Dorian turns from the door. He hurries over to one of the
room's two or three airy windows and looks out from high in
the castle.
He sees only woods, mountains, a faraway river. No sign of
people.
Dorian goes over and looks into:
INT. A BEDROOM - DAY
There's a bed, a bathroom, but no way of escape.
INT. APARTMENT - DAY
Returning from the bedroom, Dorian sits down at the table to
think. He gets an idea:
DORIAN
A secret passageway.
Dorian begins groping along one of the walls.
DORIAN (cont'd)
Every old castle has one. A bunch
of 'em.
INT. A CORRIDOR - DAY
Lyle and Katy are lost.
Katy, trying another locked door, looks worried, while Lyle
seems to like being lost with Katy.
KATY
Lyle, how could we get so lost?
There seems to be no way out.
LYLE
Nonsense. We found our way in,
we can find our way out.
KATY
Then let's find it.
INT. APARTMENT - DAY
Dorian is still searching for a secret passage.
INT. A STAIRWAY - DAY
Lyle and Katy are descending a circling stone stairway into
darkness.
KATY
Is this the one?
LYLE
At least it goes down.
At the dark bottom of the steps, Lyle and Katy find the
doorway walled with long-set brick and mortar.
KATY
Oh Lyle.
LYLE
This isn't the one.
KATY
Why would they seal off a door?
LYLE
To keep people from using it?
KATY
Where's the stairway down? The one
we came up on.
LYLE
Look, not to worry.
KATY
What?
LYLE
Someone will find us.
KATY
Who? When?
LYLE
That brat from the bus -
KATY
What about him?
LYLE
He was following us.
KATY
So?
LYLE
He can tell 'em where we are.
KATY
What if he's lost too?
Katy heads up the steps.
LYLE
Why do you keep asking questions?
INT. APARTMENT - DAY
Dorian pauses in his search in frustration.
He's standing by the end of a bookcase. As he folds his
arms, falls back against it:
DORIAN
Come on, secret passageway, where -
The bookcase gives way, Dorian almost falls. He looks into
the entrance that has opened. He sees only darkness.
DORIAN (cont'd)
Looks like I found it.
INT. THE SECRET PASSAGEWAY - DAY
Dark and dank. Entering, Dorian descends a flight of steps.
He comes to a door.
INT. A CORRIDOR - DAY
The door from the passageway opens, Dorian comes cautiously
out, looks around.
The corridor looks like all the others. Closing the door
behind him, Dorian starts walking.
Dorian comes around a corner, and stops dead in his tracks.
He sees a WOLF at the corridor's far end. It's growling,
eyes glaring, as it begins moving slowly toward Dorian.
Dorian steps back in fear, the wolf quickens its pace. Dorian
flees round the corner.
The wolf chases Dorian. About to get caught, Dorian stops,
backs against some drapes on the wall by another corner. He
clutches the drapes in fear, the wolf leaps toward him.
Dorian flees, ripping the drapes from the wall, exposing a
glass window. The wolf crashes through the window.
EXT. CASTLE - DAY
The wolf begins plummeting amid flying glass.
INT. CORRIDOR - DAY
Dorian, still running, looks back. Ahead at the next corner,
a closed door awaits him.
EXT. THE MOAT - DAY
The wolf plunges into the water.
INT. A LABORATORY - DAY
Someone opens the door just as running Dorian, slowing down,
arrives, apparently intending to fall tiredly against it.
Stumbling in and falling forward, Dorian lands in front of
a counter.
EXT. THE MOAT - DAY
In the water the wolf is dog-paddling to the side of the
moat.
INT. THE LABORATORY - DAY
Dorian, getting to his feet, finds himself face-to-face with
a MONKEY in its cage on the counter.
Dorian hears escaping steam, looks. On the next counter is
boiling blood in a large glass container, emitting a jet of
steam, as if about to explode.
Dorian turns, sees a man lunging at him from the shadows by
the door, arms open to grab him.
Dorian cries out in fear, but the man grabs him only to
protect him.
MAN
Look out, lad!!
The container explodes, blood and glass fill the air.
When it's over, the man turns Dorian loose, Dorian steps back
to regard him.
The man is 50-ish DOCTOR JUKES, a Britisher. He has a
friendly face despite the telltale eyebrows and ears.
Jukes looks around at the damage.
JUKES
Well! Foiled again, as they say.
Jukes walks over to a table.
DORIAN
Who are you?
JUKES
Doctor Jukes. Welcome to Bernard
Jukes Laboratories, Limited. Very
limited, I'm afraid, at the moment.
Jukes pours a Bloody Mary (he has apparently had a few) from
a pitcher on the table.
JUKES (cont'd)
All this traveling about. It's
like a medicine show. You don't
know what I have to put up with.
All the pressure. The pressure
to find it. The solution.
Dorian is looking around. It's a makeshift lab in which
every container holds blood. There are some caged RATS in
addition to the monkey, who's peeling a banana.
JUKES (cont'd)
You may call me Bernard. Even
Bernie if you like.
DORIAN
I'm Dorian.
JUKES
Yes, I know.
DORIAN
You must be a blood doctor.
JUKES
Brilliant deduction! You're a very
bright lad. And such a ruddy
complexion.
Jukes has already gulped down his drink. He steps to the
table for another.
JUKES (cont'd)
There is blood here from all over
the world.
DORIAN
What caused the explosion?
JUKES
A wrong mixture. Two tribes. I
forgot they were having a blood
feud.
Jukes sits down by the table.
DORIAN
What do you do with all this?
(then)
I know. I'll bet you're looking
for a vampire cure.
JUKES
That I am. It would be a good
thing to have, would it not?
There are many who would use it.
But then again there are others
who wouldn't. Immortality is
a hard thing to give up. Some
people can't live without it.
Jukes sips. Dorian goes to him.
DORIAN
You already knew my name.
JUKES
Of course. We have a dossier.
DORIAN
A what?
JUKES
A file on you, lad.
DORIAN
You know about my disease?
JUKES
Of course. We know all about you.
We don't take just anyone.
DORIAN
Then they wouldn't want my blood.
Why would they? It's diseased!
JUKES
There's nothing wrong with your
blood, lad. You simply have too
much of it. That's what makes you
so special. You're a walking
little blood bank.
DORIAN
Are you close to this vampire cure?
JUKES
How close is close?
DORIAN
Do you think you might have it by
tomorrow night?
JUKES
Ha! Not a chance, lad.
Dorian despairingly sits down at the table.
DORIAN
What's it like, being a vampire?
JUKES
Oh, you don't want to be one.
Well, not by choice, anyway.
Would you like a Bloody Mary?
DORIAN
(rising)
No thanks. I'm getting out of
here.
Dorian goes to the door.
JUKES
Don't try, lad. I'm sure Bogdan
warned you. You don't know what
might happen.
DORIAN
Will you help me, Doctor Jukes?
Will you help me get out?
JUKES
I can't, lad.
DORIAN
Why not?
JUKES
Tomorrow night's the big night.
Your escaping would ruin their
whole evening.
DORIAN
Then I sure hope I ruin it. Don't
tell 'em, okay, Doctor Jukes? Give
me time to escape.
Dorian cautiously exits.
JUKES
To where, lad? There is no escape.
It's the Vortex.
INT. A CORRIDOR - THE CASTLE - DAY
Dorian is walking, looking and listening.
INT. A CORRIDOR - DAY
Lyle and Katy are sitting on the floor, Katy looking tired
and despairing.
As Lyle comforts her, gives her a little peck on the temple,
sniffs her hair, etc.:
LYLE
It's okay -
KATY
But, Lyle, I'm so worried -
LYLE
It's okay. Someone will find us.
They don't see Dorian come peeking around the corner. Lyle
is set to steal a kiss.
LYLE (cont'd)
Don't worry. Just relax.
Katy suddenly notices Dorian.
KATY
Little boy!
Katy jumps up, to Lyle's disgust.
LYLE
Someone found us.
Katy eagerly goes to Dorian, Lyle rising.
KATY
Are you lost like we are?
DORIAN
Thanks to you. Didn't you hear me
call you?
KATY
No.
DORIAN
I was trying to follow you.
LYLE
What do you mean "trying"?
DORIAN
Then I ran into them.
KATY
Who's "them"?
DORIAN
The vampires. Haven't you seen any
yet? I've already met six. And
one monkey.
Lyle motions to Katy and they huddle, Dorian watching them.
LYLE
This kid could be dangerous. Let me
try something.
(rejoining Dorian)
Wanna play hide-and-seek? You go
hide. We'll count to a thousand
and -
KATY
(to Lyle)
Oh come on.
(to Dorian)
We've been trying to find our way
out of here.
DORIAN
So have I. We've got to keep
trying.
Dorian starts walking, Lyle and Katy following.
DORIAN (cont'd)
Tomorrow night there's a blood
feast and I'm on the menu.
LYLE
Now wait a minute. This is -
DORIAN
(interrupting)
You've got to believe me. First
there was Vlad. He came under the
door. Then Bogdan. He's the Grand
Boyar. And Doctor Jukes is a blood
doctor. And -
Dorian stops - Katy is motioning for quiet. They listen.
Faintly the rhythmic beat of country rock music is heard. (A
song's being sung, too faint for the words to be clear.)
KATY
Do you hear it?
DORIAN
Rock music.
LYLE
Country rock music. God, I hate
that stuff.
INT. BALCONY ABOVE A HALL - DAY
As Dorian, Lyle, and Katy come stealthily from the corridor
to a corner of the balcony, the song "Varney the Vampire" is
heard being performed below.
The three stand at the corner, peeking, one head above
another, down at:
INT. THE "BUCKET O' BLOOD" - DAY
Like a big down-home tavern. The decor is hillbilly red. A
large, red-lettered banner reads "Welcome to the Bucket o'
Blood". Another banner reads "This Is Vampire Country".
A COUNTRY ROCK SINGER and BAND are performing on the dais, to
the delight of a motley, international audience of VAMPIRES,
some 50 in all, some dancing, some drinking (Blood Marys, of
course) at the tables.
Here's Murtala. There's the caretaker. Here's Bogdan, with
a vampiric GIRLFRIEND. There's Yolanda, dancing (to Dorian's
shock) with Willard's psychiatrist Gross.
Thug #1 (he's apparently the bouncer) has spotted Dorian,
Lyle, and Katy peeking from the corner of the balcony.
While the song continues, Thug #1 steps over to Bogdan,
seated with his girlfriend at a table, and whispers something
to him.
Bogdan cuts his eyes toward the balcony. He says something
to Thug #1.
INT. THE BALCONY - DAY
Dorian pulls back from the corner, where Lyle and Katy still
watch.
DORIAN
Bogdan saw us.
LYLE
Who?
DORIAN
We've got to hide.
LYLE
It's just some people having a
vampire party.
DORIAN
It's vampires having a party.
Come on!
Dorian takes off. Lyle and Katy follow him into:
INT. THE ADJOINING CORRIDOR - DAY
Dorian, Lyle, and Katy stop in their tracks as they look down
the corridor and see THUG #2 in black cloak and slouch hat.
Thug #2 transforms into a big black BAT. It comes swooping
toward them, jaws open.
The three go running the other way, ducking as the bat buzzes
them. Now they see three or four more BATS coming from that
direction too.
They turn, start running, here come more bats. Ducking,
dodging, the three head in desperation for:
INT. THE BUCKET O' BLOOD - DAY
With bats in pursuit, Dorian, Lyle, and Katy run the length
of the balcony and down the stairs.
The bats end their pursuit now and hover, as Dorian, Lyle,
and Katy have nowhere left to run.
Before them stand Bogdan, Vlad, Thug #1, and all the other
vampires. Yolanda leers lustfully at Lyle.
LYLE
You people need to do something
about the bats around here.
(to Dorian and Katy)
Let's go.
Lyle starts forward but is confronted by Vlad, holding up his
ring with its sparkling red ruby.
VLAD
(hypnotically)
Look . . . into my ring.
Lyle looks at the ruby, then at Vlad, with disdain.
LYLE
You expect me to fall for that
old . . .
Lyle's eyes move glassily back to the ruby.
LYLE (cont'd)
. . . hypnotic ring bit? . . .
INT. THE APARTMENT - DAY
Lyle is in a deep hypnotic sleep as Thug #1 deposits him in a
chair. Thugs #2 and #3 have brought in Dorian and Katy.
Bogdan has come along with them. Behind the wall is the
sound of someone working with bricks and mortar.
BOGDAN
(to Dorian)
Your secret passageway is being
sealed off.
THUG #2
Du wirst entfliehen nimmer.
(You will never escape.)
BOGDAN
I told you not to try to get out.
Little boys should do as they're
told.
Katy follows Bogdan to the door, the thugs leaving.
KATY
Wait a minute. What about Lyle?
You can't leave him like that.
BOGDAN
He'll come out of it.
KATY
You can't do this. Why are you
holding us?
BOGDAN
Well, we weren't planning on three
of you -
(looking her over)
- but we do make exceptions. Tomorrow
night will be an exceptional evening.
Bogdan leaves, closing the door behind him. The key rattles
in the lock.
DORIAN
Welcome to the menu.
Lyle awakes with the rattling of the key.
LYLE
Where are we?
KATY
Feel okay?
LYLE
What happened?
DORIAN
The old hypnotic ring bit.
INT./EXT. THE WINDOW - DAY
Dorian looks out the window. Lyle and Katy join him.
DORIAN
How are we going to get out of
here?
LYLE
Why don't we jump in the moat?
DORIAN
It's too far.
KATY
And too shallow.
LYLE
That's what I like: straight
answers.
Lyle leaves the window.
DORIAN
Look at that river . . .
The distant river winds off through a valley as far as the
eye can see.
DORIAN (cont'd)
It looks like it goes on forever.
KATY
That's why they call it that.
DORIAN
What?
KATY
The River Forever.
Dorian looks dumbfounded. He's thinking of:
FLASHBACK - SONYA IN TAXI
SONYA
We could have gone to London or
Rome or the River Forever. But no -
BACK TO SCENE
Dorian and Katy gazing at the river.
DORIAN
I must be dreaming. That has to be
it. I'm dreaming all this.
KATY
I wish you were. It's no dream.
EXT. THE CASTLE - NIGHT
Dark towers beneath a full moon. Wolves howl in the distance.
INT. THE APARTMENT - NIGHT
Dorian is by the window. Lyle sits at a table with a
dictionary. Katy's browsing at the bookcase.
They listen to the howling. When it dies, Lyle has to clear
his constricted throat.
LYLE
According to this old Webster's, a
vortex is a whirlpool. What's that
got to do with vampires?
KATY
I wonder how many there were today
at the Bucket o' Blood.
DORIAN
I'll bet there were fifty at least.
LYLE
That was probably only part of 'em.
The rest were probably asleep
somewhere.
DORIAN
Vampires don't have to sleep in the
daytime.
LYLE
So I've gathered.
DORIAN
They get lazy, that's all.
LYLE
(rising)
Well you know what I think?
I think when we crossed that
courtyard today, we somehow
crossed into some kind of
parallel universe.
DORIAN
It's the same old universe, Lyle.
It's no different. We're being
held by a castleful of vampires,
it's as simple as that.
A key rattles in the door lock.
The door opens and Thug #1 steps in. He holds the door as
the caretaker enters, followed by Yolanda and a young
VAMPIRIC MAID pushing a food cart. Thug #3 waits outside.
CARETAKER
I am sure you must all be famished.
Please, be seated.
Dorian confronts the caretaker.
DORIAN
What about my dad? And Sonya?
Where are they?
CARETAKER
I don't know.
Thug #1 takes a threatening step toward Dorian. Yolanda takes
Dorian gently by the shoulders, directs him toward the table.
YOLANDA
Sientate, chiquito.
Dorian, Lyle, and Katy sit down at the table.
Outside there is distant howling again as the maid begins
serving dishes.
DORIAN
Are there any more wolves in the
castle?
CARETAKER
Wolves?
DORIAN
I got chased by a wolf today.
CARETAKER
Oh. That was no wolf, dear. That
was my husband.
KATY
Your husband?
CARETAKER
He hasn't been himself lately.
LYLE
He thinks he's a wolf?
DORIAN
He crashed out the window. He must
have fallen in the moat.
CARETAKER
Yes. Unfortunately he knows how
to swim.
LYLE
He dog-paddles, right?
Yolanda puts a hand on Lyle's shoulder as the maid is through
serving.
YOLANDA
You will love the ciorba
taranesca . . .
(leans down to Lyle)
In Romania, I am told . . .
(flaunting her cleavage)
. . . the people hold it dear
to their hearts.
Lyle, taking in the view, is unmoved. On the outside at
least. Katy's watching.
Yolanda struts toward the door to leave with the others.
YOLANDA (cont'd)
Eat well. It will fortify your
blood. Your blood will have gusto.
It's the kind that we like.
Turning at the door, Yolanda demonstratively enunciates,
revealing the sharpness of her sparkling white canines:
YOLANDA (cont'd)
Muy fortificada.
Yolanda leaves, Thug #1 locking the door behind them.
LYLE
What a sweet lady.
Dorian, Lyle, and Katy begin eating.
DORIAN
Let me ask you something, Lyle. I
heard you tell Katy about Dracula -
that you believe he existed.
LYLE
Sure I believe it. I believe
vampires exist. I just didn't want
to meet any.
DORIAN
But why Dracula? I mean, Bram
Stoker's book is a novel, right?
It's fiction.
LYLE
Look at everything else Stoker
wrote: "The Lair of the White
Worm." "The Burial of the Rats."
"The Invisible Giant." He spent
years writing tripe. But
"Dracula"! He even left it in
the form of journals and letters,
because that's what they were.
Someone gave him that story, he
just changed the names, a few
places.
KATY
But who would do that?
LYLE
The people who had lived it - but
who had no proof - and wanted the
story to be known. I'll tell you
something else: I think Dracula
still lives.
DORIAN
But they destroyed him.
LYLE
Negative. They thought they
destroyed him.
DORIAN
What makes you think they didn't?
LYLE
Well the key to that, you see,
is Mina. Mina Harker. If you
remember the story, it was Mina
who came under Dracula's spell.
EXT. A VICTORIAN MANSION - NIGHT (LATE 19TH CENTURY)
Eery, unlit but for moonlight.
INT. MINA'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
In moonlight from the window, COUNT DRACULA is sucking blood
from her neck as MINA HARKER, 25, sits semi-conscious on her
bed.
Dracula's face is in darkness, his head silhouetted in the
moonlight.
DRACULA
You are part of me now. Flesh of
my flesh, blood of my blood.
INT. A SITTING ROOM - THE VICTORIAN MANSION - DAY
Mina sits staring sightlessly off in a trance. Her neck
bears the vampire's mark.
Close in front of her sits Professor Van Helsing (whom Dorian
imagined at Sadie's funeral), who has hypnotized her.
LYLE (V.O.)
Because she was under the spell,
Professor Van Helsing and the
others were able to use her, under
hypnosis -
EXTREME CLOSE-UP: MINA'S EYES
CAMERA MOVING IN closer, into one of the eyes.
LYLE (V.O.) (cont'd)
- to help track the count -
IN MINA'S IRIS
is the image of a fleeing, HORSE-drawn wagon.
LYLE (V.O.) (cont'd)
- and learn he was trying to
flee -
EXT. THE WAGON - DAY (NEAR SUNSET)
Aboard the wagon, driven by TWO GYPSIES along a Transylvanian
mountain road, is a coffin-sized crate.
LYLE (V.O.) (cont'd)
- in an earth-filled box to his
castle.
EXT. THE CHASE - DAY (NEAR SUNSET)
Pursuing the wagon, as it races for a pass through the
mountains, are Van Helsing and a young man on HORSES. The
sun sinks ever lower.
EXT. MOUNTAIN PASS - DAY (SUNSET)
YOUNG GENTLEMEN #1 and #2 appear in the narrow pass, rein
their HORSES to a halt, blocking the wagon's way.
The two gentlemen have the gypsies covered with rifles as the
wagon stops. Van Helsing and the young man now arrive, leap
from their horses.
The young man, with a hammer, bounds onto the wagon. He
pauses to look triumphantly down at the crate - revealing
himself as Dorian's hematologist Dr. Ray.
Ray starts prying the crate's nailed lid, the scared gypsies
watching.
Van Helsing, with a stake, climbs aboard the wagon. He
glances anxiously off at the sunset.
Ray throws open the lid. Dracula lies in the crate on the
bed of earth - but (as Dorian is imagining) he's in the form
of Willard Jarrett.
Dracula/Willard snarls, his blood-red eyes darting toward the
sunset. Ray looks confused by the vampire's form. Van
Helsing nudges Ray and hands him the stake.
Ray plants the stake on Dracula/Willard's chest, and raises
his hammer.
LYLE (V.O.)
At the moment of the vampire's
demise -
As the hammer strikes -
INT. MINA'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
- Mina bolts up in her bed, as if out of a dream. As she
touches her now unscarred neck:
LYLE (V.O.) (cont'd)
- the curse was lifted from
Mina . . .
INT. THE APARTMENT - NIGHT
Lyle, Dorian, and Katy as before.
LYLE (cont'd)
. . . or was it? . . . At the book's
very end, Mina bears her husband a
child, a boy they name Quincey . . .
EXT. A GARDEN - DAY
Mina is seated, as 8-year-old QUINCEY, wearing a bowler,
his face at first away from camera, brings Mina some freshly
picked flowers. During this:
LYLE (V.O.) (cont'd)
That child had to have been
conceived while Mina was still
under Dracula's spell.
Quincey has the face of Sonya Jarrett.
INT. THE APARTMENT - NIGHT
Dorian sits imagining as Lyle continues:
LYLE (cont'd)
The count's spirit could have
passed into Quincey, at the very
moment his body - the old one -
was being destroyed.
KATY
Quincey could be Dracula reincarnate.
LYLE
Exactly.
DORIAN
But if that's true, he could still
be alive. He could be here . . .
KATY
. . . tomorrow night . . .
DORIAN
At La Fiesta de Sangre.
LYLE
Let's look at the bright side.
For once in my life, I could - and
I want to stress the word "could" -
I could be wrong.
EXT. THE CASTLE - DAY
Bright morning.
EXT. APARTMENT WINDOW - DAY
Dorian is looking down at something below the window.
INT. APARTMENT - DAY
Dorian turns from the window and looks thoughtfully around.
Lyle is still asleep on the couch.
The wall hanging seems to give Dorian an idea.
INT. APARTMENT - DAY (LATER)
The vampiric maid is clearing the table of used breakfast
plates, putting them on a cart.
Dorian, Lyle, and Katy are lazing about as if resigned to
their situation.
Thug #2 stands waiting near the door, Thug #3 waiting in the
doorway. Thug #2 looks suspicious, the captives seem too
relaxed.
THUG #2
Wie war das Fruhstuck?
KATY
He said, "How was the breakfast?"
LYLE
Too much cholesterol.
KATY
(to Thug #2)
Zuviel, uh - cholesterol.
Thug #2 laughs. As he moves to the door, the maid and Thug
#3 going out:
THUG #2
Das Blut wird nicht heute nacht
klumpen.
Thug #2 leaves chuckling, closing the door behind him.
The captives watch the door while the key rattles in the
lock. During this:
LYLE
What'd he say?
KATY
"There'll be no blood clots
tonight."
LYLE
"There'll Be No Blood Clots
Tonight"? He ought to go into
songwriting.
DORIAN
Let's get busy.
They hurry over to the wall hanging. As they start taking it
down:
LYLE
I still don't like this, Dorian.
It's too dangerous.
DORIAN
I'm going for help and you've got
to help me. What have we got to
lose?
The large hanging, made of sturdy fabric, is down. As Dorian
stuffs the whole thing into Lyle's arms:
DORIAN (cont'd)
Don't you see, Lyle? I'm our only
chance now.
Lyle seems to resent that as Dorian goes to the window.
EXT. CASTLE WALL - DAY
At the window, Lyle and Katy are lowering Dorian down the
sheer castle wall by the wound-up wall hanging. One slip and
it's a very long fall to the moat.
The hanging is just long enough for Dorian to reach his
objective: a small, dark, open window below the apartment's.
After some perilous, feet-first effort, Dorian manages
to get into the window.
INT. ROOM BELOW APARTMENT - DAY
A dark chamber, apparently long in disuse.
Dorian comes down from the window. He is concerned not to
wake someone (o.s.) who is snoring.
Dorian moves quietly along the wall, his eyes fixed on the
snorer (O.S.).
With Dorian's movement, the snorer's head and shoulders come
into view - it's Vlad, hanging upside down in the middle of
the room. (What he's hanging from is unseen.)
Dorian reaches a door that is slightly ajar. Through it, as
he peeks, he faintly hears voices, overlapped by Vlad's
snoring:
BOGDAN (O.S.)
What about the monkey? Have you
bit him?
JUKES (O.S.)
I can't bite the monkey, sir.
INT. JUKES'S LABORATORY - DAY
Dorian is peeking in at Bogdan and Jukes through the barely
cracked door from the adjoining chamber.
Bogdan is angry with Jukes, a bit tipsy, as they stand by a
counter.
BOGDAN
How can you expect to have test
results of any validity if that
monkey's not a vampire first?
Where are your vampire rats?
JUKES
They all flew away, sir.
BOGDAN
The rats flew away?
JUKES
They turned into tiny little bats,
you see, sir, and -
BOGDAN
(interrupting)
Okay, the rats flew away. Then
you'll have to use the monkey,
Jukes. That's what he's for.
JUKES
But I can't, sir.
BOGDAN
You bit all those rats. You can't
bite a monkey?
The monkey is listening, watching with interest, from its
cage.
JUKES
I can't bring myself to it. Look
at that face.
BOGDAN
Then get someone else to, Jukes.
Someone to help you. Get Vlad.
He's hanging around someplace.
Bogdan goes to the door to the corridor, Dorian continuing to
eavesdrop.
BOGDAN (cont'd)
You don't have to do all the dirty
work, Jukes. Get some help with
it.
Bogdan shakes his head wearily and leaves, closing the door
behind him.
As Dorian watches Jukes through the cracked door:
JUKES
(to the monkey)
What does he know? Eh?
As Jukes steps to the cage, the monkey is busy moving little
pieces of paper around on the floor of the cage. This is
apparently nothing unusual.
JUKES (cont'd)
He wants me to turn you into an
undead monkey. What do you think
about that? Hmm?
The monkey stops working, apparently wants Jukes to inspect
what it's done.
Jukes looks through the bars of the cage with great hope at
the pieces of paper haphazardly arranged on the floor of the
cage.
On each little piece of paper is part of a chemical formula.
Jukes eagerly reads the formula that the monkey has arranged,
the monkey watching him.
As Jukes stops reading, disappointed:
JUKES (cont'd)
No, no, that's gibberish. Keep
trying.
The monkey starts reshuffling the paper. Someone out in the
corridor bangs on the door:
THUG #3 (O.S.)
(filtered)
Doctor Jukes! . . .
INT. ADJOINING CHAMBER - DAY
More banging from the lab, Dorian watching through the
cracked door.
JUKES (O.S.)
Yes! I'm coming!
Vlad snorts, waking up where he hangs upside down.
Vlad is disoriented, looks down at the floor, but doesn't see
Dorian, who hurries quietly for the corridor door behind
Vlad.
Vlad is hanging by his knees from an old chandelier. He
seems unsure how to get down.
VLAD
Not again.
Dorian, behind Vlad, peeks out the door and then slips out
into:
INT. A CORRIDOR - DAY
Dorian eases the chamber door to. Then suddenly Thug #3
steps out of the lab, at the corner only a few yards away.
Fortunately Thug #3's back is to Dorian. Thug #3 is waiting
for Jukes (o.s.), still inside the lab.
JUKES (O.S.)
What's the fellow got?
THUG #3
No one is sure, Doctor. Blood
poisoning perhaps.
Dorian, with nowhere to hide, flattens his back against the
wall, as if that will somehow make him unnoticeble.
During this, Jukes, with a doctor's bag, exits the lab, locks
the door, with nary a glance toward Dorian.
JUKES
I shan't be surprised. Trying
to get them to use moderation is
like trying to get blood from a
turnip.
Jukes and Thug #3 move off past the corner instead of coming
Dorian's way.
Dorian sighs with relief. But now the chamber door opens,
right beside him, and out steps Vlad.
Dorian flattens himself against the wall again. He's right
behind Vlad's elbow, as Vlad straightens his clothes while
muttering to himself:
VLAD
(in Hungarian)
I've got to quit sleeping like a bat.
Vlad now checks the ring on his finger - and begins falling
under the red ruby's spell. Vlad snaps himself out of it.
Vlad starts moving off, Dorian watching.
Vlad suddenly stops, freezing, as if he has heard or sensed
something, Dorian holding his breath behind him.
Vlad moves sideways, stealing up to a closed door. Vlad
listens at the door for a moment, then moves off on his way.
Curious, Dorian moves to the same door and listens. He
faintly hears melodramatic music. He eases the door open.
INT. AN APARTMENT - DAY
Dorian peeks in at the door. The apartment is fit for a
prince, including a posh empty coffin.
On a TV set, a schlocky Dracula movie is playing, the source
of the music, which has stopped now.
In the movie, Dracula is welcoming a young gentleman at the
door of his castle.
MOVIE GENTLEMAN
Count Dracula?
MOVIE DRACULA
I am Dracula. Welcome to my house.
An OLD MAN is sitting in a high-backed chair, watching the
movie, his back to Dorian. At the moment, only the old man's
forearm and hand on the arm of the chair are visible.
Sitting in a chair next to the old man's is the Nigerian
Murtala. He chuckles at the bad movie, with sharing looks at
the old man, whose hand feebly slaps the arm of the chair.
MOVIE DRACULA (cont'd)
Come in. The night air is chill,
and you must have food and rest.
Wolves howl in the movie.
MOVIE DRACULA (cont'd)
Listen to them - the children of
the night. What music they make!
Dorian quietly steps back now into the corridor, pulling the
door to.
INT. CORRIDOR - DAY
Turning from the apartment door, Dorian is startled to find
Bogdan standing over him.
Dorian flees down the corridor as Bogdan stands watching.
INT. A DARK STAIRWAY - DAY
The door from the corridor opens, desperate Dorian enters
onto the landing.
Dorian hurries down the dark circling steps, only to stop in
fright at the sight of the scarred, pale, grinning face of
Thug #1, blocking his way in the darkness.
Dorian hurries back up the steps, till he sees Bogdan,
silhouetted by the light from the corridor, waiting for him
on the landing. As Dorian sees he is trapped:
BOGDAN
Come. He's been waiting to meet
you. And you've been waiting to
meet him.
INT. THE OLD MAN'S APARTMENT - DAY
Bogdan, already inside, holds the door as Dorian enters, Thug
#1 standing outside. Bogdan closes the door.
MOVIE DRACULA
I never drink . . . wine.
Murtala, rising from his chair, turns off the TV with the
remote control.
Dorian stands looking toward the back of the old man's chair.
Bogdan gestures for him to go present himself.
Moving toward the chair, Dorian sees the old man's hand
clutch the arm of the chair. Such a pale, bony hand, with
long, pointed nails.
Dorian moves around the chair. Stopping in front, Dorian
studies the old man.
He wears a black tuxedo. He looks feeble and gaunt, with
pure white locks. But his eyes, arresting, have the glint of
eternity.
Bogdan props an elbow on the back of the old man's chair.
Murtala is seated again in his. The old man and Dorian gaze
at each other.
OLD MAN
This is the one with all the little
red cells?
BOGDAN
Yes.
OLD MAN
Bright-looking lad.
BOGDAN
Isn't he. Quite inquisitive too.
He wanted to know why we call this
the Vortex.
The old man chuckles, soon he's laughing. Murtala laughs too.
DORIAN
What's so funny?
OLD MAN
Why nothing, lad, nothing. You
must forgive our rude manners.
DORIAN
You're Dracula. Or should I call
you Quincey Harker?
The old man, Bogdan, and Murtala exchange looks.
OLD MAN
Bright kid!
(gesturing for something)
Murtala . . .
Murtala begins pouring a Bloody Mary from a pitcher by his
chair. During this, the old man intones grandiosely to
Dorian:
DRACULA (cont'd)
Yes, I am Dracula. In my veins
flows the blood of many brave
races, who fought as the lion for
lordship.
Murtala hands Dracula his drink.
DRACULA (cont'd)
It was one of my own who, as
Voivode, crossed the Danube and
defeated the Turk. It was he
who -
DORIAN
(interrupting)
Knock it off. You're quoting from
the book. That's the speech Dracula
gives Jonathan Harker at the castle.
Chapter three.
DRACULA
Well it's a darn good speech.
I gave it before, I can give it
again.
Dracula drains his glass. He makes a face as he returns the
glass to Murtala.
DRACULA (cont'd)
Yecch!
(to Dorian)
Synthetic.
Dracula wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
DRACULA (cont'd)
There's nothing like blood. I mean
the real stuff. Doctor Jukes has
had me on this stuff for years -
for decades - while we wait for his
miracle. He thought this stuff
might help. A maintenance program,
he calls it. But look at me.
Dorian is looking, but only with contempt.
DRACULA (cont'd)
Hah. A lot you care, I see.
Dracula feebly rises, Bogdan and Murtala giving him steadying
hands.
DRACULA (cont'd)
Well, that's not important. What's
important is: Tonight is the night.
I get blood - real blood - only
once -
He moves toward Dorian. Bogdan and Murtala walk beside him.
DRACULA (cont'd)
- only one night - during every
long year.
Dracula stops by Dorian, gives him a malevolent smile.
DRACULA (cont'd)
And you are my special occasion.
Dracula starts moving toward the coffin, Bogdan and Murtala
escorting him.
DRACULA (cont'd)
Ah, that Jukes. He's been at it
for years now. One concoction,
then another. And what's there to
show for it? Nothing! Placebos!
His monkey could accomplish as
much.
Dracula climbs into his coffin, Bogdan and Murtala assisting.
DRACULA (cont'd)
I can't go on in this rundown
condition. I'm not the young
rounder I was, even a century ago.
And I can't even die! What's a
vampire to do?
DORIAN
How about a stake through the
heart?
DRACULA
Heh, heh. You would like that,
wouldn't you.
Dracula lies down in the coffin.
DRACULA (cont'd)
Now if you will excuse me . . . We
old vampires . . . like to sleep
till it's evening. See ya later.
Bogdan begins lowering the lid.
BOGDAN
Till later, sir.
Dracula stops the lid with his hand, to look up at Bogdan.
DRACULA
Don't start without me.
BOGDAN
Wouldn't dream of it, sir.
As the lid is lowered over him:
DRACULA
There's nothing like blood.
Go to Part 3Back to beginning of script