Lore (2017) s01e05 Episode Script

1 On a cold night in the late fifth century, a man named Patricius walked down a lonely road in Ireland.
Patricius was on a mission to spread the Gospel.
But the road he walked was never easy.
Fifth Century pagans weren't always receptive to the teachings of Christ, especially in the village of Ossory.
That's because the people of Ossory already had a god.
They worshiped the wolf.
I come in the name of Jesus Christ.
Patricius' message held no power for the people of Ossory.
And their leader had no use for his salvation.
It seemed like the end of the road for Patricius.
And then something strange began to happen to one of the villagers an ungodly transformation from man to beast.
Villager by villager, this unnatural metamorphosis continued until they became a savage pack.
But it wasn't Patricius they wanted.
Patricius' success at spreading the word would eventually make him a legend.
Today we refer to him as Saint Patrick.
But on that day, his mission was overwhelmed by the spirit of the wolf.
I'm Aaron Mahnke, and this is Lore.
To most of us now, werewolves are movie monsters.
Whoever is bitten by a werewolf and lives becomes a werewolf himself.
Aw, don't hand me that.
Hollywood has made some 100 werewolf films since the first in 1913.
I could have sworn I hit him dead on.
- And I, too.
- Have you forgotten it takes a silver bullet for a werewolf? But there was a time when the werewolf was believed to be all too real.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, Europe was on fire with fears of the werewolf.
Tens of thousands were accused of being wolf-men.
The people of Bedburg believed they were being hunted by one of those werewolves.
It had evaded capture for years.
Townspeople vanished, never to be seen again.
The people here coped as best as they could, never knowing when the creature would strike.
Greta.
I was worried.
It's getting late.
Father, you scared me.
You look so much like your mother right now.
And you work as hard as she did.
A child your age.
It's unfair.
Did you hear about Herr Stubbe's cow being killed? Anna Christian has invited me to Mass this evening.
The moon, it will be turning full tonight.
Tonight.
I cannot lose you, Greta.
It may sound strange that they really thought a werewolf was stalking them.
But we do know that wolf-like humans exist.
A condition known as hypertrichosis it causes excessive hair growth.
But the only thing out of control about the people afflicted is their body hair, not their behavior.
There is, however, a rare psychiatric condition called clinical lycanthropy that causes people to believe they've turned into animals.
This delusion can manifest itself through animal-like behavior such as howling and clawing.
In Northern Europe around the time of the events in Bedburg, rumors began circulating of men who did more than behave like wolves, they became wolves.
These wolf-men were said to attack unsuspecting victims as they walked alone in the woods.
They'd mount their backs, lick their mouths and faces, and then devour them.
According to legend, ONE THING ALWAYS GAVE A WEREWOLF AWAY: werewolves didn't have tails because they were just men, cursed men.
One of the oldest werewolf legends can be traced back to its first telling, 2,000 years ago, somewhere between Europe and the Middle East.
It's a story told to children about a creature that devours a family a grandmother and a little girl in a red hood.
In some versions, the wolf tricks the girl into eating a meal made of her grandmother's corpse before seducing and devouring her.
There the story ends with the monster satisfied and ready to hunt for its next victim.
The moon it will be turning full tonight.
I cannot lose you, Greta.
Papa? Who is there? Ten years after Greta was attacked, the people of Bedburg still lived in fear of the mysterious beast.
Peter Stubbe, a town leader, could only offer grim words of caution.
You know the evil that preys on us.
The wolf that mutilates our cattle and attacked Greta Helfelderz is no creation of God.
The animal we hunt is a creation and servant of the devil.
If you value your life, you will stay inside with your doors barricaded.
For Greta's friend Celeste, Stubbe's advice was an unwelcome warning because that night, for her, there was one emotion more potent than fear.
- Wah-wah! - Aah! Nils.
I was afraid you wouldn't come.
I snuck out of the house.
We're leaving in the morning for Bergheim.
There's no work for my father in Bedburg.
All the townspeople are afraid to do business here.
People are afraid to stay.
I want you to leave with us.
My mother needs me.
You must stay for your mother.
I must go for my father.
Help me.
Please help.
That's not a wolf.
It's human.
Somebody, anybody, hurry.
They need help.
No.
Wait here.
Help me.
Help me.
Please, help.
Nils? Nils? Help.
Please come quickly.
Nils? Help me! Please! Nils? Did you find him? Help, please! Aah! I heard a scream.
Stay in the house.
Barricade the door.
Do it.
It's Nils.
Look.
It spoke.
She said the wolf spoke.
In the remote French province of Gevaudan, people were absolutely sure of what was hunting them.
Between 1764 and 1767, there were killings that could only be explained by a creature not of this world, a beast that was hunting women and children, crushing their heads and decapitating them and drinking their blood.
Many claimed to have seen the creature.
Their descriptions varied wildly a wolf as large as a horse, a dog-dragon hybrid, a wolf-man.
The Bishop of Mende expressed what most of the people here already knew in their hearts the ferocious beast was a monster sent to punish the sinful.
The Bishop decreed that only penance would placate God's wrath.
But after a month of religious rites, the beast continued to kill as many as 100 in just three years.
Finally, the King ordered his royal gun bearer François Antoine to put an end to the carnage.
After a pursuit that lasted for months Antoine claimed to have shot the beast.
He sent the carcass to be displayed at Versailles.
There it was met with great disenchantment.
This wasn't a beast crafted from God's own anger.
People had envisioned a monster.
But what they got was just nature.
Christ, our Lord, save us.
Expurg our people.
Two more of our children are dead.
There will not be another.
Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Amen.
We'll bring you back the beast's head.
Bring back your own.
You need to be here for your Greta.
Knowing the beast is dead will be enough for me.
Jens, pardon my intrusion, but you must be concerned about leaving Greta all alone.
Very much, Herr Stubbe.
If you feel comfortable, let her stay with me until you've killed the wolf.
My home is hers.
I'm afraid.
I am, too.
I feel better knowing you're not alone.
I don't care how fierce this wolf is.
It has never faced 20 men from Bedburg.
Let's go inside.
You look unwell, Greta.
- I haven't been sleeping.
- Hmm.
Every time I close my eyes I You see the night ten years ago? The dreams have increased lately.
I don't know why.
They even come to me when I'm awake.
Oh, Greta.
I've waited ten years for this moment.
To have you all to myself again.
Again? Check its paw.
This is not the creature.
It would have a scar a mark where Greta stabbed it.
You have no idea of the trouble you caused me.
I had to leave Bedburg for months while my hand healed.
I knew that wearing gloves at all times might be noticed.
But, if an accident also rendered me a cripple, no one could imagine that bent, broke Peter Stubbe could also be the wolf.
Oh, Greta, you were the one that got away.
But wolves are patient.
They are opportunists, tracking their prey, waiting until the moment is just right.
And that's when they attack.
My father knows I'm here.
Your father knows you were here.
- No.
- Aah! No.
Aah! Listen, I think I'll keep this one.
It seems only fair.
Aah Oh! Father! Aah! No! Greta! It was you.
You're the wolf.
You have to be careful.
You have to watch where you go now, you know, how late you stay out, and it scares you.
An animal like this has to be caught.
In the summer of 1977, New York City was gripped by fear.
A killer was stalking and murdering New Yorkers.
This is a police sketch of the suspect in one of the nastiest murder cases New York Police have had come their way in a long time.
The past year, the killer, believed to be a young man, has killed five people and wounded four, his victims mostly young women with shoulder-length dark hair, usually shot at very close range while sitting in parked cars at night.
He calls himself the Son of Sam, and he is known as the .
44 Caliber Killer because he has always used that kind of handgun.
Many young brown-haired women are worried about their safety because of the .
44 Caliber Killer.
It's one of those crimes that's been visited upon man throughout the ages a demented killer.
They don't know how to stop him.
He sent mocking letters to the police threatening even more murders.
Despite the largest manhunt in New York history, the Son of Sam evaded capture for months.
New Yorkers felt as though they were being stalked by a monster.
Aided by light from a full moon, three or four eyewitnesses said they got a look at the killer.
I'm very pleased to announce that the people of the City of New York can rest easy this morning because of the fact that the police have captured a man whom they believe to be the Son of Sam.
When the man was questioned, he claimed to be following the orders of a demon in the form of a dog that belonged to his neighbor Sam.
His real name was David Berkowitz.
When the public finally got a look at him, there was astonishment.
This was the monster? A postal worker from the Bronx? He was just a man.
He could have been one of their neighbors.
An average guy, just like them.
If Son of Sam is convicted, what do you think should happen to him? I think he should be killed.
I'd like to see him killed.
Dead.
Period.
Confess your sins.
When I was 12 years old the devil came to me.
He loved me.
In exchange for my soul, he offered me anything I desired in this life.
I was transformed into a greedy, strong, and fierce wolf.
For years, I fed on the blood of cattle, sheep, goats, and the flesh of men of my own son.
I would approach women as a kind man, as a father, and kill them and eat their flesh as a wolf.
Ohh! With the citizens of Bedburg as witnesses, Peter Stubbe was sentenced to death.
He was tied to a large wheel.
Large patches of his skin were peeled off with red-hot pincers.
After that, his arms and legs were broken with the blunt end of an ax.
Only then, with his skin removed and his bones broken, did they turn the ax around and cut off his head.
But we can't just dismiss the desire to witness Stubbe's execution as a relic of history.
Paris, 1937.
Eugene Weidmann, a German citizen living in France, was arrested for murder, beginning with the botched kidnapping of an American tourist.
Weidmann was accused of a murder spree that took six lives.
The German murderer became front-page news.
His trial was a sensation.
Weidmann was found guilty and sentenced to die by guillotine.
And the execution would take place in public.
Going back to a tradition from the Roman Empire, The French believed public executions served as a deterrent to future criminals.
They were a moral lesson for the larger community.
On the morning of June 17, 1939, hundreds of people gathered in front of the St.
Pierre Prison.
The crowd, as a Life Magazine reporter wrote, was eager to experience the exquisite excitement of seeing a man have his head cut off.
The crowd surged toward the body.
There were reports that women dipped their handkerchiefs in his blood as mementos.
The execution had transformed into a macabre entertainment.
Word of the crowd's behavior circulated around the world, much to the horror of the French authorities.
One would write, "Far from serving as a deterrent, "the public execution promoted baser instincts of human nature.
" Weidmann would be the last man the French would publicly execute by guillotine.
Executions by guillotine would continue until 1977, but only behind prison walls, hidden from view.
In spite of this change, French authorities can't stop people from wanting to witness the spectacle of Weidmann's death.
In the last ten years alone, his execution has been viewed over a million times on the internet.
The people of Bedburg mounted Peter Stubbe's head on a pole for all to see.
Below the head they carved the figure of a wolf.
It's not so difficult to understand why they would want him destroyed.
They believed a werewolf had been preying on them.
In a final act, they burned his body to ash so he couldn't rise again.
It wasn't just revenge they were after.
They believed they could vanquish evil.
But wasn't that just an illusion? No matter what we do, the evil in men always seems to return.
Perhaps that evil would be easier to accept if we could blame it on werewolves because the beast, you see, is no superstition.
It's always existed and always will, inside of us.