Act 3: Fright Night 40th Anniversary Original Cast Table Read

I have an announcement as a memento and to say thank you to all of you for what you've done.

Behind your scripts is a hardcover copy of Fright Night and everybody has signed it.

Take your home with you. Hold it close and enjoy it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Tom.

Thank you, Tom.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you, Tom. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Recap, Act Two. Waiting to go live on air.
Oh, no. They found another body of a young woman early this morning in back of the Sheraton Wall.
She was decapitated like the other two. Who wants to hear this kind of news? As if answering her question.
Not me. I've been sitting here in my tiny apartment, my bag packed to flee, and I can't do it.
I can't leave Charlie and Amy to the horror of Jerry Dandridge and his ghouls, Billy Cole, and now Evil Ed. I have to help Charlie save Amy, but I'm so terrified.
I can't do it.

But if I don't, I'll have to admit to myself

that my entire professional life as an actor has been a lie.

Oh, Charlie.

The tears are welling up in me.

My vampire hunting kit. Where is it? Ah, here it is.
I have it in my hand. Now all I had to do was go forth.
Oh, Lord, please help me. For my sake and theirs, I go to fight the undead.
Now, one foot in front of the other. As his footsteps proceed across the room and the door opens and closes, another voice is heard, this one dripping with hatred and rage for himself as well as others.
He's coming, Peter Vincent. I can feel him.
As well as that boy, Charlie Brewster. I gave him a choice, something I never had, but he selected to fight me, and now his fate is sealed.
Oh, I admire him for it, to save Amy, a girl who is my love reborn, not his. And so many centuries ago, I have to destroy both him and the Montevac actor to survive and perhaps save her.
I'm cursed with no one but myself to blame. But I will save her by making her one of my own.
And that fool Peter Vincent, his courage will fail. And if it doesn't, I will destroy him.
And the boy. Yeah, I will destroy him too.
And if I have to, even if I hate myself for doing this. And so, now into the third act and the end of Fright Night.
Though I suspect, as does Jerry Dandridge, once known as Geralt Del Cattura, that it will never end. Dandridge House, Night.
night. Charlie walks through the darkness with cross and stake held in his hands, slowly approaching the Dandridge House, Charlie growing more and more nervous with every passing second.
He stops to stare at the huge, silent house. It seems to have assumed a life of its own, turning into a hulking monster.

Charlie grips his stake and hammer and checks his cross, squares his shoulders and starts the slow walk toward the brooding house.

Suddenly, a hand snaps out of the darkness, grabbing him by the shoulder.

Peter Vincent's ready to do battle with the undead.

He is dressed as the vampire killer, his kit slung over his shoulder. He hands Charlie his box of movie props and opens it.
Peter, this is serious. I am serious.
Let's see now. Flashlight, stakes, hammer.
Ah, yes, a cross. What about Billy Cole? How are you going to stop him? Peter pulls out a pistol from the box.
With this. It is from Orgy of the Damned.
What if he's not a human? Bullets aren't going to stop him then? He walks around in the daylight, doesn't he? Yeah. Then he is human.
Come on. Peter marches toward the house, followed by Charlie.
Peter, you don't have to do this. I want to think...
Not now. But Peter's eyes are on the malevolent house as he begins to slow, his nerve draining away.
What's wrong? Nothing. Nothing at all.
The two of them start toward the house, but Peter stops, grabbing Charlie. Are you crazy? Not the front door.
Let's go around to the back. Sneak in.
The front door slowly swings open on creaking hinges, a dark gaping hole like an open mouth, ready to swallow them. Too late.
I am Peter Vincent, the great vampire killer.

I am Peter Vincent, the great vampire killer.

They disappear into the house, the door slamming behind them.

Interior, Dandridge House, night.

Charlie and Peter stop and stare into the darkness.

Charlie nods up at the grand staircase to a balcony at the top, a circular eye of multicolored glass staring down. This way.
The sound of wings flapping as they start up the stairs. Wait.
Did you hear something? No. Let's come back at dawn.
He'll be asleep then, and we'll have a better chance of getting Amy.

And Amy will be dead by then too.

Now come on.

Charlie turns to start up the stairs,

only to hear the sound of nails scraping along the banister from above.

Jerry steps forward into the light,

his talons lifting the varnish as he walks.

Welcome to Frat Night.

For real?

That was my favorite line. Sorry.

Where's Amy?

Up here.

All you have to do is to get by me.

Peter whips out his cross, thrusting it at the vampire.

Back! Spawn, Satan!

Really?

He reaches out, takes the cross from Peter's hand, and crumples it,

contemptuously tossing it aside.

You have to have faith for this to work on me, Mr. Vincent.

He starts down the stairs again. Peter backs away, terrified.
Charlie steps forward, staring up at Dandridge. He thrusts his cross at the vampire.
Stop! Back! Jerry backs away from the cross, disappearing into darkness. Charlie glances back at Peter.
We're gonna make it. Suddenly, Billy Cole steps out of the darkness in front of Charlie and viciously backhands him across the face.
With a scream, Charlie goes over the stairway railing, plunging to the hallway floor below. Jerry appears in back of Billy, leaning on him and smiling down at Peter on the stairway.
Peter, terrified, tears down the steps and out the front door. Interior, Brewster House.
Night. Peter smashes through the front door, yelling up the stairway.
Mrs. Brewster! Mrs.
Brewster! He grabs the phone from the table and punches out a number. Operator, get me the...
No dial tone. He holds the phone up only to see the cord has been ripped from the wall.
Mrs. Brewster! He races up the stairs and bursts through the door of Judy's room to see her in bed, the back of her head to him.
Mrs. Brewster, thank God.
The phone wires have been cut. He reaches out, turning her over on the bed to face him.
Only it isn't Judy. I know.
I know. I did it.
Where is Charlie's mother?

Evil-Ed whips off his wig, leafily dropping it to the floor.

Well, apparently, she's working nights.

But she left it out.

The spinners in the oven. Evil Ed roars and lunges at Peter as Peter races out of the room and down the hallway, only to hit a table in the dark, crashing to the floor on the landing, the table splintering beneath him.
He suddenly hears a growling, low and deep and vicious, coming from the other end of the hallway. A huge wolf appears out of the master bedroom.
Its eyes glow like red-hot coals in the dark, saliva dripping from its huge fangs. With a terrible snarl, the huge animal bounds down the hall toward him.
Peter screams and picks up a splintered leg of the table just as the wolf launches itself into the air as Peter slams the jagged piece of wood into the animal's chest, its snapping jaws missing his throat by inches. The beast hits the rail, plunging over the side in a blur of fur and fangs, hitting the chandelier and crashing down into the floor below.
The wolf lays there, the long wooden splinter buried in his heart. Peter hurries down the stairs, stopping above him and watching him fascinated horror as his limbs regenerate, becoming more human.
Evil Egg, part wolf, part boy, is changing back as he tries desperately to remove the stake impaled in his chest. He falls over, struggling, the humanity leaking back into his eyes, his face transforming into that of a normal teenage boy.
He looks up at Peter, reaching out to him, trying to speak, and then he dies. Interior, Dandridge House, bedroom, night.
Jerry comes through the door with Charlie over his shoulder and dumps him on the floor where Amy lies, curled up in a fetal ball. You wanted her.
There she is. He nods at Amy as Charlie opens his eyes, regaining his senses just as Jerry plunges a wooden stake into the floor.
Here. You're gonna need it.
Just before dawn. Charlie sees Amy lying there, her body trembling.
What have you done to her? Jerry exits, the sound of the key turning in the lock as Charlie crouches over her. Amy? Jerry is whistling, then stops on the stairs and waits and waits.
Bedroom. Night.
Amy? Charlie turns Amy over, revealing that she has already begun to change, her upper lip slipping back, the beginnings of fangs. No! Interior, stairway, night.
Jerry pauses, listening to the agony in Charlie's voice as the scream dies away.

Smiles, then continues on.

Interior, Brewster House, night.

Peter stands, looking down at the young man that Evil Ed once was,

slowly pulling the stake out of his chest.

His mission clear as he heads out the door.

Exterior, Dandridge House, night. Peter faces the brooding house, his stake in hammer in hand.
A quick moment of doubt crosses his face. Then he brings the stake up, his face now set hard with determination.
Interior, Dandridge House, night. He slips through the front door, grabbing his vampire killer kit, pausing to look down the hall.
The basement door is open, the sounds of Jerry and Billy working down there faintly heard. He hurries up the stairs.
At the top of the stairs, Peter can hear Charlie crying from behind a door, and he quietly raps on it. Charlie? Charlie? Charlie springs to his feet, hurrying to the door.
Peter? Charlie, I'm going to have to break the door down. You make as much noise as you can.
Charlie beats on the wall, yelling for all he's worth. Help! Help! Let me out! Help! Basement.
Night. Jerry and Billy are preparing a spare coffin for Amy, dumping dirt into it.
They pause in their work as they hear Charlie screaming. Jerry smiles and takes a bite of his apple.
I think she just opened her eyes. Night.
Peter leans into the bedroom door, snapping the lock, letting himself in, seeing Amy.

Grab her. Let's get out of here.

We can't. Look.

He rolls Amy over. She is covered with sweat and trembling more violently now.

Her upper lip slips back, revealing lengthening fangs and the beginning of red in her eyes.

Oh my God.

Basement. Night.

Jerry looks up. Something wrong? Yes.
Basement. Night.
Jerry looks up.

Something wrong?

Yes. We have a visitor.

They head for the stairs.

Bedroom. Night.

Is it too late to save her?

No. Not if we kill Dandridge before dawn.

Are you sure?

So far, everything has been like it was in the movies. We'll just have to keep hoping.
Exterior, Dandridge House, night. At the bedroom window, the sound of heavy breathing, watching Peter and Charlie grab their wooden stakes.
Jerry is out there, clinging to the wall, upside down, watching them. Let's go.
Charlie and Peter hurrying out the door as Amy trembles on the floor changing losing her humanity. Interior stairway night.
Charlie and Peter come out of the bedroom and start down the steps only to find themselves facing Billy Cole coming up from below. Well what do we have here? Vampire killers?

Peter pulls a pistol, one of the props from his apartment, from his pocket.

Stop, or I'll shoot.

Billy just shrugs and continues up the stairs.

I mean it. Don't force me to shoot.
Billy is just feet away from them as Peter fires,

the bullet punching a neat hole through Billy's forehead,

throwing him backward and tumbling down the stairs. The sound of approaching footsteps on the balcony above.
Peter and Charlie stare up at Jerry, stepping out of the shadows. Charlie thrusts his cross up at Dandridge.
Stop! Jerry whirls away with a wail, covering his face. Come on, we have him.
Jerry Dandridge's gaze snaps past Charlie's shoulder, burning into Billy's corpse. Do you?

He turns and disappears into the darkness. What did he mean by that? Nothing.
He was just bluffing. They continue up the stairs as behind them, Billy snaps up and begins to walk up the stairs, the first step groaning under him.
Charlie and Peter freeze. They see the huge man coming up the stairs toward them, a thin trail of blood leaking from the bullet hole in his forehead.
Peter whips his pistol out and unloads the entire revolver into Billy, the smoke obscuring their view of the stairway below. A thud.
Then nothing. They begin to think they've killed him.
Then more stares creak as a pair of hands emerge from the smoke. Then Billy reappears, going for Peter, grabbing him and jerking him into the air like a rag doll, about to fling him over the balustrade.
Charlie slams his stake into the creature's heart. Billy drops Peter, crashing to the steps and staggers back,

hanging there, the stake protruding from his heart.

Green goo begins leaking onto the steps as the two watch in horror.

Cole's hands bend backwards as they dissolve,

his face and body putrefying as the seconds tick past. fast.
The legs turn to bone, dust falling out of the smoking clothes. What remains of the body no more than a skeleton.
It tumbles backward down the stairs with a clatter, landing with a crash on the floor below, the smoking skulls skittering across the floor. Amy! Bedroom, night.
They rush into Amy's room. Charlie hurries to Amy, kneeling by her side.
He gently turns her over to see her continuing to make the transition from the living to the undead. Amy? Peter glances out the window.
Searching for Jerry as above him, the vampire clings flat to the wall. Jerry slowly draws back his clawed hand to tear Peter's throat out.
Peter! Peter turns back just as Jerry is within inches of striking. She's worse.
Come on, we're running out of time. The two men rush out of the room as the sound of flapping wings move away from the window and up the side of the house.
Exterior, roof, night. Jerry lands like some huge nocturnal bird of prey.
Amy, awake. I command you to awake.
Bedroom, night. Amy lies on the floor, hardly moving.
She begins to groan, throwing a hand over her face. Roof, night.
Tell me how much you love me, Amy Give them more He roars in frustration and slams his elbow into the side of the chimney, crushing it Bedroom, Night Her eyes open with a start There's not a vestige of human life left in them. Second floor at night.
Charlie and Peter hear a crash above. They look up at the ceiling.
He's on the roof. I'm going up there.
Charlie rushes to the stairs, followed by Peter. Suddenly, the sound of Amy screaming.
Peter runs to her as Amy turns and growls at her. causing her to shrink away, then running to the stairs as Jerry, unseen, looms outside the window.
Charlie! He's not up there. He points to the window.
Look out! Peter looks out the window to see Jerry snarling just inches away. Jerry pulls away outside, disappearing into the darkness.
He's going downstairs. Charlie! He runs after Charlie, when behind him there is suddenly a violent pounding at the bedroom door.
What used to be Amy is trying to get out. Charlie runs down the hallway toward the basement as the huge stained glass window above Peter bursts apart in an explosion of shattering glass, Jerry plunging in from the outside.

Charlie rushes in.

Stay back.

Charlie freezes as Dandridge takes a step toward Peter,

but Peter whips out a cross, thrusting it at him.

Back.

Jerry stops, first covering himself, then laughing at him.

You have to have faith for that to work, Mr. Vincent.
Remember? Peter continues to hold his ground as the vampire jerks to a halt, staring with slowly dawning fury at Peter. Peter peers over his shoulder out the ruined window.
On the horizon, the first pink tendrils of dawn are breaking, the clocks in the wall chiming, signaling that it's 6 AM, dawn. You're out of time, Mr.
Dandridge. Look over your shoulder.
As the first ray of sunlight hits him, he throws himself off the landing, hurtling through the air. His shape transforms, no longer a man, but now an enormous bat.
Peter runs down the stairs, pushing Charlie aside as the bat goes for him, throwing him to the stairs and going for his throat. Peter jams the wooden stake in the bat's jaws as it violently gnaws away at it.
Charlie jumps up to help Peter as the bat turns and sinks his fangs deep into a screen Charlie's arm. Peter pulls it back into an errant shift of light coming from the shattered window.
Can you take that sentence again? Peter pulls it back into an errant shaft of light? So just Peter pulls it, yes? Into a shaft? Yeah, yeah, gotcha. All right.
Charlie jumps up to help Peter as the bat turns and sinks his fangs deep into a screaming Charlie's arm. Peter pulls it back into an errant shaft of light coming from the shattered window.
The screaming bat pulls back and flies down the hallway, knocking over a sculpture and disappearing into the darkness. Are you all right? Yeah.
Quick, he's in the basement. Hi.
Pardon me. He's in the basement.
Maybe I'm not all right. Yeah, quick, he's in the basement.
He helps the boy to his feet, the two of them disappearing through the basement door. Basement, Dawn.
Charlie and Peter hurry down the stairs into the dark room. The floor a mass of antiques, its windows painted black to keep out the light.
Quick, his coffin. It's got to be here somewhere.
As they search the basement, the faint sound of a door creaking open. What was that? You keep searching.
I'll check it out. Charlie appears down a row of antiques, stopping and staring up at the basement door above.
It's open, allowing a sliver of light into the darkness. From out of the darkness, Amy appears, a shadow, stopping and leaning into the doorway.
Amy? Amy? It's me. I know.
Peter, looking for a release on a huge piece of furniture, finds a latch revealing a hidden alcove and Jerry's ornate coffin. Charlie, I found it.
Don't be frightened, Charlie. Hurry, Peter.
Get it open. He's locked it from the inside.
What's wrong? Don't you want me anymore? Coming to his senses, he raises up his cross, thrusting it in her face as Amy whirls away with a snarl, burying her face in her hands, softly beginning to weep. It's not my fault, Charlie.
You promised you wouldn't let him get me. You promised! Charlie stares at her, guilt boiling up inside him.
Charlie steps forward, touching her shoulder, letting his cross drop to his side. Amy.
She lifts her head to reveal a face full of huge, razor-sharp fangs, flashing, dripping, hungry saliva. She whirls and dives for his exposed throat,

pushing him into a pile of furniture.

She grabs at him.

He tries to dodge Amy, but she leaps forward, blocking his escape.

Back at the dais, Peter is pounding at the coffin clasp,

trying to free it when finally it breaks.

Charlie leaps over a pile of refuse in his desperation to escape. The girl vampire pounces on him, struggling to sink her fangs in his neck.
Peter throws the coffin lid open, sees Jerry resting beneath him, the king vampire's eyes closed. He raises his hammer, about to slam the stake home.
Peter! Jerry's eyes snap open, Peter finding himself face to face with the enraged vampire. Jerry snarls at him as Peter slams the steak home, missing Jerry's heart, the steak protruding from his shoulder as the vampire rises up out of his coffin.
Dandridge pulls the steak from his chest and hurls it away, sending it smashing into a far wall, shattering a small hole in the blacked out window and sending a thin ray of light spearing into the room. Charlie reaches for the blacked out window.
Amy desperately tries to stop him as he knocks her back. Jerry smashing Peter into a wall, his hands around his neck.
Charlie breaks another window, sending a bolt of sunlight streaming into the dank room. Jerry tries, but cannot touch Peter, the sunlight protecting him.

Charlie smashes another window as Jerry approaches him.

Peter breaks another window, trapping Jerry between its beams.

Jerry runs to his coffin, but Peter beats him to it, slamming it shut with a thud as

he arrives.

Peter tries to run, but Jerry jumps over the coffin, blocking his escape and laughing triumphantly.

I'm sorry. with a thud as he arrives.
Peter tries to run, but Jerry jumps over the coffin, blocking his escape and laughing triumphantly. Jerry moves in for the kill, just as Charlie pulls a blackout curtain from another window, hitting Jerry squarely in the chest, picking him up and throwing him across the entire length of the room and pinning him against the far wall, several feet above the floor.
He writhes in the golden beam, twisting this way and that,

but unable to escape as his body leaps into flames,

a million small fires breaking out all over him. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh C on her to protect her as what is left of Jerry lets out one final death row, blowing out all the remaining basement windows in a cataclysm of fire and wind.
The vampire's body explodes in a whooshing boa flame that incinerates him instantly, leaving nothing behind but the echoing scream of a soul finally going to hell. Peter and Charlie help Amy up, the girl he knew staring back at him, her fangs gone.
She throws herself in his arms, weeping as Charlie grabs Peter and pulls him into their embrace. Dissolved to, exterior, Dandridge and Brewster houses, night.
The Dandridge's house is dark, a for-sale sign prominently displayed on the front lawn.

The dark house now seems innocuous and ordinary, free forever of the evil that once dwelt within.

There are a few lights on in the Brewster house, much as it was on the first night.

And from Charlie's bedroom window, the TV can be heard coming from inside.

Look, we've been going in a circle.

We're right back where we started from.

Interior, Brewster House, Charlie's room, night. Charlie and Amy lay on his bed, making out.
The TV tuned into Fright Night. They break for a moment as Peter Vincent comes up on the screen.
Ladies

and gentlemen, welcome to Fright Night Theater. This is Peter Vincent, back once more with you

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Fright Night Theatre.
This is Peter Vincent, back once more with you as the host of Fright Night. I thought I'd let the vampires rest for a little while.
Right, Charlie? Tonight, the threat comes not from beyond the grave, but from beyond the stars. As alien beings stalk an unwary summer camp in Mars wants flesh.
I do not star in it. Screams and gnashing of teeth from the television as Charlie smiles, gets up, and turns it off.
As he heads back, he casually glances out his window and freezes. There in Jerry's window, looking back at him, are a pair of red, glowing eyes.
But they are quickly gone. He moves to the window, studying, watching.
Nothing but darkness. Charlie? Something wrong? He smiles and shakes it off.

Nothing.

He jumps back onto the bed with Amy.

The two of them begin to make love as we move off and push out through the window,

closing in on Jerry's window across the way.

The pair of red eyes reappear there in darkness. Ye Fade out.
The end. Bravo! Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much.

Truly.

We want to, with you guys, because we know how much this means to you,

to give this gift to Tom.

And it really is.