Halloween: H2O
FADE IN:
EXT. STREET - NIGHT - SUBURBIA
Langley, Illinois. A quiet suburb located fifty miles
outside of Chicago.
SUPER the legend: "Langley, Illinois. October 28th 1998"
A HOUSE
nestled in the middle of a tree-lined street. A Honda Civic
pulls into a darkened driveway, the headlights are
extinguished...
PAMELA WHITTINGTON, a middle-aged woman in full registered
nurse attire, emerges from the parked car.
An unlit cigarette dangles loosely from her lips. She heads
to the porch, digging through her purse in search of a
light...
CRUNCH!
Pamela stops in her tracks, looks down at her feet to discover
GLASS
scattered across the porch. She looks at the porch light
hanging above her head.
A SHATTERED LIGHT BULB occupies the socket.
Pamela turns her attention to the front door... it's slightly
ajar. She pushes on it gently.... the door swings open
freely, revealing the darkened interior.
PAMELA
Shit...
Pamela drops her purse... darts across some hedges into the
neighbor's yard...
EXT. THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR
Pamela runs up to the porch, decorated with carved
pumpkins... POUNDS furiously on the front door, decorated
with a CARDBOARD SKELETON.
NO ANSWER.
She POUNDS again... HARDER. Suddenly, the door SWINGS open
to reveal
AN OMINOUS FIGURE
looming in the doorway. A HOCKEY MASK cloaks his face.
A PAIR OF EYES
glare at Pamela from behind the cut-outs in the plastic
vizard.
PAMELA
gasps, stumbles backward.
THE FIGURE
flips up his mask to reveal
JIMMY HOWELL
a gangly teen, wearing a hockey jersey... skates slung over
his shoulder.
JIMMY
Hey, Mis Whittington, what's up?
PAMELA
My blood pleasure. You scared the
hell out of me.
JIMMY
Oh. Sorry. I'm on my way to the
ring and --
PAMELA
(interrupting)
I think someone broke into my
house.
JIMMY
No shit?!
PAMELA
No shit.
CUT TO:
INT. LIVING ROOM - MINUTES LATER
Pamela sits on the couch taking hits off a lit cigarette.
Jimmy paces the room, portable phone pressed against his ear.
JIMMY
(into phone)
3037 Keystone.. yeah... gotcha.
Jimmy hangs up the portable...
JIMMY
(continuing)
Said to give 'em fifteen minutes.
They'll send someone by.
Jimmy grabs his hockey stick, heads for the door.
PAMELA
Jimmy, what are you doing?
JIMMY
Checking out your place.
PAMELA
No. Wait for the police.
JIMMY
And miss the big game? No way.
CUT TO:
EXT. HOUSE - MINUTES LATER
Pamela stands at the foot of her driveway... watches as Jimmy
climbs the steps to her porch, hockey stick perched high on
his shoulder.
JIMMY
moves toward the front door, stepping on pieces of shattered
light bulb beneath him.
He swings open the front door with the tip of his stick...
looks inside the darkened house.
He enters cautiously, stick at the ready.
PAMELA
lights up another cigarette, watches nervously as Jimmy
disappears from view...
INT. HOUSE
Jimmy enters the dimmed foyer.
JIMMY
(calling off)
Hey, man, don't mess with me!
I'll knock your head clean off
your body!
He moves stealthily through the house, hockey stick poised
high in the air... room-by-room he checks for intruders...
Jimmy finds his way to the rear of the home, crosses to a
back bedroom, stands in the doorway...
JIMMY
(continuing)
Oh, shit...
ON THE BEDROOM
Converted to a home office... ransacked... file cabinets
overturned, pictures hang crooked on the walls, papers carpet
the floor...
JIMMY
drops the stick to his side, convinced he is now alone in the
house.
He crosses back into the kitchen... steals a cookie from a
cookie jar... opens the fridge... takes a swig from an open
milk carton... completely unaware that --
THE BEDROOM CLOSET DOOR
is opening slowly behind him, then suddenly --
CRASH!
An IRONING BOARD topples out from inside, slams against his
back, hard.
JIMMY
snaps the hockey stick into position... spins around...
swings wildly with the wooden baton. He makes contact with...
A POT RACK
suspended above the island... pots dangling from their hooks
come clanging down on top of him...
The dust settles... Jimmy realizes he's been beating the
stuffing out of an ironing board. He sheepishly exits the
kitchen...
EXT. HOUSE - MINUTES LATER
Pamela stands at the foot of the driveway, trying to see in
to the darkened house...
PAMELA
Come on, damn it...
Jimmy emerges from the house... looks like Wayne Gretsky
after slamming in his record goal. He smiles at Pamela
smugly...
JIMMY
Nothing to fear. The coast is
clear.
PAMELA
You sure?
JIMMY
Totally. I checked all the rooms
and closets...
PAMELA
Nothing's missing?
JIMMY
Don't think so. But they sure did
a real number on your office.
Crap everywhere.
PAMELA
My office?
JIMMY
Yeah. Oh, and they messed up your
kitchen pretty good, too...
Goodnight.
Jimmy scurries off, avoiding any more questions.
Pamela heads back to the house.
INT. HOUSE
Pamela enters the house, LOCKS AND BOLTS the front door
behind her. She breathes a heavy sigh of relief, back
against the door... she flicks on a light switch... NOTHING.
PAMELA
Christ, Jimmy... didn't you try
the goddamn lights?!
Pamela moves down the hallway to the laundry room... she
opens the door to the FUSE BOX... toggles some fuses on and
off... tries the laundry room light... still NOTHING,
darkness.
PAMELA
(continuing)
Shit.
She grabs a flashlight out of the nearby cupboard, and
proceeds down the hall to --
INT. OFFICE
The converted bedroom in complete disarray... Pamela
navigates through the wreckage, carving a path with the beam
of her flashlight. She approaches --
A DESK
completely bare except for a single FILE FOLDER resting on
its top.
PAMELA
shines the beam on the lone file folder.
ON the folder... the index tab reads "KERI TATE." Pamela
opens the folder, it's EMPTY.
PAMELA
gasps, the blood rushes from her face. She immediately
rushes for the phone.
CLANK!
A noise is heard. She's not alone in this house. She moves
through the hallway to discover the front door wide open.
Shit. She bolts.
EXT. HOUSE
Pamela runs out the door and back to Jimmy's house. She
opens the front door, disappears inside.
INT. HOUSE
Pamela shuts the door behind her... cranes her neck,
searching for any signs of Jimmy --
She HEARS the sounds of a television emanating from deep
within the house.
PAMELA
(calling off)
Jimmy! You still there?!
CAMERA FOLLOWS Pamela as she makes her way from one darkened
room to the next... she crosses into the den to discover
JIMMY
seated in an easy-chair, watching an episode of "SEINFELD."
his back to Pamela... only his legs are visible from her
point-of-view.
Pamela approaches him --
PAMELA
Goddamnit, Jimmy! Someone's still
in my house!
Pamela spins the easy-chair around to reveal --
A HOCKEY SKATE
embedded deep into Jimmy's face... the blade slicing through
flesh, from forehead to chin... eyes wide open in terror...
blood cascades down his jersey...
PAMELA
screams... bolts through the house, reaches the front door to
find --
A CHINA CABINET
pushed in front of it, blocks her way! She tries fiercely to
move the wooden hutch, but can't...
Pamela runs back through the house, frantic... in desperate
search of an exit.
She crosses into the kitchen, spots her escape... moves to
the rear door, opens it to reveal...
THE SHAPE
standing, poised, evil eyes burning through slits in his
trademark mask.
PAMELA
shrieks... grabs a knife out of a nearby butcher block...
heads back to the living room.
THE SHAPE
moves after her, the hunt is on...
INT. LIVING ROOM
FLASHING RED AND BLUE LIGHTS
illuminate the room...
PAMELA
runs to a window...
ANGLE THROUGH WINDOW
A squad car arrives in front of Pamela's house. Two
UNIFORMED COPS emerge from the vehicle, head up her driveway.
PAMELA
Struggles to open the window... she can't manage to disengage
the lock... she pounds feverishly on the glass --
PAMELA
(yelling)
HELP! GODDAMNIT IT! OVER HERE!
GOD PLEASE!
THE SHAPE
appears behind her... grabs an IRON POKER from a group of
fireplace utensils.
PAMELA
spins around, swings at the Shape with the knife...
PAMELA
Stay the fuck away from me!
The Shape swings the iron poker... delivers a severe blow to
Pamela's arm... breaks it... the knife falls to the floor
below.
Pamela howls in pain... drops to her knees, nurses her arm...
The Shape raises the poker high into the air, comes down
hard... drives the tip of the poker through her skull...
CRACK!
EXT. PAMELA'S FRONT PORCH - SAME TIME
In the f.g. two cops climb the porch steps and move into the
house.
In the b.g. we can see the Shape through the neighboring
window as he repeatedly stabs Pamela with the poker.
CUT TO:
EXT. HILLCREST ACADEMY - ESTABLISHING - MORNING
CLOSE ON A PLAQUE
"HILLCREST ACADEMY. ESTABLISHED 1874"
THE CAMERA PULLS BACK TO REVEAL a co-ed boarding school...
set behind massive wrought-iron gates on acreage in a
secluded region of Wisconsin.
SUPER the legend: "Ferndale, Wisconsin. October 29th 1998."
The academy's gothic architecture and rich history can be
seen throughout the entire campus, consisting of a cluster of
buildings: the school, the dorms, a gymnasium with indoor
swimming pool, a bell tower, a guard house and --
A GROUP OF FACULTY HOUSES
litters the far end of the campus.
CLOSE ON a kitchen window. Inside KERI TATE, mid-thirties,
stands behind a sink washing dishes.
On closer inspection, we see that this face is none other
that LAURIE STRODE.
INT. KITCHEN - MORNING
Keri stands with her back to JOHN, 16, chiseled good looks.
He stands behind her in the doorway... They are in mid-
conversation --
KERI
Nothing's changed since yesterday,
or last week, or last month... the
answer's still "no."
JOHN
You're so predictable.
Keri grabs the sprayer, squirts John from across the room.
JOHN
(continuing)
What the --
KERI
Betcha' didn't predict that.
Keri throws John a dishtowel... he dabs at his shirt.
JOHN
I'm sixteen, Keri. I should be
able to live wherever I want.
KERI
And I should have a son who calls
me "Mom". Looks like we're both
shit out of luck.
JOHN
Okay, you win. I'll call you Mom.
Now can I move into the dorms?
KERI
No.
Keri hands John a stack of clean dishes. John doesn't
budge...
JOHN
Well, Dad thinks it's okay.
KERI
You're father thinks it's okay to
run off to Cancun with a blonde
bimbo in a halter top. Somehow
his opinion doesn't count.
JOHN
I promise not to run off to Cancun.
KERI
Forget it.
JOHN
(pointing out the
kitchen window)
The dorms are only fifty feet
away. You could practically see
into my window. So, what
difference does it make?
KERI
My point exactly. See, we both
agree.
Keri takes the dishes back from John, puts them away in an
overhead cupboard.
JOHN
Alright, I was wrong. There is a
big difference between rooming
with your buddies and living with
your mother and school headmaster.
KERI
I took the padlock off your door.
What more do you want?
JOHN
My life is a living hell.
Keri raises an eyebrow...
KERI