The Reflecting Skin (1990) Movie Script

Look at this wonderful frog!
Where'd you get it?
Down by the river.
It was sitting on a log!
- Look how big it is!
- Looks like a cane.
- Let's go sit down.
- Must be heavy.
Yeah.
- Has she been by yet?
- No.
- Look at its skin.
- Yeah...
- My turn to blow.
- Is not!
- Is too!
- Is not!
Shut up! Who's got the reed?
- Well, what can I do?
- You can hold the frog.
I don't wanna watch!
I watched last time!
- Shut up Eben!
- Watching is nothing!
Eben, just watch!
Quick! She's coming!
Come on, come on,
don't drop it...
Alright, let's go, come on...
- Ma says it's wicked.
- What?
- Exploding frogs.
- Why?
She says it's a sin
to kill things.
It's just a frog.
Still says it's wrong.
Bad to make it dead.
My Ma's dead.
She's in Heaven.
No she's not, she's in a coffin.
Not true. She's in Heaven,
she's an angel.
What's an angel?
A baby with wings.
Every time you make your Ma cry
you kill an angel.
I make my Ma cry all the time.
Sometimes I just look at her and she cries.
It's someone who doesn't blink.
They go to Heaven and become an angel.
That's not so Eben. Your Ma's
in a coffin being eaten by worms.
Not so!
- You gonna cry, Eben?
- No.
Why are your eyes wet then?
Eben's crying! Eben's crying!
Eben's crying! Eben's crying!
Eben's crying!
Scrub all day and
I can still smell it...
Gasoline and grease!
Your breath stinks of it.
Your skin stinks of it.
I go to bed and the
sheets stink of it.
When neighbors call--
Not that they do call...
I see them sniffing... sniffing.
I spend all day bleaching
the smell away...
Then you come home and
I have to start all over again.
There's not enough bleach to burn
the stench of you away, Luke Dove.
Your spit tastes of it,
do you know that?
You're a walking timebomb, Luke Dove.
One day you'll sit in the sun
and go up-- Bang!
You'll be... what's the word?
Incinerated.
Things'll have to change when
Cameron gets home. You hear me?
He won't wanna wake up to
gasoline and grease.
Cameron's been used to
the pretty islands.
Pretty sea. Pretty sand.
Everything pretty.
There's coconuts on the
pretty islands.
Not a car in sight.
Just canoes.
Not like this dump!
He sweats gasoline that man!
It oozes from him!
Things'll be different when Cameron
gets back. Things will change.
I miss Cameron.
I know... I know. I miss him too.
- You thirsty, son?
- No.
You should drink. Turn to dust.
A man's gotta drink.
- You thirsty, Pa?
- I guess.
You want some water?
Well that'll go down real nice, son.
What you readin' there, Pa?
- Book.
- What's it about, Pa?
Vampires, son.
What's vampires?
They're not very nice.
They bite your neck and
drink your blood. Stuff like that.
Not very sociable.
What they do that for, Pa?
'Cos if they don't, they get old.
Do it to stay young.
And then the people whose
blood they drunk, why, they get old.
And then they die.
And during the day
they sleep in a coffin...
and at night they turn into a bat.
If they feel so inclined.
Any vampires around these parts, Pa?
Wouldn't be at all surprised.
You ever seen a vampire, Pa?
No I haven't, son.
But then again I ain't been lookin'.
See to it Seth, would ya?
My vampire's in convulsions.
Fill her up... please?
What's your name?
Seth.
- Seth what?
- Seth Dove.
How old are you, Seth Dove?
Nearly nine.
- Is that your father up there?
- Yeah.
He looks like a scarecrow.
- Are you a scarecrow's son?
- No.
I was hoping you were.
We'll be seeing you...
Would you like that?
Yeah.
Be good now, Seth Dove.
Seth!
You've been exploding frogs again.
- No...
- I heard different.
- She lied!
- Who lied?
The English lady!
I can see through you
to the garage beyond.
You go round there and
say you're sorry.
- But Ma!
- Get.
Now!
Come in. I won't bite.
Sit down.
Frogs. Who cares?
It's my dress I was worried about.
Did far worse when I was a child,
goodness yes.
We used to tie fireworks to cats' tails
and set them on fire.
Ever do that?
Oh... you should do it.
Boy, do they move.
Whoosh! Straight down the street.
Asses burnt to a cinder.
I remember once... we put
my mum's canary in the oven.
It went 'pop.' Exploded.
Just like that frog,
come to think of it.
My husband's family
used to be into whaling.
Before they became farmers.
Do you like it?
Take it. Go on.
Who's that?
That's my husband.
His name was Adam. I met him in London.
I married him and came here.
We were happy for one week.
And then one day I went into the barn...
and there he was.
His face was bright red.
Tongue blue. Eyes going 'pop.'
He'd hung himself, you see.
He was... very... beautiful.
His eyes were...
His hair...
His skin...
Oh... his skin...
He used to hold me in his arms
and sing to me...
"You are my sunshine..."
my only sunshine...
"You make me happy...
when skies are grey..."
Well, now there's no
sunshine in my life.
I hate sunshine.
Sometimes... terrible things
happen quite naturally.
You look different.
Oh well... yes.
He made me younger I suppose.
Without him I get older by the minute.
Bits of me fall off.
I get up in the morning and
half of me stays in bed.
Can't bring myself to look
in mirrors anymore.
Tell me, how old do you think I am?
Fifty?
Fifty?!
Why, what a compliment.
Oh no, I'm older than that.
I'm two hundred years old.
Can't you see all my wrinkles
and grey hairs? Look.
Yeah.
You can?
Come and sit next to me.
Come on.
- Do you know what that is?
- No.
It's one of my Adam's teeth.
- This? Do you know what this is?
- Hair.
That's right. My husband's hair.
These are his reading glasses.
This is his comb.
You see? It's all that's
left of him now.
Just a box of bits and pieces.
You fall in love, and almost at once
that loved one dies,
and you're left with nothing.
Nothing at all.
Just a few memories
and a house where he was a boy.
Nothing but dreams and decay. And a box!
A box from his childhood.
A childhood you weren't even a part of.
Bay-Rum.
Oh, this... this is the smell of him.
Oh...
It's him... it's him!
It's the smell of him.
The smell of him...
Oh, my darling... my darling...
Smell my dead one!
A vampire...
She's a vampire!
There...
- You're awake.
- A little.
It's time you were asleep.
No, Ma...
- What is it now?
- Nothing...
- Just grow up and go to sleep.
- But...
- You want the water?
- No.
Then the light goes out.
Water!
Every last drop.
You're not finished yet, my boy.
I'm gonna burst, I gotta go...
Not until you've finished.
Every last drop. Go on! Drink!
I'll be sick...
Then you'll just have to be sick.
Keep on drinking.
I can't, Ma, really!
- Go on, you haven't finished...
- Ma...
Drink it... drink it!
You're gonna drink until
your stomach's fit to burst!
You're gonna drink it all, Seth Dove,
even if it takes all night!
You're gonna drink it all!
I can smell your father.
The Lord's taken him
because I'm a sinner.
Just like He took my Rachel.
Taken who, Joshua?
I am a sinner! I drink.
I have bad thoughts.
Would someone mind telling me
what's going on?
Eben's missing.
We need the Sheriff. I keep telling him
we should call Sheriff Ticker.
No need for Sheriff Ticker
just yet, Joshua.
No... that's what I said.
We're not sure anything's happened yet.
'Course we're not.
When did you last see Eben, son?
- This morning.
- Where did you leave him?
Did the Lord take him, boy?
Did the angels come down
and pluck him from the wheat?
Did the Lord say: "His Pa is a sinner
and not meant to be happy?"
- No.
- Where was he going to, boy?
I gotta go! Pa!
She's a vampire, and she drinks
blood to make her young.
She's afraid to look into mirrors
'cos her reflection is gone.
And she hates sunlight, and she keeps
her husband in a black box...
and his sweat in a bottle.
How do you know?
She told me to my face.
She's two hundred years old.
- Do you think she killed Eben?
- Could be.
- But why?
- For his blood, stupid!
His blood?
Sure. If she don't get blood
then she starts to fall apart.
She said, "I get up in the morning
and there's my skin in the bed."
- Come on.
- What you doing?
Just come on.
Help me...
What you looking for?
- Her coffin.
- Her coffin?
It's here somewhere. She sleeps in it.
Let's go to her bedroom then!
- Should we?
- Quick!
Kim, look at this wonderful shell!
Look how big it is!
Yeah, look at it...
I know-- let's smash it!
Yeah!
Smash it! Rip it! Break it! Tear it!
Break everything! Smash everything!
Rip it, tear it, rip it...
- She's back.
- Ssshh...
Hi, Pa.
- You thirsty, son?
- No.
- You been running?
- A little.
Turn to dust. A man's gotta drink.
- Thirsty, Pa?
- A little, son.
Eben?
Now... let's go over this
again, shall we?
How many times can he
answer the same questions?
He's told you all he knows.
Think I should be the judge of that,
don't you ma'am?
Unless, of course, there's a reason
why you don't want me to ask questions?
Reason? What do you mean,
why should I have a reason?
Had old Sheriff Ticker on the phone.
- Sheriff Ticker?
- You know Sheriff Ticker?
Yeah... Yes, I know him.
He certainly seems to know your husband.
Knows him real well.
Has quite a lot to say about him,
does Sheriff Ticker.
- Go upstairs Seth.
- But Ma...
Do as you're told.
- Ma!
- Go!
What has Sheriff Ticker told you?
You know full well
what he's told me.
It was years ago, for the love of God!
You gonna drag it up all over again?
Might be it needs dragging up.
Shut up. You'll only make it worse!
He even cries like a woman.
Don't you call my husband...
"In full embrace," the Sheriff said.
In the barn. Kissing the boy...
He wasn't a boy, he was seventeen.
And it was years ago...
Sheriff Ticker says he felt sick.
Two men... kissing...
That why you married him so quick?
Protect his good name?
Why don't you ask the Sheriff?
He seems to know everything else.
Oh, he does... He does know.
Everything.
And what he doesn't know... he suspects.
This time, you won't get away with it.
No...
I wouldn't hurt... I couldn't...
I'd arrest you this very
minute if I could.
Arrest him for what?
He hasn't done anything!
Well now, we can't be sure
of that, can we?
Sheriff Ticker says it's a short leap
from kissing to killing.
Goodbye now. Enjoy your supper.
Shut up...
Shut up!
All that gossip!
All that gossip! I can't
go through it...
You hear me?! I can't
go through it again!
I won't! I won't...
I won't go through it again...
Not for you.
You come back here, Luke Dove.
- Pa!
- Son?
I missed you.
- You look older.
- You look old.
- I do, huh?
- Lots.
You should have seen him Cam.
He exploded! He went 'bang'!
His skin went all funny...
Don't think about it, okay?
I dream it.
God, it's ugly here.
What you wearing that for?
It's for you!
I don't want it.
Aren't you a hero?
No.
Jeez... this place get smaller?
No.
Still smells like gasoline.
I can't smell it.
That's 'cos you smell like it, too.
- Where'd this come from?
- Nowhere. Come on.
- You hungry, Cam?
- No.
You miss 'em, Cam?
- Miss what?
- The pretty islands.
Could be.
You goin' back?
Nah. Suppose I'm staying.
That for good?
- Might be I have to.
- Why have to?
Look after you, Knucklehead.
I don't need looking after.
Oh. Guess you want me to go?
Hi, Ma.
What, Ma? What do you want?
Out of the way! Mind yourself!
Stop it! Jesus!
Gotta get the place clean.
Your Pa will be home soon.
Pa's dead!
He's dead and buried, Ma.
He was always reading.
Nothing but them cheap pulps.
Never said a word to me
when I was a kid.
Just sat there and got old.
Couldn't stand the sight of blood.
That's why it was always Ma
who killed the chickens.
You never stood a chance.
Should have got out years ago.
Before she drained you.
He wanted to be a beekeeper,
you know that?
It was her idea to start the garage.
Whiskers keep growing.
When you're dead.
Everything else stops...
But hair just keeps on sprouting.
Hair never dies. Just goes on and on...
Heard you were back, Cameron.
Circumstances, Sheriff.
I've been a Sheriff for
over thirty years...
and I never seen so
many circumstances.
People stop me and say...
"Sheriff Ticker, what's happenin'?"
And I have to say...
"I don't rightly know."
But it all starts with a kiss,
that's for sure.
Your Pa'd tell you.
I want a word with little Seth here,
that okay with you?
Sure.
Turtle. Snapper it was.
Big as a pig and vicious as hell.
Got my hand. Can you beat that?
Few years later...
A dog almost chewed off my ear.
Then a wasp stung out my eye.
Thirty years a Sheriff
and all I've had to contend with
are vicious animals.
But now...
We got a new kind of animal.
One I ain't seen before.
The kind of animal that...
does things to children.
Makes my hungry fish seem
like an angel of mercy.
The only trouble is...
I ain't sure if the monster's
still out there somewhere.
Or six feet under.
Perhaps your father took secrets
with him into that grave of his.
Your Pa...
He ever, uh...
touch you?
Yeah.
Where'd he touch you, boy?
In the kitchen.
No, no, no, I don't mean that.
Did he ever touch you in... places?
Places outside the kitchen?
No, no, no, uh...
Places... on your person.
Like where?
Like private places, boy.
Private places?
Yeah...
Like...
Here, boy.
No. He didn't do much touching.
You go on back to your brother.
You tell him to take care of you.
You'll be safe with him.
I'm sorry about your father.
I saw the light of the burning
from my window.
I wondered what it was.
It looked quite beautiful.
I bet it did.
That was a stupid thing to say.
I'm sorry, Cameron.
Would you say that again?
My name?
Cameron.
It sounds good.
You know, your accent.
Makes everything sound better somehow.
Well...
What about your name?
Let me hear you say your name.
Dolphin Blue.
What happened? To the angel?
Time.
Even angels lose their wings eventually.
Cam.
Ah, there he is.
My little demolition man.
Your what?
Seth knows what I mean.
Come on, Cam.
Get out of here, go home
and wait for me.
- Cam...
- Get out of here.
Don't talk to her!
Beat it!
I'm gonna kill you.
My Ma says your Pa was a pervert.
- What's a pervert?
- Someone who likes children.
Don't think my Pa was a pervert then.
- Nah. Nor's mine.
- My brother's back.
I know, Ma told me.
- He met 'her' today.
- The vampire?
- Yeah.
- Did she bite his neck?
I don't know.
- Do you think she wants to?
- Yeah, I guess so.
- What you gonna do about it?
- I dunno. Gotta do something.
- You love your brother?
- Yeah.
- More than anything else in the world?
- More than anything else in the world.
- What's that smell?
- I don't know...
Hey Kim, look!
I think I've found something!
It looks like an egg...
It smells like fish.
- You know what I think?
- What?
I think we've found ourselves an angel.
An angel?
Sure! And you know what?
What?
I think it could be Eben.
Eben? Why's Eben an angel?
'Cos I told my Ma I miss Cameron,
and it made her cry.
That's why Eben's an angel!
- Who says?
- It's just so, Kim!
Jeez, it sure looks like Eben.
But if Eben's an angel,
why ain't he in Heaven?
'Cos he was murdered!
Murdered angels don't go to Heaven.
They get their wings torn out and
they're thrown back to Earth again.
- Who says?
- It's just so, Kim!
There! You see?
That's where his wings were!
Poor Eben.
- Where are you going?
- Home!
- You can't have the angel!
- Why not?
- He belongs to me! He was my friend!
- He was my friend, too!
- He liked me more!
- You made him cry!
- So did you! I wanna keep it!
- I found it!
- I saw it first!
- I unwrapped it!
- I started it!
- I walked this way!
I keep the angel.
What are we gonna do, Eben?
She's met him now. My brother.
She's gonna kill him!
She's gonna suck his blood
and kill him...
Just like she killed you.
What? She did what?
Bit your neck. I know Eben, I know.
That's what vampires are like, I know.
But I'm watching her.
Don't worry, I'm watching.
Everything. Everything.
Seth? You here?
You be quiet now.
I'll be back, Eben.
Hey.
- What the Sheriff want?
- Nothing.
Long while about nothing.
- You okay?
- I suppose.
Hey, I'm sorry I pushed you, okay?
It's just you know that sometimes...
Well, you're not wanted.
You wanna see something?
- What do you make of that?
- What is it?
It's a baby.
What happened to him?
Well, he lived in a place in Japan.
His skin got all silver and shiny.
Just like a mirror.
You could see your face in it.
Why?
You just could.
Did it hurt?
Yeah, I guess.
- Is he alive?
- Mm-hmm.
Do you know him?
No, it's just a photograph.
- Who's holding him?
- I don't know.
Did he have any brothers
like you're my brother?
I don't know. I don't know him,
Seth. It's just a picture.
What's his name?
I don't know him, I don't
know his name.
It's just a photograph, okay?
Well, he must have had a name.
Yeah, he must have had
a shoe size too,
but I don't know that either.
It's just a picture of a baby.
You like them? You can have them.
And before you ask,
I don't know her name either.
Seth? I'm going out for a while.
Where are you going?
I'm going up to Dolphin's house.
Jesus!
It was quite beautiful, you know.
The war in London.
All that noise and fire...
People huddled together.
Laughter and cuddles.
You liked those bombs, don't you?
Oh, I loved them.
All that noise... and explosions.
I've seen the big ones, you know.
Lots of them.
- The biggest ones there are.
- Where?
In the Pacific.
That's where I've been.
The pretty islands.
That's what my Ma calls them.
What have you been doing there?
Blowing them up.
Whole islands?
Well, yeah... whole islands.
Was it dangerous?
Not really.
We watched from a distance.
And wore sunglasses.
God, it was bright.
I mean, bright like you've never seen.
Like a million Fourth of Julys
all rolled into one.
The natives paddled out
in their canoes...
and they were singing.
"You are my sunshine...
my only sunshine..."
And there'd be this stuff, like...
Silver snow falling on the ship.
We'd roll it up and have
snowball fights with it, you know?
And after each blast the sea
would be filled with boiled fish.
You could pick them up and
eat them if you wanted to.
The sunsets were pink...
The sunsets were...
Pink. Bright pink.
Pink like you've never seen.
Cameron.
Cameron, look at me.
Hey! Come here you little...!
His hair! It's his hair!
Look! It's happening!
She's killing him! Look!
Soon Cameron'll end up in a black box,
just like her dead husband.
Bits of hair. Teeth!
His sweat in a bottle...
What am I going to do, Eben? What?
I've got to tell him, Eben!
Otherwise... she'll kill him.
Murderer! Murderer!
Wake up, Cam! Wake up! Wake up!
Come out!
Jesus Christ!
Murderer! Murderer!
What are you playing at, Josh?
What's the matter with you, goddamit?!
- I wanna see him...
- See who?
- The killer!
- There's no killer here.
You bring him! He's a coward!
- What's he talking about?
- Pa, I guess.
Pa's dead, Josh.
He's not dead.
What are you talking about?
She's hiding him!
Bullshit. You can't hide a corpse, Josh.
Now come on, you've been drinking.
I want you to go home.
Ain't no home, Cameron. People all gone.
God took them because of
my wicked thoughts!
No. No, you don't have wicked thoughts.
You just... you just got some bad luck.
Oh, you don't know! My thoughts!
Jesus! They're bad!
I dreamt... I dreamt...
that I was sleeping with my goat!
And... I liked it!
Well, you could do worse.
Come on, get Ma inside.
Where is he, Ruth?!
Bring him to me!
- Punch him, Cam!
- Shut up!
- You can do it!
- He's just drunk!
- What's it like, boy?
- What's what like?
To know your Pa's a killer.
Pa's no killer! Now come on!
He's dead! Snap out of it!
He took my Eben!
- No. He didn't.
- They all say that, Cam.
And you believe them?
I don't know. Was Pa a pervert?
What? What do you mean?
Ruuuuuth!
Where is he? I wanna hurt him!
I wanna suck out his eyes!
He don't deserve to see!
Get the door, Ma.
What are you afraid of?
Go on, see who it is!
- Can I see him?
- Yes.
- Cameron?
- Hi. Come in.
You alright?
- Yeah. It's nothing.
- Oh, God!
- Oh... oh...
- It's nothing.
- Shall I do that?
- No!
No! No... I can.
They said it was... I mean I thought...
Oh, it was just... Josh.
I mean, it's... nothing.
You look... You look beautiful.
Ow!
That hurt.
I really missed you.
What? What?
- Him! Him!
- No, Cassie!
Ask him!
- Seth! Have you seen Kim?
- No...
- He's lying!
- You lying?
Of course he is! I can tell.
You ain't got no kids,
you don't know their ways.
Tell me the truth, son!
- I am!
- Monster!
He's hiding my Kim!
- You hiding him, boy?
- No!
You know what you're
full of, Seth Dove?
Sin! Ain't that right?
Don't know ma'am...
Well I'm telling you boy!
You're full of sin! Say it!
Sin! Say it! Sin! Sin!
- Sin.
- Louder!
- Sin!
- Again!
- Sin!
- Again! Again!
Sin! Sin!
Look at him! He's enjoying it!
Can't you see he's enjoying it?!
- He's a monster!
- No, Cassie!
What's killing all the children?
What's killing the children?
Every cop in the state on the job,
and you know what I think?
- No...
- I think your Pa is still out there,
dripping gasoline and killing children.
And you wanna know what else I think?
I think you've got secrets locked up
in here and it's my job to get 'em out.
Even if I have to crack you open
like a peanut, do you understand me?
- Yeah.
- Well I hope you do.
'Cos whatever you got up there,
I'm gonna find it out.
One way or another,
I'm gonna get it out.
Look in my mouth.
In my mouth.
What is it?
You see anything? I can taste blood.
It's your gums.
- My gums?
- Yeah. They're bleeding.
I'm losing weight.
You know I had to take
my belt in two notches.
- You're going bald too.
- I'm going bald?
Found hair in your comb.
Does it show?
Can you tell by looking at me?
No, not really.
Jesus. I'm falling apart here.
Cam... I gotta tell you something.
- Cam?
- What?
Get off my coat!
Cam, I know why you're getting old.
- Oh yeah? Why?
- 'Cos of her.
- Who?
- Dolphin.
What do you mean?
She's a vampire.
- She's a vampire?
- I knew you wouldn't believe me!
She's a vampire!
And she's drinking your blood!
- You don't see that, do you?
- Oh yeah...
Listen! That's why you're getting older
and she's getting younger!
- You're crazy.
- It's true!
- You really believe that?
- Yeah!
- You're out of your mind.
- It's true, Cam!
I can't listen to this crap anymore.
- Cam!
- Leave me alone!
Cam! Come back!
Cam, stop! Wait!
Don't leave me! You can't go!
Just watch me.
You can't leave me with Ma!
You said so!
Oh, shut up! She's alright.
She's better than before.
She does the cooking and housework
and keeps her mouth shut.
What more do you want?
You can't go with Dolphin, she's a vampire!
She'll kill you, I'm warning you...
Shut up!
Listen you little bastard, I love her!
Do you understand? I love her!
And she loves me. And I'm going away
with her and I'm gonna be happy.
And there's not a damn thing you can
do about it, you understand me?
You hear me?!
Now shut up!
She's got him now, Eben.
There's nothing I can do.
She's won and I've lost.
She's gonna kill him, Eben.
What? Say that again...
Tell me.
Tell me.
Tell me.
Tell me...
Tell me...
Tell me...
Tell me...
Dolphin?
You waiting for something?
Yes, for a ride. I'm going to town.
I love him, you know. Really.
I'll look after him.
He'll be safe with me.
Poor Seth. It's all so
horrible, isn't it?
It's the nightmare of childhood.
And it only gets worse.
One day you'll wake up,
and you'll be past it.
Your beautiful skin will
wrinkle and shrivel up.
You'll lose your hair.
Your sight. Your memory.
Your blood will thicken.
Teeth turn yellow and loose.
You'll start to stink and fart...
and all your friends will be dead.
You'll succumb to arthritis.
Angina. Senile dementia.
You'll piss yourself. Shit yourself.
Drool at the mouth.
Just pray that when this happens,
you've got someone to love you.
Because, if you're loved...
you'll still be young.
Oh... innocence can be hell.
Well, well, well,
if it isn't the scarecrow's son?
You want a ride, Seth Dove?
No. Not yet.
Where are you boys going?
- Where are you going?
- To town.
- We going that way, boys?
- Yeah!
- Looks like we're going that way.
- Thanks.
It's a beautiful day,
isn't it Seth Dove?
Yeah.
- What are you looking at?
- Nothing.
Don't look like nothing.
Why don't you go play
with your friends?
They're all dead.
What's the Sheriff's car
doing down there?
Cam...
Wait, Cam!
Cam!
Cam!
Wait! Cam, stop!
Stop! Cam! Come home, Cam!
Wait! Stop Cam, please!
No! No!
No!