Ken Russell's Dracula (4 page)

Now off with you

to the servants’ hall –

the party’s in full swing!

At this, Lazlo takes off his
werewolf mask and, waving it in the air, drives off down a ramp into the bowels
of the castle. Meanwhile, the Count takes Jonathan by the arm and leads him
through the doorway.

INT, CASTLE DRACULA. THE
GREAT HALL. NIGHT.

As Jonathan takes in the decor
which, to his surprise, contrasts greatly with the medieval exterior of the
building, being the last word in 1925 contemporary, Dracula leads him past a
throng of COUPLES dancing to a jazz band towards a sweeping marble staircase.

DRACULA

This is a country

of feast days my friend

and we celebrate them all,

rich and poor alike. Down

in Bistritz you saw a

peasant carnival which

has remained unchanged

for centuries.

Up here we pay tradition

a more sophisticated

tribute. Most festivals

have a - sacrificial victim,

Mister Harker. I’m afraid

you were the martyr of our

little hoax tonight.

He puts his hand on his heart and
smiles charmingly but Jonathan is not to be so easily placated.

JONATHAN

Some joke, with my ruddy

coat nearly torn off my

back.

Dracula notices Jonathan’s torn
coat and general disarray.

DRACULA

Was that Lazlo?

JONATHAN

(
nodding tersely
)

Well, I don’t make a habit

of calling on new clients

dressed like a tramp!

DRACULA

(
sympathetically
)

He plays too rough. Next

year I will have to give

him another role.

(
he examines the torn cape
)

You will be reimbursed.

In the meantime, Katya will

attend to it. Now please

say we are forgiven?

JONATHAN

(
good-naturedly
)

I’m in your debt, Count.

I’m now England’s leading

authority on Transylvanian

folklore.

DRACULA

Let me get you a drink.

JONATHAN

Er, thank you. Anything

will do. What’s your poison?

DRACULA

(
puzzled
)

My what...? Oh...

(
he sees Jonathan looking

at his ruby glass
)

... your English slang.

This is a local beverage

known as Bull’s Blood.

An acquired taste. Not to

everyone’s palate I’m

afraid. Here...

He whisks a large brandy from the
tray of a passing WAITER and hands it to Jonathan.

DRACULA

I think you’ll be happier

with this.

JONATHAN

Mmmm ... thank you. This’ll

warm the cockles.

Dracula leads Jonathan up a broad
staircase to the first floor, making polite conversation as he goes.

DRACULA

Have you always been in

Real Estate, Mr. Harker?

JONATHAN

Ever since I was demobbed,

yes, Count.

DRACULA

(puzzled)

De-mobbed ...?

JONATHAN

Er, yes... demobilized.

I was at the front in the

war, the Royal Yorkshires.

DRACULA

(
frowning
)

The War! Such senseless

bloodshed! Here we are ...

They reach the head of the stairs
and stop at the first doorway. Dracula opens it and ushers Jonathan into:

THE BEARDSLEY ROOM

DRACULA

I thought you’d be at

home here.

JONATHAN

(
startled
)

Blimey!

Judging by Jonathan’s expression,
he has never seen anything like it. Life-size reproductions of Beardsley’s more
erotic works adorn the walls. The furniture also is moulded on the artist’s
phallic style, while the drapes and fabrics are in stark black and white.

DRACULA

Beardsley was surely one

Of your finest artists.

It is to my ever-lasting

regret that I never met him.

So talented, and to die so

young. A tragedy! I might

have helped him.

JONATHAN

Are you a doctor, sir?

DRACULA

(
laughing
)

I dabble a little in

acupuncture, certainly;

I’m also something of a

patron of the arts. Now,

I must return to my guests,

forgive me. I hope you will

join us later?

JONATHAN

That’s very nice of you,

Sir, but I think I’ll turn

in if it’s all the same.

I’m proper fagged out.

Dracula is quite relieved having
marked Jonathan down as far beneath him both socially and intellectually.

DRACULA

Of course. I think we have

anticipated your needs,

but should you require

anything ... simply ring.

(
He indicates an electric bell
)

Business can wait till

after lunch when we will

hopefully exchange

contracts. In the meantime

this will help you sleep

well and dream well.

He pours some amber coloured liquid
from a decanter into Jonathan’s glass.

DRACULA

... and by the way, you

were never in the slightest

danger. You’re little use

to me dead, you know.

Jonathan manages a hollow laugh as
he raises his glass and takes a sip.

JONATHAN

Not to worry, Count. I

Guessed it was a hoax.

Pleasant dreams.

The Count smiles to himself and
exits leaving Jonathan to knock back his drink, get a refill from the decanter
and take in his surroundings.

JONATHAN’S POINT OF VIEW:

The camera passes over the
wallpaper showing four men with giant erections dancing before an audience of
beautiful women.

JUMP CUT BACK TO REVEAL:

Jonathan in bed gazing at the
phallic frieze through blinking, dreamy eyes. No sooner has he turned the light
out and settled down to sleep than THREE of the beautiful WOMEN on the
wallpaper seem to gradually materialize at his bedside. Through a drugged haze,
Jonathan smiles at them. He has witnessed too many bizarre events in one night
to question this one.

JONATHAN

On behalf of St. George,

Welcome to my dream, ladies.

Not knowing if he is awake or
dreaming and caring less, Jonathan does not resist as the central figure leans
languorously forward, eyes glittering seductively as if to kiss him; indeed he
longs for it with languid anticipation. Lower and lower dips the girl’s head
until her lips pass below the range of his mouth and poise above his throat.
Jonathan feels the dents of two sharp teeth on his skin with a tremor of
ecstacy that is short-lived. Suddenly the door is thrown open revealing the
hard silhouette of DRACULA. Immediately the THREE VAMPIRE GIRLS fall back in
terror. Dracula strides towards the bed where Jonathan pretends to be more
drugged than is actually the case. Apparently convinced, Dracula turns his
attention to the vampires.

DRACULA

How dare you touch him,

any of you! How dare you

vent your lust on him when

I have forbidden it!

The FIRST VAMPIRE WOMAN collects
herself and retaliates with a metallic laugh.

FIRST VAMPIRE WOMAN

It is you turned our love

into lust!

SECOND VAMPIRE WOMAN

(
to Dracula
)

You have never loved!

At this the vampires all laugh, so
that the room is filled with a soulless mocking sound frightening in its
cruelty.

DRACULA

I outgrew your kind of love,

long ago. MY love surpasses

your understanding. Now GO!

THIRD VAMPIRE WOMAN

(
hungrily
)

Are we to have nothing

tonight?

FIRST VAMPIRE WOMAN

(
sarcastically
)

Would you have us all die?

THIRD VAMPIRE WOMAN

(
despairingly
)

Would that we could!

SECOND VAMPIRE WOMAN

... to be freed from this

need, this craving for

Blood.

DRACULA

The blood is the life,

the Power, and the Glory.

Take it!

Dracula points through the door
into the brightly lit corridor where a naked BABY is seen crawling on the
carpet. Through hazy, half-shut lids, Jonathan just has time to see the three
vampire girls leap with a cry at the child before Dracula follows them closing
the door behind them. Jonathan hears with a shudder the screams of the dying
child gradually smothered by the sounds of greedy sucking until a voice outside
the castle ground fetches him sway- ing from his bed to look out of the window.

JONATHAN’S POINT OF VIEW:

At the foot of the castle wall,
quite clear in the moonlight, stands the figure of a beautiful PEASANT WOMAN
shouting desperately at someone high above.

MOTHER

Monster! Give me my child!

BEARDSLEY BEDROOM: Jonathan changes
his eye-line.

JONATHAN’S NEW POINT OF VIEW:

Dracula, standing on the
battlements, his cloak billowing in the wind, looks at Woman with disdain.
Clambering over the battlements, Dracula begins to crawl down the castle wall
FACE DOWN with his cloak spreading around him like great wings. He continues
until he reaches the hypnotised woman, whose screams turn to cries of ecstasy
as Dracula bites through the jugular vein and sucks long and deep.

INT. BEDROOM. NIGHT.

Jonathan turns away from the gruesome
sight and, feverishly searching his overcoat, finds the once disparaged
crucifix which he hangs around his neck like a talisman. Next he turns to lock
the door but, as there is no key, he has to content himself with jamming a
chair under the handle before falling onto the bed in a swoon.