with the argument of the severity of the weather will have flooded the passing border and roads surrounding the Northbound Village area.

Adam then approaches Trackson and Professor Isley stating they shouldn't follow Professor McCormack's layed down rules anymore for every decision he has made from the get go of their little outdoor documentary excursion has resulted in them one by one dying and coming back as horrible infected things.

He proposes they all leave Professor McCormack with the Occult Book and Diary and head back for the road despite the weather.

Trackson agrees on the matter though Professor Isley protests that with the severity of the weather they might not make it and all the supplies they need won't survive through the rainstorm.

Adam and Trackson both plea with her however on what has happened to Tina, Colton and Elena and get her to come around.

April then approaches Penelope, Thomas and Hayley and tells her and Adam's plan of them with Professor Isley and Trackson ditching Professor McCormack and the Book of Witchcraft for right now heading back to the road.

Hayley and Thomas agree though Penelope at first protests seeing as with the rainstorm that the roads could be flooded as well as the border they need to cross to get back.

Thomas and Hayley bring forth the notion that they don't know for certain that the road and the border could be fine and if they stay whatever's happening could happen to him.

Ultimatley April convinces Penelope with rehashing what has happened to her boyfriend Colton, roommate Tina and Elena.

The group pack up and prepare to take off as Professor McCormack suddenly emerges from his tent and begins yelling at the group but is stopped by Professor Isley.

Professor Isley ushers the group off as she argues with Professor McCormack they are not safe staying in the woods and this area and that because of his decisions three of their students are dead and anymore time spent where they could result in more of their students dying and turning into those horrible things.

Penelope, Trackson, Thomas, Adam, April and Hayley run off into the woods and eventually come to a stop as April needs to catch her breath.

Trackson begins to tell they are reaching the border and Thomas shows that he has confiscated the Occult Book from Professor McCormack's tent and is immediatley told off by Hayley and Penelope.

As the group are distracted April still catching her breath takes notice of Trackson who suddenly begins to dribble blood.

She screams out and the group witness in horror as he spews out blood and then his flesh begins to sizzle and steam before dissolving before their eyes.

Thomas runs forwards to him as Penelope April screams out and Trackson implodes.

April's scream carries all the way back to camp by echo and is heard by Professor McCormack and Isley who are still arguing over sending the kids back.

McCormack tells her see what she's done before running off on a shocked confused Miss Isley and the group at the scene of Trackson's demise notice the Book of Witchcraft which has fallen out of Thomas' hands flicker onto the page containing an illustration and passage on the fourth deadly curse: The Curse Of The Dissolving Flesh.

Hayley shocked and enraged takes forth her lighter and  sets the book alight to see that it won't burn as Thomas predicts.

Penelope then turns to take notice of Trackson's grisly remains assembling and a re-animated version sprouts to demonic life before them prompting yet another scream from April.

He is knocked down by Thomas who is then grabbed and pulled to the ground by a re-animated Elena who is all broken and contorted from her plunge off the cliff.

The two begin tormenting the group as in a deep matching voice synch saying They Will All Die and This Is What Awaits Them Before Her Rising.

Penelope mutters Ezethieth and Professor McCormack then rushes in with a sharpened tree log which he uses to impale a re-animated Trackson before April and Hayley both finish the re-animated Elena with the book which they bring down upon her head using it's steel framing to smash in her skull.

The ground then opens up and Penelope, Adam, April and Hayley are seperated from Professors McCormack and Isley and Thomas.

They are told to head back for the road and to not stop.

They attempt to find the path they took in but a strong windstorm unexpectedly hits and as it clears they stumble out onto a field connecting back up to the other side of the woods.

The group makes a run across the field but as Penelope runs and drops the book it once again flickers onto a page pertaining to one of the nine deadly curses: The Curse Of The Breaking Points.

Adam falling behind suddenly hits the same strange trance as all the others and then in gruesome fashion before the group has legs snap open with his knees, his arms, feet, back and finally neck.

April screams and rushes over to him despite Penelope trying to stop her as the broken up dead Adam re-animates and then begins tormenting his sister in a demonic voice before advancing her.

She knocks him down with the same shovel the group had been carting around and as she emotionally breaks down Hayley guides her away and Penelope takes back the book.

Meanwhile Professor McCormack, Miss Isley and Thomas hear April and Hayley's screams and attempt to get to them.

Thomas becomes distracted by something and in a tranced state wanders off and vanishes.

Penelope and Hayley then come to lay down a traumatized April in a tree glen as the book once again flickers and shows a page pertaining to The Curse Of The Rotting Flesh.

Penelope panics fearing her, Hayley or April could be next but nothing occurs and April in her disorientated state begins hallucinating that Hayley who is tending to her is Adam.

Penelope brings forth what happened with the page with Hayley and says they have to go now and that possibly if they can get out of the areas where the Curses trigger in the book they can live to actually get to the road and get out.

Hayley argues on the fact that they are in the complete opposite direction now and almost completely lost so the chances of them finding the road are very slim and they a disorientated, hallucinating April who they have to support everywhere they go.

As Penelope and Hayley then lash out in a heated argument the book drops and April looks over as the pages flicker again and she averts their attention to it by calling out for them.

They look down upon a page pertaining to The Curse Of The Boiling Blood.

Suddenly as April begins to scream in agony and her eyes go bloodshot Professors McCormack and Isley appear.

Penelope asks Professor Isley as to where Thomas is but she is informed he vanished and they couldn't find him.

Penelope yells out for Thomas but then looks back in horror as April rises to her feet from she was layed down by Penelope and Hayley and as Hayley belts out a scream April in a demonic voice is spontaneously disembowled killing her.

Penelope stepping back from the bloody mess brushes up against Professor Isley and notices in her jacket pocket a necklace with the Wiccan symbol on the Occult Book recovered from the shed.

She is then knocked down by a smiling Professor Isley who then proceeds to render Professor McCormack unconscious and as Penelope yells out for Hayley to run shoot her in the back knocking her down.

Cast

• Mickey Rourke as Professor Johnathen McCormack- Professor of advanced media and film as well freshman media and film 101 at Northern Wisconsin University. He has been the occasional boyfriend of assistant professor Serian Isley and their relationship ended everytime with his deceiving and cheating. He dies and succumbs to the curse to the ninth marking his body to serve as the vessel for the witch Ezethieth.
• Maya Rudolph as Professor Serian Isley- Assistant Professor of advanced media and film as well as freshman media and film 101 at Northern Wisconsin University. She was the occasional lover of head professor Johnathen McCormack but he constantly cheated on her and deceived her. She is secretly an actual salem witch looking to resurrect her long dead mother Ezethieth who was burnt at the stake in the late 16th century. She had orchestrated the whole excursion for the freshman class as she needed nine souls of sacrifice and one to to serve as the vessel for her mother.
• Johnny Simmons as Thomas Kendall- Longtime bestfriend of Penelope and roommate of Adam. Freshmen film student hoping to break into the major film industry as an actor. He dies and succumbs to the curse eigth though garners control over his re-animated corpse and stops Professor Isley and Ezethieth.
• Emma Watson as Penelope Sandhurst- Beautiful, intelligent and reserved freshman film student who is studying to becoming a film director. She is the longtime bestfriend of Thomas Kendall and bestfriend to fellow freshmen film student Hayley Bennet who constantly drags her along to parties. She is the roommate of the kind fellow freshmen film student Tina Burlingham who she talked into joining her freshmen film class.
• Julianne Hough as Hayley Bennett- Beautiful, voluptuous freshmen film student aspiring to be a leading actress. Bestfriend of Penelope and roommate of Elena. She dies and succumbs to the undead curse seventh.
• Rebel Wilson as April Sommers- Female comic relief character, wise-cracking freshmen film student aspiring to be a comedic actress. Twin sister of Adam. She dies and succumbs to the undead curse sixth.
• Michael Cera as Adam Sommers- Male comic relief character, practical joker and freshmen film student aspiring to be a comedic actor. Roommate of Thomas. Twin brother of April. He dies and succumbs to the undead curse fifth
• Luke Hemsworth as Colton Haynes- Freshmen Camera-man and boyfriend of Penelope. He dies and succumbs to the undead curse second.
• Zoë Kravitz as Elena Serville- Feisty, promiscuous and artsy freshmen film student who was the roommate of Hayley Bennett. She dies and succumbs to the curse third.
• Skylar Astin as Trackson Willard- Friendly, apsiring brainiac freshmen film student as well as the roommate of Colton. He dies and succumbs to the undead curse fourth.
• Brenda Song as Tina Burlingham- Shy, conservative freshmen student and roommate of Penelope. She doesn't have much aspirations to becoming involved in film apart from producing possibly as expressed to roommate and friend Penelope. She dies and succumbs to the undead curse first.

• Professor Johnathen McCormack
• Professor Serian Isley
• Thomas Kendall
• Penelope Sandhurst
• Hayley Bennett
• April Sommers
• Adam Sommers
• Colton Haynes
• Elena Serville
• Trackson Willard
• Tina Burlingham

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The Re-Animation Ritual

The ritual offering of 10 lives, nine of which will be taken by nine of the 10 deadly curses of the Witches of the Northbound Woodland and will be re-animated so as to eb the slaves of the witch Ezethieth.

The 10th offering will not be merely killed and re-animated but simply killed and have their body be used the flesh and bone vessel for the witch Ezethieth.

The below listed Death Sequences were altered for the final cut of the movie but were originally scripted along like that.

The following are the nine lives who are offered and re-animated and the deadly nine curses which claimed them:

1. Tina Burlingham- The Curse Of The Smouldering Tar- Tina in fleeing from the incorporeal spectre of the witch Ezethieth accidentally comes to fall into a small creek filled with mysterious tar which begins to instantly burn her skin upon contact. Despite being brought out and having her bends tended to with anti-septic she suddenly has her flesh spontaneously melt away and the tar cement itself as her skin, encasing her. It is then revealed from the Book of the Northbound Woods proccured from the Northbound shed that Tina has been killed by the Curse Of The Smouldering Tar: One of nine deadly curses the witch Ezethieth cast upon the villagers who burnt her at the stake and used to reside in the villages of the Northbound Woodland. Tina then re-animates as forementioned in the book and attacks the group before being destroyed by Colton who in the process has the hot smouldering tar land upon his side and burn him.
2. Colton Haynes- The Curse Of The Swarming Locust- Despite Colton also succumbing to the curse Tina died and was re-animated under Colton is hit with the second of the nine deadly curses of the witch Ezethieth. As the group retreat to the woods and set up camp there tending to Colton's injuries and speculating wether he will end up like Tina considering what happened to her when the tar made contact with her skin, he comes to in a disorientated state sway away from girlfriend Penelope who argues they are not leaving Colton behind. Colton falls down to a small tree hollow where another mark of the witch Ezethieth like near the Tar Creek and Woodland Shed appears. Swarms of Locusts then erupt from the tree containing the mark and swarm the area. The rest of the group evade but as Penelope comes to rush towards Colton and is pulled away by Thomas and Hayley he has swarms enter through his mouth. He then shortly begins to stand and walk towards the group as his eyes begin to bleed and yells in a deep monstrous voice before his head implodes and the swarms of locust from the inside flee the area.
3. Elena Serville- The Curse Of The Misplaced Sight- Elena is hit third by the third of the nine deadly curses of Ezethieth following the group abandoning the wood area where Colton was killed hiking back towards the Woodland Shed they found earlier. After further investigating the shed upon returning to it diaries and journals are found telling that Ezethieth once had a child though the gender is undisclosed and with her last spell (which was not a curse but rather a protection spell) she sent her far away from the Northbound Village. Elena succumbs as a headless re-animated Colton attacks her and she flees to a cliffside just as Penelope, Thomas, Hayley and the others come. Elena's eyes suddenly turn blatant white and she is left completely blind. She stumbles and then walks straight off the cliff to her death below on the large rocks. The re-animated Colton who was injured by Professor McCormack suddenly then re-grows his blown apart head and begins speaking to Penelope taunting her. Penelope jumps at him and the two wrestle on the cliffside before Thomas and Hayley intervene and Hayley runs in kicking the re-animated Colton off the cliff destroying him.
4. Trackson Willard- The Curse Of The Dissolving Flesh- After the group comes into the woods after being seperated from Professor Isley who distracts Professor McCormack he begins to have his chest and skin dissolve until he implodes into nothing but blood and organs.
5. Adam Sommers- The Curse Of The Breaking Points- Upon Penelope's group reaching a woodland area on the map known as Fueller Field which connects up with the others' side of the Northbound Woods Adam succumbs to the fifth of the nine deadly curses of Ezethieth. Adam's bones begin to break one by one to the horror of the others until lastly his skull breaks backwards from his body decapitating him which leaves his horrified sister April screaming. Adam then soon re-animates as April and Penelope come to Adam's headless broken body side. All his bones repair and his his head rejoins with his body as he begins to taunt and torment his sister much in the fashion the re-animated Colton did to Penelope. Penelope strikes him down with a shovel and they flee.
6. April Sommers- The Curse Of The Boiling Blood- After the group flee from the field back into the woods they reunite with the others and learn of Trackson's demise. A re-animated bloody Trackson then appears taunting Hayley and the others as does the re-animated Adam who has caught up with them. April attacks the re-animated Adam screaming for it to give back her brother and as she strikes the re-animated Adam multiple times he comes to spew blood into her mouth. From there April then quickly succumbs to the sixth of the nine curses of Ezethieth. The Curse of the Boiling Blood in which April's vision becomes blurred and obscured as disorientation takes over and she begins to spew up all her innards as her blood begins to boil within her. Thomas then stumbles upon an abandoned truck with full gasoline and begins to splash the now re-animated April with the re-animated others before Penelope sets them ablaze with a molotov cocktail. In the spiralling fire Trackson seizes hold of Thomas' right arm burning it and inflicting him with the eigth curse of Ezethiel which he doesn't succumb to yet.
7. Hayley Bennett- The Curse Of The Barbed Vines- Progressing to the woods border the remainder of the group find themselves at the location on the map where Ezethieth and her original coven were burnt at the stake. Out of sight Hayley discovers Thomas' infected burnt arm and keeps his secret on his insistance. From there the group attempt to summon and reason with

Soundtrack

1. Life is a Highway- Rascal Flatts
2. Powerhouse- Raymond Scott
3. You Rascal, You- The Mills Brothers
4. Caravan- Duke Ellington
5. Can't Shake It- Kate Miller-Heidke
6. Magic- Pilot
7. Gold On The Ceiling- The Black Keys (End Credits Song)