The Sandman (Vertigo) Page #2

Synopsis: On a dark night, as the clock strikes eight, a mother sends her child upstairs to bed with only a candle for light. The child is wary, then frightened. The child hears something climbing the stairs. We see a birdlike man, his head like a crescent moon, stealthily then noisily approach the child's room. Mother appears to kiss the child good night. Has the sandman been a figment of the child's imagination? Then, he appears in the child's room and, as the child sleeps, leans over and takes something, leaps to the window, throws open the sash, and flies to a nest where two hungry fledglings cry. What has the sandman brought them?
Director(s): Paul Berry
  Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
7.5
Year:
1991
10 min
1,542 Views


circle on the floor -- chalk white against the black stone.

Runic characters decorate it.

ACOLYTE:

It is midnight, Lord Magus.

BURGESS:

It is time. Elspeth, love..?

A beautiful YOUNG WOMAN nods adoringly. She crouches on all

fours at Burgess' feet.

Items are placed on her back: a ceremonial bowl, inside which

floats a human heart. A long twisted knife. A feather. Coins.

The Magdalene Grimoire. She is a human altar.

Burgess opens the book. He begins to intone, displaying the

items as he names them:

BURGESS:

I give you coin I made from a stone. I

give you a song I stole from the dirt. I

give you a knife from under the hills.

And a stick I stuck through a dead man's

eye. I give you a claw I ripped from a

rat. I give you a name, and the name is

lost.

He jabs his forearm with the knife. Blood drips onto the

feather.

BURGESS (CONT'D)

I give you blood from out of my vein, and

a feather I pulled from an angel's wing.

He throws the feather into the circle.

BURGESS (CONT'D)

I summon with poison, and summon with

pain. I open the way and open the gates.

Come.

The acolytes echo the word 'Come.'

BURGESS (CONT'D)

I summon you in the names of the old

lords. Namtar. Allatu. Morax. Naberius.

Klesh. Vepar. Maymon. We summon.

The acolytes chant 'Come.'

5.

BURGESS (CONT'D)

From the dark they call you ... into the

dark they call you. Coin and song, knife

and stick ...

In the center of the circle, the air SHIMMERS --

BURGESS (CONT'D)

Claw and name, blood and feather ... Here

in the darkness ...

The air SOLIDIFIES, taking shape --

The acolytes echo 'Here in the darkness.'

BURGESS (CONT'D)

Here in the darkness, we summon you

together. COME!

There is FLASH --

-- and a black-cloaked FIGURE materializes in mid-air.

His head and face are covered by a HELM that looks like the

skull of some dead ancient god (which it is).

A large, vibrant heart-shaped RUBY adorns his neck.

A small leather POUCH hangs from one hand.

-- and then the figure collapses. He lies splayed on the

floor, in the center of the circle.

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Neil Gaiman

Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and films. more…

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