Ken Russell's Dracula (18 page)

my hat ...

Both men look at her in puzzlement.

MINA

When he asks me why I pulled

the cord I’ll say that my

hat, with the diamond

brooch, blew out of the

window.

JONATHAN

I hope he doesn’t realise

it’s paste.

VAN HELSING

As long as her tears are

real he will be convinced.

MINA

Nothing false about them,

I promise.

JONATHAN

It’s a good idea.

VAN HELSING

We must a move on get.

He lifts his old Gladstone bag from
the rack.

VAN HELSING

Two minutes, Miss Mina,

then pull!

JONATHAN

Sit tight, my love, in a

little while you’ll be free

of him forever.

He kisses her on the mouth and
follows the Professor through the door into the corridor. Mina watches them go
with a distant smile which just reveals the points of her newly sharp teeth.

INT. TRAIN CORRIDOR. DAY.

VAN HELSING and JONATHAN duck into
a Third Class compartment next to the Guard’s van and wait.

INT. FIRST CLASS
COMPARTMENT. DAY.

MINA counts the passing seconds to
herself then pulls the wire. With a squeal of brakes that nearly sends her
flying, the train begins to rapidly decelerate.

INT. THIRD CLASS
COMPARTMENT. DAY.

VAN HELSING and JONATHAN see the
GUARD rush by the window along the corridor, then with a glance at each other,
run out of the door in the opposite direction.

INT. FIRST CLASS
COMPARTMENT. DAY.

MINA, now hatless, is found in
heated conversation with the GUARD just as the train enters a tunnel and begins
to slip into darkness. MINA and the Guard talk simultaneously:

MINA

... on the hat band was

an extremely valuable

diamond brooch. You can

see for yourself what

happened. In lowering the

window it was whisked off

by the wind and ...

GUARD

(
in German
)

I cannot understand what

you are saying; kindly speak

German. If you are trying to

tell me you stopped the

train because your hat blew

out of the window, then you

will be prosecuted Madam,

and ...

During the conversation, the
carriage lights come on and the train grinds to a standstill.

INT. GUARD’S VAN. DAY.

VAN HELSING and JONATHAN are
feverishly working on the lid of Dracula’s casket with crow-bars. The wood is
beginning to splinter.

INT. FIRST CLASS
COMPARTMENT. DAY.

MINA and the GUARD are still at
loggerheads.

MINA

I insist you organize a

Search immediately. That

brooch is worth a small

fortune ...

GUARD

(
interrupting in German
)

Madame, the train has been

delayed long enough. Losing

your hat does not constitute

an emergency.

The GUARD who is looking out of the
window sees something which causes him to blink in disbelief.

GUARD’S POINT OF VIEW:

Silhouettes of HORSEMEN seen
against the mouth of the tunnel in the distance are galloping towards CAMERA.
They are escorting a cart.

RESUME: FIRST CLASS COMPARTMENT

The GUARD runs out of the door with
a cry of outrage.

EXT. TRAIN.

The GUARD jumps down and runs
towards the HORSEMEN who have now reached the Guard’s van.

INT. GUARD’S VAN. DAY.

VAN HELSING and JONATHAN with a
mighty effort throw back the lid. The casket is empty. Their alarm is deepened
by the sound of shots literally outside the main doors.

EXT. GUARD’S VAN. DAY.

GYPSY BANDITS shoot the GUARD full
of holes as he attempts to stop them breaking open the door.

INT. GUARD’S VAN. DAY.

VAN HELSING and JONATHAN look at
each other in dismay.

VAN HELSING

Dracula us has tricked!

JONATHAN

Mina, she’s alone!

They run for the door leading to
the corridor. To their surprise it is locked and despite their efforts refuses
to budge. Retrieving their crow-bars they now apply them to the locked door.
Meanwhile the main doors are beginning to splinter. Suddenly the lights go out.

INT. FIRST CLASS
COMPARTMENT. DAY.

MINA stands in the semi-darkness
illuminated by the faint light from the tunnel entrance filtering in through
the window. A noise in the doorway sends her spinning round to face it. But it is
too dark to see until a train passing in the other direction floods the
carriage in a flickering light revealing - DRACULA.

DRACULA

Thank you, Mina, my sweet.

Mina smiles at her Master tenderly.

INT. GUARD’S VAN. DAY.

The doors are torn off by the
BANDITS and the interior hit by the strobing light of the roaring Express. VAN
HELSING and JONATHAN are shot at just as they crash through the door into the
corridor. The bandits start pulling the casket out of the van.

INT. FIRST CLASS
COMPARTMENT. DAY.

The flickering light illuminates MINA
and DRACULA embracing.

INT. TRAIN CORRIDOR. DAY.

JONATHAN scrambles to safety but
stops when he sees the shot VAN HELSING stumble and fall. He runs to him and
kneels at his side as the Express passes leaving them in darkness with the
sound of the departing bandits echoing down the tracks.

VAN HELSING

I’m all right; go to Mina,

hurry!

JONATHAN

But Professor, you’re not

all right.

VAN HELSING

Hurry, I feel she is in

danger.

JONATHAN

Come, you can’t stay here.

He drags him the short distance along
the corridor to:

INT. FIRST CLASS
COMPARTMENT. DAY.

The lights come on as JONATHAN
hauls VAN HELSING through the doorway and lays him down on a seat. Of Mina
there is no sign. Everywhere is the sound of confusion, fright- ened voices,
PASSENGERS running along the corridor, and shouting from outside. Jonathan is
distraught, but does his best for the Professor who is coughing blood.

JONATHAN

She’s gone. My God,

Professor, I must try

and find a doctor.

VAN HELSING

Leave me, I am finished.

Go after them; every moment

counts. You can do nothing

for me. She is completely in

his power. Everything she

says comes through Dracula.

Quickly, once the train

starts you will never

catch him. There will be

questions, statements,

police. GO!

Jonathan kisses the Professor on
the forehead.

JONATHAN

God bless you, Professor.

Tearing himself away, he takes a
Winchester and a map from his bag and runs out of the door just as the train
starts moving.

EXT. TRAIN. DAY.

Jonathan jumps off as the train gathers
momentum and is left as a lone figure running along the track towards the south
of the tunnel.

EXT. WOODED ISLAND. NIGHT.

The BANDITS sit around a campfire,
eating and relaxing. A short distance away from the encampment on a beach
overlooking the sunlit waters of the swiftly flowing river stands DRACULA with
his arm around MINA. He looks more romantic than ever. Mina is now more
beautiful than we have ever known her. Though she is not one of the great
artists he has dedicated his life to save, Mina has an attraction Dracula finds
irresistible. He words his seduction accordingly.

DRACULA

You will share the

Delights of the earth

with me forever.

MINA

To be ‘Nosferatu’ means

To be exiled from God’s

love.

DRACULA

What is the love of God?

Little by little he reveals

to you the wonders of the

earth, like a parent

offering a child a

glittering box of sweets,

then just as you reach out

eagerly, he snatches them

away. Those whom he loves,

die as quickly as May flies

while we, whom he hates,

live on and on.

We enjoy everything, and

give up nothing. No perfume

the world has ever known

escapes my memory. There is

not a springtime of blossoms

in 500 years that has not

given me pleasure, barely a

note of all the music ever

written to which I have not

danced. How jealously God

guards his immortality.

Shakespeare, Michelangelo,

Tchaikovsky: as soon as they

challenged him with their

vision of heaven he cut them

down - until we started to

fight him. Now some of our

greatest artists are

‘Nosferatu’. But if it were

known they would be

persecuted for sorcery,

demonology, persecuted for

creating eternal beauty.

So once in a lifetime they

change their identity, even

their style.

Mina finds the idea fantastic but
is intrigued nevertheless.

MINA

Is that what drew you

to Lucy?

DRACULA

Poor, sweet Lucy, whose

golden voice would still be

thrilling us today had she