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305 Thirteen Years Later

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305 Thirteen Years Later

[MLM-305 (3ABC05)]

Written by Michael R. Perry

Directed by Thomas J. Wright

Edited by James Coblentz

Air date: 30 October 1998

[Transcribed by Libby]

[A bell rings.]

"Never believe anything you see on Halloween."

Reverend M. Goodman

October 31, 1985

[A blonde woman is taking a shower. Someone stealthily approaches her, dimly seen in the steam-filled bathroom. The woman becomes aware that there is someone there. Then her concern disappears when she recognizes the person – a woman. She smiles.]

WOMAN: Oh, it's you. I thought it was Sister Lucretia.

[she giggles. Then her mood turns to fear as the person raises a large kitchen knife. The woman screams. The knife is plunged into her body, time and again. She slumps against the shower wall, eyes unseeing, blood from her mouth, spattered on her face and the shower walls. She slides to the floor. Bloody water is flowing into the drain, but the view of this is grainy, as in a not very good quality video - which is what it is.]

MARTA: Wow! This is so beautiful. You're such a good director.

[The director, from the upside-down clapper board seen on the video, is Lew Carroll. The movie is called "Madman Maniac".]

MARTA: I'll make you so happy you cast me.

TRINITY, SOUTH CAROLINA

MARTA: I really need to look at my butt again.

LEW: You'll wear out the tape, Marta. Come on, it's just a rough cut. Come on.

[He tries to get the remote away from her.]

MARTA: You dog. I wanna watch it again.

[she plays the tape again.]

MARTA: Right here, I thought I was gonna puke. Lew, it's your fault. That blood tasted like soap.

LEW: It tastes fine, baby.

MARTA: You try it then.

[she picks up a bottle and squirts red liquid at him.]

LEW: Hey. This is a new shirt.

[she runs giggling towards the bathroom. He also picks up a bottle and runs after her.]

LEW: Oh yeah? I'm gonna make you a star, Marta.

[They squirt fake blood at each other.]

LEW: Give it to me, baby.

MARTA: Soapy, soapy, soapy, soapy.

[she pushes him towards the bed and they both fall on it, then crash on to the floor.]

MARTA: Come on, big time director, taste it!

LEW: Ok, it does taste soapy.

[she is sitting astride him. They are both covered in fake blood and the room is a mess.]

MARTA: I'm gonna go take a shower, while you go get us champagne.

[she unzips the front of her very short, leather outfit.]

[Lew smiles.]

[in the shower, Marta is cleaning off the fake blood. She turns as a figure approaches around the side of the shower curtain.]

MARTA: Oh, it's you.

[Lew, still covered in fake blood, hands her a glass of champagne.]

LEW: Here's to us.

MARTA: Hurry back.

[Lew puts Marta's glass on a table and exits the bathroom. As he enters the bathroom, he's struck down by someone wielding a baseball bat.]

[Marta hears a noise over the sound of the shower.]

MARTA: Lew?

[Marta slowly opens the blood-streaked bathroom door. The door creaks. She sees the still figure of Lew lying on the floor. She hesitates then quickly runs. But a hand reaches out and grasps her ankle. She falls to the floor next to Lew. She turns to see the attacker. She screams, covers her face, as a large, blood-stained, kitchen knife is held aloft then plunged into her body.]

[main titles]

[A small lecture room. The FBI logo on the wall. A group of men are sitting at desks listening to a lecture. The lecturer has his back to the camera, but the voice is recognizable as Frank's.]

FRANK'S VOICE: Manson, Bundy, Dahmer. Their cases are all well known. But the case I'm about to describe is so horrific it should never be discussed outside this room. It challenged every preconception. It followed no rules. If it has a moral, I do not know what that moral is.

[Frank and Hollis are walking down a hotel corridor.]

FRANK'S VOICE: This story is so bizarre and macabre, I wouldn't believe it had I not seen it with my own eyes. It all happened in the week leading up to Halloween.

[Hotel. Two sheriff's deputies approach Frank and Hollis from the opposite direction.]

DEPUTY #1: Hey, Frank, good to see you.

FRANK: Thank you.

DEPUTY #2: Glad to have you back with us, Frank.

FRANK: Thank you.

[They have shaken hands. The two deputies walk on. Frank and Hollis continue walking down the corridor.]

HOLLIS: So, you've been here before?

FRANK: Yeah. Thirteen years ago. Just about this time of year. There were three murders a month. It was really bad.

HOLLIS: The Dale Barker murders? That was you?

FRANK: Mm-mm.

HOLLIS: They teach that case at the Academy.

[The crime scene. White tape on the floor, outlining where the bodies had fallen.]

COP: They're from California, in town making a movie. You know who Marta Danbury is? We counted fifty-five stab wounds. The other one is the director of this here picture. A guy named Lew Carroll. Marta was the star of this movie.

[Frank has touched the bloodstains on the bed with his gloved finger. He looks at the blood, then tastes it. Hollis and the Cop exchange glances.]

FRANK: Stage blood. Tastes kind of soapy. Human blood oxidizes to a deep brown.

[They continue looking around in the bathroom. Everywhere is spattered with "blood".]

[Frank closes his eyes, has a vision: bright lights, a red curtain, a clown-like face. Hollis notices something about Frank.]

HOLLIS: Mr Black, what is it?

FRANK: Agent Hollis. What you learned at the Academy won't serve you here.

[Hollis is puzzled. Frank looks around at the crime scene. Vision as before.]

FRANK: What kind of movie is this?

[Movie camera.]

DIRECTOR: Action!

[The scene is in an office. A gray-haired man is sitting behind a desk, two men standing, a girl sat on a chair dressed in "schoolgirl/tart" fashion.]

ACTOR: Never before in the annals of crime have I encountered a monster so heinous, so deviously clever, so hard to catch.

[Now we see the rest of the film set. The Sheriff, Frank and Hollis walk up.]

SHERIFF: Kenny Neiderman there, he's the producer. Oh, Kenny, this is Agent Hollis and this is Frank Black.

KENNY NEIDERMAN: Hey. Nice to meet you.

[Neiderman is constantly sniffing. Back to the film scene.]

ACTOR: When the predator is so illusive, I try to put myself in the madman maniac mind. I call it profiling. A technique I invented in the FBI. That is how I plan to stop this madman maniac from murdering, or my name isn't Frank Black.

FRANK: What?

[The fake Frank dons his shades meaningfully. Two drum beats.]

DIRECTOR: Cut! Magic. Fantastic.

KENNY: [to Frank] The picture's based on a true case. You investigated the murders, therefore that makes you a public figure. So, we don't have to buy your rights, but if you want to sue, I understand.

FRANK: I didn't say I wanted to sue.

[Frank notices that Kenny is playing with one of the rings on his fingers.]

HOLLIS: Who was Marta Danbury portraying in the film? That may inform the investigation of her murder.

[Kenny doesn't respond.]

FRANK: Which victim did she portray in your film?

KENNY: Eva O'Malley.

FRANK: Eva O'Malley was a forty year old quadriplegic. She got strangled in her driveway.

KENNY: Sure. But it's more entertaining to see her get sliced up in a girls school shower. And would you hide a tomato like that in a wheelchair? God rest her soul.

HOLLIS: We need to talk to everyone who saw the victims recently.

KENNY: Ok. But just talk about the murders. I don't need a bunch of hot-head actors thinking that we don't have the rights to the story here.

[He slaps Frank on the back.]

"ROWDY BEEMAN

Director"

ROWDY: Um, I knew both of them. I mean, Lew and Marta were, they were my clients.

HOLLIS: Were you their agent?

ROWDY: Oh, no, I was their personal trainer.

HOLLIS: When did you become a director?

ROWDY: When Lew was pronounced dead.

"RAMONA TANGENT

Starlet"

RAMONA: [smoking very large cigar] Live fast. Die young. Leave a pretty corpse. I'm the star and they don't even notice because it's Marta Danbury's last film.

FRANK: You are the star?

[Frank waves away the cigar smoke.]

RAMONA: Yes! Of course! I almost get killed. And then I help solve the mystery, along the way fall in love with the hero. FBI agent Frank Black.

FRANK: It didn't happen that way in real life.

RAMONA: What are you doing tonight?

FRANK: Er.

"SIR DOUGLAS LATHAM

Master Thespian"

SIR DOUGLAS: I was the toast of the English stage. And now my name is above the title as "The Madman Maniac".

HOLLIS: Did you study Dale Barker's behavior to learn your part?

SIR DOUGLAS: Olivier never met the Dane and I'll be damned before I talk to some pervert killer about how to play this bloody. part.

"RUBY DAHL

Ingénue"

[Ruby screams.]

RUBY: See I got the part because I'm a really good screamer and I do nudity for scale.

FRANK: The director said he was going to enlarge your role as compensation for Marta Danbury's loss.

RUBY: Isn't that the greatest! [hugs Frank] Oh! I mean, you know, it's terrible about the death of Marta, but I'm at the beginning of my career and I could really use the break.

FRANK: Lucky you.

"MARC BIANCO

Star"

[Marc looks nothing like Frank.]

MARC: Let me ask you something, Ok? Now, do you say, um, Special Agent Frank Black FBI, or, FBI Frank Black?

FRANK: Neither. How well did you know Marta?

[Marc is very amused and laughs.]

MARC: I'm sorry. Frank Black interrogating a suspect. This is really cool. OK. Now, I bet you want to know about my childhood, right? Was I a bedwetter, did I set fires, was I cruel to animals.

FRANK: It's not that kind of case yet.

[From the side of the set, Hollis signals to Frank.]

MARC: No, the 1985 case - that was a serial killer.

FRANK: It was a sexually motivated homicide.

MARC: [mimicking Frank's voice] "Sexually motivated homicide".

[Frank walks off towards Hollis. Marc makes a note in his notebook.]

MARC: That's good. No, I like that.

[Marc follows Frank and Hollis, but Frank stops him.]

FRANK: Hey!

[Outside the sound stage. Sunny day. Frank and Hollis are walking, other people are busy doing film set things - one woman carrying a skeleton. There are props around - a clown head about six feet tall. Around from a very bare tree steps a man, using a walking stick. He's long-haired and bearded.]

HOLLIS: We rule anyone out?

FRANK: Not from this group. I can't discern if the attack was solo or a team. Crime scene's ambivalent. Some signs point to an organized offender.

HOLLIS: Like the careful entry, the lack of evidence.

[The man is following them. He is carrying a book.]

FRANK: Yeah. But other signs point to a disorganized offender. Like the ritual violence of the attack on the woman. We're being followed.

MAN: Hey! Wait! Um, Mr Black? I'm Hugo Winston.

FRANK: I remember you. The football captain, right?

[Hugo is somewhat agitated, stammering slightly.]

HUGO: Well, thirteen years ago. Then Dale Barker murdered my fiancée. Listen, they're desecrating her memory in there, making this sleazy movie, and --

HOLLIS: Revenge won't bring her back. That's not what you're after, is it?

HUGO: Read the script.

[Hugo proffers the book. Frank shakes his head.]

FRANK: No.

HUGO: This will change your mind about these b*******s.

[Later. Hotel room. Frank flips through the script.]

FRANK: The killer in this story follows no known behavioral profile.

[Frank throws the book across the room.]

FRANK: Barker's final victim was killed in at a church picnic. In this story, a band named KISS is playing at what resembles an orgy. I can see why that would make a guy like Hugo snap.

HOLLIS: Neiderman.

[Hollis checking through some papers on the desk.]

FRANK: What?

HOLLIS: The producer with the rings, the -- [Hollis mimics Kenny Neiderman's sniffing]. He spent several nights in Marta Danbury's room. Suppose Marta, the star, was sleeping with Neiderman, then she throws him over for the director. Neiderman gets jealous. Finds them together in the hotel room. Kills them both.

FRANK: Interesting. You know they're shooting tonight. We can go keep an eye on both of them.

[Later that night. Outside the film set. A car draws up, it's a red Jeep. It's parked next to Frank's red jeep. Marc Bianco gets out and bounds up to Frank and Hollis.]

MARC: Hey, man. [mimics Frank's voice] "Frank Black, FBI." That's how they say it. Let me ask you something.

FRANK: What.

MARC: Say you're doing a full contact interrogation. Now my buddy says you hit these guys with a phone book because there's no bruising, right?

FRANK: No, we don't.

MARC: You are good.

[On the set. Gunshot. Sir Douglas, Master Thespian, holds a smoking gun. The body of a man, with a gunshot wound to his chest, lies in a very large pool of blood, on the side of a swimming pool.]

ROWDY: And cut! Magic! Fantastic! That was terrific, people.

[The Director removes his ever-present headphones.]

ROWDY: OK, let's set up for the money shot. Quickly!

[He sees Frank and Hollis enter and goes over to them.]

FRANK: Dale Barker never shot anyone.

ROWDY: Yeah, yeah, I know. Check this. The Madman Maniac shoots the boyfriend, then dresses like him when Ruby's taking a late-night skinny dip.

FRANK: He harpoons her. I read the script. How can you label this a true story?

ROWDY: It is true. It's just improved a little. That's all. I mean, the reality of murder - it's dark and depressing.

FRANK: Yes, it is.

ROWDY: Frank, Frank. You know that and I know that. But all the people in those towns that you fly over on the way to New York - they want to be entertained.

FRANK: I wouldn't presume to know your business. There's an abundance of heroism and drama in the real facts of any murder investigation.

ROWDY: Oh yeah, yeah, sure there is, Frankie, but that's complicated, the people, they're ugly, and it's probably dark and rainy all the time. Where's the magic? The magic?

[Frank sighs. Rowdy pats him on the arm.]

ROWDY: Glad we had this little talk.

[Rowdy sees Ruby approaching.]

ROWDY: Ruby, baby, time to get naked and die.

[He moves off. Frank and Hollis exchange looks. Then Frank notices Hugo Winston sanding on an upper level overlooking the swimming pool. Winston has some flyers: "Stop The Movie --".]

FRANK: How did he get in here?

[Winston moves away. Rowdy ushers Ruby, who is wearing a bathrobe, to her place, patting her on the butt. He nods to Frank as he passes by. Frank notices a group of suited men in the far corner. He goes over to Rowdy.]

FRANK: Who are they?

ROWDY: That's the insurance guy, the co-producer, the associate producers, studio exec. Every little pissant functionary on the show.

FRANK: What are they doing here tonight?

ROWDY: Nude scene.

[Hollis maintains a very impassive expression at that piece of information. Frank looks around.]

FRANK: Where's Neiderman?

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: He was here a minute ago.

ROWDY: Ah, just wait. The little horndog never misses one of these. [shouts] We're ready to roll, people.

[bell rings. Make-up artists finishes Ruby's make-up.]

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Roll sound! Roll camera!

MAN: Turning.

DIRECTOR: Action.

[The camera faces Ruby across the length of the swimming pool. Ruby moves to the edge of the pool. In close-up, she takes off her robe. Then close-up on her legs and feet only as the robe drops to the floor. She prepares to dive. In longshot, we see her dive, naked, into the pool, but with very careful editing so as not to upset Standards & Practices. Then an overhead shot of Ruby swimming underwater. She surfaces at the other end of the pool, make-up intact, to see Sir Douglas dressed in a wetsuit and wearing goggles, harpoon in hand, poised to strike. She screams. Then turns to swim away. The man throws the harpoon and blood billows in the water.]

ROWDY: And - we - cut!

[bell rings.]

ROWDY: Magic! Fantastic!

[Frank stares at the blood-stained, still water.]

FRANK: Where's Ruby? Ruby?

[Everyone now looks at the still water. Frank crouches down at the edge of the pool. Suddenly Ruby surfaces. She catches her breath, then looks at Frank.]

RUBY: You're the producer?

FRANK: No, I'm not.

[so Ruby turns and swims away. Hollis looks unimpressed as Ruby swims for he other side of the pool, where the producers are standing.]

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Ok, that's a wrap.

ROWDY: Ok, people, let's eat.

[in the food queue, Sir Douglas is standing next to Rowdy. He picks up a wrapped sandwich.]

SIR DOUGLAS: Sandwiches. Is this it?

ROWDY: We spent the rest on your salary.

SIR DOUGLAS: Oh, shut up.

[Rowdy bites into his sandwich, less than enthusiastic about the taste, but then pretends it's good. Next to him are Hollis and Frank.]

ROWDY: I told you it was safe.

FRANK: The night's not over.

ROWDY: Well, we're wrapped, so nothing happened on my set.

[Oh dear, famous last words. He bites into his sandwich again. Then stops chewing. Frank looks at him quizzically. Rowdy turns around and spits out and coughs. He turns back and throws down his paper napkin and its contents.]

ROWDY: Oh my god. They killed Neiderman. Neiderman's dead.

[Remember that Neiderman's first name is Kenny.]

[in the sandwich is a finger, complete with ring. Rowdy turns and throws up, while Frank puts down his sandwich and picks up the napkin. Everyone is nauseated except for Frank who continues to chew thoughtfully.]

[FBI lecture room. A student makes notes on an FBI notepad.]

FRANK'S VOICE: Our prime suspect - the producer - had become the next victim in the crew's dinner. At that moment I knew this case would pit me against horrors that no FBI agent should ever have to endure, and push me to the brink of insanity.

[fade to black]

[polaroid fade up]

[Photograph of severed hand, only the thumb and the be-ringed little finger remaining.]

[Hotel room.]

HOLLIS: All we have is the possibility of a dental match on the bite marks. It's a very clean crime scene.

FRANK: Which is at odds with a person who would feel compelled to bite fingers off.

SHERIFF: What kind of offender is that?

HOLLIS: Disorganized. Schizophrenic. Not the type to get in and out in ten minutes without anyone seeing him.

[Vision: clown-faced man again.]

FRANK: A voyeuristic anthropophagiac.

SHERIFF: What's that?

FRANK: A person who feels compelled to watch others eat human flesh.

HOLLIS: Or an avid fan of The Hitcher. Severed fingers are a direct quote of that movie.

FRANK: So how many people may have seen that.

HOLLIS: Besides our suspect? The entire film crew - it's their business. [hesitates] And me, I've seen quite a few horror films.

FRANK: This horror film connection doesn't narrow it down.

HOLLIS: No. Any of a dozen people could be our perpetrator.

FRANK: Even though we don't know who it is, there is a decisive way that would stop the killing immediately.

[Film set. Sir Douglas is chasing Ruby around a dining table. He's wielding a long-handled double-head axe. He's wearing a white outfit - "Danville Penitentiary, Maine, Criminally Insane" on the back in very large letters.]

RUBY: You b*******! You'll pay for all the kids that you killed!

[sir Douglas starts to bring down the axe, tinkling the overhead crystal chandelier as he does so.]

MAN: Cut!

DIRECTOR: Who said that? Who said "cut" on my set?

[The Sheriff, Frank, Hollis and Hugo Winston stand at the edge of the set.]

SHERIFF: I did. OK, that's it. It's over. Time go home now, folks. I'm officially notifying you, this workplace is shut down by order of the Sheriff - that'd be me.

DIRECTOR: [to Frank] You don't like my movie, so you pulled some strings with the heat.

[Frank doesn't respond. Rowdy walks away. Marc walks over to Frank.]

MARC: So. Listen, I've been doing a little research on my own on your guy. Maybe he's got like a cooling off period, and then [mimics Frank's voice] "he will kill again".

FRANK: Not now, he won't.

[Frank moves away. Marc, perhaps somewhat disappointed, also leaves.]

WINSTON: Hey. That's it? This is all that's going to happen to them?

HOLLIS: Hugo, the movie's over. Isn't that what you wanted?

WINSTON: I did not. This movie's not over!

[Hugo Winston turns away. Hollis's cell phone rings and she moves away to answer it.]

HOLLIS: [into phone] Agent Hollis.

[A woman approaches Frank.]

WOMAN: This is a hell of an angle. Sarah Cryer, Unit Publicist. Do you mind if I say: "This is the movie Frank Black didn't want you to see."?

FRANK: Yes, I do.

HOLLIS: Excuse me.

[Hollis moves the woman away and speaks to Frank.]

HOLLIS: Bite mark analysis was inconclusive. He was wearing a dental prosthesis, commonly used in motion pictures.

FRANK: Whoever is doing this is trying to drive me insane. For the third time in my life.

HOLLIS: Mr Black, remember the suspect in Seattle, the one who quoted Nostradamus.

FRANK: The Frenchman.

HOLLIS: What if instead he was quoting B-movies. Wouldn't you want to study them?

[Frank thinks, then half smiles.]

[TV screen showing a horror movie. She and Frank are sat on the sofa in the hotel room. Hollis tucks into popcorn, watching attentively, while Frank gives his expert analysis.]

FRANK: He's her brother. He kills teenagers. That's it? No twist, no mystery?

HOLLIS: It's supposed to be scary.

[The video is popped out of the VCR and another inserted - Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan.]

FRANK: The mother of a child who's drowned suffers an extreme emotional displacement. She adopts the hockey mask persona until she avenges the death of her son. You have hockey, you have young men, you have her son. Where's it come from here?

[Frank chuckles.]

HOLLIS: A lot of people get killed.

[Another video.]

FRANK: Oh, Krueger's acting out a childhood trauma by targeting sexually promiscuous teens. He's either the child of mentally unstable parentage, or a rape victim, or both.

HOLLIS: He was the b******* son of a thousand maniacs.

FRANK: Mmm. It's almost as if our case is in one of these movies. For example, they always happen on the holidays.

HOLLIS: And Saturday is Halloween.

FRANK: The victims are always some smug person who thinks "I'll never die".

HOLLIS: And the leading lady's always the last to be attacked.

FRANK: Exactly. You know, we should quietly put some security around Ramona Tangent.

HOLLIS: But precautions never work. If we follow the movie model, if you try to protect yourself --

FRANK: -- then you die. You know, if we tried to shut that movie down, and the killer realizes he's in a slasher movie.

HOLLIS: Then he'll return here tonight to attack the movie crew.

FRANK: And the whole crew is in this hotel.

[Frank pulls out his handgun.]

FRANK: Come on.

HOLLIS: Mr Black? I thought you didn't carry a gun anymore.

[Frank looks puzzled.]

[Frank is patrolling a corridor. He and Hollis are keeping in touch by cell phone.]

FRANK: [into phone] First floor's quiet.

[Hollis is checking another corridor.]

HOLLIS: [into phone] Copy. So, what kind of movies do you like, Mr Black?

FRANK: Detective movies.

HOLLIS: Ah. "The Enforcer" is my favorite.

[There's a scream and the sound of something falling.]

HOLLIS: Mr Black, there's someone on the roof.

FRANK: I'm on my way.

[Frank exits on to the roof, gun in hand.]

FRANK: Agent Hollis?

[There's no answer. Frank cautiously makes his way over the top of the building. There are rooms at this level with windows giving directly onto the flat roofed area. Another figure, Hollis, also moves cautiously around. Frank moves down some steps to the area where Hollis is crouched by a corner. She hears the footsteps and whirls around, gun aimed. She recognizes Frank and lowers her gun. Frank joins her. ]

[There's a slight noise from the direction Hollis is looking at. She aims her gun.]

HOLLIS: Freeze!

[A gunshot. A man fires at Frank and Hollis as he goes through a door. Frank and Hollis duck out of sight then move back and fire at the man, but he's disappeared. Frank and Hollis run over to the door. Frank checks with Hollis who nods, then Frank pulls open the door. It gives onto another part of the building, metal steps leading down. The door they came through slowly closes and when it does, a body falls and hangs suspended, upside down. Blood streaks from the chin to the forehead on a very pale face.]

[fade to black]

[polaroid fade up]

[FBI lecture room.]

FRANK'S VOICE: At this point in the investigation I began to ask myself "why?". Why had four people been killed. They died making a Hollywood movie - a movie based on a real case that I investigated thirteen years earlier. They took enormous liberties with the truth and with my life, in the name of entertainment. Needless to say, I'm not a critic, I was there to solve a crime.

[Film set. Rowdy stands at a lectern addressing a seated audience of film crew and cast.]

ROWDY: We're all going to miss Sarah Cryer, our, um, [checks his notes] publicist. She was a can-do gal, she knew when to leak, when to spin, when to just plain-out lie. And then, well, let's not talk about her, frankly, disgusting murder.

[Frank walks in and over to Rowdy.]

FRANK: What do you think this is? A movie?

[Frank pulls forward a stand with a large photo of the publicist.]

FRANK: Four people are dead. Four.

[Frank continues quietly, as the camera focuses in turn on Sir Douglas, Ruby and Hugo Winston.]

FRANK: The killer is in this room. I know you're here. And I'm going to bring you to justice. Even if it drives me insane, for the third time in my life.

[Frank leaves, joining Hollis at the back of the set.]

HOLLIS: You OK? I just came from the coroner's. Death resulted from massive blood loss due to a severed carotid artery. The weapon appears --

FRANK: -- a large butcher's knife. "Halloween".

HOLLIS: Exactly. The corpse was posthumously dissected with a --

FRANK: -- machete. "Friday The Thirteenth". And there's no useful forensic evidence, there's no fingerprints, no assailant's DNA. This guy's a genius. He's ahead of us on every move.

[Rowdy is still standing at the lectern. He's handed a note which he reads and then smiles.]

ROWDY: Ladies and gentlemen. The murder's been solved!

FRANK: What?

ROWDY: Filming will continue!

[Applause. Rowdy is delighted. He and Ruby hug.]

[interview room. Present are: "the murderer", Frank, Hollis, Rowdy, the Sheriff and the Mayor.]

MAN: I'm Hector Leachman. I did it.

FRANK: This is not your man.

HOLLIS: I've seen this guy before. He was one of the extras.

ROWDY: He said he was one of ours.

FRANK: Hector. What kind of gun did you use in the bowling alley murders?

ROWDY: You do not have --

FRANK: Hey!

HECTOR: It was a .38. It's all right here in my confession.

FRANK: No-one got shot, no-one died in a bowling alley.

ROWDY: Um. Excuse me. Mr Mayor!

[Rowdy ushers the Mayor off a little way, puts his arm around him, and speaks confidentially.]

ROWDY: We're spending about a million dollars in your town and we brought you the murderer. Now, I don't know what his problem is, OK --

FRANK: The killer's still at large. If he strikes again --

MAYOR: [to Frank] Need I remind you, the FBI is here in a support capacity. The written confession satisfies me.

ROWDY: Then I guess the filming can continue.

[Frank and Hollis in the hotel room, looking at crime scene photos pinned on the wall.]

HOLLIS: You're right about one thing. There is nothing like this at the Academy.

FRANK: Ted Bundy described the experience of killing like watching himself in a movie.

[Vision: man's face behind bars, red curtain, a figure - perhaps Frank himself - the clown-type face again.]

FRANK: Were there any horror movies on the night that Lew Carroll or Marta Danbury were killed?

[Hollis checks a listings magazine.]

HOLLIS: Mr Black, that's it. "Psycho" was showing on cable.

FRANK: The shower murder fits perfectly. What about when Neiderman was killed?

HOLLIS: "The Hitcher" was on pay-per-view.

FRANK: Sarah Cryer died on Wednesday.

HOLLIS: "Halloween" was playing. There's a corpse dropping out of a door.

FRANK: Tonight, is "Motel Hell".

HOLLIS: A classic. Farmer Vincent never kills quickly. He keeps his victims half dead for weeks until he can make them into sausage.

FRANK: Then we have a chance.

[Film set.]

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: A Mark.

ROWDY: Action!

[A "sheriff" plus others including "Frank Black", run down a corridor to a "body" lying on the floor. The "body" is a man, his face painted just as in Frank's visions.]

"FRANK BLACK": This is important. Was Bobby a big fan of KISS?

"SHERIFF": No. He liked the Ramones.

"FRANK BLACK": Then we can conclude that the madman maniac is a KISS fan. "We drive you wild."

["Frank" folds his arms. Watching, off to the side, Frank sighs, and folds his arms in exactly the opposite way.]

"FRANK BLACK": "You drive us crazy." They play here tomorrow. He will be there.

ROWDY: Cut! Magic! Fantastic!

[Applause. Then the lights go out, plunging the set into darkness.]

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: We've lost power. What's going on?

[The red emergency lights come on.]

FRANK: Clear the stage. Head for the exit. Get everyone off the set. Get out! Go! Go! Go!

MAN: Oh, god, no!

[Frank and Hollis, guns drawn, move cautiously. Hollis edges round some props and sees a long-haired bearded figure, dimly seen in the red light. The man is carrying a hooked staff.]

HOLLIS: Hugo!

[Hollis runs after the man, followed by Frank. They run further through the set and past various props. Around a corner they find two men, dead, tied to chairs.]

FRANK: Gaffers.

HOLLIS: Their vocal cords are severed. A quote from "Motel Hell".

FRANK: Call for backup.

[Frank leaves as Hollis takes out her cell phone.]

[Frank moves further around the building. He hears a sound and swiftly pulls away some plastic sheeting. Underneath it is a frightened man, Marc, his hands cut and bloody.]

MARC: No! Please! Please don't kill me.

[He recognizes Frank.]

MARC: He's still here. He just tried to kill me.

[He points. Frank checks behind him then turns back to Marco.]

FRANK: You all right?

[Frank doesn't wait for an answer but moves off quickly to resume the search of the building. He edges carefully around a curtain and sees Hugo Winston hanging from the ceiling. On the floor beneath his swinging feet is a large bloody kitchen knife. On the wall, in blood, are the words: "MOVIES KILL".]

[The hotel room. An evidence jar containing Neiderman's finger.]

HOLLIS: So Hugo Winston kills the movie people and hangs himself.

FRANK: I knew Hugo in 1985. I'm not buying this transition from football captain to voyeuristic anthropophagiac.

HOLLIS: But we saw him. What would convince you?

FRANK: An autopsy. With some physical evidence that he's been eating human flesh.

HOLLIS: We'll get that later. What if it is someone else?

FRANK: Then he'll attack the film crew with the same M.O. What's on television tonight?

HOLLIS: It's Halloween. There are horror movie marathons on every channel.

FRANK: I'm going to the set.

HOLLIS: I'll go with you.

FRANK: No. Turn on the television. And don't take your eyes off that TV. You keep watching that tube until we put this guy in custody.

HOLLIS: I'll be in constant contact.

[Hollis presses the remote, concentrates on the TV. The movie shows a woman trying to escape a masked man. The woman hides in a closet and the man breaks down the door. Hollis is very focused.]

[fade to black]

[polaroid fade up]

[stage. KISS setting up for concert.]

OCTOBER 31, 1998

MAN: Right, everything's looking good.

[backstage. Lots of people and movement and chatter. Rowdy, Marc and Frank. Frank calls Hollis on his cell phone.]

HOLLIS: Emma Hollis.

FRANK: Agent Hollis, you watching? What do I look for?

HOLLIS: A new movie just came on. A man in a human skin mask wielding a chain saw.

FRANK: Thanks.

[He end the call. Marc walks over to him, holding up gloved hands.]

MARC: A hundred and seventy one stitches. You saved my life, man, thanks. So, we come to the final scene. You know what happens?

FRANK: No. But you're going to tell me.

MARC: Right, KISS is playing, right? And I'm you. The maniac is here, right? And I almost get him and then, he hangs himself - just like in the real story.

FRANK: It's practically a documentary. Break a leg.

MARC: Thanks, man.

ROWDY: OK, people, let's go! Time is money. First team, ready? Sound, ready?

CREW MAN: Ready!

ROWDY: All right everybody, standing by.

[Lights fade. Bell rings.]

ROWDY: We're ready to roll, people.

CREW MAN: Set!

CREW MAN: And playback!

ROWDY: And action!

[KISS start playing: Psycho Circus.]

[The painted face in Frank's vision is the face of one of the band members.]

[As they sing, Marc playing "Frank" moves through the dancing, clapping audience. His gun is held ready and his face is grim.]

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Hello

Here I am!

Here we are, we are one

I've been waiting for this night to come

Get up!

[sir Douglas, The Villain, wearing hat and mask, looks evilly around him.]

Now it's time for me to take my place

The make-up runnin' down my face

[The villain sees "Frank Black" and tries to escape through the crowd.]

We're exiled from the human race.

You're in the psy

You're in the psycho circus

You're in the psy

You're in the psycho circus

I say welcome to the show.

I've been waiting here to be your guide

So come

Reveal the secrets that you keep inside

Step up!

["Frank Black" is still grimly searching, but then espies his quarry slipping through the tinsel curtains to backstage. The villain sees that "Frank" has spotted him and waves mockingly as he disappears.]

No one leaves 'til the night is done

The amplifier starts to hum

The carnival has just begun.

You're in the psy

You're in the psycho circus

You're in the psy

You're in the psycho circus

Yeah I say welcome to the show

Welcome to the show

Welcome to the show

The show.

I, I've been waiting here to be your guide

So come

Reveal the secrets that you keep inside

Step up!

["Frank Black" goes up on stage, continuing the search while the band plays on.]

No one leaves 'til the night is done

The amplifier starts to hum

The carnival has just begun.

You're in the psy

You're in the psycho circus

You're in the psy

You're in the psycho circus

You're in the psy

You're in the psycho circus

You're in the psy

You're in the psycho circus

And I say welcome to the show

Welcome to the show

Welcome to the show

And I say welcome to the show.

["Frank Black" looks up and sees the body of The Villain hanging. He turns, looking grim and determined, while Rowdy uses his hands to frame the shot of the hero.]

ROWDY: Cut! Magic! Fantastic! All right, lets set up people for the next shot, quickly.

SIR DOUGLAS: Get me down! I feel like a sack of potatoes!

CREW MAN: Get him down.

FRANK: [into phone] Agent Hollis? No human skin mask, no chainsaw.

HOLLIS: It's all typical slasher fare so far, except for "The Omen".

FRANK: What could he copy?

HOLLIS: So far, a decapitation by glass, and a suicidal hanging at a children's birthday party.

FRANK: I'll keep my eyes open.

[KISS start playing again.]

ROWDY: Action!

[Ramona runs screaming across the floor in front the stage. She is being chased by a man holding aloft a large kitchen knife. Following behind them are a camera crew.]

[Frank walks slowly through a crowd of unconcerned extras who are not paying attention to either the filming or the band. His phone rings.]

FRANK: Agent Hollis?

MAN'S Voice: No, it's Sheriff Neuenschwander, Frank. The coroner's completed the autopsy.

[in the hotel room, the phone rings.]

HOLLIS: Emma Hollis.

FRANK: I just spoke with the Sheriff. Hugo really did do it. Human metacarpal fragments were recovered from his digestive tract.

HOLLIS: Thank god. It's kinda crazy, isn't it, that such a grisly discovery would be a relief, don't you think?

FRANK: Yup, yes, sometimes it is. Why don't you take the evening off. You've earned it, Agent Hollis.

HOLLIS: Thanks. I will.

[Frank ends the call. He notices a figure wearing a Halloween mask. He warily pulls up the mask but it's just a prop. As he lowers the mask, a scream rings out - a body tumbles down from the overhead gantry. It lands near Frank. It's the Sheriff. The audience runs screaming away.]

FRANK: I talked to him on the phone two minutes ago.

ROWDY: I don't think so, pal.

FRANK: It's like we're in a movie. The leading lady dies last. Where's Ramona?

ROWDY: She's over there. She's fine.

FRANK: Agent Hollis.

[in the hotel room. A book in hand, Hollis slips off her shoes, goes into the bathroom and shuts the door.]

[Frank is driving his car. He gets no answer from his cell phone.]

[in Hollis's bathroom. Hollis relaxes in a hot bath, lots of soap bubbles. She's reading "Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings" by Jorge Luis Borges. There's a knock on the door. She turns off the hot tap.]

HOLLIS: Coming!

VOICE FROM OUTSIDE: It's Frank Black. Hugo's not our killer. The autopsy results were faked.

[Hollis has put on a bathrobe. She unlocks and opens the door.]

HOLLIS: Come on in.

[Outside is Marc. He has a chainsaw.]

MARC: [mimicking Frank] Trick or treat.

[Hollis quickly shuts and re-locks the door.]

MARC: What, no treat?

[Hollis runs for her gun, then picks up the phone. The chainsaw is revved up. The lights go out. Hollis drops the phone. She crouches behind the sofa, gun aimed at the door. The chainsaw starts cutting through the door. She fires several shots to no avail. The door is cut through and Marc pushes his way into the darkened room. Hollis fires, the bullet hits the chainsaw which dies. Marc runs back out of the room. Hollis crawls to the bedroom and closes the door.]

[Marc creeps back into the room, armed with a handgun. In the bedroom, Hollis reloads her gun.

MARC: [mimicking the sheriff] Hey! Why don't you come on out, honeybunch. Sheriff Fritz'll save you.

[Hollis picks up the phone, but it's dead.]

MARC: [mimicking Frank] I can be anyone you want me to be. If you don't like him, try me. You know I wouldn't hurt you. I see what the killer sees. Because I'm the killer. And the cop, the butcher and baker and the candlestick maker.

[The door handle slowly rotates. Hollis starts pulling back on the trigger. The door burst open. It's Frank.]

FRANK: Agent Hollis.

[she lowers her gun, relieved. Then she sees Marc appear behind Frank, gun poised.]

HOLLIS: Mr Black, watch out!

[she fires. Frank ducks. Marc flees.]

[Hollis runs back into the bathroom. She watches through the half-closed door. A figure runs across the darkened sitting room.]

HOLLIS: Mr Black?

FRANK: Drop your gun.

MARC: [mimicking Frank] Drop your gun.

[The two men face each other, guns aimed. They both stand, each at either end of the sofa, one foot on the sofa arm.]

MARC: Wanted to be like you, Frank. I wanted to see what the killer sees.

FRANK: People die so you can play a part.

MARC: No, not all of them, just, well just the first couple of victims. But, you know, by killing them I learned something really important.

FRANK: Really.

MARC: I really like killing people. And now I know what you know.

[Frank fires, hitting Marc's hand. Marc drops the gun.]

MARC: You know, pain means nothing to me.

[Marc collapses on to the sofa. Hollis picks up his dropped gun.]

"FRANK'S" VOICE: The autopsy proved Mark Bianco acted alone. Why, then, did the crime scene suggest there were two offenders?

[Logo of the FBI on the wall. The suited men listen.]

"FRANK'S" VOICE: Even during the commission of a heinous crime, he was still in character. It was Bianco's uncanny ability to completely immerse himself in a role, a talent never seen before or since.

[The suited men are taking notes.]

"FRANK'S" VOICE: Some of the crime scene reflected his native personality and some the character he was playing.

[Again, we see the figure standing at the lectern, wearing Frank's 'trademark' jacket.]

"FRANK'S" VOICE: Either he was the greatest actor the world had ever known, or, he was completely deranged.

[Now we see the man standing at the lectern is Marc.]

"FRANK'S" VOICE: If you want a good movie for Halloween night, rent Madman Maniac. Judge for yourself.

[The 'FBI' agents are actually inmates of Danville Penitentiary for the Criminally Insane.]

"FRANK'S" VOICE: I give it two thumbs up.

[Marc looks straight into camera and holds up his clenched hands.]

"FRANK'S" VOICE: Two severed thumbs!

Lance Henriksen (Frank Black)

Klea Scott (Emma Hollis)

Guest Starring:

Jeff Yagher (Mark Bianco)

Jim Pirri (Rowdy Beeman)

Donnelly Rhodes (Sheriff Fritz)

Matthew Walker (Sir Douglas Latham)

Kate Luyben (Eva O'Malley)

Special Appearance by KISS

Co-Starring:

Stefan Ingram (Hugo Winston)

Crystal Cass (Ramona/Mary)

Andrew Danyliu (Mayor Dooley)

Tanja Reichert (Ruby Dahl)

Paul Stanley (Lew Carroll)

Gene Simmons (Hector Leachman)

Ace Frehley (Sick Cop)

Peter Criss (Nice Cop)

Featuring:

Dana Grahame (Sarah Cryer)

Ted Kozma (Kenny Neiderman)

Morgan Brayton (Assistant Director)

Guy Fauchon (Move Sheriff)

Edmund Wong (Gaffer)

Cavan Cunningham (Gaffer)

Music by Mark Snow

Editor: James Coblentz

Production Designer: James Cordeiro

Director of Photography: Robert McLachlan

Executive Story Editors: Kay Reindl and Erin Maher

Production Manager: Kathy Gilroy-Sereda

Associate Producer: Jon-Michael Preece

Co-Producer: Julie Herlocker

Co-Producer: Patrick Harbinson

Co-Producer: Laurence Andries

Co-Producer: Michael R Perry

Co-Producer: Kathy Gilroy-Sereda

Co-Producer: Paul Rabwin

Consulting Producer: Daniel Sackheim

Producer: Thomas J Wright

Co-Executive Producer: Frank Spotnitz

Co-Executive Producer: Ken Horton

Co-Executive Producer: John Peter Kousakis

Written by Michael R Perry

Directed by Thomas J Wright

Executive Producers: Michael Duggan and Chip Johannessen

Executive Producer: Chris Carter

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