An American Werewolf in Paris

An American Werewolf in Paris
BLACKNESS.

Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon (Brain Damage)" plays as WHITE TITLES appear over black. As the song crescendos at the first chorus, SUNLIGHT flares over the lunar horizon and a crescent sliver of THE MOON is illuminated- huge, filling the screen f rom top to bottom. We're in space, circling around from the dark side until a HUGE FULL MOON fills the screen with whiteness- TITLES continue as we pull back from the moon, into the earth's atmosphere, through CLOUDS, until we reveal

PARIS AT NIGHT

We come to rest on an ancient, vaguely wolf-like GARGOYLE high atop a gothic cathedral in the Latin Quarter- a maze of narrow, twisting streets- desolate at this late hour. Clouds move over the moon. End TITLES. The song fades. A THUNDER CRACK. Rain d rops spatter on the church's metal roof. Water trickles out of the gargoyle's mouth. We follow the STREAM OF WATER down to street level where it falls onto

A YOUNG COUPLE

wobbling down the street, sharing a bottle of wine. They open an umbrella and stand underneath it, smooching and giggling. We follow the STREAM OF WATER from their umbrella to the street, where it swirls into drain holes in the MANHOLE COVER that they' re standing on. Suddenly...

CLANG!! The manhole cover pushes up under their feet. He flinches- bites down on her lip, drawing blood. She yelps.

CLANG!! The cover thrusts up again. They lose their balance, fall to the ground- the wine bottle smashes. The manhole cover flips off it's hole. Horrified, they scramble from it. Then, out of it comes...

TERRENCE McDERMOTT

a fiftyish college professor in a turtleneck and old tweed jacket, clutching a well worn leather shoulder bag and gasping for breath. He's balding, with longish gray hair and intense eyes. He climbs out of the hole, replaces the cover and dashes off de sperately through the rain, looking back over his shoulder as he disappears into a narrow alley.

The couple watch him go, befuddled. She touches her hand to her lip and looks at the blood. She slaps her boyfriend upside the head.

GIRL

Idiot!

The guy shrugs. Then...

BAM!! The manhole cover explodes off the hole, sails twenty feet into the air and clatters to the ground some distance away. We cut to the couple's horrified reactions as they watch something emerge from the hole.

ON A NEARBY STREET

Terrence, running, hears the couple's horrible SCREAMS echo through the twisting streets. He comes to A STONE STAIRWAY and hurries down it, four steps at a time. At the bottom he turns right and arrives at a star shaped five way intersection.

A low, muffled growl stops him in his tracks. He stands in the rain, panting, looking around at the dark maze of streets, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound.

TERRENCE

(American accent- to himself)

Where are you, you sick bastard...

A TAXI appears a block away. He waves his arms and calls out in a very good French accent.

TERRENCE

Taxi! Ici, s'il vous plait!

It turns and drives towards him. He starts off towards it. He glances over his shoulder- sees nothing. He's twenty feet from the taxi. He smiles. Then-

He's jerked violently downward into A STORM DRAIN. He screams. Some monstrous force pulls him down, his bones crushing as his body is forced through the too-small drain.

The CABBY gets out and runs up to the drain, where Terrence's thrashing upper body is quickly disappearing into the hole. Horrible growls and sounds of ripping flesh emanate from the sewer. BLOOD spurts through the grate. Terrence reaches up to the cab by, SCREAMING for help.

TERRENCE

My God! Help! Au securs!

The terror stricken cabby shakes his head and starts backing up. Terrence lunges forth and grabs the cabby's leg. The cabby screams and tries to get loose. He falls to the ground and is dragged towards the hole. He grabs the bumper of his cab and strai ns to pull himself away, kicking at Terrence's hand with his free foot.

LIGHTS come on in an adjacent building. A MAN in pajamas runs out into the rain. The cabby loses his grip on the bumper and he and Terrence are jerked closer to the sewer but the man grabs the cabby's hand and pulls. Some OTHER RESIDENTS gather on the sidewalks. A police car SIREN approaches.

Something gives and the man in pajamas falls backwards into a puddle. The small crowd looks down and sees TERRENCE, pulled free from the hole, moaning semi-consciously. We move down his body, past the bleeding stumps where his legs used to be, and foll ow the BLOOD as it swirls into EDDIES of rain water and flows into the BLACKNESS of the storm drain.

cut to:

A FIERCE BULL

charges through the matador's red muletta, snorting blood. The CROWD goes wild. We're in a bull fight arena, under the blazing Spanish sun.

The camera dollies past cheering SPANIARDS and finds a small group of AMERICAN STUDENTS, early twenties.

gord

Man. I can't believe I paid good money to watch a guy in tight pants kill a cow.

SHERRY

Disgusting. This makes American Gladiators look highbrow.

The camera settles on ANDY MCDERMOTT, 22, as he joins the crowd in a rousing cheer, waving a bottle of wine with native gusto. He's good looking in a scrappy sort of way, with shoulder length brown hair, grungy plaid shirt, khakis, and glasses.

andy

Whoo! Ole!

(to his friends)

Man, you guys are losers! This is poetry! Death in the afternoon, a tragic dance of man and beast, just like Hemingway said. God, Spain is it! These people know how to live.

SHERRY

I still say we should've gone to Paris.

andy

Paris!? Ug! If I wanted to be in an overpriced, overrated city full of obnoxious assholes I would've stayed in New York! Please!

Another friend, MIKE, joins them.

GORD

Where've you been? Beatin' off in your sombrero again?

Mike swats Steve in the head playfully and grabs the wine from Andy. He hands him a crumpled telegram.

MIKE

McDermott, your dad sent this to the pensione. Supposed to be urgent.

andy

(concerned)

What's it about?

mike

(defensive)

I didn't read it.

Andy takes the telegram. Mike leans in close to Sherrie and whispers the gossip.

mike

His uncle is in the hospital.

Andy reads the message. His face falls. For a second, he's silent. His friends see something's wrong.

gord

Hey, man. You okay? What is it?

Andy grabs the wine away from Mike and takes a long swig. IN THE BULLRING- the matador plunges his sword between the bull's shoulder blades and makes the kill.

cut to:

INT. PARIS HOSPITAL EMERGENCY WARD - EARLY EVENING

BLOOD splatters on white paper. Pull back to see a CHEF with a cut finger standing at the admitting counter, dripping blood on a form. The uptight Parisian NURSE scolds him and pulls out a new form.

ANDY, lugging his back pack, trudges through the sliding glass doors marked "St. Severin Hospital". Bleary eyed, hung over, burdened by a heavy backpack and carrying the crumpled telegram, he approaches ANOTHER NURSE at the counter.

andy

Um, excuse me... hello...

A STOUT WOMAN with a POODLE charges in front of Andy and launches into a loud French argument with the nurse over the hospital's "human's only" admission policy.

WOMAN

(French)

Pitou needs a real doctor! He's melancholy!

andy

Hey, wait a minute...

Andy tries to push his way back in, but the shrill little dog yaps at him. Andy grabs his aching "hangover head" in agony. The bleeding chef walks away, dripping, leaving the other nurse free. Andy approaches her. She has her head down in some paperwor k.

andy

Pardon... Excusez moi. 'Allo.

Without looking up, she holds up a "please wait" finger. Andy sighs. The poodle yaps at him again. He winces and tries to get the nurse's attention.

andy

(to Nurse)

Umm...

She raises her finger sharply and glares at him. She goes back to her paperwork. Andy starts chatting politely with her, pretending she's responding.

andy

So, you ever been to Spain? You'd love it. It's friendly, sunny, cheap... And you'd be the only raving bitch there instead of just one in the crowd up here.

MARCEL BOULARD, a short middle aged cop in a rumpled coat approaches. He taps Andy on the shoulder.

marcel

Andrew Mc-dair-mo?

andy

That's McDermott, but yeah.

Marcel flashes his badge.

marcel

Detective Boulard. We've been expecting you. This is Inspector Leduc.

LEDUC, in his fifties, taller, heavy set, droopy mustache, nods gruffly and starts towards the elevator, motioning for them to follow.

marcel (cont'd)

He's in charge but, uh, between you and me, my English is better.

(they hurry to catch up with Leduc)

This way... So you're from New York eh? I love those Hill Street Blues...

andy

Right. Listen, my uncle, it's not serious is it? Did he eat some bad snails? Slip on the bidet? What?

They step into the elevator as Leduc holds the door open. Marcel and Leduc trade uneasy glances. Leduc sighs.

leduc

Merde.

marcel

He says-

andy

Yeah okay. My French isn't that bad.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM

TERRENCE lies comatose under a clear plastic oxygen tent. An ORDERLY changes the dressing on his bloody stumps. A NURSE fiddles with the vast array of bleeping, burbling, sucking, life support machinery.

Andy, dumb struck, watches from a few paces away. Marcel, pad in hand, asks him questions. Leduc stays in the background, listening and studying Andy intently.

andy

Jesus...

marcel

How well did, er, do you know him?

andy

Not too well. He taught at the Sorbonne, right? Dad always calls him his "hippie brother". Did some work with Timothy Leary I think, and- Is he... is he going to die?

marcel

No. The doctors say the machines should keep him going a long time. But basically he is, how you say, a legume.

andy

Legume? You mean, a vegetable?

marcel

Vegetable, right. My mistake. It seems he was attacked by a maniac, maybe two or three maniacs, just after midnight. yesterday. They fled into the tunnels beneath Paris, that's all we know...

andy

What do you mean, maniacs?

marcel

Well, here's what I think happened. A chemistry professor goes to a bad part of town late at night. Why? Perhaps he's making a few francs on the side. The psychedelic drug market is big these days. He gets mixed up with a bad crowd and, like they say, if you lie with dogs, you get fleas.

andy

Yeah, well, these fleas must have teeth like fuckin' chain saws.

BEEP BEEP! Something's wrong with uncle Terrence's machinery. The IV bottle is sputtering and bubbling, the EKG monitor is flashing. The orderlies snap into action and pull the curtain shut, waving "no problem" to Andy and Marcel. Marcel leads Andy awa y, trying to calm him down.

marcel

Maybe we should go now. You must be very tired. We'll call if any new-

andy

I can't believe this. Why don't you go down in the tunnels and find the goddamn... animals that attacked my uncle?

marcel

Andy, it's not so easy. There are hundreds of kilometers of tunnels under Paris. It's a whole other city, crawling with drug addicts, lunatics, skinheads... It's no man's land.

Andy's about to protest when Leduc steps in and hands him uncle Terrence's leather bag.

leduc

Here.

marcel

Your uncle was carrying this. The keys to his apartment are in there. I talked to his assistant, Madame Flocquet. You'll be staying there a while?

andy

Yeah. I guess so.

(they walk him to the elevator)

Did he say anything? Before the coma?

marcel

Just the name of this hospital, St. Severin. He repeated it a few times then he lost consciousness.

andy

Why would he pick this one?

marcel

I don't know. There were others much closer. He was religious?

andy

Not that I know.

marcel

Well, when you're about to pop off, what have you got to lose? Thanks for your help.

Andy's dumbfounded at Marcel's lack of tact. The elevator doors start to close. Leduc nods "good-bye". Marcel leans in and sneaks in one last comment.

marcel

And remember Andy, let's be careful out there. Heh-heh...Ouch!

The elevator doors knock him on the head as they close. Andy shakes his head.

andy

(to himself)

Inspector Clouseau, on the case. Great.

cut to:

EXT. TERRENCE'S APARTMENT BUILDING - NIGHT

Andy opens the gate of this beautiful 19th century building and walks through THE COURTYARD to the main entrance. A POODLE yaps at him. The dog is in the open doorway of the Concierge's apartment, which opens into the courtyard. The nosy concierge, MAD AME CHRETIEN calls the dog, LULU, back in and shuts the door.

Andy enters the dark LOBBY, finds the timed auto shut-off light switch and turns it on. He boards the old fashioned wire cage elevator and presses the button for #4. McDermott. The elevator ascends painstakingly slowly. Andy resigns himself to waiting , thumbs through his uncle's date book.

Andy turns to the day Uncle Terrence was attacked. A circled, cryptic entry at the bottom of the page reads "Meet Claude, Medusa- 11:00". Andy wrinkles his brow. At this second, the light goes out.

Andy ascends the rest of the way in darkness. The doors open on the fourth floor. He gets out and finds his way to the apartment. He tries a key in the lock. It won't turn. He jiggles it. No luck. He goes through this with two more keys, grumbling unde r his breath. Finally he finds the right one. He pushes the door open and gasps.

He's face to face with a scary TRIBAL MASK hanging in the entrance way. It startles him for a second.

andy

This must be the place.

INT. TERRENCE'S APARTMENT

Andy walks in and sets down his bags. A gun COCKS. A young woman's voice screams at him in French.

YOUNG WOMAN

(in French)

Who are you!? What do you want!?

He turns to see SERAFINE, a beautiful young woman, around 22, casually dressed and aiming a pistol at his head. He drops the shoulder bag and reaches for the ceiling.

andy

Don't shoot! Jesus...uh...Je m'appelle Andy. McDermott. Je suis le... um, shit...

It dawns on her. She drops the gun to her side, embarrassed.

serafine

(in English)

Oh fuck, you are his nephew...

andy

Yeah, that's the word. And you are?

serafine

Serafine Flocquet. I work for your uncle.

ANDY

You? You're Madame Flocquet? I pictured a fat lady with an apron, not- I don't know- La Femme Nikita.

Serafine puts the gun away in a drawer.

serafine

It sounded like someone picking the lock. After what happened, I guess I am a little nervous.

She lights a cigarette.

andy

Sure. I can follow that.

serafine

It's a fucking nightmare, isn't it?

andy

Yeah. True. The cops weren't much help either. Their theory is he was moonlighting as a drug dealer or something. Make sense to you?

serafine

Police. They have their head in their asshole and they still can't find shit.

andY

Well put. So, what exactly has uncle Terrence been up to lately?

As he speaks, he scans the apartment. It's cluttered with an overwhelming assortment of anthropological oddities from around the globe, medieval illustrations, molecular models, and an artsy periodic table that's been used as a dart board.

SERAFINE

He's doing a book with Professor Roussel, about medieval chemistry. I was just transcribing his notes onto the computer and - oh shit!

She races out of the room. Andy follows after her.

INT. TERRENCE'S STUDY

She runs in and finds the computer locked up. She smacks it a few times, clicks the mouse, taps the keyboard. No response.

serafine

Salots! Shitfucker!

andy

(reacts to her loose grasp of American slang)

What?

serafine

If you leave it for more than a few minutes it locks up. Now I must reboot and type a dozen fucking passwords. He was security crazy.

She flicks a switch on the back of the computer, rebooting it. Andy pauses to look at some nearby photos of his uncle.

andy

I still can't get over it. The cops said it was a "maniac", but he looked like, I don't know, like he'd gone through a combine harvester or... something.

Serafine gets kind of emotional at the thought...

serafine

They wouldn't let me see him. Family only. I told them, Terry was almost like a father to me, you know?

Andy reacts to her use of the informal "Terry"...

andy

Depends. Was "Terry" a father like Ward Cleaver or a father like Woody Allen?

A beat. She grasps his meaning. She's offended. She starts typing on the computer, giving him the cold shoulder.

serafine

You must not have known him very well. He's not like that.