by Alan Rogers in London
A return to your ‘horror’ theme; for further watching I recommend 7 Letters, Monster, Maneater, and Psycho. Plus numerous others that invoke peril and dread such as The Hell Mask, I like em dropped (dead) and Bad Mthrfckr.
I re-watched ‘Mutant Santa’ thinking it would also be horror, but it is (instead) a very well reasoned treatise on the fact that age does not equate wisdom. No horror there despite the title.
In the Gulf of Mexico every year they have phenomenon known as the ‘red tide’. The salt levels of the gulf rise and in consequence kills a lot of the fish, which wash up on beautiful palm lined golden sand beaches, then rot. Filling the air with the putrid stink of rotting fish. But you cannot stop the tide, so you learn to live with it.
To me the horror genre reminds us that the human psyche is capable of inhuman imaginings. You can try and ignore this fact, but you cannot stop the tide. We wallow in our own demented wanderings. We smell the rotting fish and try and ignore it reading our novels under the palm trees.
Some horror also reminds me of the male trait of lashing out violently from a hair trigger. It is not a source of pride that I also acknowledge that my gender inflict this not only on other males, but on anyone who steps in our path. The red mist of anger is in all of us; simmering just off the boil. Males have within them, the rough frayed anger. The raising of bruises. The fist to the face. Women and children are so often sadly the soft targets of the anger. We are monsters in suits and ties and smiling faces. We are scum.
So.
It is not that I do not like the horror genre. It is merely that I am afraid that it opens doors in my mind that I prefer to keep locked shut.
That said; time to retrieve the warm key (slung round my neck with twine) and open the lock at the base of my skull. Time to tilt my hairy scalp covered cranium over and pour thematic wine onto the pink glistening mass of nerve endings you have so neatly exposed.
Titles
THIS IS A VERY PERSONAL HORROR FILM
IT IS A SECOND STAGE SIMULACRA
Guitar strumming intro is interrupted by Max Headroom stuttering a dialogue about: ‘have you any idea how successful censorship is?..don’t know the answer?…hmm’
I know. Censorship is a great argument starting point. It is important that we shield young impressionable children from the horrors of the world, lest we damage, or worse release a feeling within them which may be considered inappropriate for a peaceful society. But then we put images of cancerous lungs onto cigarette packaging. Then we sexualise young actresses in mainstream media. Then we show images of war and famine on our television sets nightly. We certainly send mixed messages to our children.
The internet is full of filth, and most children discover this at a frighteningly young age these days. I really do not know whether this great ‘experiment’ is going to be for the common good, or we are on the escape slide out of the burning fuselage now (remember to remove your high heels).
Warnings
‘You’ve Called 1-800 – Hot Night’
‘Be careful’
‘Once you know the devil….the devil knows you’
Cut to Missy topless on the beach.
‘The pretty thing you are looking at is me’
Max Headroom gasps.
‘But it is me that still cannot see any of what is coming’
A CHILLING VISON OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR
Max Headroom groans.
Cut to cartoon character (not one I am familiar with) saying: ‘I want to take a close look at that thing’. These are forecast words as (spoiler) later in the film we (thankfully) do get a closer look.
THIS IS A DARK TALE
‘There is nothing wrong with your television set’
We see the interior of a prison cage. There are three men inside, in an almost silhouetted foggy atmosphere. One is a policeman with his hands behind his back in the background. One is suited striding towards the other who has a metal collar and chain attached. He is clearly very dangerous.
‘Do not attempt to adjust the picture’
‘I want to talk to somebody in charge’
A GRIM TALE
Cut to close up of a grim faced man looking on.
Blood being spilt.
Then close up of prisoner saying: ‘I could have slaughtered you or your family any time I wanted’
Blood pouring from mouth of masked man.
IT’S A TALE FROM ANOTHER TIME
‘No, I’m at war with this’
A TIME WHEN BEASTS WAITED FOR GIRLS IN THE DARKNESS
‘This, this broken thing’
We see a man being led down the corridor. Presumably to his death.
See my earlier comment.
AS THEY HUNTED THE STREETS OF CURSED CITIES
‘I don’t think you have any idea, whose helping me or what I’m doing’
’So you see the bodies, but the larger picture still alludes you?’
‘You’re not fooling anybody’
We see actions of murders being done. Blood. Darkness.
THAT TIME IS LONG GONE
Close up on criminals face.
‘Here’s the deal. Release me. Or I kill everyone’
BUT THE BEASTS REMAIN
TV showing static.
Car in the distance at night.
‘You’re lying’
Close up of another face.
‘Can you kill it?’
Screams
Close up of Nails in a piece of meat, by candlelight.
The TV going off.
A man covering his mouth.
Dolls in a toolbox.
‘I see it’
‘This darkness’
Shrouded body strapped to trolley being wheeled down a corridor.
This opening is classic Missy. A scene setting montage that invokes how the film is going to pan out. This is very unsettling, so we know we are in for a ghost train ride.
THERE WILL ALWAYS BE BEASTS FEEDING AT 4.44AM
‘God help us all’
INTRODUCTION: THE BEAST ON THE BEACH
Needle being put onto vinyl. Very old school.
Man with knife
LEONARD PATRICK ROWLAND
‘Some Folks Say’
Girls opening their eyes wide.
IS SOMEONE YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF
‘What goes down in the heat of passion, can haunt a body forever’
Line drawing of naked man being… not sure…shot?
BECAUSE ONLY I KNOW HIM
This is in itself very creepy.
Outside of house. Night.
Police car siren. Daylight.
Police photographers photographing scene.
Body being carried away.
Photo of victims?
THIS FILM IS A CHALK OUTLINE OF THE BEAST IN HIM
‘On Air’ sign illuminated.
DJ at a Microphone. Is that Mel Gibson?
‘Alright people. Settle in. Relax’.
07/07/67
Close up of a boom box. Surely this is 1980s technology? The record player from earlier was more 1960s.
ROWLAND CALLED IN LIVE TO A LOCAL RADIO STATION
‘Im gonna do something really screwed up tonight’ This is Leonard speaking (we guess).
We see the uncomfortable looking studio staff.
DJ: ‘You at home?’
Leonard: ’No’
DJ: ‘Does the home belong to someone you know?’
UPSTAIRS SLEPT THE WOMAN WHO OWNED THE HOUSE
Leonard: ‘No. It belongs to somebody not very nice’.
DJ: ‘Tell me calmly. Where exactly are you?’
Music is building to a crescendo.
Woman wakes in a panic.
ONE HOUR AFTER THIS CALL, HE WOULD BRUTALLY RAPE HER
Hand gripping bed.
Evidence bag containing a scrap of paper with the words “Long is the way, and hard, that out of hell leads up to Light” written on it.
Toolbox.
South Park Clip of telephone operator saying ‘This is Michael with Wolf Home Security, is everything alright?’
Instamatic picture of open bedroom door with the words ‘IN HERE’ written on it.
Back to DJ saying ‘This can still end well’. At this point, we doubt it.
Instamatic picture of Woman laying with her eyes open on the bed.
Leonard: ‘But I don’t want it to end well’.
Close up of radio dial.
Woman laying with her head back, scared
Ladybird crawling over a thumb.
THEN HE WOULD MERCILESSLY TORTURE HER FOR 7 HOURS
Sound of telephone being connected.
Woman’s voice: ‘Hello?’
Man picks up knife, and drags the edge across the table.
UNTIL SHE FINALLY EXPIRED
‘You have many questions and though the process has altered your consciousness you remain irrevocably human.’
Someone moving out of the window.
HE HAD MOVED THE DARKNESS CLOSER TO HER
Concurrently while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realise it is also the most irrelevant.
SHE HAD MADE ONE MISTAKE THAT YEAR
Woman with tape across her mouth and a smiling face drawn on the tape where her mouth is, looks with loathing at someone.
Silhouette of someone on the other side of a ventilation grille.
Woman saying: ‘What if there is someone else out there?’
Close up of Missy’s eyes.
SHE HAD GONE TO A NUDE BEACH
‘But his ability was to make people do whatever he wanted.’
Morgan Freeman: ‘The man came up to me to start a conversation.
THERE IS A BEAST IN BROKEN MEN
Hands touching a blind. Peering through the window.
‘He made small talk. This lonely man. Talking about the weather and other things.’
AND WHEN YOU HAND A BROKEN MAN HIS TRIGGER
Inside the prison again.
Leonard: ‘Darkness only responds to darkness’
We see a man’s arms with blood on the hands.
Woman saying: ‘something bad is gonna happen’.
“Too late, love”. Is what we want to say back.
THE BEAST STIRS
Leonard; ‘Everything’s gonna be fine’.
Camera lens closeup.
TV guide on screen with someone choosing the ‘Horror’ Genre. We assume this is Missy doing the choosing as her eyes are shown next. (In black and white).
Woman: ‘Just be careful that you don’t become the monster’
WOMEN HAD NO REASON TO TRUST ROWLAND
BUT THEY HAD AN EXCELLENT REASON NOT TO
Woman: ’There are things that need to be said, about me’
MISSY VISION
A DIVISION OF THE EROTIC HORROR INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
Brillant.
Wild World by Cat Stevens starts playing. We see a drone shot of a beach.
EPISODE 200 OF 250
A milestone indeed.
Shot of Missy in a bikini. The shot is filtered by being a video of a video.
Intercut of a mans face. We do not know why. Is that meant to be Leonard?
Missy is wearing sunglasses and the bikini is polka dot. We see she is also wearing a pair of Daisy Dukes which she unbuttons and drops, showing bikini briefs underneath.
We see a silhouette of a man holding a knife. Is this a flashback? Is Missy meant to be Leonards Auntie?
Shot of younger man looking down. He is older than 7 but for licence, let’s imagine he is Leonard.
Missy is wringing her hair out. She must have been for a swim in the sea.
Close up of mans face. I think we are supposed to assume it is Leonard. Perhaps grown Leonard?
Clint Eastwood Stare.
OF THE FUTURE SEX LOVE ART PROJEKT
Missy walks along the beach. Orange colour palette.
Lee Van Cleef Stare.
THE TRUE LIFE JOURNEY
Missy removes her bikini top. Camera pans to very erect nipple. One thing I would say is that Max loved filming every inch of you. Not that I blame him. You are a living work of art.
Clint Eastwood Stare.
INTO THE MIND OF A SEXUAL BEAST
Are we not all ‘sexual beasts’? No we are not. I like these thematic changes you play with.
Missy dangles her bikini bottoms from her fingers before dropping them. A nude and wet Missy is now walking along the beach.
ANOTHER PSYCHO PORN TRAIT
Naked Missy lies down onto the wet sand at the waters edge. In slow motion.
Eli Wallach stare. Is the good the bad and the ugly, the easter egg? I am starting to become obsessed with your tricks.
WRITTEN BY MISSY JUBILEE
A view taking every inch of naked Missy’s body as the waves lap between her open legs. The film appears to be in real time.
DIRECTED BY MISSY JUBILEE
We see naked Missy’s back as she kneels in the water.
BEAST
Missy stands up. Wrings her hair again, and soaking wet walks naked along the beach, and into the ocean.
THERE IS NO FOLLY IN THE BEAST
Cut to face of man (Leonard?), screwing his eyes.
WHICH IS NOT OUTDONE BY THE EVIL IN MEN
Music changes to a music box sound.
FOREWARD: SEVEN BEASTS
We see a dime being dropped into a jukebox. A button being pressed and music starting (wicked game (Chris Isaac) sung by a woman who I do not recognise).
The screen cuts to a computer screen showing hangol (Korean Text). I cannot read it, I have no idea what it says, but the number 1 is shown also, intercut counting up, 2,3,4,5,6, at 7 it closes up on the last character of the hang whatever that means.
7 (SEVEN) IS THE ONLY PRIME NUMBER PRECEDING A CUBE
Close up of woman singing.
THE NUMBER 7 IS SYMBOLIC IN RELIGION, MYTHOLOGY, SUPERSTITION AND PHILOSOPHY
Close up of a Man looking like a photofit. Black and white.
And superstition.
Back to woman singing
Close up of a Man lit from above looking very grim. Black and White.
THERE ARE 7 CONTINENTS AND SEVEN SEAS
According to legend. There are approximately 50 seas on earth. The 7 continents thing is true though.
Back to woman singing
Close up of a Man lit from above looking very ugly. Black and White.
THERE ARE 7 COLOURS OF THE RAINBOW
Hmmm. I am pretty sure you are considering primary and secondary colours only here (with one tertiary colour for nerds like me).
Back to woman singing
Close up of a Man lit from above looking very dirty and bedraggled possibly blood-soaked. Black and White.
THERE ARE 7 TYPES OF CATASTROPHES
Given the instability of life, this seems a miraculously small figure but true.
7 IS THE SACRED NUMBER OF THE MYSTICS
See superstition.
Back to woman singing
Close up of a Man lit from above looking very old and witch-like. Black and White.
THERE ARE 7 PLANETS IN THIS SOLAR SYSTEM
1. Mercury
2. Venus
3. Earth
4. Mars
5. Jupiter
6. Saturn
7. Uranus
8. Neptune
Did you count Earth? I won’t make a joke about Uranus
Back to woman singing
Close up of an alien face lit from above. Haha. Nice one. Black and White.
ON THE SEVENTH DAY OF THE SEVENTH MONTH
IN THE CHINESE LUNAR CALENDAR
THE GHOST MONTH STARTS
Back to woman singing
Close up of a Frankenstein’s Monster lit from above looking very grim. Black and White. Note: I did not say it was Frankenstein.
Of course Gene Wilder has ruined Frankenstein for me. I can’t look at the monster without singing ‘Putting on the Ritz’.
AND GHOSTS START TO WALK THE EARTH
Is this like Halloween? I remain shamefacedly ignorant of the Chinese culture, but I did know someone born in Hong Kong who was particularly jumpy about ghosts, so maybe there is something in this.
Close up of a Mans face that appears to have been slashed. The man is ugly and has a broad nose with unseeing eyes.
Back to woman singing
Close up of 3 men screaming. I recognise Jack Nicholson from the ‘Shining’ Not sure of the others. Black and White.
THE 777 KILLER HAD 7 LETTERS IN EACH OF HIS 3 NAMES
Back to woman singing
HE KILLED 7 WOMEN OVER A PERIOD OF 7 YEARS
Close up of a horror mask with sharpened blood-soaked teeth. Black and White.
Cut to video being fast forwarded.
PROLOGUE: THE WAY OF THE BEAST
THE 777 KILLER TARGETED GIRLS AT NUDE BEACHES
Books being opened, and written in.
Man: ‘Did you see it happen, or did you experience it’
Girl: ‘It happened once, and then it happened again the exact same way’.
Bloodstained hand on door frame.
Girl Screaming.
Woman shouting: ‘Why are you doing this?’
HE WOULD HAVE SEX WITH THEM ON THE BEACH
Man crossing out writing.
Woman 1: ‘We have to go back to where it all started, so they never do that to anyone else again.’
Woman 2: ‘What if there was someone else out there’
OVER THE NEXT YEAR HE WOULD RESEARCH THEM
Girl facing wall looking scared. Needle being thread. Girl reels in pain (we do not see why).
Woman 2: ‘But his ability was to make people do whatever he wanted.
THEN HE WOULD RAPE TORTURE & KILL THEM
Door locking
Man: ‘Darkness only responds to darkness’
Woman: ‘Something bad is gonna happen’
I am getting deja vu here.
Woman opening door looking scared.
THIS IS THE STORY OF THE 777 KILLER’S LAST VICTIM
Leonard: ‘Everything’s gonna be fine’
Woman: ‘What’s the last thing. That you DO remember?’
ANNABEL CRYSTAL BRUCETI ALSO 7 LETTERS IN EACH OF HER 3 NAMES
Woman: ‘Just be careful that you don’t become the monster’
Hand tracing up side of body. Close up of girls eyes opening.
A knife approaching. A silent scream.
THIS WAS A BIZARRE CO-INCIDENCE AND NOT PLANNED BY ROWLAND
Man (angrily shouting among sounds of torture and a woman moaning); ‘I told the world who you really are. Someone who is now showing their true colours’
ROWLAND WAS EXECUTED BY ELECTRIC CHAIR IN 1977
Close up of Missy on the beach, then cut to picture of dragon in black and white.
The craftsmanship that went into this narrative is obvious. You are a top class storyteller.
ACT ONE; SELF IMPOSED LIMITATIONS
Disembodied hands with puppet strings attached are waggling. Black and White. Old fashioned piano music is playing.
Telephone rings.
Morgan Freeman: ‘You know this isn’t going to have a happy ending’
A NOTE FROM THE FILM MAKER
Cut to street scene in the dark. Looks like Halloween with lanterns strewn. We close in on an unlit stain glassed door.
AS THE SCREENWRITER, I SET MYSELF A BEASTLY CHALLENGE WHEN MAKING THIS FILM
I see what you did there.
THERE ARE 34,367 SEVEN LETTER WORDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
I will not dispute this, even though I sense this is a made up fact.
We are in the house and going up the stairs. The tension builds.
THIS FILM USES 77 OF THEM TO TELL THE STORY
There are hundreds of 7 letter words here. Some are repeated, but even so your estimate of 77 (even including the fact that some do not add particularly to the story), is inaccurate. I believe you know this and it is intentional.
The music is thumping like a heartbeat. We see a door opening and a pen being drawn. A classical score adds to the tension.
ZIGGING
ZAGGING
HACKING
Computer screen. Watchface. iPhone.
ADMIRER
WRITING
SUBJECT
PROCESS
Book, Storyboard, Editing.
REPEATS
MACABRE
JOURNAL
Metronome, photo, writing.
TARGETS
VICTIMS
BITCHES
Vandalism, Searching, Missy
WAITING
OBSERVE
WANTING
Searching, Man at rest, Voyeur view of couple having sex through distant window.
NEEDING
KILLING
CONSUME
Man at rest, Voyeur view of couple having sex through distant window. Pouring of milk and cutting of vegetables.
VULGATE
IMMERSE
REFLECT
Eating and smoking
BEASTLY
HERETIC
EXHALES
Pictures of beasts on wall, smoking
RELEASE
HUNTING
FINDING
Taking a shit. Reading the paper. Washing hands. Stalking a woman.
STALKER
WATCHED
VISIONS
Women looking scared on the street alone in the dark. Close up of mans face.
QUARTER
CALLING
CONNECT
Coins in hand, putting coin in slot, making a telephone call.
CONTROL
CONCERN
THREATS
Man making telephone call, close up of mans face, tape recorder working.
TWISTED
FANTASY
ILLNESS
Man holding face. Woman naked from behind, Drawer full of pulls and the bible.
CUNTISH
JUSTIFY
WETNESS
Woman naked from behind, Bible, Woman gets into bath.
AROUSAL
NATURAL
WEEKEND
Women gets out of bath, Man plays with razor blade, Woman relaxes gets dressed then reads on her bed.
UNAWARE
TROUBLE
BREWING
Woman reads magazine, Inside of toolshed, Woman pampers herself with creams.
PREPARE
AMPULES
ROUTINE
Mans Face, Hand Cream being applied.
BRAZING
INDULGE
HATEFUL
Knife being sharpened, Woman putting cream on her legs, man moving metronome.
ABSORBS
WAITING
ALLOVER
Lock, Woman rubbing legs, Man clicking fingers, Woman rubbing legs again.
MASTURB
No such word, I think you put this in just to see if we were awake.
PRIVACY
EATABLE
Close up of woman’s face, Plate of vegetables being eaten.
HANGUPS
SEVERAL
HUNDRED
Teabag being lifted out of tea, Cigarettes being smoked.
DRESSED
DECIDED
TRAVELS
Coin being flipped, close up of mans eyes darting, Car being started.
FINALLY
NEXTDAY
RAPEVAN
Driving through the night, Daylight appears, Car turns into van waiting on street.
MISSING
WATCHES
APPEARS
Bumper sticker ‘my child is an honour student’, Windows, Van door opens and Leonard pops out.
AVERAGE
LAUNDRY
SKYLINE
Leonard takes laundry basket out of van and walks purposely towards the building. We see the New York skyline at night.
BACKLIT
EVENING
ACQUIRE
Windows with lights on, Evening scene, Man is waking from a dream where a girl is calling ‘daddy’. He grunts.
COCAINE
STUDIES
ADDRESS
Cocaine being snorted. Entering bloodstream, Man waiting on pavement Looking for a building.
CALLBOX
OUTSIDE
ASCEND
Telephone call being made, Mans voice: ‘wouldn’t you like to play a game?’, Man standing looking up at a sign. Enters building. In a lift now, although the arrow points down the numbers go from 6 to 7.
BREATHE
SQUIRMS
SHELTER
Man walking along corridor, Woman crossing her legs, Shower curtain.
FEELING
ANXIOUS
RETREAT
Close up of woman’s face, Slipping under the covers.
TENSION
AQUIVER
BEDIZEN
Man in shadows, Silhouetted against patterned glass, Woman pulls her legs under the covers.
WHISPER
BARRIER
ALARMED
Eyes, Lock, Woman creeping around the house, Operator: ‘911’, Woman: ‘I think somebody is in my house’.
ENTERED
JACKPOT
TONIGHT
Doors opening, candles going out, sense of unease.
HEDONIC
CAPTURE
ANGUISH
Shadows, Knife, Scream, Woman with tape over mouth, Water dripping wet hair.
DESIRED
EXPLODE
HOWLING
Clawlike hand stroking an arm, Woman screaming.
DEVIANT
HOBBLED
HURTING
Close up of screams, masks being pulled, blood being wiped and a mute button being pushed.
SUCCUMB
INFLICT
BADNESS
Crying woman, being choked pupils dilating.
PURPOSE
WANTING
ANALITY
Mans Face, Woman crying, Stroking, woman being sick
ROUGHLY
VICIOUS
SADISMS
Devil mask, Woman near feinting, frightened
VIOLATE
TORTURE
HORRIFY
Woman’s face, Fear, Chest being branded with hot poker.
DEMONIC
IMMERSE
HELLISH
Devil mask, Woman’s face underwater screaming, clutching bath side as she is boiled alive. Handcuff being shut, Needle being prepped.
BENZOIC
INHUMAN
DEVOUR
Slashing, blood, mouth screaming
REVENGE
ANARCHY
HELLBOX
A montage of hellish poses in torment, shadows, blood , faces, dripping, fingers, clock whizzing, eyes in psychedelic colours
CRUICFY
ALCHEMY
PAYBACK
Bloodstain, girls face
ACT TWO
Several seconds of screams and thumps.
MANKIND DOES NOT FEAR THE BEAST. IT FEARS THE JUSTICE THAT THE BEAST DEALS OUT
Needle being put on vinyl again but it is a more modern deck. Woman’s naked torso without head or right arm lies on the bed.
FINALLY
FREEDOM
DAWNING
Clock showing the time 4:44, man sings: ‘now were doing it all..again’, woman: ‘this doesn’t paint a pretty picture does it?’ Man pushing his shoes off. The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel starts to play.
ANALYZE
HOWEVER
FEELING
Bloodstained hands, iPhone, Sink, Handcuffs
NOTHING
BITCHES
ANOTHER
Washing blood off wrists, blood pouring down drain, licking lips,
CHAPTER
EVIDENT
LOWBROW
Blood on male body, Man climbs into shower
HOGBACK
REDNECK
EXAMINE
Back tattoos, sore neck, water in matted hair
CLEANED
CAREFUL
DESERVE
Water dripping from male torso, Clothes in washing machine, Alien T shirt.
BENZINE
DESTROY
FOREVER
Man walking from fireball, nonchalantly walking away from a house on fire.
UNFAZED
ABANDON
INFERNO
Man climbing back into the van along the street, The music is interrupted by the Fire Engine sirens, fire fighters unreeling hoses All we hear is sirens and a background swell of music.
CLEANUP
THEREBY
ESCAPED
Laundry basket put back into the van, while sirens continue, van door closes, silence.
Very clever. The words fit the images perfectly.
ACT THREE: THE YELLOW BRICK HIGHWAY
Yellow Brick Road starts to play by Elton John
We see a desert highway lined with yellow paint.
WHEN ARE YOU GONNA COME DOWN?
Pylons
WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO LAND?
Car travelling down the road, Weather map
I SHOULD HAVE STAYED ON THE FARM
Man in silhouette, Van travelling down a country road
I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO MY OLD MAN
Close up of eyes, Trees in winter,
YOU KNOW YOU CAN’T HOLD ME FOREVER
Man digging the earth
I DIDN’T SIGN UP WITH YOU
Day turns to night, we zoom into a window where we see a shadow of an arm
I’M NOT A PRESENT FOR YOUR FRIENDS TO OPEN
The moon
THIS BOY’S TOO YOUNG
TO BE SINGIN’ THE BLUES
Broken down car
ANOTHER
Trolley with body on it being wheeled along a room we see from the outside through the window
FUNERAL
For a friend? Have I found the easter egg? I doubt it, but am always hopeful. I suspect the easter egg is in a longer sequence of the seven lettered words, not just the two above.
Quick montage of horror images, ending on a long shot of a billboard saying ‘Jesus died for you’
Woman’s voice: ‘Demons come in many forms’
ACT FOUR: CRUCIFY ME
Thumps, Alarm clock going off, Man standing on phone saying ‘Alright, I’m on it’.
Man saying: ‘This, is our prime suspect’
PROFILE
An ID drawing of someone who looks like Jason Mraz,
Man 1: ‘Its tough to see where he might be headed at this point’.
A wasted poster of someone else.
Man 2: ‘lets see what kind of trail this guy will leave us’
He holds a card with writing on it which he reads aloud:
‘His own blood will kill the wolf’
Music changes to woman singing. I do not know the song.
ZEROING
ALERTED
Paintings, fingerprints, Helicopters taking off. Blood stains on hands.Police detective getting his gun ready.
MAXIMUM
JUSTICE
RAPIDLY
Police cars and men storming towards somewhere
DEPLOYS
CONVOYS
SEEKING
Police cars and helicopters forming a convoy down the desert road we saw earlier
GROWING
TRAINED
ACCUSED
Hands on steering wheel, Guns being carried
ACCUSER
WEAPONS
STOPPED
Driving down the highway, guns being loaded, Then pointed at an approaching van
GETAWAY
JOINTLY
SPRAWLS
The van has been stopped by the police, we see Leonard get out. The cop shouts; ‘on your knees’ and he lowers himself down.
Leonard: ‘I spent the last 7 years of my life, living out my wildest drams’
We see statues of Jesus on the cross.
REASONS
Leonard: ‘If that wasn’t God pushing me to do his business, I didn’t know what it was’
Sheriff looking grim at car.
JUSTIFY
Sheriff: ‘My men and I are here to bring that boy in….’
LEAVING
Sheriff gets in car, ‘…alive’
‘So if you’re here on some sort of vendetta, that might complicate things’
SUCCESS
Tommy Lee Jones as the Sheriff shaking his head: ‘I come to bring you home, son’.
STATION
Robert de Niro as Leonard, Detective: ‘Ive got so many ways on the books to lean on an undesirable’.
Leonard gets led into a room in handcuffs flanked by policemen the stares with contempt at us.
‘You’ll feel about as welcome around here as a case of yellow fever’. Policeman: ‘hands against the wall’, ’Spread em’,
INMATES
Detective 1: ‘that him?’
Detective 2; ‘yeah, yeah that’s him’
TESTIFY
Policemen ‘Right let’s put the arms out. Put the arms out straight’ ‘roll your palms’, ‘do what he says’, ‘turn around slow’ we see his back and arms are covered with self written tattoos. Quotes from the bible etc.
Detective 1 (Robert Mitchum): ’Sheesh, I don’t know whether to look at him or read him.
‘Stand still’
Leonard gets processed then locked in a jail and says; ‘you know you are one bad day away from being me’
Cut to news coverage where the female anchor is saying: ‘Investigators say that it wasn’t a home invasion but a sexual fantasy that ..’
Man: ‘Papers say it was a crime of passion, be he told me there wasn’t any passion to it’
Priest opens his arms
’Said he was going to hell’
‘I don’t know what to make of that’
‘I surely do not
ACT FIVE: A CURSED BLOODLINE
Radio: ‘In other news opiates were involved in 93,000 deaths last year’
Lawyer: ‘My client wishes to inform you that if you don’t accept he will plead insanity across the board’
THERE ARE VERY FEW DOCUMENTED CASES
Man: ‘He’s got a long history of serious mental illness’
OF YOUNG WOMEN ABUSING YOUNGER BOYS
Man: ‘I think human consciousness was a tragic mis-step in
evolution’
Woman leans down and touches baby in cot.
ROWLAND WAS ONE OF THOSE CASES
Boy wandering around. Then shows gaining demonic face on phone.
Screaming.
Woman: ‘It makes people do terrible things’
This section is the only part that jars with my sensibilities. It is more than possible. It is sadly quite relevant, but I cannot quite get my head around the story you are telling here.
AND IT HAD A HORRIFIC EFFECT ON HIS PSYCHE
Girl screaming and trying to get away.
Man: ‘You said you don’t feel very close to people your age?’
Clips of walking on sand and of prison. Flashbacks.
FROM THE AGE OF SEVEN
Man (Leonards father?): ‘I tried to be there for you, I tried to give you strength’
HIS 16 YEAR OLD AUNT WOULD TAKE HIM TO NUDE BEACHES
Man (Leonards father?): ‘What’s going on? Are you on drugs?
Young Leonard looks away and says nothing. Now we see the father is Hugh Jackman: ‘You think you can just live your life, do whatever you feel like?’
SHE AND A GROUP OF HER GIRLFRIENDS
WOULD USE HIM AS A SEXUAL PLAYTHING
Young Leonard breaks down on his father and says: ‘I don’t know what’s happening to me’.
The words HATE, LONELY, PAIN, RAGE. TRAGIC, EVERYTHING flash quickly across the screen.
Boy speaks: ‘Kill anything that shrieks’.
I have difficulty in trying to process this in particular. I can understand how a 7 year old would get embarrassed by an older Aunt and her friends mocking him.
A side anecdote: I was around this age and playing with a 16 year old female cousin. We were wrestling each other in a roughhouse way and as I went to slap her arm, she twisted at the last minute and I found myself slapping her tit. It was accidental but she was as shocked as I was. I apologised immediately as it clearly hurt her. But she did not accept my apology. She mocked me mercilessly for it for days after. She told her other female cousins and friends (no adults). They kept saying I was ‘that kind of boy’ as if I had intentionally slapped her tit. I was deeply embarrassed, but wouldn’t argue. I was genuinely confused by the situation. I got over it fairly quickly. But then we were not naked on a beach. We were fully clothed on the landing of my (much older) Aunt’s council house.
The music changes to Mad World by Gary Jules starts with an old fashioned looking cartoon of a boy being abused and picked on in the New York subway.
THEY WOULD SHAME HIM AND EMBARRASS HIM
THIS CAUSED ROWLAND TO REGRESS INTO HIMSELF
The cartoon is set out like a 30’s Disney cartoon but has people taking video’s of someone being viciously beaten with clubs by an angry gang.
HE WAS UNABLE TO ESTABLISH FRIENDSHIPS
DUE TO THE SECRETS HE WAS FORCED TO HOLD INSIDE
The cartoon shows a girl posing sexily while buildings burn behind her. Everyone is is ignoring a drunk slob trying to seduce a young scared girl.
HE BECAME THE TARGET OF MERCILESS BULLYING
He fantasises about saving the girl
HE DREAMED OF THE DAY HE WOULD EXACT REVENGE
The girl runs off and he does nothing
ON THE WOMEN RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS HYPOXIC EXISTENCE
The thing is; this is believable. But (in my cynical brain) it takes a leap of faith on my part to make it so.
An ugly girl holds a filtered phone image up to herself and sees that she is beautiful.
HIS CHILDHOOD CONDEMNED HIM TO HIS FINAL DESTINATION
A puppy runs up and starts licking his face but a man comes along and kicks the dog away.
This is true for most evil people.
A PSYCHOLOGIST INTERVIEWED ROWLAND BEFORE HIS EXECUTION
Bald headed man sits before wall (Leonard?)
Man: ‘he has experienced about as much pain and suffering as anyone I’ve encountered, give or take’.
Leonard: I’ve made many mistakes, but I accept the debt I’m paying’.
Outside of prison
‘There’s this boy I sent to the electric chair in Huntsville awhile back, my arrest, and my testimony’
HE SAID THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT A MURDERER, PARTICULARLY A CONFIDENT ONE
THAT GIVES HIM A CERTAIN CHARISMA OR CHARM
THAT WOMEN ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO
We are told this mostly by hopeful men. But I do believe that within our evolutionary makeup women are attracted to the ‘bad boys’ sexually. Like they want someone who dominates them in the bedroom, but who will do as they are told everywhere else. So … maybe.
Tom Hanks as a prison warder walks along the cells. Leonard grins out at him.
HE HAD SOME ADVICE FOR WOMEN
Truncheon slams agains the prison bars.
MOTHERS SHOULD INSIST THEIR DAUGHTERS MAKE A RESOLUTION
We see a procession as Leonard gets led to the Electric chair.
ASSUME THAT EVERY MAN THEY ARE ATTRACTED TO
IS A MURDERER UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE
PERHAPS THIS ISN’T THE MOST TRUSTING STRATEGY
A montage of monsters are flashing by quickly
FOR STARTING A RELATIONSHIP
BUT THEY WILL LIVE LONGER
See now that just seems sensible. We are all axe murderers until proven innocent.
The flashing montage of monsters has turned into a flashing montage of Jesus.
ROWLAND BELIEVED HE WOULD BE REINCARNATED AS JESUS CHRIST
DUE TO HIS SUFFERING ON EARTH
We are back to the billboard that says “Jesus Died for You’
He was particularly looking forward to being crucified for being a troublemaker.
TV static
Leonard: ‘Peace doesn’t follow death’
IF YOU FEEL LIKE AN ANIMAL AMONG MEN, BE A BEAST.
THE LAST WORDS OF LEONARD PATRICK ROWLAND
Silence
Do we all feel different from everyone else?
We see a jury and a hand twitching. A man is saying: ‘first acted out, then represented in ritual, those would be the rituals of sacrifice, then laid out in story, then turned into a psychological phenomena so that now we are capable of making sacrifices in abstraction, right? To conceptualise a future that we want to let go of the things that are stopping us from moving forward and to free ourselves of the chains of our original preconceptions’.
We are now in a graveyard in the rain
TWO HOURS AFTER HIS EXECUTION
HIS LAST VICTIM’S MOTHER RECEIVED THIS LETTER FROM ROWLAND
HE HAD WRITTEN IT IN THE DEATH CHAMBER HOLDING CELL
WHILE HE WAS WAITING TO MEET HIS DESTINY
The sombre music has a little distortion on it. We see a smiley badge being tossed and grave diggers moving across the cemetery in the rain.
YOUR DAUGHTER WILL BE SILENT FOREVER
I’LL BE GONE IN THE DARK, BUT I WILL RETURN
GOD’S CREATURES WHO CRIED THEMSELVES TO SLEEP
WILL ALWAYS STIR TO MAKE OTHERS CRY IN RETURN
FEW FAMILIES HOLD THEIR RELATIONS AS CLOSELY AS DO PRISONS
There is a ritualistic burial of Leonard taking place here, with a kind of ressurection , as we see Leonard open his eyes and seek like Jesus a way out of his tomb.
FEW MARRIAGES SUSTAIN THE HIGH LEVEL OF PASSION
THAT EXISTS BETWEEN CRIMINALS
AND THOSE WHO SEEK REVENGE FOR THEIR CRIMES
THIS IS SOMETHING I UNDERSTAND
AS WE PASS THROUGH THIS DARK TUNNEL CALLED LIFE
WE ALL WISH TO BE RIGHTEOUS
WE ALL LONG TO BE DESIRED
WE SERIAL KILLERS ARE YOUR SONS
WE ARE EVERYWHERE
We see Leonard rolling down a sand dune and standing up unharmed. He is young Leonard. He looks like Jesus and he walks along a beach. The music changes to upbeat.
JUST WAITING
TO BE REBORN
We see naked Missy on the beach by the sea again. Cut back and forth between Leonard/Jesus and Missy.
INTO A BETTER LIFE
AND A BETTER TRUTH
Fabulous ghost writing Missy.
Seagulls, Billboard, Jesus/Leonard.
CREDITS
Jesus Sings, Missy Naked on the beach. We see the tide retreat and pour forth. Missy raises her leg and sits up on her elbows for a bit, lays down then the waves splash directly onto her labia time and again. We see Missy’s legs spread to accept the ongoing tide fuck, then a male hand explores her clitoris, while she lies passive on the beach.
Silence.
A FILM BY
MELISSA CRYSTAL JUBILEE
I HAVE 7 LETTERS IN EACH OF MY 3 NAMES TOO
Cowboy: ‘You go to hell’
JUST SAYING
I wondered what Missy was short for. Thanks for sharing Melissa.
In terms of numerical numbering mine goes 4,5 and 6. Which I attribute no significance at all.
WAITING
DILEMMA
COMPASS
Cowboy 2: ‘Hmm alright. Let me ask you something. If the road you followed bought you to this. Of what use was the rule?’
OBSCURE
VICIOUS
VILLAIN
Cowboy 1: ‘Have you any idea, how crazy you are?’
LUNATIC
PUZZLED
QUERIES
Cowboy 2: ‘you mean the nature of this conversation?’
REPLIES
ROASTED
APLENTY
Cowboy 1: ‘I mean the nature of you’
Jesus rings the doorbell, when the woman answers he says ’This house has a very good vibe’
Naked Missy gets up from the shoreline. And walks along the beach.
SIMULACRA (NOUN)
AN IMAGE, EFFIGY, COPY, REPRESENTATION OR TANGIBLE
VISUAL RENDERING OF SOMETHING, OR SOMEONE WHO NO LONGER EXISTS
EPILOGUE
LEONARD PATRICK ROWLAND
PHOTO TAKEN 2 HOURS BEFORE EXECUTION 07.07.77
What a handsome devil.
We see a photo of an ugly man in colour.
A man puts on glasses to examine the photo.
Another man says: ‘Down, down and down came the hot fleshing flurry, leaving only that deathly pale blue eye’
DEATHLY PALE BLUE EYES
Which cuts to a picture of Missy’s beautiful eyes.
END NOTE FROM THE FILM MAKER
Woman: ‘Do you think this is funny?’
THE SIMULACRA
‘SIMULACRES ET SULATION’ IS A 1981 PHILOSOPHICAL TREATISE
BY THE PHILOSOPHER AND CULTURAL THEORIST JEAN BAUDRILLARD
Black and white footage of a woman being attacked.
IN THIS WORK, THE AUTHOR SEEKS TO EXAMINE THE RELATIONSHIPS
BETWEEN REALITY, DREAMS, SIMULACRA, SYMBOLS & SIGNIFICATIONS
SIMULACRA ARE COPIES THAT DEPICT THINGS THAT EITHER HAD NO ORIGINAL, OR THAT NO LONGER HAVE AN ORIGINAL
Man: ‘I wanted to sound far from everything, like everything upside down’
Music changes, woman sings, not sure of the song.
Man in the sea, in black and white.
THE FIRST STAGE OF SIMULACRA IS A FAITHFUL IMAGE/COPY,
WHERE WE BELIEVE THAT A THOUGHT IS A ‘REFLECTION OF REALITY’
A SECOND STAGE OF SIMULCRA IS A PERVERSION OF REALITY,
WHER WE COME TO BELIEVE THE THOUGHT IS A COPY
WHICH ‘MASKS REALITY AS AN EVIL MALEFICENCE’
This is a montage of black and white clips. Of various people. Is that Kurt Cobain? Anyway the music is the real thing here. It is very resonant.
THIS FILM IS A SECOND STAGE SIMULCRA.
I DON’T KNOW IF IT IS FICTION OR NON FICTION
This. Well done, you have achieved it.
IN 2015, I READ A NEWS ARTICLE ABOUT A SERIAL KILLER WHO STRANGLED
7 WOMEN WHO WERE SUNBATHING TOPLESS ON MIAMI BEACHES.
IN EACH CASE HE STRANGLED THEM WITH THEIR BIKINI TOP
Every now and then you hear of a bizarre murder sequence, where you stop and have to consider motive and situation. This fits in with that.
OVER THE NEXT THREE NIGHTS,
I DREAMED THE EVENTS, PERSONS AND WORDS CONTAINED IN THIS FILM.
EACH OF THE 3 DREAMS WERE EXACTLY THE SAME
Man: ‘Life imitates art’
IT WAS LIKE THE UNIVERSE WAS GIVING ME A SCREENPLAY,
AND MAKING SURE THAT I GOT ALL THE ELEMENTS AND NUANCES RIGHT BY REPEATING THEM
IT HAS TAKEN ME 7 YEARS TO MAKE THIS FILM, BECAUSE I WAS SO UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE FAMILIARITY OF THE STORY
I FELT LIKE I WAS RELIVING A PAST LIFE
When I watched the film for the first time, I thought you meant here that you knew the man personally. That you had met him, even that his victims were part of your family. It is a testament to the skill of the filmmaker that you have detailed this serial killer so convincingly, so brilliantly that Leonard lived, that he hunted, that he killed and he died. It is all believable.
I SEEK YOU OUT, FLAY YOU ALIVE
ONE MORE WORD AND YOU WON’T SURVIVE
AND I’M NOT SCARED OF YOUR STOLEN POWER
I DIDN’T LEAVE A LETTER ON MY DESK SAYING GOODBYE
PEOPLE THINK I LEFT EVEN THOUGH I’M STILL HERE
BURNING ME ALIVE IS LIFE IMITATING ART
THERE ARE FLAMES ON MY ARMS
BURY ME ALIVE AND DISAPPEAR UNDERGROUND
WHERE THEY FOUND ME BEFORE I EVER HAD THIS CAREER
MACHINE GUN KELLY | TAURUS (SONG FOR LEONARD)
What you have created here is a believable portrait of a serial killer. A portrait so well crafted that it invokes within us, a familiarity with similar criminals.
You have woven into the story, a sexual element involving nudity on the beach. You had options, but I can understand how you chose that backstory.
It is. In short. Your best work ever. It took me an age to go through. You have included so much. It is so intricate. I hope everyone who watches this can see the amount of work you have put in. It is your opus magnum.
Bravo,
Alan