Nightmare 23 is a Max Headroom/Nightmare On Elm سٹریٹ, گلی (Robert Englund version) crossover screenplay. But fear not! This is not one of those simple Meg Said/Peg کہا scripts that has no visual descriptions and makes آپ wonder where it's taking place....
NIGHTMARE 23
A Nightmare on Elm سٹریٹ, گلی / Max Headroom Crossover
FADE IN:
INT. NETWORK 23 RESEARCH LAB. LATE EVENING.
The lab is quiet. The only sound is that of a Network employee typing
away on his computer. There is an occasional pause as he stops to think
for a few moments, then resumes his rapid typing.
BRYCE
Why do I always let Edison talk me into working on these projects for him? How did
he ever manage to win the Viddy before he met me.
BRYCE yawns and dozes as he tries to stay awake long enough to finish the
research he has been asked to do. His head bumps the keyboard and he lifts it
back up.
RANDOM FEMALE NETWORK EMPLOYEE
آپ must be tired. Why don’t آپ take a nice long nap?
BRYCE
(Surprised and annoyed)
How did آپ get in here? I didn’t invite you, and I’m really busy, so why don’t آپ leave? I am tired, and I’d like to get to bed. So if you’d just like to go away so I can finish, that would really help.
RANDOM FEMALE NETWORK EMPLOYEE
(stars undressing)
I was thinking آپ might want me to help آپ relax. Why don’t آپ get into bed? Just lie back… close your eyes…
BRYCE
If the heat is bothering آپ that much, the thermostat is on the دیوار سے طرف کی the door. Of course آپ could just leave as I suggested earlier. I’m really busy as I said.
RANDOM FEMALE NETWORK EMPLOYEE
(very irritated)
Oh for crying out loud!
(she grabs her hair in frustration and pulls her skull in two, continuing until two halfs of a ‘woman’ are on the floor on either side of a badly burned man apparently in his late 40s.)
BRYCE
(stares in horror. realizing he is dreaming for the first time in his life, he turns away and begins to recite the Fibonacci sequence)
0… 1...1… 2...3… 5...8… 13….
FREDDY
(tapping his foot and دستانے, دستانہ impatiently)
BRYCE
(turns back)
Great. You’re still here. Well, if you’re going to be trespassing in my dreams, آپ can help me figure out a few of the مزید difficult causalities in the Adams-Gently Probability Series.
FREDDY
(eyes his دستانے, دستانہ meaningfully)
OFFSTAGE: Children’s voices begin singing
CHILDREN
(V.O (singing))
One Two… Freddy’s coming for you
Three Four … better lock your door
BRYCE
(sighs, grumpily, goes to the window and opens it)
SHUT UP!
(slams window shut)
FREDDY
(Fed up. Under his breath)
No مزید Mr. Nice Guy.
FREDDY stalks up to Bryce and nicks his ear
MAX
(VO. from outside the dream)
Bryce! Bryce wake up! Bryce!
FADE OUT.
ACT TWO
FADE IN:
EXT. METAL ROW. NEAR PADDY ASHTON’S OLD TENT. EARLY MORNING
A tattered blanket that makes up the door of a small cardboard box that serves as a ہوم is pulled to one side. Eleven سال old NICHOLAS, a former student from the ACADEMY OF COMPUTER SCIENCES crawls out. He looks pale and there are bags under his eyes. He looks like he has not slept for days.
NICHOLAS stands and begins to stagger through the Fringes. As he makes his way across the middle of the مزید dangerous part of the Fringes, BREUGHAL and MAHLER take notice of his disoriented state and begin to follow.
NICHOLAS
(finally notices Breughal and Mahler)
Oh shoot!
NICHOLAS takes off running, stumbling several times. BREUGHAL and MAHLER could catch him easily, but decide to play Cat and ماؤس with him, instead. This اقدام fortunately backfires as a familiar voice calls from a nearby brick building.
BLANK BRUNO
(off screen)
Nicholas! In here!
NICHOLAS runs into BLANK BRUNO’S residence. He stands there, panting, while BLANK BRUNO closes and locks the door.
INT. BLANK BRUNO’S HOME. EARLY DAY.
BLANK BRUNO
آپ look dreadful. When’s the last time آپ got any sleep?
NICHOLAS
Not for days. I had a really terrible dream and now I can’t get any sleep. I’m afraid that if I do, I won’t wake up.
BLANK BRUNO
Sleep deprivation is very detrimental to the mind. آپ need to get at least some rest.
NICHOLAS
But… don’t آپ get it? If I go to sleep I’ll die. I know I will.
BLANK BRUNO
Why don’t آپ take a quick nap then? That should be safe. And I’ll be right here to watch over you.
NICHOLAS
(sits down at BLANK BRUNO’s COMPUTER and looks at his PET FROG which is named GOD)
I’d rather not, sir.
BLANK BRUNO
I’m going to make some tea. آپ can have a little if آپ want. Then we’ll talk.
NICHOLAS
(yawns)
That sounds fine.
BLANK BRUNO goes into his kitchen. Shortly after he leaves the room, NICHOLAS nods off.
DISSOLVE TO LARGE WHITE ROOM WITH PLEXIGLASS WINDOW.
NICHOLAS opens his eyes and sits up. To his horror, he finds himself listening to A LOUD SOUND which is both rhythmic and familiar coming from a DOOR at the far end of the room just beyond the PLEXIGLASS WINDOW. Other similar sounds can be heard. There is also NONSENSICAL CHATTERING which also is terrifyingly familiar.
The DOOR beyond the PLEXIGLASS WINDOW opens and a large FROG dressed as a college professor enters the room accompanied سے طرف کی students who are clearly FROGS and MICE.
THE FROG PROFESSOR approaches what NICHOLAS now understands to be the SPECIMEN CAGE he is trapped inside of and begins tapping it with a set of razor sharp knives he has instead of a webbed hand
FROG-FREDDY
Hello, little fellow.
NICHOLAS tries frantically to find a way out. But he is trapped.
FROG-FREDDY
I bet آپ know what comes next, don’t you?
FROG-FREDDY reaches down and plucks NICHOLAS from the cage. A dream-trick shift in perspective causes NICHOLAS to suddenly become very small in comparison to FROG-FREDDY and his nightmarish students.
FROG-FREDDY acts like he is looking around for something.
FROG-FREDDY
Damn! Out of ether! Oh well… If any of آپ students is a little squeamish, آپ might want to close your eyes.
The ANIMAL STUDENTS lean آگے in curiosity. FROG-FREDDY makes a تیز رو, سوئفٹ incision as NICHOLAS screams. A moment later, he lifts up a دل and shows it to the class
DISSOLVE TO BLANK BRUNO’s ROOM.
BLANK BRUNO is on his knees, trying to revive NICHOLAS. There is a SHATTERED TEAPOT on the floor nearby, unattended چائے is pooling on the floor and beginning to soak in.
After several minutes, BLANK BRUNO realizes that NICHOLAS has died. He picks up the lifeless boy and places him on the bed, covering him with a sheet.
BLANK BRUNO
I’m sorry.
BLANK BRUNO looks solemnly at his PET FROG NAMED GOD and shakes his head.
(FADE OUT)
PART 3
FADE IN.
INT. RESEARCH LAB at NETWORK 66. AFTERNOON.
JENNY is sitting on the floor playing with HER CAT SAMMY. JENNY looks very tired. Her eyes are puffy. There is a can of ZAK COLA on the floor beside her.
THE VU-PHONE goes off.
JENNY stands and walks to the VU-PHONE. She sits down and taps the answer code.
BLANK BRUNO’s haggard face appears on the screen. A sign on the دیوار behind him reads
“Gladhand Meadows”
JENNY
Sir? What’s happened?
BLANK BRUNO
Nicholas just died. دل attack.
JENNY
دل attack? He was eleven! Does Bryce know?
BLANK BRUNO
I thought he’d rather hear it from you. آپ and Bryce have always been close.
JENNY
Bryce doesn’t let anyone get close. آپ know that. He’s the embodiment of professional detachment.
BLANK BRUNO
(concerned)
آپ look like آپ haven’t slept in days.
JENNY
(yawns)
I haven’t.
BLANK BRUNO
Bad dreams?
JENNY
Yeah. I keep seeing this creepy guy. I think he was in a آگ کے, آگ یا something.
BLANK BRUNO
Creepy?
JENNY
Yes. And scary, too. I don’t like those knives on his hand. He keeps looking at them like he means to use them.
A NOTIFiCATION TONE BEGINS TO SOUND
JENNY
Hang on. Looks like Bryce is contacting me.
BLANK BRUNO
Call me back.
BLANK BRUNO DISCONNECTS
BRYCE
(on screen)
Jenny! آپ look dreadful! Have آپ been seeing him, too, then?
JENNY
Seeing who?
BRYCE
(embarrassed)
Never mind. It was just a negative nocturnal hallucination.
JENNY
آپ mean a nightmare.
BRYCE
(nods)
JENNY
I have been having nightmares, actually. There’s this guys with knives for fingers.
BRYCE
(stares in horror. Then blinks)
JENNY
Stay awake! Look, I don’t know if this has anything to do with our حالیہ dreams, but Nicholas died this morning. Blank Bruno says he had a دل attack.
BRYCE
(disbelieving)
A دل attack?! At his age?!
JENNY
Yeah. It does seem strange. آپ think it’s Mr. Blade-Fingers?
BRYCE
That’s my guess. We need to find out مزید about this guy. Because I think he came very close to killing me also.
JENNY
Okay.
THERE IS A KNOCK ON BRYCE’S STUDIO DOOR.
BRYCE
Gotta run. Keep in touch. We’ll figure this out.
BRYCE DISCONNECTS.
JENNY stands up and goes over to HER CAT SAMMY. She sits back down on the floor, pulls the CAT into her lap and begins to stroke his fur.
(FADE OUT)
NIGHTMARE 23
A Nightmare on Elm سٹریٹ, گلی / Max Headroom Crossover
FADE IN:
INT. NETWORK 23 RESEARCH LAB. LATE EVENING.
The lab is quiet. The only sound is that of a Network employee typing
away on his computer. There is an occasional pause as he stops to think
for a few moments, then resumes his rapid typing.
BRYCE
Why do I always let Edison talk me into working on these projects for him? How did
he ever manage to win the Viddy before he met me.
BRYCE yawns and dozes as he tries to stay awake long enough to finish the
research he has been asked to do. His head bumps the keyboard and he lifts it
back up.
RANDOM FEMALE NETWORK EMPLOYEE
آپ must be tired. Why don’t آپ take a nice long nap?
BRYCE
(Surprised and annoyed)
How did آپ get in here? I didn’t invite you, and I’m really busy, so why don’t آپ leave? I am tired, and I’d like to get to bed. So if you’d just like to go away so I can finish, that would really help.
RANDOM FEMALE NETWORK EMPLOYEE
(stars undressing)
I was thinking آپ might want me to help آپ relax. Why don’t آپ get into bed? Just lie back… close your eyes…
BRYCE
If the heat is bothering آپ that much, the thermostat is on the دیوار سے طرف کی the door. Of course آپ could just leave as I suggested earlier. I’m really busy as I said.
RANDOM FEMALE NETWORK EMPLOYEE
(very irritated)
Oh for crying out loud!
(she grabs her hair in frustration and pulls her skull in two, continuing until two halfs of a ‘woman’ are on the floor on either side of a badly burned man apparently in his late 40s.)
BRYCE
(stares in horror. realizing he is dreaming for the first time in his life, he turns away and begins to recite the Fibonacci sequence)
0… 1...1… 2...3… 5...8… 13….
FREDDY
(tapping his foot and دستانے, دستانہ impatiently)
BRYCE
(turns back)
Great. You’re still here. Well, if you’re going to be trespassing in my dreams, آپ can help me figure out a few of the مزید difficult causalities in the Adams-Gently Probability Series.
FREDDY
(eyes his دستانے, دستانہ meaningfully)
OFFSTAGE: Children’s voices begin singing
CHILDREN
(V.O (singing))
One Two… Freddy’s coming for you
Three Four … better lock your door
BRYCE
(sighs, grumpily, goes to the window and opens it)
SHUT UP!
(slams window shut)
FREDDY
(Fed up. Under his breath)
No مزید Mr. Nice Guy.
FREDDY stalks up to Bryce and nicks his ear
MAX
(VO. from outside the dream)
Bryce! Bryce wake up! Bryce!
FADE OUT.
ACT TWO
FADE IN:
EXT. METAL ROW. NEAR PADDY ASHTON’S OLD TENT. EARLY MORNING
A tattered blanket that makes up the door of a small cardboard box that serves as a ہوم is pulled to one side. Eleven سال old NICHOLAS, a former student from the ACADEMY OF COMPUTER SCIENCES crawls out. He looks pale and there are bags under his eyes. He looks like he has not slept for days.
NICHOLAS stands and begins to stagger through the Fringes. As he makes his way across the middle of the مزید dangerous part of the Fringes, BREUGHAL and MAHLER take notice of his disoriented state and begin to follow.
NICHOLAS
(finally notices Breughal and Mahler)
Oh shoot!
NICHOLAS takes off running, stumbling several times. BREUGHAL and MAHLER could catch him easily, but decide to play Cat and ماؤس with him, instead. This اقدام fortunately backfires as a familiar voice calls from a nearby brick building.
BLANK BRUNO
(off screen)
Nicholas! In here!
NICHOLAS runs into BLANK BRUNO’S residence. He stands there, panting, while BLANK BRUNO closes and locks the door.
INT. BLANK BRUNO’S HOME. EARLY DAY.
BLANK BRUNO
آپ look dreadful. When’s the last time آپ got any sleep?
NICHOLAS
Not for days. I had a really terrible dream and now I can’t get any sleep. I’m afraid that if I do, I won’t wake up.
BLANK BRUNO
Sleep deprivation is very detrimental to the mind. آپ need to get at least some rest.
NICHOLAS
But… don’t آپ get it? If I go to sleep I’ll die. I know I will.
BLANK BRUNO
Why don’t آپ take a quick nap then? That should be safe. And I’ll be right here to watch over you.
NICHOLAS
(sits down at BLANK BRUNO’s COMPUTER and looks at his PET FROG which is named GOD)
I’d rather not, sir.
BLANK BRUNO
I’m going to make some tea. آپ can have a little if آپ want. Then we’ll talk.
NICHOLAS
(yawns)
That sounds fine.
BLANK BRUNO goes into his kitchen. Shortly after he leaves the room, NICHOLAS nods off.
DISSOLVE TO LARGE WHITE ROOM WITH PLEXIGLASS WINDOW.
NICHOLAS opens his eyes and sits up. To his horror, he finds himself listening to A LOUD SOUND which is both rhythmic and familiar coming from a DOOR at the far end of the room just beyond the PLEXIGLASS WINDOW. Other similar sounds can be heard. There is also NONSENSICAL CHATTERING which also is terrifyingly familiar.
The DOOR beyond the PLEXIGLASS WINDOW opens and a large FROG dressed as a college professor enters the room accompanied سے طرف کی students who are clearly FROGS and MICE.
THE FROG PROFESSOR approaches what NICHOLAS now understands to be the SPECIMEN CAGE he is trapped inside of and begins tapping it with a set of razor sharp knives he has instead of a webbed hand
FROG-FREDDY
Hello, little fellow.
NICHOLAS tries frantically to find a way out. But he is trapped.
FROG-FREDDY
I bet آپ know what comes next, don’t you?
FROG-FREDDY reaches down and plucks NICHOLAS from the cage. A dream-trick shift in perspective causes NICHOLAS to suddenly become very small in comparison to FROG-FREDDY and his nightmarish students.
FROG-FREDDY acts like he is looking around for something.
FROG-FREDDY
Damn! Out of ether! Oh well… If any of آپ students is a little squeamish, آپ might want to close your eyes.
The ANIMAL STUDENTS lean آگے in curiosity. FROG-FREDDY makes a تیز رو, سوئفٹ incision as NICHOLAS screams. A moment later, he lifts up a دل and shows it to the class
DISSOLVE TO BLANK BRUNO’s ROOM.
BLANK BRUNO is on his knees, trying to revive NICHOLAS. There is a SHATTERED TEAPOT on the floor nearby, unattended چائے is pooling on the floor and beginning to soak in.
After several minutes, BLANK BRUNO realizes that NICHOLAS has died. He picks up the lifeless boy and places him on the bed, covering him with a sheet.
BLANK BRUNO
I’m sorry.
BLANK BRUNO looks solemnly at his PET FROG NAMED GOD and shakes his head.
(FADE OUT)
PART 3
FADE IN.
INT. RESEARCH LAB at NETWORK 66. AFTERNOON.
JENNY is sitting on the floor playing with HER CAT SAMMY. JENNY looks very tired. Her eyes are puffy. There is a can of ZAK COLA on the floor beside her.
THE VU-PHONE goes off.
JENNY stands and walks to the VU-PHONE. She sits down and taps the answer code.
BLANK BRUNO’s haggard face appears on the screen. A sign on the دیوار behind him reads
“Gladhand Meadows”
JENNY
Sir? What’s happened?
BLANK BRUNO
Nicholas just died. دل attack.
JENNY
دل attack? He was eleven! Does Bryce know?
BLANK BRUNO
I thought he’d rather hear it from you. آپ and Bryce have always been close.
JENNY
Bryce doesn’t let anyone get close. آپ know that. He’s the embodiment of professional detachment.
BLANK BRUNO
(concerned)
آپ look like آپ haven’t slept in days.
JENNY
(yawns)
I haven’t.
BLANK BRUNO
Bad dreams?
JENNY
Yeah. I keep seeing this creepy guy. I think he was in a آگ کے, آگ یا something.
BLANK BRUNO
Creepy?
JENNY
Yes. And scary, too. I don’t like those knives on his hand. He keeps looking at them like he means to use them.
A NOTIFiCATION TONE BEGINS TO SOUND
JENNY
Hang on. Looks like Bryce is contacting me.
BLANK BRUNO
Call me back.
BLANK BRUNO DISCONNECTS
BRYCE
(on screen)
Jenny! آپ look dreadful! Have آپ been seeing him, too, then?
JENNY
Seeing who?
BRYCE
(embarrassed)
Never mind. It was just a negative nocturnal hallucination.
JENNY
آپ mean a nightmare.
BRYCE
(nods)
JENNY
I have been having nightmares, actually. There’s this guys with knives for fingers.
BRYCE
(stares in horror. Then blinks)
JENNY
Stay awake! Look, I don’t know if this has anything to do with our حالیہ dreams, but Nicholas died this morning. Blank Bruno says he had a دل attack.
BRYCE
(disbelieving)
A دل attack?! At his age?!
JENNY
Yeah. It does seem strange. آپ think it’s Mr. Blade-Fingers?
BRYCE
That’s my guess. We need to find out مزید about this guy. Because I think he came very close to killing me also.
JENNY
Okay.
THERE IS A KNOCK ON BRYCE’S STUDIO DOOR.
BRYCE
Gotta run. Keep in touch. We’ll figure this out.
BRYCE DISCONNECTS.
JENNY stands up and goes over to HER CAT SAMMY. She sits back down on the floor, pulls the CAT into her lap and begins to stroke his fur.
(FADE OUT)
