The Horror of Frankenstein Page #3

---

You mean you're going to continue

your work on anatomy, is that it?

Of course. What else?

I don't know.

Let's leave our friend until later.

We have a lot more unpacking to do.

That was marvellous, alys.

How did you manage it?

I did as you said, sir,

and engaged a cook from the village.

My compliments to her.

- Oh, it's a man, sir.

- Oh, one of your impecunious relations?

I don't have any relations, sir.

Poor alys. All alone in the world.

- Not completely alone, sir.

- Quite.

Send him in, anyway,

I'd like to congratulate him.

I was hoping you would say that, sir.

He says he knows you.

Stephan!

Stephan. Good lord, it is Stephan!

- How are you, Victor? Herr baron.

-Lt's still Victor.

It's good to see you again, old friend.

But cooking? And doing it all so well?

- At last, I found something I could do well.

- Well, I'm delighted.

Wilhelm, this is another old friend of mine.

We had an arrangement at school.

He would keep the bullies off my back

and in exchange, I would do

his schoolwork for him.

- It was a good arrangement, eh, Stephan?

- Without it, I'd still be at school.

Have you everything you need?

Did alys arrange to pay you sufficiently?

- I am content.

- That's good. Very good.

Perhaps later, when we settle in,

there'll be other work for you

to do around the place.

- How will that be?

-L'd like that very much.

That's settled then.

It's good to have you with me, Stephan.

- You're a strange one, Victor.

- How so?

Well, one moment you can be

kind and charming.

The next, you can be as cold as the grave.

I sometimes wonder

which is the real Victor Frankenstein.

Let me know when you find out.

Back to work, then.

- Goodnight, Wilhelm.

- Goodnight, Victor.

A success, wouldn't you say?

Well, what's the next stage?

A live experiment.

But it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

We're dining with Elizabeth and that

pompous old fool of a father of hers tonight.

But keep your eyes open.

We'll need a recently dead animal

for the first thing tomorrow morning.

You probably think it eccentric of me

to keep a tortoise for a pet.

Most people do.

But he's clean. He makes no noise.

He doesn't bite,

and he hibernates for most of the winter.

What could be better?

Yes, we're great friends, aren't we, Gustav?

But enough of me.

Tell me, gentlemen, what is this work

you're doing up at the castle

that seems to occupy all your time?

Just some minor experiments, professor.

Don't you get enough of that

at the university?

We've finished with the university.

We have?

I feel we can progress further

working on our own.

Don't you agree, Wilhelm?

To a certain extent.

But unlike Victor, I am returning

to the university after the holidays.

I've been meaning to talk to you about that.

- There's nothing to talk about.

- I disagree.

But here is neither the time, nor the place.

Tell me, Elizabeth, how is it that

someone as beautiful as yourself

has managed to remain unmarried?

I would have expected suitors

to be beating a path to your door.

They do, young man, you take my word for it.

And you turn them all down?

Even a police lieutenant.

Henry?

I thought he was engaged to Maggie.

He is, but only after Elizabeth

had turned him down 17 times.

- Please, father.

- Well, it's true, isn't it?

I don't want to talk about it now.

Victor, would you like some more coffee?

No, thank you, we must be going.

- So soon?

- It wouldn't do to leave it too late.

The roads around here are swarming

with headless highwaymen.

- Oh, don't. I can't.

- No, really, we must go.

Off you go, Gustav.

You must both come to dinner again.

- We'd love to.

- And you must come to the castle.

Oh, thank you, my boy.

- Have you lost something?

- My gloves. I must have left them in there.

- Oh, I could...

- No, don't bother.

Thank you

for a very pleasant evening, professor.

Pleasure, great pleasure.

- And you, too, Elizabeth.

- It was nice seeing you again.

-It's been a wonderful evening.

- Goodnight, Victor.

Very agreeable young men.

Gustav! Gustav!

-L'm going to bed now, father.

- Goodnight, my dear.

- Goodnight.

- Gustav, where are you?

- Leave him, I'm sure he'll be all right.

- Hmm?

Oh, yes, yes, you're quite right, my dear.

He does hate it so to be left alone.

It was a terrible thing to do, Victor.

Don't be such an old woman, Wilhelm.

The professor will never know.

But how can he help but know?

Look, either the tortoise lives, or he dies.

If he lives, we sneak him back.

If he dies, we buy another exactly the same.

The professor will never know the difference.

No one will. Except another tortoise.

What about Elizabeth?

What about Elizabeth?

She's in love with you, you know.

- Where on earth did you get that idea?

- The way she looks at you.

The way she hangs on to your every word.

My dear fellow, I happen to be

a particularly entertaining person.

Modest, too.

The fact that she hangs on to every word

is a credit to her good taste.

Hardly evidence of eternal devotion.

No, Victor, I'm afraid it's more than that.

- Afraid?

- Well, I didn't mean...

You're in love with her, yourself.

Admit it.

But I hardly know the girl.

I wish you the very best of luck. Now...

Gustav...

Where the hell do you inject a tortoise?

Inject him with what?

A nice painless death.

- And afterwards?

- Afterwards...

Who knows?

Ls he dead?

As dead as he'll ever be, poor little thing.

Poor little nothing.

Gustav will go down in history.

Oh, that must be a great comfort to him.

Same as it'll be to the professor

when he finds out.

Stop griping and get

those electrodes fastened.

Well, how can I?

He died with his head inside the shell.

Well, stuff one in the front end

and one in the back.

They're bound to make contact somewhere.

- Ready?

- Hang on a minute.

Right. Ready.

Anything happening?

He's hot.

Any more current

and he'll fry.

Let's have a drink.

What now?

Start again, I suppose.

Poor old Gustav.

- Never did anyone any harm...

- Ouch!

Well, I told you he was hot.

He isn't hot, Wilhelm. He bit me.

Oh, come off it, Victor!

He did, I tell you. Hey!

Gustav...

Drink up, Gustav.

This is a celebration.

I want to make another toast.

Then you just go ahead.

To the successful culmination of our work.

Can't drink to that.

Why not? It's a good toast.

Because we haven't culminated.

We've just started.

Don't tell me we're going to murder

poor old Gustav all over again.

No.

On to bigger and better things.

- A dog?

- No.

- A horse?

- No.

- Well, what then?

- A people, er, person.

- Oh, steady on, Victor.

- We're going to make a person.

Stop joking.

Who's joking?

We'll need a bigger generator of course.

Much more power.

Stop it. You don't know what you're saying.

Of course, I do.

I always know what I am saying.

One of the first things we're going

to need is the raw material.

I understand, sir.

You're only interested in undamaged goods.

But you've got to realise

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes