Authors: Ken Russell

Ken Russell's Dracula (15 page)

BOOK: Ken Russell's Dracula

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EXT. CHAPEL. NIGHT.

The old stone walls glitter red,
the empty windows seem to stare in wonder at the bonfire of boxes blazing forth
in a small clearing nearby. FOUR ORDERLIES are consigning the last of the
caskets to the flames while VAN HELSING, DR. SEWARD, and QUINCEY watch with
troubled faces.

DR. SEWARD

Forty-nine it is, Quincey,

No matter how you count

them.

QUINCEY

I ain’t arguin’, Doc.

I counted ‘em myself three

times, but I just can’t

figure it out. Down at the

dock they told me the full

consignment was delivered

right here.

VAN HELSING

In the morning, first thing,

we must trace it. So long

as one box remains he has

refuge and we are

endangered.

At this moment, an Orderly
approaches from the direction of the hospital for a word with Dr. Seward.

ORDERLY

Dr. Seward, the lady and

Gentleman have arrived.

She wanted to see you at

once but I explained that

was not possible.

DR. SEWARD

Did you show them to their

quarters?

ORDERLY

Yes, sir. The gentleman

with a broken arm turned

in straight away. He seemed

rather poorly. The lady is

waiting up and has asked

to see you directly you

get back.

EXT. SANITORIUM GUEST ROOM.
NIGHT.

MINA is staring with curiosity at
the distant blaze which is reflected in the window giving the momentary
impression that she is on fire. Behind her, in the darkened room, a dim shape
materializes as a figure in white soundlessly approaches and finally taps Mina
on the shoulder causing her to spin round in surprise. It is LUCY.

INT. SANATORIUM GUEST ROOM.
NIGHT.

LUCY smiles sweetly as if meeting her
friend in these circumstances was the most natural thing in the world. MINA,
after her initial shock, is pleased to see her though obviously concerned for
her well-being and takes her warmly by the hand.

MINA

Oh Lucy, thank God you’re

safe. When there was no

reply from the house I

guessed you’d be here.

But I must say I thought

you’d be in bed at this

hour.

LUCY

How nice to see you, Mina.

Are you alone?

MINA

(
whispering
)

No, Jonathan’s with me;

he’s in there, asleep.

I’m waiting to see Dr.

Seward about him –

he’s far from well.

Through an open door we see JONATHAN
HARKER, with his arm in a sling, asleep on the bed in the next room.

LUCY

Poor Jonathan, what has

he done to himself?

Mina quietly closes the door and
turns back to her friend.

MINA

(
shivering
)

Broken an arm for one thing.

It’s cold in here; let me

get you my wrap.

Lucy allows herself to be led
towards the glowing fire where Mina leaves her in order to get her wrap from
the closet. Then, as Lucy stands before the flames, Mina drapes the garment
around her shoulders and with all the force at her command hurls Lucy into the
open closet and, before she can recover has bolted the door. Falling against it
she lets go of the control she mastered so adroitly and gives way to emotion.

LUCY’S VOICE

Mina, what on earth are you

doing? Open the door at

once. Is this a game?

If anything should happen

to me you’ll be personally

responsible to Dr. Seward,

do you hear?

With an effort, Mina forces herself
away from the voice of her old friend and runs from the room for help.

INT. SANATORIUM CORRIDOR.
NIGHT.

Muffled shouts and murmurs greet
MINA as she runs hopefully towards the figure of a retreating ORDERLY.

MINA

(
shouting
)

Please, you must help me.

Has Dr. Seward returned yet?

Slowly the Orderly turns round.
Unknown to Mina he is nevertheless familiar to us. It is RENFIELD.

RENFIELD

Dr. Seward returned yet?

Renfield shakes his head and looks
at her strangely.

MINA

Please, I must speak to

Someone in authority.

His deputy, the duty

officer; surely there must

be someone in charge.

RENFIELD

In charge?

Renfield smiles, nods and turning
on his heel crosses the hall, opens a door and beckons Mina to follow him into –

INT. LECTURE ROOM. NIGHT.

Darkness except for a large
illuminated heart projected onto a screen. The shuffle of vague figures and a
disembodied voice intoning a lecture are the immediate impressions which hit
MINA as she stumbles blindly through the door. The dominating voice, new to
her, is no stranger to us. It is:

THE VOICE OF DRACULA

Human blood is made up of

plasma and red cells.

For every 3.8 fluid ounces

of blood, there are two

fluid ounces of plasma,

and 1.8 fluid ounces of red

cells.

Plasma makes up 4.3 percent

of the total body weight,

and normally red cells

account for 4.2 percent.

Therefore, 8.5 percent of

the body’s weight is blood.

The human body has a blood

volume of about 12 pints.

Blood flows through the body

at a rate of 1.6 to 3.3 feet

per second and increases

steadily as it nears the

heart.

2.4 pints of blood flow

through the kidneys per

minute.

1.5 pints of blood flow

through the brain per

minute.

2.5 pints of blood flow

through the liver per

minute.

The heart’s estimated weight

is 11 ounces.

The heart’s volume is about

20 fluid ounces.

The heart’s blood volume is

eight fluid ounces.

It takes 8/10th of a second

for the heart to contract.

The volume of a normal

resting adult ejects a

volume of 2.6 fluid ounces

for every stroke.

The heart beats 72 times

per minute.

The heart puts out a blood

volume of 10 pints per

minutes. In heavy exercise

the cardiac output is 40 to

50 pints per minute, using

five-and-a-half pints of

oxygen per minute at a

corresponding rate of 180

strokes per minute, and an

increase of 50 percent in

its stroke volume.

By now, Mina is beside herself with
impatience and turns once more to Renfield dimly visible at her side by the
light of the changing slides illustrating the lecture.

MINA

Look, it’s imperative I

Talk to somebody at once.

It’s really most urgent.

RENFIELD

You had best speak to the

Master; he will not keep

you long.

Mina does her best to curb her anxiety
while the discourse on blood takes a more poetic turn and continues with
illustrations of increasing excitement and imagination.

THE VOICE OF DRACULA

Blood is the colour of

precious stones. Of rubies,

garnets. Blood is the colour

of fire, of lava, of power,

of planets.

Blood is the colour of

courage, of magic.

Blood is the colour

of the setting sun.

Blood is the colour

of life in darkness.

Life beyond the grave.

Life eternal.

The Blood is Life.

The unseen patients chant the
message of hope repeatedly.

VOICES

The Blood is the Life ...

The chant becomes a hypnotic pulse,
almost like the beating of a giant heart. And on the screen the images have
become a pulsating psychedelic vision, a vision which Mina finds herself
compulsively drawn toward. Closer and closer she approaches the vision until it
surrounds and envelops her. DRACULA’S head possesses her, her clothes melt from
her body. The heartbeat controls her, and grips her body in compulsive spasms
which she seems unable and unwilling to subdue. She rides the bucking red waves
wantonly with growing frenzy. Gradually Dracula’s hands travel up her body and
cover her breasts followed by her head which rises up to cover her face as they
engage in a passionate kiss.

The CAMERA zooms into their lips.

The chanting metamorphoses into a
wild grunting, panting throb! At climax, the mouth of the lovers part and
Mina’s gushes blood as she screams in ecstasy.

BLACK OUT:

EXT. CARFAX ESTATE. NIGHT.

A gagged figure, seemingly armless,
stumbles wide-eyed through trees and brambles towards the blackened pile which
is all that remains of the caskets of Dracula. VAN HELSING, DR. SEWARD, and
QUINCEY pause in their work of sprinkling the steaming ashes with holy water to
take in the bizarre sight. As the figure approaches we see it is constrained by
a strait-jacket.

VAN HELSING

Renfield has escaped.

Quincey dives for his feet and
brings him down.

DR. SEWARD

STOP! It’s one of the

orderlies!

Bending over him, Doctor Seward
removes the gag from his mouth, and is amazed when it is followed by a golden
crucifix on a chain.

VAN HELSING

My crucifix, my God!

QUINCEY

He’s stolen it from Lucy –

you dirty ghoul!