Sites like AICN owe their existence to a great many artists. Dan O'Bannon is absolutely one of those artists.
As the writer of DARK STAR, ALIEN (w/ Ronald Shusett), DEAD & BURIED (a personal fave, again w/ Shusett), BLUE THUNDER (w/ Don Jakoby) and THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (which he also directed), O'Bannon has more than earned a spot in the horror/sci-fi pantheon. But while it seems like he's been in the mix over the last decade (he's all over the DVDs for those aforementioned classics), it's actually been over a decade since one of his scripts hit the big screen (if not BLEEDERS in 1997, then SCREAMERS in 1995). That ain't right.
So it's nice to hear (from our pals at Screenrant) that O'Bannon has just finished up a screenplay called THE PAIN CLINIC. Co-written with Donald Grail, it's ostensibly about a man who agrees to an "experimental" procedure to fix his bad back. But there's a little more to it than that. According to the attached director, Brett Hart (who's probably good and tired of your "Hitman" jokes, so stow 'em!), it's a "physiological thriller" reminiscent of MISERY, THE MARATHON MAN, ROSEMARY'S BABY, SECONDS and COMA.
Head on over to Screenrant for more on the plot summary. I haven't seen Hart's debut feature, BONE DRY, but it sounds interesting. Here's hoping he's just the guy to get O'Bannon back in the game.
