If I Close My Eyes Forever

Hey there, crime kids. Happy Monday. It's time once again to take a trip to the dark side, where your most violent fantasies become sins of the flesh, right here, where the hardboiled action is non-stop, at the coolest crime joint in cyberspace ... at That Killing Feeling.

In Chapter 1 of FRANKENSTEIN IN LOVE, genius science geek Frankie Stein conducts a top-secret experiment in his basement lab ... where he brings a dead rat back to life ...


OVER OPENING TITLES:

EXT. SUBURBAN BACK YARD - FLASHBACK - DAY
Sepia-toned, hand-held,
jittery home video footage of --

A sparse back yard in a subdivision lot.
Tiny, new trees. Wooden fence. Fresh sod.
Brand-new boy’s and girl’s bikes.

A young BOY (10) and girl (10)
look into the camera, smiling.

She’s wearing her best party dress.
He’s in his Sunday best.

He takes her hand,
and they walk over to --

A mock-church altar setup
made with balloons and streamers.

Behind it stands a
SKINNY, SMALLER YOUNG BOY (10)
behind a podium.

He starts performing
a mock marriage ceremony.

CAMERA WHOOSHES around and finds a
PRETTY SUBURBAN MOM (30),
dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

She realizes the camera is on her,
then furiously points off-camera
at the kids.

CAMERA FLIES BACK on the bride and groom,
just as they kiss.

INT. SUBURBAN HOME - BASEMENT - PRESENT DAY - NIGHT
Some cheesy 80’s hair metal ballad
plays on an I-pod stereo.
If I Close My Eyes Forever, indeed.

Your classic wood-panelled rec room.
Now a science lab STUFFED
with a maze of equipment.

Seated at a workbench is FRANKIE STEIN (17).
‘Nerd’ would be compliment.

Think Michael Cera
divided by Jessie Eisenberg.

He’s wearing thick gloves,
sleeves and a big apron.

Frankie looks at a dead RAT
lying on the table, recent roadkill.
Thinking. He nods --

Leans over, starts attaching a series
of electrical cables connected to
suction cups on the rat’s head,
chest, arms and legs. Nods.

Turns to a laptop.
Starts PUNCHING in data.

THE MONITOR
Shows a series of graphs that read
HEART, LUNG and BRAIN.

Each reads zero percent
below them.

FRANKIE
Smiles grimly.

FRANKIE
Rat-tastic.

He picks up a syringe.
SQUIRTS it. Looks at the rat --

FRANKIE
You’re going to feel a small pinch.

And INJECTS it. Frankie then turns to a
TRANSFORMER that the cables are attached to.

He starts flipping a series of switches.
We hear a HUMMING sound.

A NEEDLE
On the transformer starts
moving from left to right.
It approaches the red zone --

FRANKIE
FLIPS DOWN a metal bar, and --

THE RAT
Gets ZAPPED with electricity. BUZZZ.

THE GRAPHS
All JUMP to ONE HUNDRED PERCENT.

THE RAT
BOLTS UP in the air.
LEAPS onto Frankie and BITES his arm.

FRANKIE
SHIT --

He GRABS a coffee mug off the table
and WHACKS him in the head with it.

The rat goes FLYING into the air
and lands on the floor.

Starts SCURRYING around,
SMASHING into stuff.

FRANKIE
(looks at his arm)
Kevlar.
The gift that keeps protecting.

He watches the rat RACE
around the room. Then realizes.

FRANKIE
I didn’t close the DOOR --

It goes to the stairs, starts
FLYING up to the first floor.
He CHASES after it.