Horror Film Synopsis

The Sullivan’s

The Sullivan’s live in a small, remote village next to the river. The mother (Wendy), father (Peter) and oldest son (James) run a family boat hire company. The youngest daughter (Millie) and oldest daughter (Lucy) attend school in the village. A virus has been going around Millie’s school and Millie contracts it. The effect of the virus on the other children is just a raised temperature and sickness, however Millie’s symptoms are extreme. Her temperature soars to over 45C, her body shakes violently, she foams at the mouth and her eyes turn from blue to black. The family doctor is called in as the family are very concerned. He looks shocked at the sight of Millie and will not get close to her. He tells the family he is sorry but there is nothing he can do and tells the family to leave her in the room and not go near her whilst he hurriedly exits the house.


 Despite this warning the mother cannot leave her child and checks on Millie at regular intervals. Millie screams out in pain and is itching her body, she has gained energy and trashes about in the bed, her mother tries to comfort her but as she does Millie grabs Wendy’s hair and bites her neck. Wendy is left lying on the bed as Millie looks at her and laughs hysterically, then runs through the house at super speed knocking things over and slamming doors as she goes, she runs out of the house and to the river. Lucy returns home from school and finds Wendy on the bed in a pool of blood, she tries to wake her but Wendy just shakes and is hot to the touch. Lucy phones her Dad and he comes home with James. Lucy is sent off to look for Millie at the neighbour’s houses.

Wendy is now in the same state as Millie was in Peter holds her in his arms sobbing, whilst James goes out to join the search for Millie. It is getting dark and James is on a country path near the river, desperately calling out for Millie. There is rustling in the bushes behind James, the rustling keeps changing location. James runs into the bushes hoping to find Millie. He is grabbed from behind, Millie’s mouth is dripping blood, her skin is white and her eyes black as she bites James. She darts off leaving James in the bushes. Lucy walks home in the dark and passes James but does not see him, the camera sees that James is shaking and foaming at the mouth. Lucy returns home to find that Wendy has disappeared and her Dad has been bitten. Lucy screams and cries hysterically, she locks herself in the bathroom and later hears her dad thrashing around the house. She stays in the bathroom until she hears that Peter has left the house. She then runs to the phone and phones the doctor whilst hiding in a cupboard. He tells her that she needs to leave straight away and stay with someone else. She is demanding answers but he says there is nothing you can do, it’s the family curse, he tells her that she must never return to the house or the same will happen to her.


 Lucy stays with a friend and says she is just having some trouble at home. There are rumours at school that one of the girls in their history class has gone missing. Some of her friends are looking to rent a boat, she tells them that her parents won’t hire a boat out to her friends so they shouldn’t go down there. The next day her friends tell her that her parents let them rent a boat and everything was fine. Lucy is confused and goes back to the boat yard, her family are all there looking healthy. She demands answers so they go inside to talk. They explain that to survive they must have other human’s blood, when they run out of human blood they turn into vampires, they’re eyes turn black, their temperature raises and they gain super speed and strength. They explain that she must keep away when the thirst hits them as they cannot control who they bite. They have phoned the doctor and he explains that it is a mutant genes within the Sullivan family, he witnessed it with their grandparents. Certain virus’s attack the body and cause the mutant gene to dominant. They tell Lucy that if she is bitten it will not kill her like it will kill normal humans but it will cause her to be one of them too. 

The family try to carry on as normal (Lucy stays at a friends when her family are thirsty) but there are more and more disappearances within the village and Lucy cannot bare the thought of it being her family that are causing it. Lucy reaches breaking point as her best friend goes missing and Lucy knows it is one of her family that have killed her. Lucy goes to the river crying and sees a dead body floating. Lucy decides that she cannot carry on and knows that she must kill her family. She takes her mum to the river to talk but when they are there Lucy pushes Wendy in and holds her head under. Lucy is hysterically crying as her mum is thrashing around in the water, Wendy becomes motionless. Lucy knows that she must act fast with the other family members no matter how guilty she feels as she knows if they get thirsty she will not be able to kill them. She takes her Dad to the river and apologises to him saying she loves him. She hits him over the head with a rock and then pushes him in the river. She goes back to the house and picks up Millie. It is getting dark. Millie holds on to Lucy singing her nursery rhymes. Lucy is crying, she gets to the riverbank and sings back to Millie. Millie sees her Dad floating in the river and screams. Lucy tries to cover her mouth but cannot go through with it and drops Millie to the floor in hysterics. There is movement in the bushes behind Lucy, she turns, fearing the worst. James is thirsty. Lucy leaves Millie and runs James is laughing, jumping from tree to tree. Lucy jumps in the river and swims, discovering bodies of her family’s victims as she goes. She reaches the other side of the bank as James does not have super speed in the water. The film ends with Lucy in the river of bodies.