Features
My screenwriting work covers a wide range of genres from drama and romantic comedy to supernatural horror and high concept science fiction. So far I have had two features produced including my directorial debut Election Night (see trailer below). Election Night won Best Feature and Best Screenplay at the Brighton Rocks Film Festival, along with official selection for numerous other festivals including New York and Texas.
Imagine ABIGAIL’S PARTY meets THE PURGE and you have ELECTION NIGHT.
ELECTION NIGHT is a tense horror-thriller that taps into the rising unease and ideological division that our country and much of the world is suffering. It is a thought provoking drama as well as being a gritty, violent, horror.
Five friends gather for a party and to watch the Election Night TV marathon. Society is polarised and the Alt-Right are in the ascendance. There is rioting on the streets. When three strangers caught up in the riots show up appealing for help, the friends welcome them. As the election coverage progresses a frightening new world order emerges and the strangers reveal themselves to be supporters of the ultra-right. What follows is a politically charged war of words that escalates into violence and death.
The film is currently doing the festival circuit - being screened across the UK and internationally in New York, Texas, Portugal and more.
Made in Romania
Made in Romania is the comedic, behind-the-scenes story of a young English film producer who risks everything to try and break into bigger, more artistic productions.
Disillusioned after years of producing low budget genre movies, the producer seizes the chance to partner with actress Jennifer Tilly to produce The Tides of Reason a period costume drama set in Victorian Yorkshire.
Travelling to Los Angeles, the producer meets with a highly disreputable Hollywood financier who agrees to fund the project but only if the production is filmed entirely in Romania to take advantage of a complicated (and, it turns out, completely crooked) tax deal.
Way off the radar in deepest, darkest, rural Romania everything begins to go horribly wrong for the producer as he deals with wild dogs, missing actors, the local mafia and worst of all… the film’s director, an unstable, bi-polar ex-con who has faked his directing credentials.
Made in Romania is a comedy 'mockumentary' starring Jennifer Tilly and Jason Flemyng with cameos from Elizabeth Hurley and Danny Huston.
I wrote the screenplay and worked as an associate producer on many aspects of the film throughout the production process. Made in Romania is available through Amazon.
The Professor King Chronicles is a two-part adaptation of Clive Nolan's stage musicals Alchemy and King's Ransom. Set in a Steampunk world of heroes, villains, romance and the supernatural, the follow the exploits of Professor Samuel King and his trusted cohorts Eva, a beautiful tribal warrior and William a resourceful thief.
In advance of full production several shorts have been made, demonstrating how the film might look. We are currently developing the project through experiments with advanced green screen and CG techniques.
With Friends Like These
Set in a large country house this is the story of a group of old friends who come together for one extraordinary weekend.
Hosted by newly successful actor Simon, the party promises to be an opportunity for more than a little decadence and a chance to catch up. But the couples have one duty to perform.
On the Saturday night they must all stage a party piece. Be it a song, a piece of dance, or a magical act each couple must amuse their fellow guests.
Simon met his group of friends 15 years ago when they were all at college. Each of the friends brings a partner. Some have been married for years, while others are just starting out together. But all have stories to tell about life and love.
The unique feature of the movie is that we see the weekend play out six times. Each time from the point of view of a different couple. Each perspective adds to the total picture like a jigsaw. Building a story of an utterly disastrous weekend. A weekend of revelations, betrayals and drunken brawls. But in amongst the emotional carnage the friends face their demons and come out of the experience much the wiser.
Check out the Cult Critic review of the screenplay: https://www.hlc-cultcritic.com/with-friends-like-these-written-by-neil-monaghan/
The Tank
The Tank is a tense sci-fi thriller. A crew of seven enters a fully functional space vehicle simulator - sealed within a 30 million litre neutral buoyancy tank. The entrance to the tank is locked for 28 months to test the psychological strain of deep space flight.
But ten months into the mission things begin to go seriously wrong and the test becomes increasingly dangerous. The crew must face psychological terror and several mysterious deaths, while desperately trying to figure out if this is all part of the test.
Moon meets Cube.
Two Wrongs
Two Wrongs is a romantic comedy with a twist.
A desperate husband regrets his affair and attempts to even the score by persuading his wife to have one too. But will her risky revenge lead to a new romance?
Set in Brighton Two Wrongs subverts the norms of romantic comedy. Taking place within the fetish community the movie satisfies the audiences thirst for romantic twists and turns while taking them into a world not normally associated with the genre. Despite the unusual setting the themes of trust, jealousy, desire and love remain universal.