Owl-Boy

      by garrett gilchrist and david ashe

 

from an original idea by

david ashe, justin bielawa, and david brown

 

 

(Everything's black + white. Dramatic 40s monster movie music plays as the freakish animated titles run.)

"DONALD R. MacFITZROY PRESENTS"

"A DONALD R. MacFITZROY PRODUCTION"

"WRITTEN, DIRECTED, AND PRODUCED BY DONALD R. MacFITZROY"

"WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY"

(six hundred names shoot by)

"OWLBOY"

"IN SCHLOCK-O-VISION"

 

DONALD R. MacFITZROY: Good evening. I am here to warn you that the following film is extremely scary. Those of you with weak hearts may wish to leave the room while you still can. But for those of you who choose to view the terror and SHEER HORROR of this film, I can only say that you have been well warned, and the management of this company is not responsible if any of you DIE OF FRIGHT during the run of the following sketch. (dramatic change in lighting, lightning strikes somewhere offscreen.) MUAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!

 

(A normal suburban home. We fade in on a slightly ominous window, and pan to a television set on which the news is playing.)

TV NEWS REPORTER: Tonight's big story: A crazed young man who apparently believes himself to be some sort of carnivorous owl is terrorizing suburban communities all across the tri-fred area. Residents should lock their doors and stay inside until this madman is apprehended, as the so-called "OwlBoy" is irrational and extremely dangerous ...

(The father shuts off the television.)

FATHER (idiotic accent): Blasted sensationalists.

MOTHER: Henry! Time for dinner!

FATHER: (walking to table) Yes, it is a dinnerish time, now that you mention it.

(We see a happy scene, a nuclear family cheerily dining and conversing.)

MOTHER: More gruel, Jenny?

JENNY: Thanks, mom.

FATHER: So, Timmy, how was your day at school?

TIMMY: Fine dad. Pass the salt.

(mother passes a small shaker of salt to the son.)

FATHER: And how was your day, Skimminy Dinkaroo?

SKIMMINY DINKAROO (in suicidal GenX manner): I hate my life.

FATHER (epitomizing the concept of ignorance): You always did love school. And last but not least, you, Jenny?

JENNY: Just fine, dad.

(Awkward silence. Skimminy Dinkaroo contemplates a steak knife.)

OWL: Whoooo.

FATHER: (looking up) That's an odd noise.

(The mother shrugs.)

MOTHER: So Timmy, did you behave yourself in school today?

TIMMY: Yeah, I think.

JENNY: Liar! You were bad!

FATHER: Jenny !

JENNY: Well, he was. He ate the paste.

OWL: Whoooo.

MOTHER: There it is again!

FATHER: Sounded like an owl.

TIMMY: Maybe it's Santa Claus!

OWL: Whoooo.

TIMMY: Can we go out and see it, Mom?

JENNY: Be quiet, Timmy! You'll scare it away!

TIMMY: You be quiet!

OWL: Whoooo.

FATHER: You know, it's not everyday you get to see a real owl.

MOTHER: Oh Henry, can we?

OWL: Whoooo.

MOTHER: C'mon kids. Let's go out and see! (begins to get up)

JENNY: Yaaay !!

SKIMMINY DINKAROO: Shoot me.

OWL: Whoooo.

 

(Cut to outside. It's a quiet, peaceful night. The moon is shining bright. Giving, might I add, not a hint of what's in store. Enter our happy family, wielding flashlights.)

FATHER: Now be quiet, kids. You don't want to scare him off. He's probably more afraid of us than he is of himself.

OWL: Whoooo.

(Show flashlight beam searching through the trees, and finally stopping on OwlBoy, perched up in a tree!)

OWLBOY: Whoooo.

FATHER: There he is, up in the tree!

MOTHER: Say, that's not an owl!

OWLBOY: Whoooo.

FATHER: What in God's name ?!

(OwlBoy hisses, and leaps onto the father, tearing him to shreds. The mother gapes in awe. The kids watch. Skimminy walks away, boredly.)

JENNY: Timmy, I'm scared! What are we going to do?

(Timmy shrugs. They keep watching. Finally, OwlBoy finishes his mauling, snorts, and looks up at THEM!)

TIMMY: Uh oh.

OWLBOY: Whoo.

(They run. Very fast.)

JENNY: Where do we go?!

TIMMY: This way!

(They bolt around the side of the house. We see OwlBoy's eerie shadow streak through, crouched down a la Aliens. No clear views of the horror yet, just arty cutaway thingys in the dark. Timmy and Jenny are running, pursued all the way. They stop at the garage and pound.)

JENNY: Let us in! For God's sake let us in!

SKIMMINY'S VOICE: The door's open.

(They look up. The front door is indeed open. They run inside and lock it, barring it with furniture and things. OwlBoy pounds ominously outside. We hear feverish hooting and scratching. The kids look freaked to death.)

SKIMMINY DINKAROO: What are you two doing?

TIMMY: What are we doing?! You saw what happened to dad!

SKIMMINY DINKAROO: Eh. C'est la vie.

(Suddenly we see a mud-soaked hand claw at the window.)

SKIMMINY DINKAROO: Uh oh.

JENNY (to Timmy): Call 911, quick!

TIMMY: Huh?

JENNY: Oh, forget it. (grabs the phone and dials it.) Hello, look, please, we need help, fast! There may be a psychotic outside, and ...

TELEPHONE VOICE: All of our representatives are currently busy, but if you'll leave your name and number ...

(Jenny looks with horror. Somewhere, outside, we see a small figure nibbling on a phone line. Static sounds.)

JENNY: We need help, repeat ... hello? Hello, hello, hello! (clicks line feverishly, then hangs the phone up, furious.)

TIMMY: Whadda we do now?

JENNY: We wait. And pray they got our message.

(We see OwlBoy outside, in the shadows. He looks up and then bites down on the telephone line again, hard. Inside, it rings.)

SKIMMINY DINKAROO: Hello?

OWLBOY (on phone): Whoo.

SKIMMINY DINKAROO: Well I, uh ...

OWLBOY (on phone): Whoo.

SKIMMINY DINKAROO: What's my favorite scary movie?

(Cut to outside ... the mother is looking very frightened indeed. Hitchcockian camera angles. Wild-eyed, she looks down and grabs a largish tree branch for protection. Suddenly, a shadowy figure rushes towards her! She clubs the hell out of it.)

COP #1: Ow!

(He rubs his head. She gives an innocent little laugh and points up at the trees.)

MOTHER: Ah, heh heh ... autumn.

(He looks very pissed indeed and reaches for his gun.)

COP #2: No! No, Luckner, no! Remember those anger management classes?

(He narrows his eyes and speaks in a low growl)

COP #1: GRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrriiiiis there a problem here?

MOTHER: Yes! Yes, my husband's dead! (She points down)

COP #2: We'll be the judge of that, ma'am. (The first cop bends down to take a look at the body, then stands up again and gives it a little kick.)

COP #1: He's dead, all right.

MOTHER: Waaaahhh !! (sobs)

FATHER: Actually, I think I'll be okay.

COP #2: You're not qualified to diagnose that, sir.

FATHER: No, really! I think I'll be fine if I just take a little stroll, clear my head...

COP #1: Shut up! (kicks him)

COP #2: Now, how did this happen?

MOTHER: Well, we were eating dinner when we heard what we thought was an owl hooting outside. We thought we'd go and check it out. But then when we went to look, that.. THING leaped out of the tree and ripped the life out of my poor Henry! (sobs)

FATHER: Oh, she's exaggerating. He didn't kill me, per se.. Just scratched me a little. I'm quite all right.

COP #2: Shut up! (kicks him)

COP #1: This sounds like an attack by... OwlBoy. (dramatic chords play)

MOTHER: OwlBoy ?! (dramatic chords play)

COP #1: Yes, OwlBoy. (dramatic chords play)

COP #2: (turning to camera) OwlBoy was an ordinary, happy kid, until the fateful day he visited a local wildlife preserve and was attacked by a radioactive owl. Now, he spends his days in hiding, and his nights terrorizing the tri-state area as... OwlBoy. (dramatic chords play)

COP #1: Stop that! (hits him)

MOTHER: (getting up) Is there anything we can do?

COP #1: Just leave everything to us, ma'am. We'll flip this bird.

FATHER: Oh, thank you!

MOTHER: Shut up! (kicks him)

COP #1: Let's move. (The cops run out along the treeline.)

FATHER: (getting up, limping a bit) No, I swear I'm not dead, I'm fine, I ... ERRRK! (he falls down dead)

FATHER'S DISEMBODIED VOICE: Well, whaddaya know ... they were right.

 

(Owlboy now streaks through the shot, looking left and right, and into windows. In front of one wide-open window Timmy stands, picking his nose. Loud rustling outside.)

TIMMY: It IS Santa Claus!

(A hand reaches through the window and pulls him through, screaming all the way. He is given up to an unseen, crunchy sort of demise. OwlBoy continues to batter at the window. Pan over to the horrified faces of Jenny and Skimminy Dinkaroo.)

SKIMMINY DINKAROO: We're all gonna die! ... oh well.

JENNY: Run!

(OwlBoy now leaps through the window! We see him in all his glory. A fantastic chase occurs throughout the house as OwlBoy pursues poor Skimminy and Jenny, destroying everything in sight, including furniture, household plants, and Jean-Luc Picard. As he heads upstairs he becomes even scarier, taking it slow and psychotic. Both run downstairs just as Owlboy has made his way upstairs. We see horrible scenes of a hooting Owlboy give chase.)

OWLBOY: Whoo!

(Pauses a moment in thought, then holds up a sign "come out, come out, wherever you are!" We cut outside, where Jenny and Skimminy are, exhaustedly, slamming the door shut behind them.)

SKIMMINY DINAKROO: Are -- are we safe?

JENNY: I -- I think so. Unless he's learned to open doors.

(Dramatic music eases in on a close-up of the doorknob twitching... slowly, slowly.....)

OWLBOY: Whoo.

J+S: Aaaaaaaaaagggghhh!!

(Jenny is mauled to shreds. Skimminy loses an arm but limps onward, and eventually comes upon Mother.)

SKIMMINY DINKAROO (gasping): Mom ... I'm hurt ... bad ... what're we gonna do?

MOTHER: I dunno what you're gonna do. Me, I'm movin' to Mexico.

(Sure enough, she starts up her car and speeds away, Skimminy gives a pathetic look. We cut back to the cops.)

COP #1: You take that side, I'll take this one.

(The camera follows the second. He rounds the perimeter of the house, then spots Skimminy Dinkaroo.)

COP #2: Where is he?

SKIMMINY DINKAROO (clawing at him): He's everywhere man, you can't escape him! This is a bug hunt man, a bug hunt! GAME OVER MAN! GAME OVER!

(Skimminy gives that as a last sentiment and dies. The cop can do naught but shake his head. Then -- he spots OwlBoy up in the trees.)

OWLBOY: Whoooo.

COP #2: FREEZE! (The cop draws his gun, but OwlBoy leaps on him and rips him to shreds. As the cop falls, he fires two shots into the air. Then the camera turns to the first cop, who's rounding the corner having some coffee and donuts.)

COP #1: What in the world... Biggins! He got Biggins! Eat lead, you avian bastard!

(The cop reaches for his gun, but draws a donut instead. On the second try, though, he pulls out his real gun and fires six rounds at OwlBoy. But the shots have no effect, and OwlBoy draws closer!

OWLBOY: Whoooo.

COP #1: Crap.

OWLBOY: Whoooo. (As Owlboy draws ever closer, the cop throws his gun at him, to no avail. Finally, in desperation, he throws his hot coffee at him, and OwlBoy screams in pain, covering his eyes, his first sign of weakness. The cop searches around for help, but sees no one. So he grabs his radio.)

COP #1: Come in, come in, do you read? Luckner here. I've got OwlBoy. Requesting backup, do you read, over? I said, do you read?

OWLBOY: Whoo.

(OwlBoy comes back, with a vengeance. The cop thinks for a moment, and then pulls out a large green lightsaber. Unfortunately, Owlboy has one of his own. They fight for about three seconds, when Owlboy whacks the cop's saber easily out of his hand. It drops apathetically to the ground. BIG shot of Owlboy's grinning evil face. The cop gives a nervous little laugh, then throws up his hands in surrender. He realizes he's doomed, and says so plainly.)

COP #1: All right! It's over, I'm dead, I'm done for, I'm doomed. You've got me.

OWLBOY (has never gotten this reaction before): Whoo?

COP #1: That's right, I'm dead and I know it. But if I'm going out I'm gonna go out with respect. Though I can't say it wouldn't be nice if... If....

 

         (To the tune of that crappy song from "Annie")

 

         If you could wait 'til ...tomorrow

         Just postpone the kill until tomorrow

         'Twould be fine

 

         But though I won't see ...tomorrow

         I won't cry and hang my head in sorrow

         When on me you dine

 

         Although soon I'll be dead

         You'll shred me thoroughly

         Through it all I'll just have

         To laugh

         And say....

 

         Yes, this is my last ...tomorrow

         Vital organs you dropped by to borrow

         But that's okayyy...

 

         Tomorrow, tomorrow, I won't see tomorrow

         You came by this house to slay

 

         Be thankful for that ...tomorrow

         You'll have mine, and I'll be Heaven's cargo

         Life's not long

 

         And when I lose my ...tomorrow

         As your teeth rip through me like an arrow

         I'll be strong

 

         Though I know I'm kaput

         That's what

         I'm saying

         I intend to go out

         With dignity...

 

         (He is joined by OwlBoy and  all the other victims, cut, bleeding, parts missing, etc.

They hold hands.)

 

         Yes, this is our last ...tomorrow

         Vital organs he dropped by to borrow

         But that's okay

 

         Tomorrow, tomorrow, we won't see tomorrow

         He came by this house.... to ..... slaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

 

(The song ends, and all the victims immediately drop back down dead again. OwlBoy snorts and heads for the cop once again. He cries out before being torn apart. The cameraman looks back and forth, then OwlBoy spots HIM!)

CAMERAMAN: No, no! Keep back! Please, no! Keep BAAAA...

(static)

 

DONALD R. MacFITZROY: Well, ladies and gentleman, the film cuts out there. OwlBoy was never caught, and for all we know, he could still be roaming suburbia, running through the woods to find his next victim. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, his next victim could be...

AAAGGHH!

(The film mogul is mauled to death by OwlBoy. Much applause from the audience.)