“Werewolves of London” by Rosalind Morley Souter

FADE IN

1. Prologue- “The documenters would like to thank Gregory Kessler for his involvement, to the Balkan Werewolf Committee, to the Cryptozoological Society of London for use of their library and research and finally to Norman Lorimer of Tasmania, Australia for his insight into the varying species of werewolf.”

Fade to

“In Loving Memory of Warren Zevon whose song inspired this documentary.”

2. EXT. Greg’s feet, walking toward us- the song “Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon begins.

EXT. Greg’s face, a gruff, scruffy man appears in his mid-twenties, he lights a cigarette and looks away from camera.

EXT. Across the street so we get a panning shot, following him along past a landmark that tells us we’re in London (preferably along the Thames so we see the London eye or Big Ben).  As he walks out of shot the film title appears:

“Werewolves of London”

3. EXT. Later shots, medium front shot of Greg in a small central London street walking toward a Chinese takeaway.

EXT. Medium long shot of Greg stopping outside the takeaway, flicks away cigarette and steps in.

EXT. Medium shot of Greg stepping up to counter of restaurant, by this time the music has almost faded out so we can hear his conversation with the restaurant owners and the sounds of the restaurant behind the counter.

PERSON AT COUNTER
Hello there sir!

GREG
Hello, any chance of a beef chow main?

PERSON AT COUNTER
Certainly, coming right up!

EXT. Medium close up side shot of Greg’s face as he continues talking to people behind counter. The sounds are faded and we hear narrator.

NARRATOR (me)
Gregory Kessler is an unusual person in many ways.

EXT.  Medium close up from behind his back as he continues talking to people behind counter, narrator continues:

NARRATOR
When Greg was 12 years old and living with his family in the Kent countryside an encounter with a supposedly mythological creature was to change his life in many unusual ways.

                 GREG (off camera)
I was out at about midnight….

4. EXT. Medium close-up of Greg sitting on sofa, smoking and talking directly to the camera. As he talks, his name comes up on the screen below him.

                        GREG
I was larking about on the moors with my brothers about ten miles from our house, all drunk on my dad’s cider and I somehow got separated from them. I remember staggering about singing, not too bothered that I was out on my own in the middle of no where when I heard a wolf howl at what seemed about fifteen feet away.

EXT. Close up on face so we can see the eyes as he continues

                       GREG
Since I was drunk I must’ve ignored it, thought it was a dog or something. About ten minutes later I heard a growl about… oh… a meter or so away from me. It was then I got scared and tried to run.

EXT. Back to previous shot.

                       GREG
I didn’t get very far and I heard the werewolf leap, growling and snarling and it pinned me to the ground.

5. EXT. To outside the Chinese takeaway as Greg carries Chinese takeaway in bag. Greg’s voice continues

                      GREG
I was afraid, I really thought I was going to die, but… the thing stopped before it actually got me, as if thinking what to do with me. Looking back… It must have decided to just… bite me rather than actually eat me. I have no idea why…

EXT. Back to Greg on sofa, he is grounding cigarette into ashtray.

                       GREG
I felt its jaws dig into my shoulder, I felt the pain and then…. Just blacked out. I think I must’ve fainted or something, but next thing I knew I had woken up and was in my bed with my parents looking over me.


NARRATOR (off camera)
So… you didn’t get a look at the werewolf?

         GREG
No, but I think… I vaguely remember the shape in the shadows, it was sort of dog like. A large German Shepard I think, or a large wolf, and it weighed a ton; I remember it nearly suffocating me as it stood on my back and its claws digging into me.

              NARRATOR
Did you get any scars from the incident?

      GREG
No, physically I healed after the incident very rapidly, which scared my parents and… well, it was the first of many things that eventually led to us growing apart.

6. EXT. Medium shot outside Greg’s flat door

     GREG
Welcome to the den! It’s a bit messy I’m afraid…

Greg digs in his pocket for his keys and opens the door

          NARRATOR (voice over)
Greg had been bitten by what is scientifically known as “genus Homolupometamorphicus”, “Lycanthrope” or commonly known as “werewolf”. The particular werewolf that bit Greg was a Royal werewolf, a werewolf that, contrary to popular belief, turns into a large wolf at full moon and can change shape at will. His new condition meant estrangement from his family and friends in Kent and to leaving home at fifteen to live in Canterbury and then moving to Mayfair in London at the age of nineteen.

Greg steps inside

              GREG (off camera)
I haven’t spoken to my family since I left home, except when my brother Jim sent me a letter saying my dad had passed away. He said in the letter not to come to the funeral… uh… saying it was best I didn’t make a scene.

EXT. Inside the door as Greg enters and drops the keys on a nearby table.

              GREG
Since then, I haven’t seen anyone from my home town. They haven’t contacted me so… I don’t know if I have any nieces or nephews or anything. They just didn’t want to know me.

Closes door.

7. EXT Greg on sofa
NARRATOR
So, how did it make you feel that you were being pushed out of your family… Even kept out of your father’s funeral…
                         
                         GREG
Uh… I felt hurt and angry at the time, but now… I just feel disappointed. I am used to not seeing them… but I’d just like to know how everyone is y’know… but… yeah.
(Long pause)

                    NARRATOR
And it was because of... something you couldn’t help, a condition you have little control over.

                         GREG
Yeah… well, one of the reasons anyway.
(Pause)

8. EXT Greg’s kitchen, he stands over by a cupboard and pulls out a can of dog food

                         GREG
My condition means I have to eat dog food!

          NARRATOR (off camera)
Really? Why’s that?

                        GREG
Nutritious marrow bone jelly! (laughs) But also... uh… I was recommended it as a matter of health by a guy… living up in Scotland. He said it does wonders.

                  NARRATOR
                                                         What for?

                        GREG
He refused to say! (laughs) I do prefer beef chow main though. Also… I sleep in a dog basket.

Camera focuses on dog basket, which also has a fluffy ball, bone and squeaky toy.

                    NARRATOR
Oh?

                          GREG
So I don’t get any flea scabs in my bed.

                     NARRATOR
I see. So you… go out as a wolf?

                          GREG
Uh… sometimes, but I tend to stay in. People tend to… try and get the RSPCA to pick me up because they think I’m a stray!

                     NARRATOR
Oh dear…

                                       GREG
I did get picked up once, they tranqed me… shot me with a tranq dart and I woke up in a pen the next morning stark naked!

                   NARRATOR
Like American Werewolf in London?

                         GREG
A bit… except I was let out by the good people of the RSPCA and they told me to wear a collar so they don’t make the same mistake again. (laughs)

9. EXT. Greg back on sofa talking to narrator

                   NARRATOR
How do you feel, as a werewolf, about the portrayal of werewolves in the media? Like horror films, books, TV…

                         GREG
(thoughtful pause) They often get it wrong, or chop and change the mythology to suit their plot, but some things they do get right like… the whole thing about silver and fire. Yes, it’s the only thing that kills a werewolf, apart from old age. Werewolves live a little longer than your average human, but we still get old and die. Mauling and ripping apart… it hasn’t been unheard of I’m afraid to say. It’s an instinct that comes from… uh… being both wolf and human or in-between wolf and human. But… most werewolves I know are good at controlling their instincts. However… not all of us do the painful growing hair and stretching limbs like in American werewolf in London, I for instance turn into a wolf at full moon and when I want to, but others do… change in a similar way to the movie. They are called Common werewolves, they are the ones everyone knows about, turn into monsters at Full moon etc. I rather liked the most recent one, Underworld, but mainly for Kate what’s-her-face in those very tight shiny trousers (laughs).

                   NARRATOR
(chuckle)Who has done the most accurate portrayal of a werewolf would you say?

                        GREG
For me it would have to be Terry Pratchett in his Discworld series, he has read up on the mythology and he has portrayed how… an ordinary person with a job, a life and a boyfriend etc, also happens to be a werewolf. And is good at showing the… psychology of a werewolf, the two different things that can never really be one. It’s a very… uh... Schizophrenic condition when you think about it. I also rather like Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter books, he was cool. He reminded me of a few people I met in my meetings. But I did love American Werewolf in London as a film… not Paris… Paris was too much of a teen movie really.

                   NARRATOR
You also have been in touch with the Cryptozoological Society of London and the Balkan Werewolf Committee, have they been helpful for you?

                           GREG
They were very good; they were sympathetic to my condition and interviewed me for various papers and thesis. They really wanted to get my side of the story and introduced me to others who suffer the same or similar situation as me. One Bulgarian woman, Nina, and I talked for ages and ages about what kind of flea shampoo worked best and she once won a dog grooming competition and collected the trophy herself! So… yeah… it was a bit like an alcoholic’s anonymous meeting, but… uh… a little more… bizarre I suppose!

NARRATOR
The CSL, and a minority in the scientific community, believes that the virus that causes the werewolf condition is similar to HIV or AIDS; it is transferred by blood or saliva and attaches itself to the DNA of the host etc. Also… there is no cure as of yet.

GREG
And there are so many myths, good and bad, surrounding it. Yeah… I don’t understand all the scientific details, but yeah, as far as I can see … the structure of the virus is similar… but other than that… I don’t know. It would explain the bite myth.

10. EXT. Greg’s bathroom, he opens a bathroom cabinet and shows the large amount of hair care products.

GREG
I like to try and keep my hair clean; you would not believe the crap I pick up in my hair in wolf shape, even when I stay indoors.

NARRATOR
Even when you’re in human shape…

GREG
I get a lot of shampoos and conditioners; I spend some of my time with my hair all over my body so… yeah. You get the idea. (laughs)

11. EXT Interview scene, Greg has lit another cigarette.

NARRATOR (off camera)
Do people treat you… with prejudice because of your condition?

GREG
Yeah, yeah, unfortunately they do uh… I get shouted at in the street. I can’t go to a lot of pubs because they’ll just tell me to get out. Same with a lot of restaurants and it’s been hell finding a job. I’ve been living on the dole for a while now and… well, I’d like a job, but I have to tell people about… me, but as soon as they find out… they’ll not even look at my application.

NARRATOR
So… how do you deal with it?

GREG
I just keep my head down, basically, that’s all I can do. I could get all angry and aggressive, but you know... I have to set an example and not lower myself to their expectations. They want to see me get upset and maul them alive! Well not exactly, but-

NARRATOR
They want to prove themselves right?

GREG
Yeah, that’s it. They’re just ignorant, it’s the same with anything else, race, colour creed… everyone needs something to hate.

NARRATOR
Yeah... so… do you often get scapegoated?

GREG
Not so much in a city, it happened a lot when I lived in Kent, but when I moved to London not so much. The murders that happen here are too… neat for want of a better word… to be a werewolf. But on occasion, when a kid goes missing, I am called upon by the old Bill, but they know… my species is all they’ve got to go on.

NARRATOR
And at least they don’t arrest you purely on that basis.

GREG
Not always. No. Once I was called in when a little girl had wondered off, they held me on suspicion of kidnap and possible murder for a day… but they let me go when the kid turned up in a cellar of a house in Soho and arrested someone for kidnap and rape I think…

NARRATOR
Oh God…

GREG
Yeah, they think werewolves are bad; they should look at themselves sometimes!

NARRATOR
Absolutely.

Long pause, focus on Greg.

11 EXT. Doorway to Greg’s bedroom, he leans on the doorframe smoking.

NARRATOR
I understand you have agreed to change, but with the camera pointed away.

GREG
Yeah, but I warn you now, it isn’t pretty.

He walks into the room unbuttoning his shirt (or taking off) Narrator sets camera down and walks into room; she looks and turns away quickly.

NARRATOR
Sorry! I forgot!

GREG (off camera)
Yeah, I have to be naked; otherwise I ruin a lot of good clothes that way.

NARRATOR
Just tell me when.

GREG.
When.

Narrator looks in and watches, she pulls various wincing faces and shuts her eyes once or twice as if watching something disgusting that she can’t look at but can’t turn away. After a while she looks.

NARRATOR
Wow… thank you, that was… interesting (nervous chuckle). Thank you very much for your help-

She turns away quickly and we hear Greg’s voice off camera

GREG
Okay, it was a pleasure.

He appears in just a pair of trousers and shakes her hand

GREG
Glad to have helped

NARRATOR
No problem.

EXT. Finale interview scene, Greg leans forward as narrator poses finale questions.

NARRATOR
So… what are you planning for your future?

GREG
Uh… I’d like to go into acting to be honest. I’ve been thinking about it for a while… and I love acting and drama, I am involved with amateur dramatics and recently I auditioned for Dog Soldiers, but they only wanted the common werewolf for that so… I couldn’t.

NARRATOR
I’m sure it saves on special effects!
GREG
Yeah! Yeah… but I dunno… It’ll depend really. I just… I think about the future a lot, but only as a kind of ‘where can I get more money?’… survival perspective. But I hope it’ll pan out in the end… It generally does!

FADE OUT

Epilogue- “Two months after this documentary was made, Gregory Kessler was taken to court on suspicion on murder, after an elderly pensioner Ms Gladys Mabel was found brutally mauled not far from his home in Central London. He was cleared, but was often kept under a close eye by the local police. He later left after a grant by the Balkan Werewolf Committee to live in Hollywood. He now has a small speaking part in the sequel to Underworld; Underworld 2, which is hoping for a release in late 2005.”

CREDITS