Ken Russell's Dracula (6 page)

JONATHAN tiptoes across the
deserted entrance hall towards the massive front doors which he proceeds
cautiously to open. Barely has the gap widened an inch than an ugly grey snout
inserts itself with a ferocious snarl. Growls follow as if an entire wolf pack
is waiting outside to tear Jonathan to pieces. With a mighty effort he hurls
himself against the door to withhold the pressure from without and with a
supreme effort manages at last to close it, shooting the bolt for good measure.
Breathless, he leans against it for a moment stricken by the fact that he is a
doomed man.

INT. BEARDSLEY ROOM. DAY.

JONATHAN enters the room determined
to escape and makes straight for the window.

JONATHAN’s POINT OF VIEW:

A drop of two-hundred feet leads to
the road and freedom, but various roofs, gutters and buttresses offer a staircase
of sorts, albeit a dangerous one where one false step means death.

RESUME BEDROOM:

JONATHAN decides to risk it and
eases himself gingerly over the sill.

EXT. CASTLE. DAY.

Precariously, JONATHAN starts his
dizzy descent. After negotiating the narrow ledge he drops onto a shallow roof
and slides down over the edge till his hands make contact with the guttering.
Inching his way along to a drainpipe, he climbs down to a tiny flat roof. The
next stage in his escape entails a leap across a gap onto a parapet - this
seems almost impossible. But there is no turning back, try he must. Pressing
himself against the wall he runs with all his might and launches himself into
space. His hands grip the parapet but slip and slip until he is dropping through
space, hitting a sloping roof and sliding towards a skylight.

INT. CHAPEL. DAY.

JONATHAN crashes through the glass
and falls a short drop into the organ loft where a baroque organ is apparently
being played by a ghost. On closer inspection, as he brushes himself off,
Jonathan sees that the organ playing a gentle Bach Chorale is functioning by
mechanical, not supernatural, means.

INT. CHAPEL DOOR.

By the eerie light filtering
through the crimson stained glass windows set in the outside wall, JONATHAN is
able to take in the strange nature of this secret spot. In place of the usual
cross a lifelike carving of a giant heart surrounded by a circle of tusks seems
to float above the altar which is flanked not by statues of saints but by
models of the chemical structure of blood, blown up to resemble modern
sculptures. Dominating this shrine dedicated to the Glory of Blood is a mural
showing Dracula in medieval robes seated at a banqueting table enjoying a glass
of Bull’s Blood surrounded by a forest of stakes on which men, women and
children suffer a multitude of slow, painful deaths. Attending him are three
beautiful women bearing an uncanny likeness to the vampires of the previous
night. Other paintings adorning the walls show Dracula in a variety of regal historical
costumes ranging from medieval times to the 20th Century. Though his mode of
dress changes with the times, Dracula, like Dorian Gray, remains forever young.

Jonathan’s first impulse is to flee
this temple of eternal youth but, as he descends the stairs to the aisle, he is
arrested in his flight by the sight of an open trap door leading to the crypt.
Now curiosity overcomes fear and impels him to peer down into the gloom below.

JONATHAN’S POINT OF VIEW:

At the bottom of a flight of steps
rests an open casket and in it lies DRACULA apparently asleep. Taking the
sturdy paper knife from his jacket pocket, and barely daring to breathe,
Jonathan creeps silently down towards him.

INT. CRYPT. DAY.

Ribbons of light from slits in the
outside wall illuminate a strange setting for the dormant Count. A large
variety of wooden boxes, all big enough to hold a recumbent figure, are stacked
amidst piles of earth excavated from the floor itself which is a mass of
rubble. Some of the boxes are open and filled with freshly dug earth. On such a
bed of clay lies DRACULA, his eyes wide open and stony, his face motionless,
set in a mocking smile. Sweat pours from Jonathan’s brow as he summons up
strength to commit murder. Gripping the knife firmly in his hands Jonathan raises
it, trembling, above his head and with all his force plunges the blade into
Dracula’s chest. A grin of malice passes over Dracula’s face as he reaches to
take the knife from his chest and slowly withdraws it, dripping gore. Jonathan
is transfixed in horror at the failure of his lethal blow. Dracula’s eyes stare
with hate as he raises the dripping blade and plunges it towards Jonathan’s
throat. But Jonathan leaps back in time to sustain nothing worse than a gashed
cheekbone.

Simultaneously, the door at the far
end of the crypt is flung open admitting a BAND OF GYPSIES. Instantly, Jonathan
runs up the stairs to the chapel spurred on by their cries of alarm.

INT. CHAPEL. DAY.

Slamming the trap door behind him,
Jonathan covers it with a heavy pew which requires all his strength to drag
into place. Then to the sound of hammering and muffled shouts, he runs out of
the door with all speed, locking it behind him.

INT. CASTLE CORRIDOR. DUSK.

Outside the chapel door, Jonathan
finds himself on a spiral staircase leading up to a door, which he discovers to
be locked and down to ... the unknown. He has no choice but to descend.

INT. VAULT. DUSK.

JONATHAN pushes a door open to find
himself in a bare cellar with iron grills set in the wall about seven feet from
the ground, giving onto the courtyard where a good deal of activity sounds to
be in progress. Gripping hold of the ledge, Jonathan manages to haul himself up
sufficiently to peer through the grill.

JONATHAN’S POINT OF VIEW:

EXT. COURTYARD. DUSK.

Two large carts are being loaded
with the boxes from the crypt, which are now all sealed and judging from the
exertions of the gypsies, loaded with earth. Even as he watches, the leading
cart pulls away through the gateway and over the drawbridge escorted by Gypsy
Bandits on wild ponies.

RESUME:

INT. VAULT. DUSK.

JONATHAN releases his grip, drops
to the floor and makes for the door leading to the spiral staircase. It has
apparently shut itself. Despite all his efforts it refuses to budge. Instead,
another door opens in the far wall revealing the THREE VAMPIRE GIRLS in their
flowing robes beckoning Jonathan toward their hungry embrace. Almost in a
trance, Jonathan moves towards them like a willing victim. The vampires smile
in lustful anticipation and reveal their pointed teeth eager to sink once more
into human flesh.

But their smiles vanish as Jonathan
kicks one in the stomach with all his force, and delivers a powerful swinging
punch to the jaw of another. An even bigger surprise follows as Jonathan is
sent flying through the air to land in a heap in the corner. Not only are the
vampires unharmed, but their monstrous strength had proved more than a match
for a mere human. As they begin to move in for the kill, Jonathan’s next action
is one of a desperate man. Taking the rosary from his neck, he wraps it round
his fist like a knuckle-duster and leaps up at the foremost vampire. WHACK!
This time the connec- tion is holy and the monster crashes into her companion
spitting blood and broken teeth. By the time they have recovered, Jonathan has
hung the crucifix in the doorway of their room and entered it, leaving the holy
talisman of faith to hang like a shield between himself and the cheated
vampires.

INT. VAMPIRE LAIR. DUSK.

Pictures and sculptures glorifying
love decorate this amazing grotto inset with precious stones glittering in the
candlelight. But all this is merely a setting for the bizarre collection of
lovers sitting on thrones, reclining on cushions, or merely propped against the
walls. Lovers in peasant costumes and in uniforms of soldiers, statesmen, kings
and emperors attired in styles ranging over a period of 500 years - all dead,
sucked dry, withered and mummified.

Jonathan takes in this macabre
museum to dead love with one horrified glance. His prime concern is to escape
and to that end he runs towards a partially open door leading to the failing
daylight. He throws it open and almost steps into space. Beneath him is a drop
of several hundred feet into the swirling river. Behind him, the uncertain terrors
of the howling vampires. Before him, possibly a broken neck, possibly escape.
He jumps; and plummets into the river. Widening circles mark his point of
disappearance.

DISSOLVE TO:

THE DRACULA COAT OF ARMS.

As it recedes from CAMERA it
becomes clear that we have been observing a stencil on Dracula’s casket being
lifted high in the air.

CUT BACK TO REVEAL:

EXT. PORT OF VARNA. DAY

A steam ship of some five thousand
tons is loading cargo, including Dracula’s consignment of boxes. As the last
one is hoisted aboard and lowered into the hold the BOATSWAIN signs a receipt
watched by the GYPSY DRIVER.

BOATSWAIN

Received: Fifty crates

o’ clay exported Varna to

the port of Southampton,

England. As if there weren’t

enough there already. Talk

about carrying coals to

Newcastle. There you are,

Dad, back to your crystal

ball.

He hands the uncomprehending gypsy
the receipt, then runs up the gangplank as the carts rumble off along the
quayside.

INSERT:

close shot: The Ship’s Hooter
sounding two blasts. Steam fills the frame.

DISSOLVE TO:

INSERT: Close shot: Safety Match
Box decorated with a ship and the legend “England’s Glory”. A loud buzzing like
an electric chainsaw comes from within. A hand enters the shot and lifts the
box out of frame.

CUT BACK TO REVEAL:

INT. PADDED CELL. DAY.

A plain room with a bed fixed
firmly to the wall, a barred window and a heavy metal door with peephole, and a
matchbox full of flies, is the world of MORRIS RENFIELD: madman. Covering the
gap with his thumb, so as to prevent a mass exodus, Renfield manages to extract
a fat, juicy house fly which he surveys hungrily before popping it into his
mouth, grating it between his gums with relish.

INSERT: close shot: an eye at the
peephole.

CUT TO: INT. SANATORIUM.
DAY.

Cold and austere with doors giving
onto private wards from one of which is heard the moans of a dying man. In the
foreground observing RENFIELD through a peephole in the cell door is the
beautiful but doomed young opera star, LUCIA WEBER. Standing beside her is a
clean cut, distinguished-looking man a few years her junior. This is DR. MARTIN
SEWARD, her physician whose duty towards her as a patient is complicated by the
fact that he is in love with her. Lucy loves him in return but is also
susceptible to admirers who make her forget her condition. Lucy turns towards
him with a little shudder.

LUCY

He’s eating flies.

Dr. Seward observes Renfield
through the peephole and addresses him through a small metallic grill.

DR. SEWARD

Why have you taken to

Consuming flies, Renfield?

Renfield, caught in the act, spins
round and treats the doctor to a placating smile.

RENFIELD

Because they are very

wholesome, Doctor Seward.

They are life, strong life,

and give life to me.

DR. SEWARD

They harbour disease,

Renfield, you must dispose