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Victoria's Ghost Story
Victoria's Ghost Story
A short script
by
L.D. Willis
L.D. Willis
206-426-7480 phone/fax
indiemoviemaking@gmail.com
Copyright 2003
Revised May 7, 2009
-2-
FADE IN:
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
The COLLISION sends the woman to the ground and the bag of
tomatoes flailing out of her hands, with tomatoes splattering
and rolling all over the street.
JOSE
Hey, I’m sorry ‘bout that.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
(re: damaged tomatoes)
Oh my, such a waste. A lugubrious situation.
indeed. Well, don’t just stand there. Help me.
Where are your manners?
Jose turns off the CD player and rushes to her aid. When he
extends a hand the woman takes him by surprise and pulls
him hard to the ground beside her.
JOSE
Dude, why’d you do that? I was only
trying to help.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
I beg your pardon. Do I look like a dude to you?
JOSE
Hey, it’s just a
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
(interrupting)
stupid thing to say to a lady.
-3-
Jose sighs and throws up his hands.
JOSE
There’s still some good ones leftones
that didn’t get all squashed.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Yes, that is truly a positive attitude.
JOSE
Hey, if you don’t mind me asking. Whatta
you doing with so many of them anyway?
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Well, I don’t know if I should tell you.
JOSE
(tossing tomato in bag)
Oh come on? Whatta you making? Some kind of
foreign stew that calls for fifty tomatoes?
The middle-age woman stops and looks him firmly in the eyes.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
I use them as a moisturizer for the skin.
I bathe with them and rub the juices all over
my naked body.
-4-
JOSE
That’s wild stuff. You’re kidding right?
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
I most certainly am not. Go ahead and touch my
cheek. It’s as smooth as a baby’s bottom.
JOSE
Wow, nice. Right on. Tomato juice. Mi madre would
love it. I gotta tell her. Bueno.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Actually, dear boy, I would prefer you didn’t.
I hate to sound vain but it’s a personal
technique that I do not wish to share with
the rest of the world. It makes me unique.
She adjusts the belt string around her summer dress and
fans out the wrinkles. Intermittently she catches him
admiring her figure. He looks away every time she looks up.
JOSE
Seventeen and a half.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Really, what half is that?
JOSE
Sorry.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
They can’t all be saved.
JOSE
(wiping nose nervously and toe tapping)
Uhm, how old . . .how old are you?
-5-
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Interesting. The display of histrionics is very
amusing.
JOSE
Huh?
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Histrionicsthe toe tapping, the wiping of the
nose and hand movementall affectations of your
nervousness regarding asking my age.
JOSE
Well, girls don’t usually like
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
(interrupting)
We have already established that I am not a dude.
Let’s further establish I am not a girl. I am
a lady, okay? A remarkable lady of substance.
How old do I look?
JOSE
(spreading legs)
Oh, another good one. How many does that
make?
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
(scouring contents of bag)
Nearly a dozen. I’ll have to make do, I suppose.
Perhaps not a full bath. By the way I’m forty-
five years of age and I feel as fit as I did at
the tender age of twenty-three.
-6-
JOSE
. . . Something very weird about you . . .
In a good way . . .Everything seems so perfect.
You’re like the perfect lady.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Wrinkle free.
JOSE
Far out.
JOSE (CONT’D)
This place is so . . .
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
I think the word you’re looking for is
extravagant.
JOSE
Actually, I was gonna say dope but extravagant
is good.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Have you ever thought about expanding your
vocabulary? A young man should be well read
and well versed.
JOSE
Uh, can you teach me?
-7-
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Not can, can means to be able to. I have the
facilities and presence of mind to do so. You
mean will I teach you.
JOSE
Oh, yeah.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
(smiling)
Consider that your first lesson.
She places the tray down and takes a seat next to him on
the couch. She places her hand on his kneww.
JOSE
(stuffing sandwiches in mouth)
Oh yeah, sure. I’ll work hard.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Very hard.
JOSE
Yeah, right. Oh, I got a summer gig at a
local video store so I can pay you a little
something for your services. You see, I kinda
wanna go to college. My grades aren’t that bad. I
got a respectable C average and all. And I
guess I could use some social graces. Not too
much though. I don’t wanna start sipping tea with
my pinky finger or nothing like that. You could be
like, my tutor or something?
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Well, money is the last thing on my mind. Money
bores me. There’s a charming story I’d like to
tell you one day. It happened when I was twenty-
three but I’ll save that for later.
-8-
She squeezes his leg hard and he flinches. She holds the
glass of milk to his mouth and pours it down his throat.
Some milk drips down his chin and she licks it off with her
tongue.
JOSE
(pulling away)
This is a little, uhm . . . Maybe I should go.
He puts down the glass of milk and gets up to leave put she
pushes him back on the couch.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
You should definitely stay.
ON HIM
HER HAND
JOSE
Yeah. Deal. Uh-huh.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
That’s exactly what I want to hear.
HER HANDS
At the cashier Jose scans two videos from LOLA, a teenage girl.
JOSE
Hey, that’s a cool movie you got.
I mean, crazy cool.
-10-
LOLA
Which one?
JOSE
Zombie Lords From Outer Space. It’s like a
death race through time that pits the zombie
lords against rival bandits. It’s awesome.
JOSE (CONT’D)
(picking up second movie)
Victoria’s Ghost. It just came in last week.
(reads back cover synopsis)
Looks a little fancy, like in ancient times
when the women dressed in like four layers
of clothes and shit. You know. . .
LOLA
The Victorian period.
JOSE
Yeah, that’s right. Anyway, that’ll be five
dollars and they’re due back on Thursday at noon.
LOLA
What are you doing?
JOSE
Oh sorry, I guess I was daydreaming.
I got caught up in your pretty face.
Muy bonita, senorita.
JOSE (CONT’D)
Red heads drive me crazy. . .
JOSE
Mr. this is an attitude free zone so chill
the fuck out. Now what can I do you for?
IRATE CUSTOMER
Jeez, you make no sense. Anyway, I’ve been
looking all over the shelves for Summer at
Gloucestershire. It is part Welsh and part
Finnish.
JOSE
Sorry, we don’t keep that Eurotrash here.
IRATE CUSTOMER
But you didn’t even look it up on the computer.
JOSE
I don’t have to. I keep everything in stock
right here(pointing to head). It’s all indexed in
the lockbox of my cranium.
IRATE CUSTOMER
Where’s the manager? I don’t have to take
ridicule from a juvenile delinquent.
LOLA
Don’t call the manager. It’s a big hassle
anyway. You can get Summer at Gloucestershire
five blocks down at Rainbow Video. They carry
more artsy type films. Why waste your time
complaining when you could be on your way to the
get the video?
-12-
Jose gives her a glowing look of approval. The irate
customer turns away and is about to leave when something
comes over him and he turns around briefly.
IRATE CUSTOMER
I don’t like it here anymore. In fact
JOSE
Jerk-off. Some people really piss me off.
(to girl)
Hey, thanks for saving my ass. The last
thing I need is a bad report. How did you
know his movie was at Rainbow Video?
LOLA
I work there. We have all the Eurotrash
anyone could ever want. What’s your name?
JOSE
Jose. What’s yours?
LOLA
If I tell you do you promise not to sing
that song? My name reminds people of a song
so if I tell you just don’t sing it.
JOSE
I promise.
LOLA
It’s Lola, all right.
JOSE
Right on, Lo-la-. La-la-la-la Lola. Just like
cherry Co-la. Ah man, I love the Kinks.
LOLA
But you promised?
JOSE
Sorry. How about I close up here in fifteen
and we go for an ice cream sundae?
-13-
EXT. VIDEO VOYEUR – DAY
Jose locks the doors and puts his arm around Lola. As they
walk away, from
Jose and Lola enjoy super duper ice cream sundaes with all
the trimmings.
LOLA
This is nice.
JOSE
Cherry any one . . .
LOLA
What is it? Did I do something wrong?
JOSE
I’m sorry. I gotta go. I got a headache.
-14-
He leaves her there alone.
UPPER BOX
JOSE (CONT’D)
What is this opera about again?
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Mozart’s Don Giovanni is a great classic
dear boy. It’s the Spanish legend of the rogue
playboy Don Juan. He is the subject
of operas and plays by Moliere and George
Bernard Shaw. Even Lord Byron wrote an
epic poem about him.
JOSE
Oh yeah Don Juan. He was supposed to be some kind
of great lover. I think we have a flick with
Johnny Depp about him at the store. He was like
that White guy Rudolph Valentino in those old
movies. A real Romeo, right?
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Don Juan was a seducer of many women. He
used his charm to lull and manipulate them.
They were simply putty in his hands and his
machinations of evil knew no bound.
She reaches over and places her hand on his inner thigh.
CUT TO:
Jose sits on the commode with his tuxedo pants around his
knees while the middle-age woman straddles him. Her
evening gown is like a shroud over him.
-15-
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN (CONT’D)
Did you like the opera? I was so proud
of you being so extremely attentive.
I wanted to reward you immediately.
You deserve something nice.
JOSE
It was a little boring and my ass was
kinda tired just sitting there but I
guess it was all right. I don’t like
all that singing though. People just
going arounnd bursting out into song.
Seems silly.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
How is your ass now?
JOSE
Oh it feels real g-o-o-d.
JOSE (CONT’D)
But what if we get caught?
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Don’t worry, I have wonderful powers of
persuasion, just like Don Giovanni.
JOSE
I can’t wait to get out of this monkey
suit. I feel like an idiot.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Nonsense. You look adorable. All boys of
culture need to feel comfortable in a
tuxedo. That is why you’re here. You want
to learn, correct?
-16-
JOSE
(drinking)
Yeah, well I don’t think she’d be proud
about the other thing.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Now we mustn’t talk about that. Would
you like to stay the night?
JOSE
Uhm, I better go. I don’t want mi madre to
flip out or nothing. Thanks for the
opera and the, well, you know.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Change your mind?
JOSE
I heard crazy voices today. I thought I
was going to go nuts. It was this pounding in my
head. It hurt sooo bad.
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
Oh dear boy, maybe you should see a doctor.
After all, strange auditory signs in your head are
the first indication of senility.
A CROWD OF CUSTOMERS
peruse the bins for bargain videos. A MOTHER drags her SON
through the melee and to the counter.
MOTHER
(holds up video)
How much is this?
-17-
JOSE
They’re all $5.00. It’s a red dot
sale like the sign says. Up there . . .
He points to a
INSERT – SIGN
hanging from the rafters: “ALL RED DOT VIDEO SALES – $5.00”
BACK TO SCENE
SON
$14.95 divided by two equals 7.475.
MOTHER
Didn’t I tell you about doing math in public?
JOSE
Hey, Lola. I didn’t notice you’d come in.
LOLA
Just like you didn’t notice how upset
I was when you walked out on me over
ice cream. What was that about?
Was I that bad a kisser?
JOSE
No, it was me. Something was banging
away at my head and I didn’t feel so good.
LOLA
Oh. You know my sister gets terrible migraines.
She’s on all kinds of medication.
I’m the lucky one in the family. I never
get sick. Look, I only came here to see you
. . . and to bring back my rentals. I’m having a
come-as-you-are party at my house Saturday night.
I’d love to see you there.
-18-
JOSE
Right on. It’s a date. Thanks for giving
me a second chance.
LOLA
Everyone deserves a second chance.
The night of the party I'll swing by
and pick you up after work. My father's
giving me the keys to the family station
wagon, oh boy. I shouldn't complain though,
it's better than nothing. Next year for
my eighteenth birthday I'm getting a car
of my own. I'm psyched.
JOSE
Hey, did you like the Zombie Lords movie?
LOLA
Of course.
JOSE
It was gross right? But really cool though,
right? Definitely far out.
LOLA
It was like those monster movies the
studios used to make back in the Fifties.
Like The Blob. I couldn’t eat watching it.
Yeah, it was fun fantasy entertainment but that
other movie, that Victoria’s Ghost, it
was even creepier because it seemed so real.
It was this gothic tale about a woman who
comes back from the grave to find a mate.
JOSE
A ghost story, cool.
LOLA
This woman, she was an heiress when she
was murdered at twenty three on her way
to see her lover. But it turns out her lover
was really her—
JOSE
Her what?
-19-
LOLA
You gotta see it for yourself—but leave
the lights on. It’s a great big chill.
Jose slips the VIDEOTAPE into the VCR and plops down on the
couch with a bowl of popcorn.
JOSE
Crazy ass camera work.
YOUNG HEIRESS
(on TV)
The tale you are about to see is very
much real . . . I was an heiress . . . am
an heiress. I am the illegitimate daughter
of Grigory Yefimovich Novykh, known to most
of the world as Rasputin, the mad monk.
JOSE
Oh shit, I gotta have a history lesson too?
Just bring on the blood and guts already.
YOUNG HEIRESS
(on TV)
My mother was a duchess of Lithuania and she and
my father met one night at a Black Sabbath. I was
the product of that torrid affair . . .
JOSE
I hate history!
YOUNG HEIRESS
(on TV)
. . . Those who view my story will never
be able to forget it as long as they live.
If they live . . .
-20-
CAMERA PULLS BACK TO CAPTURE EXTENDED BODY OF YOUNG HEIRESS
JOSE
What the fuck?! That’s some crazy shit!
YOUNG HEIRESS
(on TV)
. . . Did you just see a ghost, lover?
ON JOSE
JOSE
Who's there?! Show yourself!
JOSE (CONT’D)
Ay Dios Mio. It’s true? What I saw on the
video is true.
JOSE
You succubus, get away from me!
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
(as young heiress)
I love you. I was unjustly taken from this
world in 1875 by a spell cast by father’s
mistress. She was jealous of my wares.
JOSE
The boy in the video was yourson?!
MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN
(as young heiress)
And my lover. Times were different then.
My father planted him in my belly with his
magic. The magic of Rasputin. And now I’ve
found a new lover on Earth. Surely Hell won’t be
so bad when we’re married in blood. You like
your stories with blood and guts, remember?
JOSE
This can’t be real. I must be dreaming . . .
. . . having a freaking nightmare! Please, por
favor? Go away! Demonio!
Lola enters. The MANAGER closes out the cash register for the day.
MANAGER
Sorry honey. Come back tomorrow.
LOLA
Is Jose around?
MANAGER
That louse. He didn’t show up for work
today. I called his house and his
mother says he’s missing since last
night. I didn't get any of the
storeroom boxes unloaded because I was
changed to the cash register all
freakin' day. To top it off one of my
videos just disappeared into thin
air. No record of it anymore in the
system or inventory. And shit, that
ain't all. All the freakin' copies
have disappeared from the freakin'
shelves. A customer called and
asked for it and I practically tore
the place up looking.
LOLA
Which one?! What was the name of the video?!
MANAGER
Calm down, you don’t have to yell!
Anyway, it's some kind of crazy
supernatural tale. Victoria’s Ghost.
Supposed be a high brow fright fest.
-23-
INT. COLLEGE POST OFFICE – A YEAR LATER - DAY
Lola opens her mailbox and pulls out a brown paper parcel
addressed to her from an unknown sender. She unwraps the
brown paper parcel to reveal the VIDEOTAPE with the title
VICTORIA’S GHOST. She stares blankly at it.
ON THE TV SCREEN
YOUNG HEIRESS
(on TV)
Hello, Lola is it? You need't worry
about Jose. I take good care of him.
He's mine for all eternity.
ON NAKED JOSE
HIS EYES
FADE OUT.
THE END