PersonalDemonsScript.html
FADE IN
INT. YOUNGSTOWN MENTAL HOSPITAL. DAY.
A long hallway stretches out in front of us. Sterile. White.
A HEAVYSET GUARD and TWO ORDERLIES accompany a YOUNG WOMAN in
PALE GREEN HOSPITAL SCRUBS down the hall, approaching us.
They stop and step into a conference room over half-way down
the hall. She is JENNY MATTHEWS, around thirty, blonde,
suicidally depressed and quite probably insane. An older man,
DOCTOR JENKINS, steps out from a small kitchen across from
the conference room, examining a folder full of papers. He
holds a cup of coffee in his hand. With him is a tall, well
dressed, dark-haired man, DAVID MATTHEWS. They talk for a
moment. Their dialogue too faint for us to make out.
Momentarily, the GUARD and the TWO ORDERLIES emerge and nod
to the DOCTOR. David walks away, down the hall, while the
Doctor steps inside... ...unaware of a DARK, LEGLESS TORSO of
a human being pulling itself swiftly across the hallway,
entering behind him.
CUT TO:
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM. DAY.
The Doctor wipes camera as he walks Left to Right, revealing
one end of a LONG CONFERENCE TABLE. On that end, we see
various medical books and journals, file folders and the
detritus of bored and boring meetings past. Begin slowly
dollying Right down the side of the conference table. High
backed, black leather chairs wipe the foreground. More
papers.
BLACK CHAIR.
DOCTOR JENKINS
(Off-Screen)
Hello, Jenny. I'm glad you're
feeling better.
A coffee cup, napkins and slightly-chewed ink-pen.
BLACK CHAIR.
A trickle of BLOOD on the table.
DOCTOR JENKINS (CONT'D)
(Off-Screen)
Sorry I hadn't been able to come by
since you were transferred. I also
wanted to tell you how sorry I was
to hear about your father.
Especially so soon after...what
happened.
BLACK CHAIR. The SOURCE of that blood. An EARLY-TWENTIES
BRUNETTE who is lying on her back on the conference table.
Her arms are outstretched over her head, the wrists bound.
She has a delicate collar around her neck and a thin chain,
pulled taut, wrapped several times around her throat. She is
writhing, gasping in pain, not from the CHAIN that may be
strangling her, perhaps from the PLASTIC BAG over her head
that cuts off her air, but most definitely from the KNIFE
that is cutting deeply into her abdomen and from the weight
of the KNIFE-WIELDING WOMAN lying on top of her. THAT WOMAN
is nude, covered in what appears to be dried, gray MUD from
head to toe. The mud has cracked along the small of her back,
giving one the distinct impression of a tortured, desert
floor. She pulls the knife upward, gutting her lover/victim
in the process-- her body blocking the most visceral aspects
of the image-- but the sound and the body language of the two
is enough to tell it all.
DOCTOR JENKINS (CONT'D) (CONT'D)
(Off-Screen)
So. What do you think of our little
facility?
Continuing the Dolly, past the murder scene, we see a pale,
ALBINO MAN, on his haunches, squatting on the table. He tears
at a bloody scrap of flesh in his hands and casts quick,
furtive glances around him, watchful of some predator, real
or imagined that we cannot see. Then, we catch a glimpse of
the LEGLESS CREATURE that entered from the hallway. He
disappears over the end of the conference table. The Dolly
comes to a stop after curving around behind the Doctor's
chair, landing in a two shot of Jenny (right) and the Doctor
(left). The table is CLEAR. Once we rounded the bend, passing
the last chair, there is no sign of the demonic imagery.
Everything is normal. Jenny is disheveled, though her
attendants had tried to make her look presentable. Dark
circles rim her eyes and her hair is tangled and tossed.
CLOSE ON JENNY. She raises her head, looking up at the Doctor
through the lids of her eyes.
JENNY
It's Hell.
REVERSE ANGLE. Our first real look at the good doctor. He's a
heavy-set man with a friendly, world-weary face. His eyes
hold a slight twinkle that lets you know that the laugh lines
around his mouth were earned honestly.
DOCTOR JENKINS
And the food's even worse. Look, I
want to help you get better so you
can go home.
Wider on the two of them. Jenny gives an involuntary shudder.
DOCTOR JENKINS (CONT'D)
(opening a folder in front
of him.)
Now, I need to go over exactly what
happened that night. It's rough, I
know. But let's just get through
this,ok? She nods,
slowly...nervously.
DOCTOR JENKINS (CONT'D)
We know that you and David brought
other women into your bedroom. In
fact, two ladies testified in the
trial that while your sexual play
was at times a little extreme, they
never felt endangered in anyway.
FLASH IMAGE: A pair of wrists tied by white cord stand out in
sharp contrast from a dark wooden headboard. Close on Jenny.
Not looking at the Doctor. FLASH IMAGE: Human Stop Motion.
JENNY'S POV, crouched over a woman and her hand enters frame
right, in a SLAPPING action. Each frame, changes--a DIFFERENT
woman. All with the same action. Each frame showing a
continuation of a woman being struck in the face, played in
realtime, telling us that there were many lovers and many
nights where the play was rough. All in about a second.
Closer on Jenny. Still not looking at the Doctor.
JENNY
Crystal says she can't breathe.
The Doctor takes his glasses off and looks at Jenny.
DOCTOR JENKINS
Is that what she said that night?
No answer.
FLASH IMAGE: LOOKING DOWN THE LENGTH OF THE TABLE, toward the
door. The images of the CLAY WOMAN and the Dead girl are
gone. In their place is another stunningly beautiful woman,
nude, slowly crawling toward camera. Her body is covered in
cuts, three to four inches long. This CUT WOMAN leaves a
trail of blood in her wake.
DOCTOR JENKINS (CONT'D) (CONT'D)
Jenny?
(beat)
Was it common for you to practice
asphyxiation during sex with your
friends?
Jenny looks lost. Confused.
DOCTOR JENKINS (CONT'D) (CONT'D)
That's your particular fetish,
right? You cut off the air supply
to heighten the experience? Is that
why the plastic bag was over
Crystal's head? Jenny lets a tear
escape her eyes.
JENNY
Yes. But...she said she couldn't
breathe.
A dark shape moves behind Jenny to one side, disappearing in
our peripheral vision. Opposite, the CUT-WOMAN rises into
frame, smelling Jenny's neck, her ear... Reverse on the
doctor.
DOCTOR JENKINS
But that's part of the thrill for a
dominant, isn't it? Holding a
submissive's life in your hands?
Medium Shot of Jenny. No CUT-WOMAN, nothing out of the
ordinary, but she moves as if she's straining away from his
attentions.
JENNY
She had asthma. She'd...
(beat)
She'd forgotten her inhaler. So I
didn't do that with her.
FLASH IMAGES: Crystal lying on her back in bed. Her eyes wide
open. The fogged, Plastic Bag over her head. Everything is
still until she takes in a big gulp of air, sucking the
plastic to her face. The doctor leans back. Puts his glasses
back on. He's trying to see something in the girl that he
can't put his finger on.
DOCTOR JENKINS
You had some drugs that night.
JENNY
We'd smoked a little before we went
to bed. I had some wine. Picking up
the medical report.
DOCTOR JENKINS
And the depressants?
JENNY
I...was tired. David and Crystal
wanted to keep fooling around and I
just crashed on the couch.
FLASH IMAGES: Jenny, wearing panties and a t-shirt, steps
into the bathroom. She opens the mirrored medicine cabinet,
showing the reflection of her husband and their lover in bed
in the next room. She shakes some pills into her hand and
pops them into her mouth.
JENNY (CONT'D)
I took some stuff to help me sleep.
The doctor looks at her for a moment then quietly asks...
DOCTOR JENKINS
And when you woke up?
Jenny jerks her head to right, looking at the door to the
room. We see nothing, but then... JENNY'S POV: The deadly
tableau is back. The clay-covered woman and Crystal's
body...The Albino...the DOORS OPEN, but we see no one enter
or leave. Jenny is frozen for a moment. She doesn't speak.
DOCTOR JENKINS (CONT'D)
Jenny, this is very important. What
did you see when you woke up? Jenny
turns her head back to the doctor.
FLASH IMAGES: Jenny, straddling the body of Crystal, the bag
over the dead girl's head...the knife in Jenny's hand. The
husband, David reacts in horror.
JENNY
I killed her.
Jenny begins to shake, sobbing without the tears. The doctor
puts his hand on hers, calming.
DOCTOR JENKINS
That's not what I asked. What did
you see?
WIDE SHOT. The CLAY-COVERED WOMAN crawls off of the table,
standing behind the doctor, caressing his cheek. We see her
face clearly now. Her lips lined with black and red. Her red
rimmed eyes glinting... ...Under the mud, it's clear that the
Clay Woman is JENNY. The Albino is now standing in the
corner, twitching and watching-- a demonic spectator, licking
his blood-flecked lips.
JENNY
I...
She closes her eyes.
JENNY (CONT'D)
I was sitting on top of Crystal. I
had the knife in my hand.
DOCTOR JENKINS
And?
JENNY
And David came in from the
bathroom. Screaming. He was in
shock...
The Doctor leans back. The Clay-Woman shows Jenny the knife
in her hand and gestures toward the Doctor.
JENNY (CONT'D)
NO!
The Doctor bolts up in his seat.
DOCTOR JENKINS
What?
JENNY
Nothing...
DOCTOR JENKINS
You have to tell me...Do you
remember killing Crystal? Or
getting into bed with her while
David was in the bathroom?
She just sits silently for a moment. She looks down to her
right, to see... ...A LITTLE GIRL, blonde, no more than four
years old in a pink party dress, looking up at her.
LITTLE GIRL
Do you?
JENNY closes her eyes and turns away, but when she opens
them, she sees TWO WOMEN to her left. One Standing, the other
kneeling in front of her. The Standing Woman has one hand up
to her mouth and the Kneeling Woman is moving her head back
and forth as if she's chewing or licking the other woman.
CLOSER, The Kneeling woman's hand holds a LONG PAIR OF
Forceps used for stitching wounds. She's biting at thread
with her teeth. She's Stitching the Standing Woman's arm to
her side. CLOSE on the Standing Woman's face. Her middle
finger of her other hand is in her mouth, her lips stitched
shut around it. Her eyes closed, stitched shut. Jenny closes
her eyes again. TIGHTLY. NOT OPENING THEM.
JENNY
No.
I don't know. I don't remember anything after I lay down on
the couch! The Doctor closes the folder.
DOCTOR JENKINS
It's OK, Jenny. You're doing great.
Behind the Doctor, the Clay-Woman begins a sexy dance, then
drags the tip of her blade against her abdomen, cutting a
vertical slit, three or four inches tall. A trickle of blood
escapes and with the two middle fingers of her free hand
begins to suggestively massage the top of the cut-- a
bizarre, perverted parody of self-love that causes Jenny to
flinch and cover her face.
DOCTOR JENKINS (CONT'D)
You and David always taped your
threesomes, didn't you?
JENNY
Yes.
DOCTOR JENKINS
But not that night? There was no
tape in the camera. Why not?
Tight on the Clay-Woman's abdomen. On the cut. We see two
big, hairy hands reach around from behind her. The finger
nails are chipped and yellowed. The fingers touch either side
of the slit in her stomach, at first sensuously, then
roughly, pulling it wider apart. Blood flows freely. Wider,
we see a massive MUSCLE MAN behind the Clay Woman. He is
grinning wickedly, and she is clearly in ecstacy. Finger
length bone-like HORNS grow from his forearms. CLOSE on
Jenny. In shock from the bizarre display. Jenny POV-- SLOW
MOTION. Looking down the length of the table. The LITTLE GIRL
is leaving the room.
She looks back, waving at Jenny, the top half of her face now
a BROWN, DECAYING SKULL. Reverse Angle, Wide Shot: The room
is NORMAL again. There's a beat before Jenny can talk again.
JENNY
David did the taping. He must've
forgot.
The LEGLESS TORSO is on the table again, pushing past the
dead body of Crystal, he makes his way toward Jenny. She
looks at him in horror.
DOCTOR JENKINS
Jenny, what is it?
The Torso is that of a man...badly burnt. He turns his
attention to the Clay Woman, looking at her CUT. He reaches
up, probing the wound. The MUSCLE MAN grinning a toothy grin.
CLOSE on Torso's HAND, probing the cut. He pulls something
out. A small, rectangular object. Jenny looks at him, then
slowly shows recognition. The BURNT MAN slides the bloody
CAMCORDER TAPE across the table. As she places her finger
tips on it to take the tape, he touches her hand for a
moment, then with a violent jerk, turns back and scurries
away, over the side of the table and is gone.
DOCTOR JENKINS (CONT'D)
Where did you get that?
Jenny looks down at the tape (Non-Bloody) in her hands.
JENNY
You see it, too?
DOCTOR JENKINS
Where did you get this tape?
JENNY
My father.
DOCTOR JENKINS
Jenny...your father's dead. Jenny
turns the tape over in her hands.
JENNY
Did they cut his legs off...getting
him out of the crash? The Doctor is
CLEARLY taken aback.
DOCTOR JENKINS
They were crushed...in the wreck.
Did one of the nurses tell you?
JENNY
No...
She hands the tape over to the Doctor.
JENNY (CONT'D)
Please...just play it.
The Doctor stands up and puts the tape into a Camera on a
shelf at the head of the table, flipping on a TV in the
process. VIDEO: The IMAGE is a relatively unsexy home-video
camera from a high-angle looking down on the bed. VIDEO: We
see David and CRYSTAL fooling around while JENNY waves
goodnight and goes off to the bathroom. AT THIS POINT, the
door to the conference room opens and David steps inside,
followed by the SECURITY GUARD and ORDERLY from earlier.
DAVID
Sorry to bother you, Doctor...if
you're finished talking to Jenny I
wanted to see her for a few minutes
before I go.
(noticing the tape)
What are you watching? The doctor
looks at David questioningly.
DOCTOR JENKINS
It's the tape from...that night.
Did you find it and give it to
Jenny?
JENNY
(quietly)
I told you my Father gave it to me.
DAVID
(overlapping dialogue)
There was no tape that night. We
went over all that.
DOCTOR JENKINS
We can clear this up right now...
David steps toward the Doctor, obviously upset. The Security
Guard blocks his path. SLOW-MOTION: The MUSCLE MAN roughly
pushes the CLAY WOMAN onto the table, looking at David, who
of course doesn't see him.
DAVID
You have no right to look at my
private property!
DOCTOR JENKINS
(sternly)
That's correct. But SHE ...
(pointing at Jenny)
...has no rights over personal
property. You signed them over to
this hospital. And that GIVES me
the right to watch HER tape.
Ronald. The Security Guard (Ronald) roughly pushes David into
a black chair, mimicking the move the MUSCLE man had made a
moment before. The Doctor Fast Forwards and we see... VIDEO:
Petting, more Fast Forward, then the bag going over Crystal's
Head, then writhing, then something obviously goes wrong.
David yanks the bag off of Crystal's head, but she won't wake
up. He slaps her. Nothing. He's sweating it. He puts the bag
back over her head. VIDEO: Then he leaves the room. A moment
later, he comes back in, dragging Jenny with him. She's
almost comatose. He puts her on top of Crystal, placing her
hands around the dead woman's throat. Jenny practically
passes out on top of her. He leaves the room for a moment,
then comes back screaming. Jenny bolts awake-- realizing what
she must have done. He yanks her off the dead girl and the
two scream at each other until he reaches for the telephone
to call 911. VIDEO: The Video resolves to WHITE NOISE. The
audio static trails off to a low hum. All eyes are on David,
who has gone white. He's sweating. One Orderly looks at the
Doctor, then leaves the room. The other Orderly takes up a
post in front of the door. The Security Guard has his gun
drawn.
DAVID
I never meant to blame you...
JENNY
Bullshit.
Wide shot of the various demons looking at each other,
nervously. Jenny is more confused than ever. She turns to the
Doctor.
JENNY (CONT'D)
But what about...the knife?
DOCTOR JENKINS
There was no knife, Jenny. Never
was. That was a false memory your
mind made up.
We all have our personal demons. Jenny, still looking
confused, looks better physically than she did earlier.
This is SUBTLE. Her hair's a little neater. The dark circles
are nearly gone. She's sitting up straighter.
JENNY
I didn't kill her.
(realizing) )
I didn't kill Crystal.
Jenny looks back at the television with the WHITE NOISE.
DOWNSHOT, PULL BACK the length of the table, passing all of
the demons, the SOUND of the WHITE-NOISE distorted in a long
whine as all of the Demons are looking at Jenny, then they
turn, purposefully fixing their gaze on David. Jenny's POV.
The Demons TURNING AWAY. CLOSE on JENNY. Dumbstruck. DAVID'S
POV. The various demons crawling, writhing, MOVING toward
him. David freaks-- Now, HE sees these things and breaks
down. The Doctor stands, shouting at the orderly and Security
Guard.
DOCTOR JENKINS
Get him out of here! Sedate him and
put him in Ward Three until the
police arrive!
The men drag the quite insane David out of the room, the
demons following.
JENNY
But the tape...
The Doctor, still standing, is beside himself. The situation
has just turned on its head.
DOCTOR JENKINS
I'm sorry, Jenny. I have no idea...
I can't explain the tape. He takes
a long look at her.
DOCTOR JENKINS (CONT'D)
I need to make sure that David's
dealt with properly...I'll send a
nurse in to take you back to your
room. Okay, Jenny? Jenny is looking
back at the VIDEO NOISE.
DOCTOR JENKINS (CONT'D)
Jenny?
JENNY
Yeah. I'll be fine. The Doctor
heads for the door.
DOCTOR JENKINS
I promise we won't keep you any
longer than necessary.
You'll probably go home by the end of the week. Close on
Jenny.
JENNY
(distant)
Good.
(beat)
Doctor Jenkins?
DOCTOR JENKINS
Yes?
JENNY
Did you mean what you said about
each of us having our own personal
demons?
Over Jenny's Shoulder, looking at Doctor, standing in the
door.
DOCTOR JENKINS
I think we all have something that
plagues us...something that
represents a black mark on our
soul...
(he smiles)
Not very scientific of me to say
that, I suppose.
(beat)
Why do you ask?
Entering frame left, we see the Albino walking toward the
Doctor and joining him at his side, the Doctor oblivious to
him. He gives Jenny a sidelong glance. Twitching. Grinning.
CLOSE on Jenny.
JENNY
Just wondering...that's all.
PULL BACK to reveal the the CUT WOMAN sitting beside Jenny,
twirling her finger in traces of blood on the table.
THE END
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