Check-Out Time

Monday, Monday ... back to grind. Back to the grindhouse. C'mon-a my house. We got games to play. Serial killer movie murder 'reinactments,' to be precise. C'mon in, the water's ... red.

Welcome back to my dark little corner of the world. Glad you could make it.

Screened a nasty little sex thriller last night -- DECEPTION, with Hugh Jackman, Ewan MacGregor and Michelle Williams. Nice, twisty little story. With tons of simulated sex. (You know -- slo-mo, gauzy, urgent.) Oh, yeah -- and Nastasha Henstridge. A bit slow getting to the big payoff, but very satisfying. Plot reversals almost up there in Hitchcock territor. Didn't see 'em coming. Great flick. Check it out. Great fun to see Hugh as a bad guy ...

Now for the next istallment from DAZED, BEAUTIFUL & BRUISED. Sparkle is having her way with Bruce Ball, while Carrie and Bernie interrogate Bruce's producion executive Dina Dare ... using a most unusual interrogation technique ...

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DISSOLVE TO:

A MAN’S NECK

sprayed under a torrent of hot water.

CAMERA pulls back to reveal --

INT. FARMER’S DAUGHTER MOTEL - BATHROOM - DAY

Some perverse Serge Gainsbourg 60’s go-go groove over --

Bruce Ball gagged and handcuffed under a SCALDING HOT SHOWER.

Twisting and turning in agony in a cloud of steam.

Sparkle talks into a microcassette in her glitter-nailed fist.

In the other, a big, shiny BUTCHER KNIFE.

SPARKLE

PYSCHO was released by Universal Pictures in 1960.

It made forty-million at the box office,

a big hit back then, especially for a black and white picture.

It made a star out of Tony Perkins --

and gave us the Bates Motel,

where check-out time is for good.

A muffled SCREAM under the duct tape.

SPARKLE (CONT’D)

And that’s our victim.

A petty, immature little man with a big mouth.

Someone who looks at women as objects --

not as people.

A loud KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK at the door.

ISRAELI MANAGER (O.S.)

Miss Plenty! Turn yo-ur museek down!

I’m not goink to tell yoo again!

AT THE DOOR

she opens it a crack against the tiny chain.

SPARKLE

Oh gosh, I’m sorry Mr. Shlomo --

I guess I got that disco fever again.

I’ll keep it down, I promise.

ISRAELI MANAGER (O.S.)

Yoo better! Else yoo have to leave, yoo hear me?

Yoo play that weird music, too loud, alla time, too loud!

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY

Dina sits alone at a table. She picks up a pack of smokes.

Empty. SLAPS them down.

CARRIE (O.S.)

She’s going nuts by now. It’s been three hours.

KEKO (O.S.)

Withholding nicotine.

Don’t remember learning that one at the Academy.

Dina stands. Walks over to mirror filling the opposite wall.

Regards her reflection. Adjusts her hair.

DINA

(to the mirror)

I know you’re back there. I want my lawyer.

This is unconstitutional.

BEHIND THE MIRROR

in the darkness backlit by the interrogation lamps --

KEKO

You hear that? Lipshitz is gonna pass a kidney stone.

We can’t just hold her and not question her.

CARRIE

(looks at her watch)

Yes we can. She’s gonna spill her guts

faster than a horny heiress on a Barbara Walters special.

(beat, to the door)

C’mon -- let’s play stump the chick.

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - CONTINUOUS

Carrie lights a smoke, takes a deep drag.

Exhales. Smiles.

CARRIE

You’re full of crap. Someone killed Miss Runner-Up,

wanted to kill you -- and we both know who it was.

I’ve heard of loyalty to your boss --

but this is bordering on the domestic.

DINA

Bruce didn’t do it. This white trash Paris Hilton --

KEKO

-- Just wandered in, killed your actress,

and hung you up like a pinata

while Zalman King made his getaway?

DINA

Fuck you. I want to call my lawyer.

Carrie shakes out a smoke.

Teases her with it.

CARRIE

Shhhhh. Don’t worry.

I know you’re innocent. I can smell it.

(holds it up to her nose)

Mmm. Even better after sex --

Something passes between them.

Dina GRABS the Marlboro.

Carrie lights it.

DINA

You promise me immunity? Cut me a deal?

CARRIE

Is Winona Ryder back on Rodeo Drive?

DINA

Okay. Okay. Okay.

(takes a drag, orgasmic)

We were supposed to be shooting a fake snuff film,

Bruce said we were using blanks,

but what he didn’t tell me was --

INT. FARMER’S DAUGHTER MOTEL - BATHROOM - AT THAT MOMENT

Bruce lies in the tub, trussed up like a pig on a spit.

He moans. Sparkle leans over, blows him a kiss.

SPARKLE

Playing with you is like eating a box of chocolates.

(beat)

Afterwards you gotta stick your fingers down your throat.

(beat)

Now don’t move a muscle, Mr. Murder victim.

I want you to stay right here while I go shopping.

(beat)

I’m gonna bring home a big surprise.

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