DARK CITY

DARK CITY                                   by

                             Alex Proyas
                             & Lem Dobbs

                      Revised draft May 9, 1994

     INT.  OPENING MONTAGE

     OVER BLACK a low rumble increases in volume.

     FADE UP:

     A GLOVED HAND wraps around a bulky scissor-switch, thrusts
     DOWN.

     SNAP!  -  Electricity arcs through darkness.

     OS SOUND of MACHINERY turning on.

     TITLES OVER

     MONTAGE OF CLOCKS  -  VARIOUS.  The clocks are frozen, then second
     hands turn  -  TICKING gets louder...

     EXT.  CITY STREET  -  NIGHT

     The streets are empty  -  no sign of life.  Eerie silence.

     A DOORWAY opens in the side of a building, then:

     A line of shadowy figures walks out.  Men, dressed in black full-
     length coats, bald...

     The STRANGERS walk silently out into the city.

     INT.  BATHROOM  -  NIGHT

     SHADOWS DANCE  -  in and out of darkness.  A hooded light-bulb
     swings IN SLOW MOTION from the ceiling, its dim light REVEALS:

     A GLASS SYRINGE  -  broken on the floor.

     Clothes on a chair...

     Puddles of water on the floor...

     ANGLE ON SLEEPING EYES  -  Between waves of light they snap open and
     dart about in confusion.

     ON JONATHAN WALKER as he sits up.  Water splashes.  He's in a tub
     of long-cold water.  His neck aches like he's been sleeping forever.

     TIGHT ON WALKER  -  he's in his early thirties, dark featured.

     HIS P.O.V.  -  looking around the room.  Everything's strange,
     unfamiliar.

     He stands, steps from the tub.

     ANGLE  -  THE SWINGING LIGHT BULB.  Walker's hand ENTERS FRAME,
     stops the bulb mid swing.

     ON HIS REFLECTION in a cracked wall mirror.  He moves to the mirror
     and looks at himself.  A line of blood runs across his face, from a
     point between his eyes.  he wipes it away, and notices a tiny pin-
     prick wound on his forehead.

     WALKER'S P.O.V. PUSHES TOWARDS a circular window.  The glass is
     cracked, covered in grime.  His hand wipes it, this only smears the
     dirt, but the window is unlatched and swings open with a creak.

     It's dark out there.

     EXT.  BUILDING  -  NIGHT

     WALKER  -  from outside the window  -  ANGLE BECOMES A RAPID FLYING
     P.O.V. PULLING BACK in silence until the window is a SPECK on the
     side of a vast grey tower.

     INT.  BATHROOM  -  NIGHT

     Walker shivers, cold.  He picks up the clothes lying on the chair
     and puts them on.  Loose trousers with braces, a plain shirt,
     leather shoes with HOLES in both soles.

     Now he steps to the door, hesitates, hand inches from the doorknob.
     He leans down.

     TIGHT ON HIS EYE  -  blinking through the key-hole.

     P.O.V. OF AN EMPTY ROOM  -  A glimpse of motion  -  the door across
     the room (leading to a corridor?) is shutting.

     INT.  HOTEL  -  NIGHT

     WALKER pushes the door open, steps into the adjoining room.  No sign
     of life.

     He's unsteady on his feet, doesn't notice a fishbowl on a table near
     the door, bumps it.

     THE BOWL falls to the floor.  Water goes everywhere.

     TIGHT ON A SMALL GOLDFISH flapping at his feet.  WALKER'S HAND
     ENTERS FRAME and picks the fish up.

     He steps back into the bathroom and throws the fish into the murky
     water in the tub.

     BACK IN THE OTHER ROOM  -  SERIES OF ANGLES ON WALKER

     He moves cautiously through the room.  He turns a light on.

     A CLOSET  -  Walker's hand opens it.  A grey coat hangs inside.  He
     goes through the pockets and finds a WALLET.

     TIGHT ON THE WALLET  -  There's no I.D. in it, just:

     A laundry bill;

     Some money;

     A business card for something called "Neptune's Kingdom";

     And a postcard from "Shell Beach", a sea-side town.

     With trembling hands, Walker puts everything back into the wallet
     and looks around the room once again.

     As he does this, he notices something on the floor.

     HIS P.O.V. follows a dark stain on the floorboards, to a woman's
     bare foot behind the bed.  In the shadows there lies a WOMAN'S BODY,
     naked, in a RAPIDLY EXPANDING pool of blood.  Her eyes stare
     lifeless.

     Walker throws his hands over his mouth.

     INT.  HOTEL CORRIDOR  -  NIGHT

     Walker staggers from the room, grabs a wall for support.

     DING!

     At the end of the corridor, elevator doors open TO REVEAL: TWO
     SHADOWY FIGURES  -  ONE TALL, ONE VERY SHORT.

     Walker instinctively flattens himself against the wall.

     The figures step from the elevator  -  still in shadow  -  he can't
     see them clearly.

     Walker makes for the stairs.

     INT.  LOBBY  -  NIGHT

     Walker rushes past a deserted front desk.  A VOICE from the back
     room stop him in his tracks:

                            HOTEL MANAGER O.S.
                  You gotta message.

     Walker looks uncertainly towards a bead curtain.

                            MANAGER O.S.
                       (Cont.)
                  Message!  You deaf?

     Walker looks to a series of nooks for messages in front of him.  In
     one he sees a little folded note.  Reaching across the desk, he
     glances through the beads into the manager's office.  RADIO SOUNDS
     O.S.

     HIS P.O.V.  -  hard to see  -  the man sits in a chair, lit by the
     glow of a T.V. set.

     Walker grabs the note, looks at it.  It says:  JOHN WALKER  -  PLEASE
     CALL  -  ..  That's all  -  no number.  Walker thrusts the message
     in his pocket.

                            MANAGER O.S.
                       (Cont.)
                  When you gonna pay up?  That's three
                  weeks y-owe me!

     Totally confused now, Walker sees something.

                            WALKER
                  I...

     WALKER'S P.O.V.  -  a painting on a wall (cheap print variety)  -
     waves on a beach.  A breeze rustles the pages of a calender, pinned
     beside the picture.
  
     TIGHT ON WALKER  -  MOVE IN on his ear.  O.S. surf crashes on
     shore.  A WOMAN'S VOICE WHISPERS:

                            VOICE O.S.
                  What's your name...  What's your
                  name...

     He backs away from the painting, looks around in panic  -  sees a
     sign:  TOILETS.  An outlined hand points the way.

     A PHONE on the front desk starts ringing.

     The MANAGER,  a squat man with glasses, steps through the bead
     curtain just in time to see Walker run from the lobby.

                            MANAGER
                       (calls after him)
                  Hey!

     He grabs the receiver aggressively and barks into it.

                            MANAGER
                       (Cont.)
                  Yeah.  What?

     INT.  HOTEL CORRIDOR  -  NIGHT

     ANGLE FOLLOWS Walker as he pushes shakily through a red door, runs
     down a corridor.

     Pipes on the walls steam and drip water.

     Walker  rounds a corner, slips, nearly falls.

     INT.  MENS' ROOM  -  NIGHT

     Puddles on the floor, stains on the walls.

     Walker bursts through the door and into a cubicle.  He bends over a
     toilet bowl and VOMITS.

     INT.  HOTEL LOBBY  -  NIGHT

     The manager puts the phone down.  he returns to the back-room and
     is just turning the volume up on hhs radio, when:

     HAND-HELD P.O.V. watches him THROUGH the swaying beads hanging in
     the back-room doorway.  TWO FIGURES (these two are normal height)
     peer into the room.

                            STRANGER 1
                  Where is John Walker?

     THE HOTEL MANAGER stands, moves forward through the beads.

                            MANAGER
                  Whatcha want him for?  Friend of
                  yours...

     The manager trails off to silence  -  he's noticed just how weird
     these guys look.

     A BLACK GLOVED HAND suddenly GRIPS the manager's neck.  He
     struggles, gulps for air, is pushed back against the wall.

     ON THE MEN  -  STRANGERS  -  members of the mysterious group we saw
     earlier.  They wear long black coats, have extremely pale skin, and
     are completely bald.  Creepy.

                            STRANGER 2
                  Where is he?

     The leather glove SQUEEZES, and the manager makes like he wants to
     speak.  Stranger 2 loosens his grip.

                            MANAGER
                  He left...  five minutes ago...

     ANGLE ON  -  a tiny hand pulling at Stranger 2's coat.  The two
     Strangers move aside.

     The manager looks down to see A TINY CHILD-LIKE FIGURE.

     This MISTER SLEEP  -  a miniature version of the Strangers, a
     child but not a child.

     Mister Sleep steps forward and Stranger 2 leans down to let him
     whisper something in his ear  -  Mister Sleep never speaks above a
     whisper.

     Stranger 1 then stands upright and looks at Stranger 2.

                            STRANGER 1
                  Mister Sleep wants to play.

     Stranger 2 smiles.

     Mister Sleep steps towards the struggling manager.  A FLASH OF STEEL
     -  Mister Sleep grips a DAGGER by his side.

     INT.  MEN'S ROOM  -  NIGHT

     We are underwater.  WALKER'S FACE swims into view.  Bubbles spew
     from the mouth,  the eyes stare wide.

     ANGLE ON MEN'S ROOM

     Walker washes his face in a dirty sink.  He looks up, wipes his face
     dry with his coat. 

     ANOTHER ANGLE

     A breeze tugs at his stringy hair.  A tiny ventilation grill high on
     the wall above the sink looks out at the street.  Walker raises
     himself up on his toes.

     HIS P.O.V.  -  OUTSIDE

     Sheets of newspaper blow past.  A full moon, surrounded by blood red
     clouds, hangs above empty streets.

     He turns towards the door.

     There are TWO  -  identical.

     PAN BACK TO WALKER  -  Can't remember which door he came through.
     He takes a guess, opens one and steps into darkness.

     A moment too late he realizes he's picked the wrong door, tries to
     go back but the door CLICKS behind him:  locked.

                            WALKER
                  Shit!