3 INT.

WALTON’S CABIN, EARLY MORNING (DARK), SEVERAL DAYS LATER

3

Several days have passed, and Victor has remained that time
in Walton’s cabin, recovering from illness. Here, he finally
communicates with Walton, albeit in a startling manner.

Walton is walking about the ship, reflecting.

WALTON (V.O.)
My guest was readily ill, and thus,
I’d left him in the comfort of my
cabin to recover, my crewmates
servicing him. Inexplicable,
however, was te connection I felt
I’d made with him - from one
adventurer to the next, I supposed.

Walton looks back to the door into the cabin.

WALTON (CONT’D)
I wonder how he’s doing ...

Walton enters the cabin, and he walks to his desk before

checking up on Victor; Victor is in the back.

VICTOR
You are a kind man, but you have
helped the wrong soul. I have
brought forth evil upon this Earth,
and as its sole creator, I must rid
the world of it, and then perish.

Walton is startled to hear his guest communicate with him, he

turns around.

WALTON
Victor! I trust you’re better,
then.
Victor looks up, to Walton.

VICTOR
And I cannot thank you enough for
your assistance. But I have a
mission to accomplish and your
assistance has stopped ... (coughs
due to illness)

Walton comes closer to Victor.

WALTON
Stopped what?

Victor looks away again.

 2.

VICTOR
My duties are ill-fated, Captain
Walton. Allow me tell you my
history. Then, only then, will you
perceive how my case cannot be
resolved, how this soul cannot be
saved.

4 EXT. ITALY, DAY 4

Italy in the 1900s, bright and vibrant.

VICTOR (V.O.)
I am by birth a Genovese, and my
family is one of the most
distinguished of that nation.

Italy’s government being oppressed, rebels advertising their

campaigns.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

At the time of my birth, however,
Italy was only forming as a nation,
and my parents had for a long time
had an interest in the United
States of America, particularly due
to my father’s line of work.

5 EXT. OCEAN, DAY 5

Large ship, carrying travelers.

VICTOR (V.O.)
For that reason, when I was very
young, I traveled with my parents
to America, a nascent, but
prosperous, well-to-do land of
immigrants.

6 EXT. UNITED STATES, DAY 6

Traveling across the US. Parents in vacation clothes, family

together, etc.

VICTOR (V.O.)
My parents were always the kind to
travel, and this new nation was no
exception. We roamed the country,
far and wide.
 3.

7 EXT. PEASANT TOWNS US, SUNSET/AFTERNOON AND INT. PEASANT HOME

7

(Later on) Dust Bowl towns of the Midwest, peasants (e.g.

farmers). Victor enters peasant home, peasant family,
Elizabeth, Victor looks on with awe.

VICTOR (V.O.)
At the age of five, when we were
traveling through peasant rural
communities in the Midwest, we came
across one family that cared for a
beautiful young girl. She was
seemingly different from her
parents - luscious black hair,
piercing eyes looking out to the
rest of the world.

Elizabeth, little.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

My mother always desired to have a
daughter, but I continued their
single offspring for many years ...

8 EXT. UNITED STATES DURING DEPRESSION 8

Depression. Banks closing, people standing in line for food,

poverty.

VICTOR (V.O.)
Until the American depression. My
father’s job allowed us to remain
in economic tranquility throughout
the period, but we witnessed the
effects of the time up close when
the peasant family’s farm failed to
bear sufficient crops and was thus
taken away by the bank. Looking to
us for help, Elizabeth was handed
down to us.

9 EXT. VICTOR’S HOME, BACKYARD, AFTERNOON 9

Backyard, Victor playing with Elizabeth.

VICTOR (V.O.)
My mother fulfilled her wish, and
everyone soon grew fond of
Elizabeth. She became my more than
a sister.
 4.

10 EXT. SCHOOL, AFTERNOON 10

shots of outside of school.

VICTOR (V.O.)
During my school years, I ignored
the majority of my schoolfellows,
but Henry Clerval became the
exception. I still remember how I
met him...

Henry is sitting on the steps of the school, waiting for his

parents. Victor walks up to him from behind.

VICTOR (CONT’D)
Hey there. Waiting for someone?

HENRY
Yeah, my dad. He’s a little late,
as you can tell.

VICTOR
Right. Say, you’re from my math
class, aren’t ya?

HENRY
Ms. Goldstein?

VICTOR
Mhm!

HENRY
Yes! Where do ya sit?

Victor sits down next to Henry.

VICTOR
Right in front of Miguel. The funny
one, ‘member?

HENRY
Yes! He is hilarious!

VICTOR
Yup. Hey, do you collect any
trading cards? Pokigo or Yuge-mon?

HENRY
Pokigo all the way! And you?

VICTOR
Same one! Show me what ya got.

Sun begins to set.

 5.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

So that afternoon ensued until his
parents arrived, and I walked a 5-
minute trek home.

11 EXT. BACKYARD, AFTERNOON 11

VIctor and Henry are playing in Victor’s backyard.

VICTOR (V.O.)
I learned, oddly enough, that
Henry’s family had also come from
Italy, but from Rome, in his case.
Henry was a person of singular
talent, with an admiration of
enterprise and hardship. We
remained together through secondary
school.

Victor and Henry pretending to be knights.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

I remember - he would always make
my friends and I act out plays
straight from The Knights of the
Round Table, or the Heroes of
Roncesvalles. Often, we’d include
Elizabeth in them, pretending she
was the fair maiden that was to be
rescued from the tower.

12 EXT. FRONT OF VICTOR’S HOME, SUNSET/AFTERNOON 12

Family portrait style picture of Victor, his family, Henry,

and Elizabeth.

VICTOR (V.O.)
No human being could have passed a
childhood happier than my own, and
I have my family, and my friends,
to thank for that. If only my life
would’ve stayed that way...

FADE OUT.

13 ACT 2 13

FADE IN:
 6.

14 INT. VICTOR’S HOME 14

There is a storm going on. The radio features a newscaster

talking about the storm.

15 EXT. VICTOR’S NEIGHBORHOOD AND CITY - STORM 15

NEWSCASTER
A storm that has brewed over the
Pacific Ocean for days has now
entered the greater metropolitan
area of our city and begun to deal
damage. Unrelenting lightning
strikes in the Downtown area have
caused twenty-one deaths,
architectural damage and blackouts.
Meanwhile, in the suburbs, heavy
rain has caused floods in many
neighborhoods, forcing the
evacuation of many throughout the
area.

16 INT. VICTOR’S HOME, STORM 16

VICTOR (V.O.)
Never had I heard such a
distressing message on the radio.

VICTOR’S FATHER
Victor! Come to the foyer!

17 INT. VICTOR’S HOME LIVING ROOM, STORM 17

There is a man sitting on a chair, next to Victor’s family,

Elizabeth, and his brother. A collegiate of great knowledge,
he begins to speak.

COLLEGIATE
Electricity has been our enemy for
longer than it has been our aid,
and tonight, we witness it more
strongly than we would wish to.

VICTOR (V.O.)
That man, whose name I’ve never
been able to conjure up since, was
a crucial influence to the very
fiber of what I believed in.
 7.

18 EXT. RESORT HOME/VACATION PLACE, MORNING 18

VICTOR (V.O.)
Some years, earlier on a trip with
my family to see some relatives
that had come to visit us, from
Geneva ...

Victor is now in the library of a large home, as he begins to

dive into one of the books on a desk. He walks towards the
desk.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

I ran into my fate. Their newly
acquired home had apparently been
sold to them with the contents of
an expansive library untouched, and
as an avid reader, I couldn’t help
but take a look.

Victor sits down at the desk, as he picks up one of the books

on the top.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

The writings of Cornelius Agrippa.
The sayings of Albertus Magnus. An
insight into the human body, but a
rejected one. It delved too deep
into the unknown, but at the time,
I read their words with unmatched,
immutable fascination. They were
teachers, and I became their
disciple.

Victor’s father opens the door of the library and walks into
the room.

VICTOR’S FATHER
Victor! What are you up to?

Victor looks up from his book, briefly.

VICTOR
Hello! I’m just reading a book, is
all.

VICTOR’S FATHER
Ah, let’s see what you’re reading.

Victor’s father grabs the book from Victor, and looks on the
cover.

VICTOR’S FATHER (CONT’D)

Cornelius Agrippa?
 8.

Victor’s father throws the book onto the ground.

VICTOR’S FATHER (CONT’D)

Victor ... do yourself, and your
father, a favor. Do not waste your
time with this trash. This will
never serve you ... it is all lies!

Victor’s father walks out the room, opening and closing the
door.

VICTOR (V.O.)
Had my father explained to me what
made these men’s writings such
trash, as he put it, I would’ve
likely not encountered the fate I
did. But my vehement passions kept
me going ...

19 EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD/VICTOR’S HOME - STORM 19

Shot of storm combined with COLLEGIATE.

VICTOR (V.O.)
... even past the words of that
man. His words about electricity,
galvanism; they all overthrew the
words of Agrippa, and Magnus - my
teachers, defeated. At the time,
his brief, yet utterly poignant
words stopped me from pursuing my
studies.

20 EXT. VICTOR’S BACKYARD - YEARS LATER 20

A couple of years have passed since the storm. Victor is now

eighteen years old. Henry and Victor are sitting outside, in
Victor’s backyard, talking about their futures.

HENRY
So where do you think you’ll be
heading for college, Vic?

VICTOR
Oh, well my parents have resolved
that I’ll be heading to Faulkner,
up in Wisconsin.

HENRY
Hey, that’s great, man!
 9.

VICTOR
Yes, and I’ve already got all my
papers filled out for it and
everything, so I’m pretty much
ready.

HENRY
Sounds good man ... too bad you’re
not taking me with you!

VICTOR
It’s not for a lack of trying ...

HENRY
I know, I’m kiddin’ ya. My dad is
pretty narrow-minded but ... hey,
he’s a great father.

VICTOR
That he is.

21 INT. VICTOR’S HOME MOTHER’S ROOM 21

Victor in agony.

VICTOR (V.O.)
My departure was set, but it was
held back by the first misfortune
of my life. Elizabeth ... my dear
Elizabeth, had caught the scarlet
fever.

Mother’s room, Victor’s mother is helping Elizabeth.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

My mother came to her assistance
...

FADE OUT.

Mother gasps.

FADE IN:

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

But by the cruel irony of Mother
Nature, it was Elizabeth the one
saved, and my mother the one to
die.

Image of Mother young.

 10.

MOTHER (V.O.)
My children .. My firmest hopes of
future happiness were placed on the
prospect of your union.”

VICTOR (V.O.)
Dying calmly, she left Elizabeth to
replace her ... “I indulge a hope
of meeting you in another world”,
my mother said.

22 EXT. TRAIN STATION, AFTERNOON 22

Train departing for Faulkner.

VICTOR (V.O.)
These events deferred my departure
for Faulkner, but I was eventually
on my way.

23 EXT. FAULKNER 23

Victor walking through Faulkner.

VICTOR (V.O.)
Faulkner was the beginning of a
life in simultaneous evasion and
pursuit. First I met Professor
Waldman.

24 INT. CLASSROOM 24

Victor enters classroom, meets Professor Waldman.

VICTOR
M. Waldman! Good morning, sir?

WALDMAN
Morning, pupil. What’s your name?

VICTOR
Victor Frankenstein.

WALDMAN
Well, good morning Victor.

Victor and Waldman engage in a conversation in which Vicotr

ends up showing Waldman what he’s learned from Agrippa and
Magnus.
 11.

VICTOR (V.O.)
Confiding in the professor, I
divuldged my knowledge from what
I’d gained from Agrippa and Magnus.

Victor has a perplexed face.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

His response was not positive.

WALDMAN
Good God! in what desert land have
you lived? I little expected, in
this age of modern science, to find
a disciple of Magnus and Agrippa.
Your studies are invalid,
Frankenstein!

Victor places his books back in his bag, disappointed.

VICTOR (V.O.)
With much lowered spirits, I next
met Professor Krempe.

Victor enters Krempe’s room.

KREMPE
Morning, student! How do you do?

VICTOR
Very well, sir. And yourself?

KREMPE
As great as I’ll ever be!

Victor repeats the dialogue, showing Krempe his studies and

gained knowledge.

Krempe sits at desk, fretting for an answer.

KREMPE (CONT’D)
The ancient teachers of science
promised too much, and did too
little. In our day and age, the
opposite is the case - little
promise, but much doing. Modern
science aims not to replicate the
premises of these men, but instead
to filter out only that which is
unquestionably real.

Victor listening intently.

 12.

VICTOR (V.O.)
The professor’s words changed me. I
found in him, both an explanation
for that previous knowledge so
heavily criticized, as well as an
inspiration to delve into that
which was right - the sciences,
chemistry in particular.

25 EXT. FAULKNER 25

Victor walking through Faulkner.

VICTOR (V.O.)
I began to study the human frame,
the components of the human
anatomy, and fell in fascination
with the same. The ultimate
creation of Mother Nature, the fuel
of this Earth. I loved the human
... but I could also make my own,
in my own shape. Could I not? I
began to carve out the perfect
human ...

FADE OUT.

ACT 3

FADE IN:

EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD/VICTOR’S HOME

Victor frustrated on desk.

VICTOR
Is this what I’m cursed with!

Victor throws bottles and miscellaneous items off the desk.

VICTOR (CONT’D)
Is this why God has put me on this
Earth for? To concoct a horrendous
creature intent on evil!
 13.

EXT. HOME/NIGHT

VICTOR (V.O)
Walton ... this is the crux of my
story, the beginning of my
downfall. Could you imagine being
burdened with an agent of
corruption, vile and reckless?

Picture of M. Krempe.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

From his poignant words ...

Picture of neighborhood.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

To absolute doom.

Picture of Faulkner.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

For two years, I remained in
Faulkner, spurred by unrelenting
praise and support from the likes
of Krempe and Waldman. During that
time ... I made no visit to
California, to see my family.

Picture of family.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

I love my family ... but I was too
caught up in that ... that
obsession.

Picture of Da Vinci’s human.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

From where did the principle of
life proceed? I looked to death to
find out.

Picture of a charnel house.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

I saw how the fine form of man
wasted away, how its perfection
could be effaced from the Earth by
the sole passing of time, by death -
the natural enemy of life.

Picture of surgical tools (knife, scalpel, etc.) covered in

blood.
 14.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

I knew no fear from supernatural
horrors, from the face of death,
from darkness. I was not moved by
these things, but any normal human
being would cower in fear at the
first hint.

Lightning, storm.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

I passed days of labour and
fatigue, at times questioning my
health and welfare, but never my
purpose and actions. I became
myself capable of bestowing
animation upon lifeless matter.

Moon in the dark night.

VICTOR (CONT’D)
So my ill-fated work began. Through
hard work, I constructed the
intricate framework of fibers,
muscles and veins that form the
core of the human body, and is
responsible for human function.

Mailman.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

My fatehr responded to my silence
only by inquiring further into my
occupation. Of course, I could not
tell him. But in ym mind, I saw my
work as altruistic - if I continued
and suceeded, I might in process of
time renew life where death had
apparently devoted the body to
corruption.

Victor with hands up in the air, working.

VICTOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

Often I glared at the wreck I’d
become, but I defeated that notion
with the idea that this appearance,
as well as my fevers and pains,
would all dissipate upon completion
of my project. I had become
something higher than any human - I
could give life!
 15.

EXT. BACKYARD, NIGHT

Victor opens up door into lab (house). Falls onto floor

intently, hits the ground.

VICTOR
What have I become? A shameless
wreck, an enemy to humanity.
Through my work, I’ve favored
DEATH, not LIFE! VICTOR!

Lightning sounds. Lights in house turn off.

CREATURE
Frankenstein! I am your son!

NARRATOR
It was a dark night. Lightning
struck, the wind blew, and the rain
began to fall. An omen, an
indication of evil to come ... all
the precursor to the beginning of
the end.

Victor stands up, and knocks all the tools on the table
inside towards the monster.

NARRATOR (CONT’D)
with the final clash of the metal
tools on the cold, unassuming
laboratory floor ...

Back, suspenseful shot of the monster. The monster’s face is

not shown, but Victor cowers in fear on the ground in front
of him ad the creature ominously enters.

NARRATOR (CONT’D)
... the monster awoke.

FADE OUT.