MonkeyKnifeFight

Script frenzy 2009 failure

Sadly this isn’t the final version of the draft, that’s been lost somewhere along the line but I thought I’d post it here in case anyone fancied reading it anyway.

The bit with the wolf and the woodsman as well as the end where I needed to get the final act down are missing. If I can find them and if anyone’s bothered I’ll see if I can dig it out from somewhere.

INT. DAY. ASYLUM CLINIC
Not that you’d be able to tell by the sickly yellow lighting
and the lack of windows.
FADE FROM WHITE
EXTREME CLOSE UP
The Girl’s blue eye. Camera pans out to see her take a large
lungful of air as she arches her back on the table. She is
wearing a dirty white linen hospital gown. She has shock-
treatment nodes attached to her temples. They smoke lightly.
THE GIRL
*GASP*
THE DOKTOR
The procedure seems to have been a
success nurse. Have her cleaned up
and returned to her room.
He removes his elbow length black rubber gloves and hands
them to the nurse. They are wet.
NURSE
Yes Herr Doktor.
*she takes the gloves from him and
leaves*
Both The Doktor and all his staff are so immaculately clean
that they glow. Everyone else is filthy.
The Girl attempts to lever herself up onto her elbows. We see
that her blonde hair is matted with sweat or similar.
THE GIRL
What… where am I?
She’s obviously confused and disoriented.
THE DOKTOR
Now then child, be still. You need
your rest, you’ve been through a lot
recently.
He pushes her back gently onto the gurney. It is an old steel
and leather one with wrist and ankle restraints.
THE DOKTOR
Do you know where you are?
He sounds concerned, fatherly and German. He looks at her

from under his raised eyebrows and forehead mirror.
THE GIRL
I, uh, no. Who are you; what am I
doing here?
The girl raises a palm to her forehead and closes her eyes,
brow furrowed, resting on her left elbow to lift her
slightly, which is still tied, like her ankles, to the
gurney.
THE DOKTOR
You really remember nothing?
*nussink*
This is good, very good. *zer guht, ja*
The Doktor is half talking to himself at the end of his
sentences.
THE DOKTOR
Do not worry my dear. What you need
now is rest.
I will have an orderly come and
escort you to your room.
THE GIRL
Doctor, I have a question. Many
questions.
She looks earnestly at him.
THE DOKTOR
Yes, yes, ja, I’m sure. They will
have to wait. Perhaps our next
session.
He stands up straight, turning and the conversation, for him
at least, is at an end. An orderly has arrived and he wheels
The Girl away whilst she twists and turns in the gurney to
try and fire questions over her shoulder.

INT. DAY. THE ASYLUM CORRIDORS
The Girl watches as she’s wheeled through the milling crowds
of mad men that fill the tiled hallways.
Eventually they arrive at a cell with a battered iron door
with green and white chipped paint and a tiny viewing hole in
it.

She locks gazes with a giant man who seems to have a real
rabbit nose but he is immediately lost in the crowd and The
Girl is in no position to crane to find him again.

INT. DAY. THE GIRL’S CELL
THE SHOT IS POSITIONED ISOMETRICALLY FROM ABOVE AND IS EVER
SO SLIGHTLY UNCOMFORTABLY LONG.
It is grubby and looks as though it stinks. The girl is sat
with her legs out beneath her with her hands in her lap and
her head bowed forward. The floor is strewn with stones and
straw and there are muted cries and the murmur of madness
from outside.
A pewter plate of ‘food’ is slid across the floor. It’s grey
and slops over the side of the bowl.

FADE TO BLACK.

INT. DAY. THE ASYLUM ‘RECREATION’ ROOM
The Girl is sat alone at a table covered in chequers and
toppled chess pieces. She looks over her shoulder
occasionally and tucks her hair behind her ears, head bowed
as if trying to deflect attention. There is chaos all around
as begowned inmates shuffle around, jostling each other but
don’t touch her or the table.
A gowned man approaches. He has a large u-shaped scar running
around one side of his head. It is quite bald. It is the
giant man who had the rabbit nose.
He stand quietly near the table with his shoulders slumped
and his head down.
The Girl flicks a nervous glance at him and then looks back
at the table. He doesn’t move.
She waits a little and then looks back this time she stares
up at him for a good while before standing up and chasing him
off by waving her arms and shouting loudly. Think Chimps. He
cringes and runs away crying.
The Girl sits down and after a brief pause covers her eyes
with one hand and starts crying also.
THE CAMERA DOES NOT MOVE DURING THIS WHOLE EXCHANGE. IT MIGHT
BE HANDICAM.

INT. DAY. THE GIRL’S CELL
IDENTICAL SHOT TO THE LAST TIME YOU SAW THE CELL EXCEPT NOW
THE GIRL IS SAT CROSSED LEGGED AND CATCHES THE FOOD AS IT
SLIDES PAST AND WAVES AT THE UNSEEN PERSON THAT THREW IT.
INT. DAY. ASYLUM CLINIC
Another extreme close up of The Girl’s eyes. They look from
side to side in panic then close tightly.
PAN BACK.
The Girl has a gag in place and is being electroshocked, her
back is arching and her screaming is muffled.
FADE TO WHITE

INT. DAY. THE ASYLUM CORRIDORS
The Girl’s being wheeled through the corridor again. She’s
barely conscious but she locks eyes with The Giant again.
This time he’s got a rabbit nose, teeth and ears. He nods and
she passes out.

INT. DAY. THE ASYLUM ‘RECREATION’ ROOM
The Girl is listless and sits with her head slumped over her
chest. She is sat with The Giant at the games table,
surrounded by chess pieces again. As before he is normal
again.
IT IS THE SAME SHOT AS BEFORE.
They are sat contemplating the red and black checkered board
before them. The Girl has her red chess pieces in front of
her and The giant, black chequers. She moves a pawn, holds
her finger there for a while and then, happy with her
decision, removes the digit. She looks up at The Giant with a
nervous smile and nods.
He kings a piece and sends it around the board in a seemingly
random manoeuvre and removes most of her pieces, leaving only
the queen. He looks up and grins triumphantly, nods back.
The girl hangs her head and slaps her forehead.
INT. DAY. ASYLUM CLINIC
THE CAMERA TAKES IN THE WHOLE ROOM.
The Doktor is preparing his tools, this time rather than the
electroshock equipment he has a series of surgical tools on
display.

He caresses them lovingly, lightly dancing his fingertips
across the extremely shiny instruments.
He’s humming.
INT. DAY. THE ASYLUM CORRIDORS
We are stood outside The Girl’s cell, an orderly is helping
The Girl to navigate the complexities of the door.
*BANG*
The Giant has run down the corridor and smashed the game
table over the orderly’s head. He crumples.
The Giant grabs The Girl’s arm and drags her forcefully down
the corridor in the direction that he came. The crowd of
patients whoop, scream and jump in place but do not
interfere.
We hear the protests of orderlies off camera. The Giant looks
over his shoulder, to camera his arse is on show, he pulls a
comical surprised expression and pulls The Girl faster,
nipping quickly round a corner, gown flapping. They join a
small group of patients who are just stood around in a
circle, heads bowed. The orderlies barge past, knocking
everyone. They’re obviously not part of the same group but
the orderlies do not notice.
The Giant looks up and then, grabbing The Girl’s arm again,
runs in the direction the orderlies came from.

INT. DAY. INSIDE LAUNDRY ROOM
There are piles of dirty linen everywhere. We are facing the
inside of the door when we hear something hit it.

INT. DAY. OUTSIDE LAUNDRY ROOM
The Giant is rubbing his shoulder and grimacing. Shouts and
the sound of running feet are getting louder. The Giant looks
up, right, left and, smiling, grabs a handy patient and
swings him forcefully into the door, face first. The patient
continues through the newly opened aperture and collapses,
bloodied, onto one of the piles of laundry.
He shakes the girl to illicit a response. She lifts her head
slightly and groans.
THE GIRL
I… uh, yes, yes, I understand. We,
uh, have to leave.
THE GIANT
*HUH*
He smiles encouragingly and holds her cheek briefly in a
fatherly manner.
The Giant looks down at the patient.
The Giant grabs the poor groaning man and spins him once like
a hammer thrower’s hammer.

EXT. DAY. ASYLUM
The window explodes as the patient is hefted through it. The
window is on at least the second storey.
It is snowing.

INT. DAY. INSIDE LAUNDRY ROOM
The Giant picks up the girl, cradling her in his arms and
stands on the edge of the newly opened exit. He takes one
look over his shoulder and then, looking down, jumps…
CUT TO BLACK
DARKNESS
There is a loud splash.

EXT. DAY. THE RIVER.
CLOSE UP, WATER ON LENS AS IF WE ARE SWIMMING WITH THE
CHARACTERS.
The Giant and The Girl come spluttering to the surface. It
looks cold and unpleasant. Behind and above them we can see
orderlies peering over the edge of the window but not
directly at the pair.

INT. DAY. QUEEN’S CHAMBERS
THE RED QUEEN
WHAT?
She smashes a glass to the floor. She’s prone to bursts of
fury that echo her fiery exterior. She’s a tall woman,
wrapped head to toe in black rubber with a shock of red
artificial dreadlocks. She is beautiful and has immaculate
make-up. The throne room is massive and black. If stained
glass windows can be made in black and still let in light
they’d be in here.
THE RED QUEEN
What do you mean she’s gone? How can
she be gone, she was in a secure
asylum!
I built it myself and nobody’s ever
escaped my asylum!
There are always a group of lackies around the Red Queen,
replacing and refilling glasses mostly.
A lacky backs away in deference to her, head bowed and hands
clasped he retreats without ever turning his back to her and
disappears into the shadows.