INT. STATION WAGON
The shape is close, out of focus. Out the window we see the three girls on the sidewalk. The shape stares at Laurie looking back at him, then tromps on the accelerator. The wagon whizzes past them.
"Speed kills!" Annie yells. Up the street the wagon suddenly stops. It sits there, waiting. "Can't you take a joke?" She says softer. Peter watches in amusement in the shadows.
"When are we taking michael to join us" Felix asks in a whisper.
"Patients. In time Felix" Peter says. For a moment the station wagon just sits there. Then it takes off down the street and disappears around a corner. Peter lets out a quiet chuckle. "He's got style"
"Annie, some day you're going to get all of us in deep trouble." Laurie says.
"Totally." Lynda says.
"I hate a guy with a car and no sense of humor." Annie says. The girls start walking again. Laurie is quiet, puzzled by the appearance of the man in the car.
"Well, are we still on for tonight?" Lynda asks.
"I wouldn't want to get you in deep trouble, Lynda." Annie says coldly.
"Come on, Annie. Bob and I have been planning on it all week." Lynda says.
"All right. The Wallaces leave at seven." Annie says.
"I'm baby-sitting for the Doyles. It's only three houses away. We can keep each other company." Laurie says exited. Peter scoffs from where he is atop a house.
"Terrific. I've got three choices. Watch the kid sleep, listen to Lynda screw or talk to you." Lynda says.
EXT. RESIDENTIAL STREET -- DAY
The three girls stop in front of Lynda's house, a modest suburban home on a quiet, tree-lined street.
"What time?" Annie asks.
"I don't know yet. I have to get out of taking my stupid brother trick or treating." Lynda says.
"Saving the treats for Bob?" Annie asks.
"Fun-ny. See you." Lynda says. Lynda strolls up to her house. Annie and Laurie start down the street. Laurie's face. She stares ahead along the sidewalk. Up the sidewalk is a series of bushes lining the street. There, partially hidden in the shadows of a bush, is the shape of a man, watching them. He is barely visible, almost blending in with the dark foliage. Peter hums.
"Look" Laurie says.
"Look where?" Annie asks.
"Dumb bitches" Peter mumbles.
"Behind that bush there." Laurie says. Annie looks. The shape is gone. Just bushes.
"I don't see anything." Annie says.
"That man who drove by so fast, the one you yelled at." Laurie says.
"Subtle, isn't he? Hey creep!" Annie exclaims. Annie walks right over to the bushes and kicks them hard. Nothing happens. "Laurie, my dear, he wants to talk to you." Laurie just stands on the sidewalk several feet from the bushes. "He wants to take you out tonight." Slowly Laurie walks over and stares at the bush.
"He was standing right here." Laurie says.
"Poor Laurie. You scared another one away." Annie says.
"Cute." Laurie says. They start walking down the sidewalk again.
"It's tragic. You never go out. You must have a small fortune stashed from baby-sitting so much." Annie says. Peter raises an eyebrow.
"They talk to much" Felix grumbles in annoyance. Peter smirks but nods in agreement.
"Lets go." Peter says. They jump off the roof and run off.
"The guys think I'm too smart." Laurie says. Laurie glances back at the bushes behind them.
"I don't. I think you're whacko. You're seeing men behind bushes." Annie says. The two girls stop in front of Annie's house, another small suburban home. "Well, home sweet home. I'll see you later."
"Okay. Bye." Laurie says. Annie walks up to her door. For a moment Laurie looks around cautiously before starting down the sidewalk again. A strong wind rises and blows her hair in front of her face. Again she turns around and glances back down the street. There is still nothing there. Suddenly, Laurie walks right into a man standing on the sidewalk in front of her. She screams and drops her books. It is Lee Brackett, Annie's father. He is a tall man in a county sheriff's uniform. He quickly bends down and picks up her books.
"Excuse me, Laurie." Brackett says.
"Mister Brackett..." Laurie says.
"Didn't mean to startle you." Brackett says.
"It's okay..." Laurie says.
"Well, it's Halloween. I guess everybody's entitled to a good scare." Brackett says.
"Yes, sir. Nice seeing you." Laurie says. Brackett walks down the sidewalk to his house. Laurie bundles her books and hurries up the street.
EXT. LAURIE'S HOUSE -- DAY
Laurie walks up on the front porch of her house. She pauses a moment and glances down the street. Several children in costumes are going door to door collecting their treats.
"Well, kiddo, I thought you outgrew superstition." Laurie says to herself.
INT. LAURIE'S HOUSE -- DAY
Laurie strolls through the living room. Through the doorway into the kitchen we see Laurie's Mother busy making candied apples.
"Hi, Mom, I'm home." Laurie says.
"Laurie, Annie just called. She said call her back." Lauri's mother says. Laurie turns and hurries up the stairs.
"Thanks, mom." Laurie says.
INT. LAURIE'S ROOM
Laurie walks into her bedroom. She tosses her books on the bed and starts to her telephone.The wind blows her curtains through the open window. Laurie crosses to the window and leans up to close it. From her room in the second story, Laurie can see into the backyard next door. There is a clothesline with sheets blowing in the wind. In between the sheets we glimpse the shape standing there, looking up at Laurie. She freezes and stares down fearfully. The sheets continue to twist and turn in the wind, but now the shape is gone. Laurie slams the window and locks it. She slowly walks to the middle of her room and stands there for several moments, unsure as to whether she has actually seen it. Suddenly, the phone rings, loud and shrill, startling Laurie. She answers it.
"Hello." Laurie asks. Silence. "Hello?"There is a sound from the receiver, like chewing... "Who is this?" The chewing continues. She slams the receiver down. Almost immediately, the phone rings again. Laurie looks at it. It rings again. She picks it up. "Hello?"
"Why did you hang up on me?" Annie asks.
"Annie, was that you?" Laurie asks.
"Of course." Annie says.
"Why didn't you say anything? You scared me to death." Laurie says.
"I had my mouth full. Couldn't you hear me?" Annie asks.
"I thought it was an obscene phone call." Laurie says.
"Now you hear obscene chewing. You're losing it, Laurie." Annie says.
"I've already lost it." Laurie says.
"I doubt that. Listen, my mother is letting me use her car. I'll pick you up. 6:30." Annie says.
"Sure, see you later." Laurie says.
"Bye." Annie says. Laurie hangs up.
"Calm down. This is ridiculous." Laurie says to herself.
EXT. GRAVEYARD -- DAY
An old graveyard on a windy hillside. A car pulls up on the small road in f.g. Sam Loomis gets out, along with Taylor, the graveyard owner. Taylor is a small, officious man in his late sixties. He glances at a small notepad.
"Let's see. Myers. Judith Myers. Row 18, plot 20. Over this way." Taylor says. The two men begin walking along through the graveyard, winding around headstones and flowers. "Every town has something like this happen. I remember a guy over is Russellville. Charley Bowles. About fifteen years ago, he finished dinner, excused himself from the table, went out into the garage and got a hacksaw, then came back into the house, kissed his wife and two children goodbye, and then proceeded to..."
"Where are we?" Loomis asks.
"Just right over there a ways. And I remember Judith Myers. Just couldn't believe it. A young boy like that..." Taylor says. Taylor stops cold.
"Lost?" Loomis asks.
"Why do they do it?" Taylor asks sadly. He points to a plot right in front of them. Loomis stares. The headstone is missing, uprooted from the ground. "Goddamn kids. They'll do anything on Halloween."
"Whose grave is it?" Loomis asks. Taylor checks his notebook, then counts the rows and plots.
"18, 20... Judith Myers... " Taylor says. Taylor gives Loomis a quizzical look. Loomis shakes his head and looks out across the graveyard.
"He came home..." Loomis says.
EXT. LAURIE'S HOUSE -- DUSK
On the trees that line the residential street, twisting and writhing in the dusk wind. Laurie waiting outside her house by the street. She carries a tote bag with schoolbooks and knitting needles stuck inside, and a large pumpkin. The sun is a pale glow behind the trees. Laurie turns her gaze down the street. More children in costumes walk from house to house, some with mothers and sisters, trick or treating. The wind blows their costumes, billowing them outward. She watches the trick-or-treaters as a car swings around the corner and pulls up in front of her. It is Annie.
"Hurry up." Annie says. Laurie walks around to the passenger door and gets in.
INT. ANNIE'S CAR -- DUSK
Annie pulls away from the curb and hands Laurie a joint.
"We just have time." Annie says. Laurie lights the joint and puffs vigorously. "You still spooked?"
"I wasn't spooked." Laurie says.
"Lies." Annie says.
"I saw someone standing in Mr. Riddle's backyard." Laurie says.
"Probably Mister Riddle." Annie says.
"He was watching me." Laurie says.
"Mister Riddle was watching you? Laurie, Mister Riddle is eighty- seven." Annie says.
"He can still watch." Laurie says.
"That's probably all he can do." Annie says. Behind them through the rear-view mirror, we see Loomis' station wagon pull out of an alley and follow along. "What's the pumpkin for?"
"I brought it for Tommy. I figured making a Jack-o'-lantern would keep him occupied." Laurie says.
"I always said you'd make a fabulous girl scout." Annie says.
"Thanks." Laurie says.
"For that matter, I might as well be a girl scout tonight. I plan on making popcorn and watching Doctor Dementia. (cont'd) Six straight hours of horror movies. Little Lindsey Wallace won't know what hit her." Annie says.
EXT. HADDONFIELD SQUARE -- DUSK
Annie's car drives through the main square of Haddonfield. Following behind is the station wagon.
INT. ANNIE'S CAR
Annie points up ahead and quickly hides the joint.
"My dad!" Annie exclaims.Two police cars are parked in the street in front of Nichols Hardware Store. An alarm bell inside the store clangs Shrilly.
INT. ANNIE'S CAR
They quickly roll down the windows and begin wildly clearing out the marijuana smoke. Behind them the station wagon disappears off down a side street. Annie's car stops at the police cars. Lee Brackett strolls out to the car and leans down to the window.
"Hi, Annie, Laurie..." Brackett greets.
"Hi, Dad. What happened?" Annie asks.
"What?" Brackett asks straining to hear.
"What happened?" Annie repeats.
"Someone broke in the hardware store. Probably kids." Brackett says.
"You blame everything on kids." Annie says.
"The only things missing were some Halloween masks, rope, a set of knives. What does that sound like to you?" Brackett asks. Annie turns to Laurie.
"It's hard growing up with a cynical father." Annie says. Behind Brackett, Sam Loomis walks up the street. We see Loomis talk to a cop who points to Brackett.
"You're going to be late at the Doyle's, Annie." Brackett says. Unable to hear over the alarm
"Huh?" Annie asks. Just as Brackett is about to speak the alarm goes off.
"You're going to be late!" Brackett shouts over the alarm.
"He shouts, too." Annie says to Laurie. Brackett smiles as Loomis walks up behind him.
"Goodbye, girls." Brackett says.
"Bye." Annie and Laurie say at the same time. Annie's car pulls away.
"Sheriff? I'm Doctor Sam Loomis." Loomis says.
"Lee Brackett." He greets.
"I'd like to talk with you, if I could." Loomis says.
"May be a few minutes. I gotta stick around here..." Brackett says.
"It's important." Loomis says. Loomis' station wagon moves by behind them. Loomis doesn't see it.
"Ten minutes." Brackett says.
"I'll be there." Loomis says.
EXT. MOON -- NIGHT
Through the blowing trees we see the full moon rising in the night sky. There are sounds of wind and chirping crickets.
EXT. RESIDENTIAL STREET -- NIGHT
Annie's car moves down a quiet little residential street and pulls up in front of a two-story house set back from the street: the Doyle house. In the front seat of the station wagon. Through the windshield see Laurie get out of Annie's car, say goodbye and walk up to the Doyle's house. Then Annie's car makes a wide U-turn in the street and starts down the other direction. The station wagon pulls forward and follows her. Annie stops three houses down the street and pulls into a garage. The station wagon stops several feet away. See Annie come out of the garage and walk to another two-story frame house: the Wallace's. The shape gets out of the station wagon, we can't see him. He glances down the street. Gusts of wind blow the costumes of children going from house to house. The shape moves. Behind him as he walks toward the Wallace house. The shape stops in front. Through the front room windows we can see Annie talking to the Wallaces as they put on their coats. The front door opens. and shape quickly move behind a tree to hide from sight. The Wallaces step out of their house and walk to the garage. Annie and Lindsay Wallace, a pretty little nine-year-old, stand in the doorway framed by the hall light. Out of the garage comes the Wallace's car. It turns and disappears down the street. Annie closes the door. The shape steps out from behind the tree and stares at the house. The shape moves to see inside a window of the Wallace house. Inside, we see Annie turn on the TV. She goes to a mirror on the wall and begins to brush her hair.
EXT. MYERS HOUSE -- NIGHT
A police car pulls up in front of the Myers house. Brackett and Loomis get out and stand by the front gate.
"Anybody live here?" Loomis asks.
"Not since 1963, since it happened. Every kid in Haddonfield thinks this place is haunted." Brackett says.
"They may be right." Loomis says. Looking down the side of the house we see Loomis and Brackett walk up to the front porch. A broken, rusted rain gutter clangs back and forth against the house in the wind.
INT. MYERS HOUSE -- NIGHT
The front door slowly opens. Brackett and Loomis stand in the doorway. They glance at each other. Brackett draws his gun and the two men step inside. It is totally dark in the house. Brackett's flashlight comes on, illuminating the two men. As they move through the house CAMERA TRACKS with them. Suddenly Brackett stops. He trains his flashlight on a small object in the corner of the room.
"What is it? " Loomis asks. For a moment Brackett doesn't speak. Then he steps closer to the object.
"A dog..." Brackett says. Both men look down at the animal. Brackett bends down to it. "Still warm." He stands back up and looks at Loomis.
"He got hungry." Loomis says. Brackett gets a disgusted expression and steps away.
"Come on... A skunk could have killed it..." Brackett says.
"Could have..." Loomis says. Brackett looks back at the dead animal.
"A man wouldn't do that... " Brackett says.
"He isn't a man." Loomis says.
INT. MYERS BEDROOM
Loomis and Brackett cautiously step into the bedroom, the same room where the murder took place fifteen years ago. The glow from a distant streetlight casts the shadows of blowing trees on the walls.
"It happened in here." Loomis says. Loomis walks over to the spot where the sister was sitting. "She was sitting here when he came through the door." Loomis turns and glances at the window. He slowly walks toward it. "He must have watched them through this window..." Loomis stops by the window. "Standing just outside, he could . peer over the sill... " Blown loose by the wind, the rain gutter suddenly swings down and smashes through the window with a thundering crash of broken glass. Loomis jumps back, reaches into his coat pocket and draws a .357 magnum revolver. Brackett stares at him. Loomis sees Brackett's reaction and slowly reholsters the revolver. "I suppose I do seem a bit sinister for a doctor."
"Looks like to me you're just plain scared." Brackett says.
"I am." Loomis says as he glances around the bedroom "I met him fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left, no conscience, no reason, no understanding, in even the most rudimentary sense, of life or death or right or wrong. I met this six- year-old boy with a blank, cold emotionless face and the blackest of eyes, the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him and another seven trying to keep him locked away when I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely, simply evil." Brackett just looks at him a moment.
"What do we do?" Brackett asks.
"He was here, earlier tonight, and he may be coming back. I'm going to wait for him." Loomis says.
"I keep thinking I should call the radio and TV stations..." Brackett says.
"If you do they'll be seeing him everywhere, on every street corner, in every house. Just tell your men to shut their mouths and open their eyes." Loomis says.
"I'll check back in an hour." Brackett says. Brackett turns and walks out of the bedroom. For a moment Loomis stares at the rain gutter in the broken window.
INT. DOYLE HOUSE -- NIGHT
Through the Doyle house. It is a large home with a staircase that leads to the bedrooms upstairs. Through a doorway we see a very modern kitchen. There is a dining room and living room with a big bay window that looks out into the street. Laurie sits with Tommy Doyle on the couch reading him a story. Tommy has his Halloween costume on and a big bag of candy on the floor.
"How now, cried Arthur. 'Then no one may pass this way without a fight?' 'That is so,' answered the knight in a bold and haughty manner..." Laurie reads.
"I don't like that story." Tommy says.
"But King Arthur was always your favorite." Laurie says. Tommy pulls out a stack of comic books from underneath the couch.
"Not any more." Tommy says.
"Why are they under there?" Laurie asks.
"Mom doesn't like me to have them." Tommy says. Laurie glances through the stack of comic books.
" 'Neutron Man'... 'Laser Man'... I can see why. 'Tarantula Man'..." Laurie says.
"Laurie, what's the Boogeyman?" Tommy asks. The phone rings in the other room. Laurie goes to answer it. She picks up the receiver in the den.
"Hello. " Laurie says.
INT. DOYLE KITCHEN
Annie stands making popcorn, the phone at her ear.
"Having fun? Never mind, I'm sure you are. I have big, big news for you..." Annie says. Lester, a large ferocious-looking German shepherd, trots happily into the kitchen, spies Annie and walks over to her. He nudges her legs with his head. "Oops! Hold on a minute..." She turns and reaches for Lester uncertainly. "Hi Lester..." Lester Growls at her menacingly. "Lindsey, Lindsey I'm about to be ripped apart by the family dog." Lindsey trots into the room. "Get him out of here!"
"Here, Lester." Lindsey says. Immediately Lester walks over to the back door. Lindsey opens the door and the dog trots out. Then Lindsey closes the back door and walks back into the living room.
"I hate that dog. I'm the only person in the world he doesn't like." Annie says.
"What's this big, big news?" Laurie asks.
"What would you say if I told you that you were going to the Homecoming Dance tomorrow night?" Annie asks.
"I'd say you must have the wrong number." Laurie says.
"Well, I just talked with Ben Tramer and he got real excited when I told him how attracted you were to him." Annie says.
"Annie you didn't. Tell me you didn't." Laurie says.
"You guys will make a fabulous couple." Annie says.