Matinee Page #4

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my boyfriend's back and

you're gonna be in trouble

[Bell ringing]

[Sigh]

Hi.

Hello.

Uh,

my name's gene.

I saw you in that

air raid drill yesterday.

Yeah, the whole world did.

What did they do

to you?

Detention for a week.

Wow!

They put Gandhi away

for a year.

I don't know

that many people here.

Uh-huh.

You're not one of those guys

by the tetherball, are you?

No, I just

met them.

I mean, I just

moved here this year.

I've lived here all my life.

You haven't missed much.

I thought people were

supposed to like it here.

[Sigh]

It's supposed to be the most

wonderful place on earth.

The beautiful coral reef!

The beautiful hibiscus flower!

Blah, blah, blah.

If it's such a wonderful place,

how come the negro kids have

to go to a different school?

I don't know.

I guess they do that --

it's because they're not really

supposed to be people,

neither are the Russians.

If they're not real,

just go ahead and kill them,

send in the Navy.

My dad doesn't want

to kill anyone.

Who's your dad?

He's on one of

those ships...

Over by Cuba.

[Sigh] I'm sorry,

I didn't -- that's okay.

You must be

worried about him.

Well, I hope

he's all right.

Thanks.

[Humming]

Tell me your name.

I'm not mad.

I just wanna know your name.

Stan.

Stan, you're gonna have

to give me some answers.

If you don't, then I'm

gonna have to hurt ya!

What's that

gonna solve?

It's not gonna solve

anything,

just more pain.

Answers?

About yourself and Sherry.

You goin' out with her?

Well, we were gonna look

at some coral on Saturday.

Coral?

She likes coral.

All those little animals

givin' up their bodies to make

somethin' pink for Sherry.

[Sigh]

You can't do it, Stan.

You can't do anything

with her.

And you can't tell her

we had this little talk...

Because the fact that

things like this have to happen,

it's crazy, you know?

Well, uh, maybe it doesn't

have to happen.

No, Stan, it does.

It's like I once wrote

in a poem:

Destiny...

It's like a crazy River...

Where you see

different people's boats...

That they have

going by on it.

But tomorrow,

tomorrow's a knife.

Tomorrow's a big knife.

You get it?

Uh... sort of.

It's abstract, Stan.

[Sigh]

Mr. woolsey?

Hello, son.

Good to see you.

Comin' to the show

Saturday?

Sure.

I was here the other night

when you got here.

Uh-huh.

You know those two guys

who were yelling at you

about your movie?

Oh, yeah. We get some of

those people in every town.

Sometimes it's a church group,

sometimes the p.T.A.

They mean well, but --

one of those guys

was herb denning.

He was in

"the brain leeches."

He played the third man

at lunch counter.

Mmm.

Just cruise it

around town for a few hours:

Schools, Navy base.

You see, son,

herb turned against me.

Okay, he didn't turn against me.

He's still working for me.

What's your name?

Gene loomis.

You're very observant, gene.

That's a good habit.

Hi, how ya doin'?

Saturday night, right here.

Big show.

Don't miss it.

Herb's an interesting guy.

He used to be kind of, uh,

well, dishonest:

Shakedown artist, strong arm.

Someone sent him to collect

money from me just when

I needed an inexpensive actor.

Isn't it fun

to know these things

about your favorite stars?

He's pretty good.

Bob's even better.

That other guy?

But he got himself on the

stupid blacklist. That's

why he's workin' for me.

They're both good.

It's just hard to get people

around here stirred up.

Could be this

bomb business.

I don't have to tell anyone

those guys work for you.

You want a pass

for the show Saturday?

I've already got one.

What do you want?

To help you out.

You must have

a lot to do.

[sigh]

Okay, you're with the show

for an hour.

There you are.

What is all this?

It's a secret.

Can you keep a secret?

I already am.

Right!

These are a little surprise

for the audience rigged

to the seat cushion.

Feel that.

[electrical currents

crackling]

Aah!

Giving it to the people

right where they need it most.

Cool.

Mr. Woolsey,

this is a national crisis

that's going on.

If you start

vibrating the theater

and scaring people --

what is that?

Conelrad, the

civil defense channel.

They're tied straight in to

the distant early warning.

If there's an attack,

they will broadcast on this

wavelength a full 90 seconds

before we have local sirens.

I really wish you'd --

anyway, you see

what I'm saying.

The country is on red alert.

People are already scared.

Exactly!

What a perfect time to open

a new horror movie.

Think of it, my friend.

Millions of people...

Looking over their shoulder

waiting for God's

other shoe to drop,

never knowing if each kiss,

each sunset,

[crunch]

Each malted milk ball

might be their last.

Please.

We're halfway home.

We'll fill this place.

What's capacity here?

Five hundred down here and

a hundred in the balcony.

That's all for the balcony?

Safety restrictions,

termites, the tropics.

Whatever, we'll fill it.

The yokels

are on pins and needles.

Mr. woolsey,

people in key West

are not yokels.

Then they shouldn't have

any problem with it.

I'm glad

you spoke up.

What a jerk!

Oh, I kinda like him.

You know where we can find

a hardware store?

Yeah, I'll show ya.

I didn't think anybody'd

recognize herb.

You spend your whole life

sittin' in monster movies?

A lot, yeah.

Somebody like herb

or Vincent price,

it's like

they're my friends.

That's a strange group.

What are your

real friends like?

I don't have too many.

My dad's in the Navy,

so we move all the time.

Oh, man! Five hundred

new kids a year?

That's Scary.

One time we moved.

This was to the big town,

hatfield, Missouri.

I was petrified

of those guys.

Really?

Oh, yeah.

But see, now I get

my revenge.

I get to scare everybody else,

but it's for their own good.

People go like this

at the Scary parts.

They're not gettin' the

whole benefit. You gotta

keep your eyes open.

What's the benefit?

Okay, like, uh...

A zillion years ago

a guy's livin' in a cave.

He goes out one day. Bam!

He gets chased by a mammoth.

He's scared to death

but he gets away.

When it's all over with,

he feels great.

Yeah, 'cause

he's still living.

But he knows he is,

and he feels it.

So he goes home,

back to the cave,

first thing he does,

he does a drawing

of the mammoth.

And he thinks...

People are comin'

to see this!

Let's make it good!

Let's make the teeth real long

and the eyes real mean!

[Roaring]

Boom!

The first monster movie.

That's probably why

I still do it.

Make the teeth

as big as you want,

then kill it off.

Everything's okay.

The lights come up.

[Sigh]

You see,

the people come into your cave

with the 200-year-old carpet.

The guy tears

your ticket in half.

It's too late to turn back now.

The water fountain's

all booby-trapped and ready,

the stuff laid out

on the candy counter.

Then you come over here

to where it's dark.

Could be anything in there!

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