Ken Russell's Dracula (20 page)

DR. SEWARD

More fuse!

QUINCEY

An inch should do it.

They cut the fuses accordingly a
little longer, and try again.

EXT. THE RAFT. DAY.

MINA and the BANDITS watch the
charges fall into the river a few feet away then dive for cover as they explode
and drench the casket with water. The Bandits prepare to open fire.

EXT. SUMMIT. DAY.

DR. SEWARD has trouble igniting his
last charge so QUINCEY goes it alone only to be hit in the shoulder by a bullet
before he has a chance to throw the bomb. Spluttering, it drops at his feet as
he staggers to retain his balance. The next instant, Dr. Seward hurls himself
at Quincey knocking him off his feet and rolling with him behind a rock just as
the charge explodes. Smoke obliterates everything for a moment but when it
clears we see the two men are safe but dust-covered, though Quincey is bleeding
from his wound.

QUINCEY

Guess it’s up to you

partner. Clean bowl him,

centre stump.

DR. SEWARD

The wind’s causing them

to break wide. I’ll put

a spin on this one.

In saying this, he runs to the edge
amid flying bullets and bowls a beauty. POW! A direct hit on the bow. Smoke and
spray.

EXT. RAFT. DAY.

When the smoke clears the
splintered logs are beginning to separate and drift apart. Those not killed by
the explosion find themselves in the water and either holding onto a log for
support or struggling to safety. Most lucky of all is MINA, still
unrecognizable in her bandit garb, she has grabbed the mane of a horse swimming
towards the bank. As for the casket, it sinks undamaged beneath the water.

EXT. SUMMIT. DAY.

QUINCEY crawls towards DR. SEWARD
who is lying on his chest near the edge of the precipice peering through
binoculars.

DR. SEWARD

Offside stump, I’m afraid.

Quincey takes the binoculars and
scans the swirling water. There is no sign of Dracula.

QUINCEY

Well, he’s ‘out’

all the same.

DR. SEWARD

(
reluctantly
)

Dracula, the man, will

most certainly drown,

but after sunset he

becomes supernatural –

able to change into God

knows what.

QUINCEY

(
ruefully
)

Heck, don’t tell me I

should’a brought my

fishin’ line!

EXT. THE RIVER BED. DAY.

Bubbles inside the casket
imprisoned in a bed of drifting weed. Fingers slowly emerge from beneath the
lid struggling ineffectually to raise it. The bubbles die in volume as the
struggling hand grows weaker, till suddenly the fingers have vanished and in
their place a WATER RAT wriggles out and starts swimming to the surface.

DISSOLVE TO: EXT. THE RIVER BANK.
DAY.

The WATER RAT swims to shore,
scrambles over some rocks and disappears into the undergrowth only to emerge a
moment later transformed into a Vampire BAT flying towards the Castle high
above the hilltop.

EXT. CASTLE DRACULA. DAY.

MINA stands on the battlements,
hair blowing in the wind, transfigured by love and desire as she watches the
BAT winging its way closer and closer to her outstretched arms. CRACK! A shot
rings out. She looks around in panic and sees the barrel of a Winchester
protruding from the top of a nearby turret. As another shot is fired at the
approaching Vampire, she turns and runs up a flight of stone steps towards the
Marksman.

JONATHAN gets in another shot just
as Mina appears and hurls herself at him sharp teeth bared in hatred. The rifle
goes spinning from his hands as the unharmed BAT flies closer and closer.

JONATHAN

Mina, for God’s sake,

it’s our only chance,

he must be destroyed!

EXT. SUMMIT. DAY.

DR. SEWARD

How’s the shoulder?

QUINCEY

Busted I guess ...

Dr. Seward rips off Quincey’s shirt
sleeve and examines the wound.

DR. SEWARD

You’re lucky. The bullet

passed clean through.

He tears the sleeve into strips and
starts bandaging the shoulder.

QUINCEY

My turn to do a little

bleedin’ anyways.

DR. SEWARD

(
laughing
)

Let’s hope it will be the

last ...

(
but suddenly his

face clouds
)

I say Quincey, I’ve just

had a terrible thought.

What time is it?

Quincey looks at his wrist-watch,
frowns and shakes it.

QUINCEY

Heck, it stopped at 5:45.

DR. SEWARD

Sunset in this longitude

is 5:51. Of course that’s

at sea level; up here it

would be a few minutes

later.

He looks at the heavy low cloud for
any sign of a break. Quincey loses something of his jubilation.

QUINCEY

What are you tryin’ to

tell me, Doc? He’s a goner,

ain’t he?

EXT. CASTLE DRACULA. DAY.

MINA

No, you shall not harm him!

You shall not!

Mina tears at Jonathan like a wild
cat frustrating all his efforts to retrieve the gun. Meanwhile, the BAT is
within a few feet of them, homing in towards Jonathan for the kill when
suddenly the clouds part revealing the sun sinking behind distant mountains
throwing out one last golden ray to strike down the grim black bat. His
supernatural power gone, DRACULA becomes a helpless naked man flapping his arms
in the sky, falling like Icarus, a victim of the sun’s majesty. With a scream
like a shriek from hell, Dracula plummets down towards the dead pine trees at
the foot of the castle wall,

impaled at last like hundreds of
his hapless victims before him.

Mina, who has watched the fall of
her vampire lover, transfixed, screams and collapses into Jonathan’s arms.
Snatching up his gun on the way, Jonathan carries the unconscious Mina down the
turret steps.

INT. CASTLE DRACULA. THE
GREAT HALL. DUSK.

JONATHAN carries MINA down the
spiral staircase and is making for the front door when a sound causes him to
spin round. One of the VAMPIRE WOMEN is running towards him.

FIRST VAMPIRE WOMAN

Stop! Stop!

Slipping Mina into a chair,
Jonathan takes aim and shoots the Vampire through the heart with a sacred
bullet. She falls, true dead, on the floor, the oil lamp she was holding
tumbles onto some heavy drapery which instantly ignites. A moment later her TWO
SISTERS appear at the far end of the corridor and run forward to the wall of
flame. Jonathan is about to take aim for a second time when the SECOND VAMPIRE
speaks to him through the flames. By now, Mina is coming round and is also
witness to her words.

SECOND VAMPIRE WOMAN

There is nothing to fear,

put down your gun. We are

free now. Our sister was

trying to thank you.

Dracula has no dominion over

us. His evil power died with

him. What prize the quest

for eternal beauty when the

cost is counted in innocent

lives.

THIRD VAMPIRE WOMAN

Fear of death holds less

dread for us than fear of

life. To live eternally

without love is to know

the true meaning of

damnation.

SECOND VAMPIRE WOMAN

To live eternally without

love is to suffer all the

agonies of hell!

SECOND/THIRD VAMPIRE WOMAN

(
in unison
)

He could not love.

He could not love!

Mina, who has been deeply moved,
leaps up with compassion.

MINA

May God forgive you,

may he forgive us all.

She is crying as Jonathan leads her
to the door, watching the redeemed vampires finding peace in the flames.

EXT. CASTLE DRACULA. THE
COURTYARD. DAY.

The sports car containing DR.
SEWARD and QUINCEY circles the courtyard as JONATHAN and MINA stagger out of
the door followed by billowing clouds of smoke. Climbing into the car with all
possible haste, they are soon speeding over the drawbridge and down the hill.

EXT. ROADWAY. DUSK.

As the car carrying the FOUR
ADVENTURERS flashes past, the CAMERA whips to the dead fir tree on which
DRACULA is impaled. His face withered and distorted by 500 years of mania is
set in a look of crazed disbelief as his Castle blazes above him like a giant
torch in the darkening sky.

- THE END –

Among the
correspondence I’ve received since the publication of Ken Russell’s script was
a letter from an established novelist and illustrator who was surprised that
Ken Russell allowed the ‘hearties’ to defeat ‘The Artist’. “Maltreated though
he was as an artist, Ken must have known that however much the philistines may
trample on Beauty as something alien to them and therefore threatening, the
creative spirit will ultimately survive triumphant in spite of them.”

He enclosed the
following suggestion as an alternative ending, constructed around the one new
character Russell created for the adaptation, and has given me permission to
publish it.

Readers are
welcome to send in ‘additional scenes’ and illustrations. The most interesting
examples will be published in future editions.

[EXT. ROADWAY. DUSK.

As the car carrying the FOUR
ADVENTURERS flashes past, the CAMERA whips to the dead fir tree on which
DRACULA is impaled. His face withered and distorted by 500 years of mania is
set in a look of crazed disbelief as his Castle blazes above him like a giant
torch in the darkening sky.]

EXT. FIR FOREST CLEARING.
BRIGHT NIGHT.

Naked and silvered with moonlight,
the GARDENER’S BOY seems almost afloat as he stands looking upward.

BOY

(half adoringly,

half Puckishly)

I come, Master, I come to

you, and shall release

you.

DISSOLVE TO:

DRACULA’S FACE, which relaxes as he
hears the Boy’s voice. He listens intently. The red firelight is diminishing.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. FIR FOREST CLEARING.
BRIGHT NIGHT.

BOY

(still adoringly, but

even more roguishly)

I shall release you

with a kiss.

(he grins)

Oh, how we fool them,

these mortal men with

their stakes and crosses,

and these mortal women

who believe themselves

beloved by their Casanova.

How we feast on their

Folly, you and I.

A tinkling cascade of laughter
breaks from him and his teeth show like sudden sharp pearls in the moonlight. A
thin trickle of blood runs down the length of his pale torso from his mouth to
his groin as if he has bitten his own lip.

DISSOLVE TO:

DRACULA’S FACE, which is now
cleared of all pain, and alert with anticipation. The red firelight has all but
faded away.

DISSOLVE TO:

The BOY, still upright, is now
almost perceptibly floating upward against a background of stars and fir
branches.

BOY

     (
adoringly
as before, but

never solemn, more as
if

grinning with pride
)

I come, Master, for my

spirit is yours. I am

Ariel. I am Hermes. I am

the spirit of inspiration

and you are the Creator.

My body and blood are yours.

For I am Ganymede. The Boy

of the Sonnets. I am Eros

Triumphant. I shall release

you with a kiss and creep

close beneath your cloak.

For you and I are One,

Master. Forever.

DISSOLVE TO:

DRACULA’S FACE. His eyes now seem
to see the Boy clearly and to watch his off-camera approach. The back of the
BOY’S BLOND HEAD floats into the frame until it covers the face of DRACULA. A
long moment. When the BOY’S HEAD withdraws again, DRACULA’S FACE is rejuvenated
and trans- figured. There is blood on his lips.

DRACULA

(whispers)

Forever.

DRACULA too now seems to float free
and upward as the CAMERA cuts slightly back. Fir branches give way entirely to
stars. The light is no longer red, all is now luminous silver and black. Though
both figures remain upright, the floating effect increases as the BOY slips
beneath DRACULA’s cloak and against his chest. As his cloak closes behind the
BOY like a theatre curtain, DRACULA smiles.

- THE END -