Invasion of the Script Snatchers

http://horrornews.net/117198/plagiarism-hollywood-films-invasion-screenplay-snatchers-part-1/

I would start out with arguing whether or not this two part piece is even an opinion piece. It's not truly trying to prove anything, but just to throw a few pointers that Horror News Net writer Bill Burke finds in horror cinema. An important word in filmmaker is 'rip-off', which usually implies plagiarism. And that is exactly what this piece covers, starting with its wacky title; Invasion of the Script Snatchers. This entire topic is present throughout the entire piece.
There somethings in this article that maybe common knowledge among horror fans, such as Nosferatu just being a giant legal cover for them to make a Dracula movie when they really weren't allowed to. However, when one moves onto part two of the piece it gets more interesting. When it is brought up that Alien (1979) may actually might have been plagiarized from an A.E. Van Vogt's novel Black Destroyer. When it comes to evidence, it's mainly visual, which is why I found it so easy to read this piece in the first place. Throughout the piece, there are many pictures from movie scenes and posters; demonstrating a visual pattern in similarities. Once you see them, it is a bit hard to deny that the writer may be on to something. There's not a whole lot of variety of sources, none really, it's all visual. But it does kind of provoke a call to action. As if the writer wants you to see the movies and see for yourself.
The kicker itself is in the title. In my opinion, plagiarism (the word alone) is an indicator of drama and that is what people like to read about. In America. it's all about protecting your property and plagiarism is the wanted criminal. So, it is interesting to see the films and sources who somehow got away with it by passing it off as original....then you settle down, give said films a watch and then undermine everything the movie was meant to be. Again like our last one, I don't think it matters how they start and end here because all the good stuff is the middle with the visual evidence. However, it ends nicely by mentioning a Jaws rip off, Jaws being arguably the number one copied off movie. Burke kind of settles back and lets the pictures speak for him and let everything come full circle.
The problem when I read this was that I was putting way too much faith in the pictures guiding me through that sometimes I lost interest in what Burke was righting. When you're discussing something as plagiarism, you're going to want show visuals of it. Anyone could accuse someone of copying by just saying they did. So more often then not, I found myself looking through the pictures then actually reading. I think the only time I got back into the text itself was when I came across a picture that needed an explanation. The Vogt and Alien part in part two had me reading it since the pictures didn't have a whole lot of context.
For a piece with little or no argument to pursue, it is a little difficult for a non horror or movie fan to stay engaged. Sure it's fun to say, "oh, I get it," at the pictures, but that's not enough to keep the reader drawn in, However, Burke writes humorously and in good taste. By the end of reading, you may want to check out one of these rip off films for yourself. Maybe go to a few forums about the subject, or maybe even find some other instances of plagiarism in movies for yourself.