Pigeons from Hell
FADE IN
1 EXT. SOUTHERN DIRT ROAD - NIGHT - FULL SHOT
as old convertible comes jouncing along to and PAST CAMERA.
2 CONTINUATION OF SCENE 1
We see that the car has two occupants, brothers of college
age, TIM BRANNER, who is driving, and JOHN.
3 DIFFERENT ANGLE
continuation of Sc. 1. The car rounds a curve, skids, and
Tim fights to keep it on the road. He over-controls and
the convertible slues into a mudhole. The front wheels
drop and the car hits high center. He jams it into reverse
but there's not sufficient traction on the rear wheels to
pull it out.
4 CLOSER - TIM
as he throws a disgusted glance at his brother.
TIM
Welcome to the fabled South,
land of crinoline, magnolias,
lovely ladies...and swamps!
JOHN
Okay, okay!
He opens the door and gets out to survey the situation.
Tim follows.
TIM
You and you shortcuts...
(mimicking)
"Let's go out through the bayous
and see the southland as it
really is.
JOHN
Okay, all right. So it isn't
the New York Thruway...You gotta
admit that this ....
(points to mudhole)
is the way it really is!
Tim withers him with a look.
TIM
And what're we gonna do about it?
JOHN
You're going to make a great
engineer...I can see that.
This doesn't register on Tim.
JOHN (contd)
Go find us a pole...a big one.
TIM
A pole?
JOHN
(gesturing)
We'll jam it under the front
wheels...pry 'em up. Then,
there'll be enough traction to
pull us out of this sump.
TIM
To heck with that...I'm your
brother, not your slave.
Besides, it's getting dark.
Let's just pull out the old
sleeping bags and sack out here.
JOHN
O-ho no. I've had the nature
boy bit. We're gonna find a
town that has a hotel that has
a bathtub. You remember what
a bathtub is?
TIM
(he does)
Yeah. Well, since you were the
one who wanted to fight the
Civil War all over this summer...
(Alphonse to Gaston)
...you get the pole?
With an impatient grunt, John goes off into the woods.
Tim leans back against the car and lights a cigarette.
He HEARS an owl, reacts. The owl's HOOT seems to grow
LOUDER.
5 EXT. WOODS - NIGHT - JOHN
as he fights his way through vine and brush.
6 CONTINUATION OF PREVIOUS SCENE
as he slips, rises, and moves on.
7 CONTINUATION OF PREVIOUS SCENE
as John comes to wall of brush. He looks around, sees
it's a blind alley, then moves forward and parts the
brush, and looks.
8 WHAT HE SEES - THE OLD HOUSE
Some distance ahead, viewed now through vine and moss,
is a great old plantation mansion, the ghost of a past
grandeur, white against the gathering night.
9 BACK TO JOHN
Excited, he plunges forward through the knee-high
underbrush, and once more he stops, but this time in the
grip of quick, terrible panic. He all but cries out.
10 WHAT HE SEES - CLOSE
Flying up from the very nearest bushes directly at him
are pigeons -- their wings in a sudden loud whirring.
We see only a few -- which "smother" our view -- the
whirring mounting quickly, almost deafeningly.
11 CLOSE UP - JOHN
Some pigeons flail at his face, and, dropping the water
can, John flails back at the pigeons with his hands.
A disproportionate amount of terror has struck John.
JOHN
(loud)
Tim .... Tim!
12 EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - DUSK - SHOT
Hearing John's voice, Tim rushes immediately in the
direction of the frightened calling.
13 EXT. WOODS - DUSK - SHOT - TIM
running, he stops, looks around.
TIM
(calling)
John .... John, where are you?
JOHN (o.s.)
(calling back)
Here! ... I'm here!
Tim runs in that direction.
14 EXT. WOODS - WHERE JOHN IS - NIGHT - MED. SHOT
John is moving about, very agitated, looking up at the
sky. Tim rushes in.
TIM
What is it? What's happened?
JOHN
(rather dazed)
There were -- pigeons -- all of
a sudden...they came right at
me, right at my face....!
Tim sighs a rather elaborate show of being disgruntled.
Then he laughs a little.
TIM
Pigeons! You sounded as if
somebody were trying to kill you!
JOHN
(with some confusion,
the tag-end of terror
still on him)
That's just it! ... It was like
they were attacking me ---- !
Tim looks at him in friendly dubiety.
TIM
Oh, come off it! Trouble with
you -- trouble with both of us --
is we're bone-tired.
And now he sees the old house for the first time.
TIM (contd)
Look at that!
He is about to move off; but John is
standing stock-still, his attention once more turned to
the sky...for the owl has begun its calling again, wholly
taking John's attention.
TIM (contd)
John, come on....
JOHN
It's started again...the owl.
TIM
So what?
(he moves closer)
What's gotten into you,
anyway?
John finally looks at him, and he seems to come out of his
shattered, somewhat confused state.
JOHN
Nothing ....
TIM
Come on.
And, CAMERA SWINGING with them, Tim leads the way to the
old house in the b.g. Soon they have disappeared behind
trees ..... CAMERA BEGINS TO MOVE SLOWLY TO THE SIDE, and
then HOLDS. Standing there, moving out of the gathering
darkness, moving noiselessly out of the foliage is
MR. KARLOFF.
KARLOFF
Pigeons from Hell......That is
both the title and substance
of our story....Spirits, come
back from the dead, to guard
their ancestral home against
intruders .....
15 ANGLE TO HOUSE
and we see Tim and John approaching it.
KARLOFF (contd)
Spirits that, in life, fed on
evil and now, in death, return
to feed on the living....return
each night.
16 BACK TO KARLOFF
We see now, as he raises his hands up into view from
behind and f.g. bush, that he is holding a pigeon; he
strokes it gently, fondly as he continues:
KARLOFF
Anyway, the living -- I mean,
the players are:
1 - _________________________
2 - _________________________
3 - _________________________
And, of course, that lovely old
house where evil dwells ....
He releases the pigeon, watches it fly away, and then
turns once more to CAMERA.
KARLOFF
Join us in this old house, now
that night is falling and two
rash young brothers intrude .....
FADE OUT
END OF TEASER
ACT ONE
FADE IN
17
thru OMIT
21
22 INT. GRAND HALL - OLD HOUSE - NIGHT - FULL SHOT -
JOHN AND TIM
They move to the center of the room looking around.
It is bare, but, even so, it is an imposing room; the
dying day seeps in through the high windows beyond the
ornate old staircase that curves up into the darkness
upstairs. The stairs are flanked by two doors into
other rooms, and it is to these doors that Tim hurries,
followed by John. He opens one, looks in, turns away
to cross to the second door with:
TIM
Empty!
And he stops at the second door, John behind him.
23 MED. CLOSE SHOT - AT SECOND DOOR - JOHN AND TIM
They look inside -- for this door is open.
24 THEIR ANGLE - THROUGH DOORWAY INTO SECOND ROOM
And we now see that the doorway is interlaced with
cobwebs. Through the cobwebs, we see the room. It is
a drawing room with a fine fireplace. Dust and cobwebs
everywhere. There's a broken table, a chair, what
remains of a settee, a loom and footstool near the
fireplace. A single oval portrait remains on a wall,
also near the fireplace.
25 BACK TO JOHN AND TIM
They turn from their look. Tim grins.
TIM
All the comforts of home!
And he crosses to the staircase, goes up three or four
steps, looks up.
TIM (contd)
(calling loudly)
Hello....Anybody here?
And the whole house seems to echo the shout.
26 INT. UPSTAIRS HALL - NIGHT - SHOT - FROM HEAD OF STAIRS
to a door at the other end of the hall. The echo rever-
berates through the old house...And we see that the door
is a few inches open. It closes slowly, silently, now.
27 INT. GRAND HALL - NIGHT - MEDIUM SHOT
Tim returns from the stairs to join a silent, oddly
apprehensive John.
TIM
(grinning)
Nobody here except us pigeons!...
Tell you what, I'm going back to
the car for some food and our
sleeping bags; you go on out and
see if you can hustle up some
firewood.
JOHN
Why?
TIM
Why? We're spending the night
here, that's why...
JOHN
We wanted to make it to the
next town...
TIM
Listen, we've had enough rattling
around for one day...You said so
yourself....
(he turns back with:)
Be careful in the woods. Remember
what that gas station attendant
said. The whole place is
crawling with snakes....
And he heads out of the room.
28 ANOTHER ANGLE - JOHN
Alone, he seems to grow very apprehensive. He rubs his
hand across his forehead and eyes, as if fighting back the
fatigue of the long day's rough drive. He shakes his head,
moves over to the door to the side drawing room. He
reaches to the skein of cobwebs; the hand tears the cobwebs
away. And then John moves into the room.
29 INT. DRAWING ROOM - NIGHT - MEDIUM SHOT - JOHN
He stands there, looking around at the old room, running
a finger over the dust, here, there...And then he stops
before the portrait.
30 HIS ANGLE - TO PORTRAIT - MOVING SHOT
It is the portrait of a youngish woman in somewhat antiqua-
ted dress, a lovely, patrician Southern belle. And CAMERA
MOVES IN slowly to HOLD CLOSE on the lovely lady.
LAP DISSOLVE
31 INT. DRAWING ROOM - NIGHT - SHOT
which OPENS on flames, as if they were consuming the
portrait...Then SCENE WIDENS to reveal Tim and John,
fixing their sleeping bags for the night by firelight.
From outside, the cooing of the pigeons comes, louder
than ever...And John moves to a window, looks out.
TIM
What's the matter now?
JOHN
Those pigeons...
TIM
(busy)
Boy, they've really got under
your skin...!
JOHN
That cooing...gets on my nerves...
(turns back)
I wish they'd stop.
Tim has gotten down on his sleeping bag, is kicking off
his loafers.
TIM
Well, they're not going to
bother me....
He lies back on the sleeping bag with a sigh.
32 CLOSE SHOT - TIM
lying back. He yawns, stretches, relaxing with pleasure.
TIM
I'm going to sleep the sleep of
the dead...
And he yawns again, relaxing with a gentle smile of
anticipation.
DISSOLVE
33 EXT. PORCH - EAVES - NIGHT - CLOSE SHOT - THE PIGEONS
Now the cooing is much louder, almost a steady ominous
humming.
34 INT. GRAND HALL - NIGHT - SHOT
Outside, there is pale moonlight which now streaks in
through the high windows behind the staircase. And the
empty room seems to echo with the increasingly loud,
unnatural cooing of the pigeons.
35 ANGLE THRU DOORWAY - INTO DRAWING ROOM
There we see that the fire has died down to coals. John's
sleeping bag is nearest the door, Tim's nearer the fireplace.
The cooing heightens even more, the dark air humming in-
tensely as if in one steady ominous vibration. And now
we see John rise from his sleeping bag and move, slowly,
mechanically, for the door and CAMERA. At CLOSE, passing
o.s. at CAMERA, we see that, although his eyes are wide-
open, he seems to be "asleep" or in a trance-like state.
Even as he passes o.s., we hear his footsteps, slow, heavy.
36 INT. DRAWING ROOM - NIGHT - CLOSE SHOT - TIM
He stirs. The o.s. footsteps keep sounding, receding.
The very air hums with the pigeons' cooing. Tim stirs
again, his eyes flicker open...It takes him a moment
before he realizes the intense cooing and the sound of
footsteps...He turns his head towards the door.
37 HIS ANGLE - THRU DOORWAY TO STAIRCASE
He catches a last glimpse of the dark silhouette that is
John moving past moonlight, turning the last turn of the
stairs, and going out of sight.
38 BACK TO TIM
He sits up, still more asleep than awake.
TIM
(quietly)
John...?
And SCENE WIDENS as he rises; he slips on him shoes, moves
over to John's sleeping bag. Seeing that John is missing,
Tim crosses quickly to the door and goes out into the grand
hall.
39 INT. GRAND HALL - NIGHT - MEDIUM SHOT
He comes out into the hall, looks up the stairs, then he
hears: coming from directly overhead are the sounds of
John's slow footsteps. Tim looks up, puzzled.
40 ANGLE UP TO CEILING
Directly overhead, John's footsteps move, and then stop.
There is dead silence. The cooing has stopped.
41 CLOSE SHOT - TIM
He keeps looking up, puzzled -- and then he turns as
if to go back into the drawing room. Then:
42 ANGLE UP TO CEILING
From the room upstairs there comes a terrible loud
SCREAM of awful shattering pain. The whole house ECHOES
that one awful single CRY.
43 SHOT - TIM
For a moment, the scream paralyzes him with its sudden
unexpected shock. He dashes for the steps. But then
halfway up the stairs, he stops -- for the FOOTSTEPS
have started again. He stands there, listening ....
44 HIS ANGLE - UP REST OF STAIRS
Into the darkness...And in the darkness upstairs, the
FOOTSTEPS, John's, are once more moving to him. FROM
CAMERA, Tim MOVES INTO SCENE, headed up into the dark-
ness, and to John.
TIM
(a not very
sturdy call)
John...? John ---
And he keeps going.
45 INT. UPSTAIRS HALL - NIGHT - MED. SHOT
Tim comes up off the stairs, steps.
46 HIS ANGLE - ALONG HALLWAY
In the darkness, the FOOTSTEPS fall slowly and mechan-
ically, the figure of John moves closer, closer, and then
the edge of moonlight suggests him, then reveals him...
He is still in that trance-like state, the eyes wide open;
his hair is dark, wet, and down the awful moonwhitened
face run streams of blood...and in his hand, puppet-like,
John carries an upraised hatchet, the blade stained dark...
at CLOSE, CAMERA begins to MOVE BACK with John.
47 MOVING SHOT - TIM
He backs away, sheer horror hitting him.
TIM
John....
And he stumbles back down the stairs, his eyes riveted on
the o.s. John.
48 SHOT - JOHN
approaching slowly...slowly...the hatchet always upraised.
49 INT. GRAND HALL - NIGHT - MED. FULL SHOT
Tim comes stumbling down in sheer horror, and, above,
turning on to the stairs, is John, still slowly, relent-
lessly coming with that hatchet in his hand. At the
foot of the stairs, Tim stumbles, looks back up the
stairs, backing always in the direction of the front
door.
50 HIS ANGLE - TO STAIRS
John keeps coming down slowly.
51 SHOT - TIM
He turns and rushes out of the house, leaving the front
door open as he goes.
52 ANGLE BACK TO STAIRS
And, with no rush, John keeps coming down.
53 EXT. FRONT YARD OF OLD HOUSE - NIGHT - SHOT - TIM
He darts away from the house, running wildly, blindly.
54 EXT. THE WOODS - GAZEBO AREA - NIGHT - SHOT - TIM
He comes hurtling past. Panic drives him. He disappears
into WOODS.
55 EXT. OTHER PART OF WOODS - NIGHT - SHOT - TIM
running. Exhaustion and panic grow. He is half-crazed
with fear.
56 EXT. STILL ANOTHER PART OF WOODS - NIGHT - SHOT - TIM
still running. Flight has increased, rather than eased
his terror...And then he stumbles against a fallen branch.
He pitches forward and hits the ground hard.
57 CLOSER SHOT - TIM
as he hits the ground. He is immediately still. Either
he has fainted from fright, or the terrible fall has
knocked him unconscious...And now, in the stillness we
HEAR a familiar SOUND: the owl's slow, eerie HOOTING.
CAMERA MOVES IN CLOSER to Tim's head, and HOLDS. Then
we hear, slowly, the SOUNDS of FOOTSTEPS approaching
through the underbrush...Closer...Closer...And then,
by Tim's head, two feet in the most decrepit of patched
old shoes, stop. A gnarled hand comes down to touch his
face, the fingers running along a cut on Tim's forehead
out of which blood oozes. The smeared fingers withdraw
OUT OF FRAME.
DISSOLVE
58 THE SHACK - NIGHT - MED. SHOT
which opens on a battered old lantern, burning. SCENE
WIDENS to reveal that it's a very crude, very poor shanty,
illuminated by two suspended kerosene lanterns. On a
dirty, broken old cot is Tim, still unconscious. Leaning
over him is a big, rawboned, rather dour man, tending to
the cut on Tim's forehead. Watching from the side are
HOWARD, a share-cropper type and
a WOMAN (presumably Howard's wife),
They are poor, and at the moment,
silent, all wide-eyed attention to Tim. The raw-
boned, dour man is SHERIFF BUCKNER. He finishes putting
an adhesive dressing on Tim's forehead, then straightens
up.
BUCKNER
He's coming to.
And he watches Tim attentively; Howard and his family
strain forward a little bit, watching.
59 CLOSE UP - TIM
The eyes flicker, then open, and then strain to focus.
Then, a tremor of fear shakes his entire body. With a
swallowed cry, he tries to sit up.
60 BACK TO SCENE
Buckner catches him by the shoulders, holds him.
BUCKNER
Steady ....
Wild-eyed, Tim stares at him, stares at the others.
TIM
Where am I?
BUCKNER
You were found in the woods by
Howard there. He was out coon-
hunting...He found you out cold
on the ground...brought you here,
and came into town to get me....
Full consciousness isn't yet on Tim, and terror has re-
turned; he is very near hysterical weeping.
TIM
Who are you?
BUCKNER
I'm the County Sheriff...Name's
Buckner...Who are you and what
happened, son?
And with the question, all of the horror floods back.
Tim's voice is a pathetic mockery of itself as he tries
to answer.
TIM
My brother and I -- we were in --
(his voice catches
terrible)
-- a house -- and --
The horror overwhelms him, and he cries out loudly pro-
tectingly, bewilderedly against it.
TIM (contd)
John!...Oh -- Johnny ....
His hands come to his face. Terrible sobs wrack his body,
as he falls back on to the cot, his face always covered.
He can do nothing against the awful crying but keep
calling, brokenly, over and over:
TIM
Johnny....Johnny....
Buckner is now more than concerned; he looks over at the
awed Howard and his family. He lets the boy cry it out,
moves to Howard.
BUCKNER
(to Howard)
Sure you didn't see anything
when you found him?
Howard, intent on the sobbing Tim, only shakes his head,
once.
BUCKNER
He was just lying there, in the
woods?
Howard, always intent on Tim, only nods, Buckner returns
to Tim's side, sits down on the cot, looks down at Tim.
BUCKNER (contd)
This John your brother?
TIM
(like a man)
Yes....
BUCKNER
Where is he?
TIM
He's at that house...It was awful,
so awful!
BUCKNER
What happened, son?
TIM
He's dead...
Buckner reacts in great shock.
61 ANGLE - HOWARD AND FAMILY
Their reaction is shock too, but there's something else
to it, something of apprehensive anticipation of knowing
that is betrayed by a furtive, scared exchange of looks.
62 BACK TO SCENE
Buckner tries to be gentler.
BUCKNER
You had an accident...
TIM
No...We found this old house...
deserted...and we were going to
spend the night -- then John
went upstairs -- and I heard
him scream....
He breaks down again against the remembered horror. He
turns his face against the wall.
BUCKNER
Why?
TIM
(in greatest difficulty)
Someone attacked him...His head...
With a -- with a hatchet....
BUCKNER
Who?
TIM
I don't know...I ran to the stairs,
and then --
(his voice goes)
-- I saw him...His head smashed...
and he was walking, with the
hatchet in his hand, walking
down the stairs to me....
It's too much. He can't go on. One fist, in kind of
pathetic protest against the irrational, begins to
pound over and over, against the wall.
BUCKNER
Is your brother's body there
still?
TIM
(through the agony;
like a wail)
I don't know...He seemed to be
dead, and still, he was walking...
I don't know.
Again Buckner leaves him. He goes quickly over to Howard.
BUCKNER
(to Howard)
Only deserted place around here
is the old Blassenville plantation.
...You pick him up near there?
Something has happened to Howard, who is still staring
at Tim. He's scared. His only answer is a nod.
BUCKNER (contd)
All right, you and Tim get your
shotguns...We're going back there.
But both Howard and his brother only look at him now in
protesting terror. Suddenly with no warning, they bolt
for the door and are gone. Buckner hurries after them.
BUCKNER (contd)
(calling)
Howard...!
He goes OUT.
63 EXT. THE SHANTY - NIGHT - MED. FULL SHOT
Howard and his brother flee in the f.g., going out AT
CAMERA. The Sheriff's car is near the door. The shanty
is in a moss-heavy little clearing. Buckner hurries out
of the door, calling.
BUCKNER
Howard...You come back here....
He hurries forward more and stops.
BUCKNER (contd)
(calling)
Howard! Come back here, you
hear me?
And, in the b.g., coming out of the house are Howard's
wife and the kids. Buckner turns and watches them dart
off into the woods and the darkness...they are also
scared. Then Buckner goes back into the shanty.
64 INT. SHANTY - NIGHT - MED. SHOT
Buckner comes in and moves to Tim's side. Tim is quieter,
although still very dazed, almost stupefied, in fact.
BUCKNER
What's your name, son?
TIM
Tim. Tim Griswell ....
BUCKNER
Where you from?
TIM
New Hampshire...My brother's a
graduate student in History...
He wanted to go through the South,
the Civil War battlefields, and
old houses -- this summer --
and --
(his voice gives)
There is a pause: Tim to collect himself, Buckner to
regard him with the beginnings of stern scrutiny.
BUCKNER
(flatly)
I want you to go back to that
house with me.
Tim darts him a quick horrified look. Before he can
protest (however involuntarily):
BUCKNER
I want you to take me back to
that house ....
There's a terrible moment for Tim. But then, he sits up
slowly, staring dazedly at the floor. During this,
Buckner moves over for one of the lanterns, takes it,
shakes it for kerosene (it is full), then blows the
flame out.
TIM
All right....
A shudder convulses his body. He rises. And moves for
the door.
65 ANGLE - TO BUCKNER
He watches Tim precede him to the door. His hand in-
voluntarily tests the revolver in the holster at his side.
Then, lantern in hand, he follows and goes out.
DISSOLVE
66 EXT. THE OLD HOUSE - NIGHT - MEDIUM FULL SHOT
The Sheriff's car comes into the yard, stops. We see
the Sheriff and Tim get out. The Sheriff reaches behind,
brings out the lantern.
67 MED. SHOT
as Tim stares at the house in horror, the Sheriff lights
the lantern. Then, drawing his revolver, he gestures
Tim to go; he remains at Tim's side, a half step behind,
half an eye on him, as CAMERA PANS them on to the porch.
68 EXT. THE OLD HOUSE PORCH - NIGHT - SHOT TIM & BUCKNER
as they cross for the still open front door, Tim involun-
tarily throws a look back over his shoulder at the eaves.
69 HIS ANGLE - TO EAVES
The pigeons are gone.
70 BACK TO TIM AND BUCKNER
They go on in.
71 INT. GRAND HALL - NIGHT - MED. FULL SHOT - BUCKNER & TIM
carrying the lighted lanterns, they move across the room.
TIM
We were in that room -- over
there ....
And they head for the side drawing room.
TIM (contd)
It was down those stairs he came....
They stop at the foot of the stairs.
72 MOVING SHOT - TO FLOOR BY STAIRS
The light from the lantern reveals the trail of blood
stains going from the last step to the side drawing
room...and we move along it, FOLLOWING IT, to the draw-
ing room door.
73 BACK TO TIM AND BUCKNER
Buckner's face has grown very stern. He follows the
trail into the room; Tim a couple of steps after him.
74 INT. DRAWING ROOM - NIGHT - SHOT - FOLLOWING LANTERN-
LIGHT APPROACH
The light moves along the floor, past John's sleeping
bag following the trail of blood -- and then the forward
motion stops as the light illuminates Tim's sleeping bag.
Face down on it lies John, an arm thrown forward over
his head.
75 BACK TO TIM AND BUCKNER
Tim reacts as if someone had hit him in the gut, vici-
ously; he turns away. But a look of shock has come to
Buckner's face.
BUCKNER
Look, son! Will you look at
that!
And Tim forces himself to look, in pulverizing horror.
TIM
Oh no!
76 CLOSER SHOT - BY LANTERNLIGHT - JOHN'S OUTSTRETCHED HAND
The hand is on the haft of the hatchet, and the hatchet
blade is imbedded in the head of Tim's sleeping bag,
just where Tim's head would have been. CAMERA MOVES IN
PAST to HOLD on this, CLOSE.
FADE OUT
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
FADE IN
77 INT. THE DRAWING ROOM - NIGHT - SHOT
which OPENS on the fireplace. A log has been added, is
catching, and as SCENE WIDENS another log is being put in
place by Buckner. The flickering firelight, and the
lantern, are enough to illuminate the scene: John Branner's
body is covered, Tim on the settee, his head in his hands,
and Buckner tending to the fire.
TIM
He tried to kill me...My own
brother...Why?
Buckner only looks at him. Then he goes over, feels around
John's hip pockets takes out John's wallet, looks through
it.
78 SHOT - TIM
He watches the Sheriff with growing consternation and hurt.
TIM
What are you doing?
73 MED. SHOT
Buckner replaces the wallet.
BUCKNER
Checking his driver's license.
His name's John Branner all right.
(rises; moves to
Tim)
You got a driver's license?
And it hits Tim. He is shocked.
TIM
You don't believe what I told you.
BUCKNER
(quietly)
I asked you a question, son.
Tim takes out his driver's license (it, too, is in his
wallet), gives it to Buckner. Buckner regards it a moment,
gives it back.
BUCKNER
Uh-huh.
And he moves to the fire, looking into it.
TIM
You don't believe anything I've
told you, do you?
Buckner turns from the fire. He is not accusing.
BUCKNER
You and your brother come in here,
to spend the night. He walked in
his sleep, went upstairs ....
TIM
It was as if he were called ....
BUCKNER
Called? How?
TIM
As if something -- someone --
summoned him....
BUCKNER
You heard somebody call him?
TIM
No...But from the moment we saw
the house, it was as if he were
listening all the time...listening
for a call...And then, when the
pigeons started coming in the way
they did, well, his entire
attention seemed given over to
them...a sort of mesmerism, almost....
Buckner is looking flatly at him.
BUCKNER
Pigeons? What pigeons?
TIM
Out there...they made strange,
loud sounds...I heard them too ....
Buckner moves to him, stolidly, faces him squarely.
BUCKNER
Did you see any pigeons?
TIM
Why -- yes...They aren't there
now, but I did see them ....
Buckner regards him a couple of moments in silence. Then:
BUCKNER
(slow measured tones)
I've lived in these parts all
my life, son. I've never seen a
pigeon around here. Not a one.
TIM
But I did. John did.
Buckner's stern look is held. Tim wilts.
BUCKNER
But they're not there now ....
TIM
(weakly)
No....
BUCKNER
You're sure you saw them?
He moves away, but his eyes are fixed on Tim.
TIM
You've got to believe me!
BUCKNER
It isn't me who has to believe
you, son. That's up to the jury.
TIM
Jury!
BUCKNER
I have to hold you for murder.
Anyway, suspicion of murder.
TIM
Murder -- Why would I want to
murder my own brother.
BUCKNER
Not as preposterous as the yarn
you've told me...A brother sleepwalks,
gets his head bashed open with a
hatchet, comes back down here,
buries the hatchet where your
head would've been on that
sleeping bag...
(shakes his head)
It'll go easier for you if you
tell me the truth.
TIM
But I've told you the truth!
BUCKNER
(stolidly)
You got into some kind of a
fight with your brother. You
killed him....
TIM
(near yelling)
Kill my own brother?!
(urgent and angry)
If I had, don't you think I
have enough brains to make up a
better story than what I've told
you?
Anger is making him move around, his attention centered
on Buckner, who regards him evenly. Buckner's right hand
is never far from his holster.
TIM (contd)
Look. Here's the trail of blood.
You'll find it leading all the
way down from upstairs ....
BUCKNER
You killed him upstairs and carried
him down....
Angry, shocked at this, Tim points in outrage at the o.s.
body.
TIM
And then arranged that?
80 ANGLE TO JOHN'S BODY
Still face-down, the outstretched arm extending from the
covering, the hand on the hatchet, by the firelight.
81 BACK TO SCENE
Tim moves to Buckner in anger.
TIM
Why? Why would I arrange
something as hideous as that!?
And he stops, glaring at Buckner, who, hand on revolver,
returns everything with that rock-like calm.
BUCKNER
I intend to find that out, too ....
Tim gives up. He sinks down on the settee again. His head
lowers again into his hands. Now Buckner takes out his
revolver, then takes the lantern. He moves to the door.
82 ANGLE WITH LIGHT TO FLOOR
and the trail of bloodstains. The light follows it to
the doorway and out.
83 BACK TO SCENE
Tim is watching Buckner, who moves to go out of the room.
TIM
(scared)
Where are you going?
BUCKNER
(simply)
Upstairs...I don't have to tell
you, do I that running away while
I'm gone would he just like
confessing your guilt ....
Tim looks over at the body, moves to Buckner's side.
TIM
I'm not going to stay here alone ....
Buckner regards him evenly a moment; then:
BUCKNER
All right ....
And he steps out into the grand hall. Tim follows quickly.
84 INT. THE GRAND HALL - NIGHT - MED. SHOT - TIM AND BUCKNER
Following the lantern's light, they move to stairs.
TIM
Look...See? Here are my footsteps.
In the dust...Going up here,
coming down here...And John's,
going up -- and, with the trail
of blood, coming down....
BUCKNER
(intent on the floor)
I can see ....
They are at the stairs.
85 MOVING SHOT
Before they and the shot begin to move up the stairs,
Buckner turns to Tim.
BUCKNER
All right, stay behind me...But
I warn you, I shoot quicker than
a cat jumps, and I don't often
miss. If you've got any ideas
about laying me out from behind,
forget them ....
A last look at Tim from Buckner, and then he turns and,
Tim following, starts up the stairs, and CAMERA MOVES UP
with them.
BUCKNER
Tracks are clear enough...His,
yours....
TIM
I stopped and turned back just
up there....
He points, they go on a few more steps. Then they stop.
TIM (contd)
Here. I saw him from here,
coming at me...from there.
Buckner is intent on the lantern light's spill on the
steps.
86 ANGLE - ALONG SPILL OF LIGHT
It illuminates the top of the stairs. Beyond, the hall is
empty darkness.
87 BACK TO BUCKNER AND TIM
They stare up into the darkness. Then:
BUCKNER
(softly)
Come on....
And, CAMERA WITH them, they continue their ascent.
88 INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT - MOVING SHOT
They come up off the stairs and into the hallway, move
along it, the light playing on the floor before them
always. And then, they stop.
BUCKNER
Look!
And the light is steadied against the floor, directly
before them.
89 ANGLE - TO FLOOR
Revealed there is a great wet stain.
90 MED. CLOSE SHOT - TIM AND BUCKNER
Buckner kneels down, runs a finger across the stain.
BUCKNER
Blood...He was hit right here.
Buckner rises, raises the lantern, looks down the ball.
BUCKNER (contd)
Whoever hit him, came from there.
And the light rests on the door, closed, at that end of
the hallway.
TIM
But there are no tracks! Only
John's. Coming here, turning,
going back ---
BUCKNER
He must've been still alive,
when he started back!
TIM
Could anybody live after being
hit like that?
Buckner returns Tim's look. Then, turning away:
BUCKNER
(quietly)
No...Well, I don't see how....
And he starts off, for the door at the end of the hallway,
Tim now alongside him, CAMERA MOVING with them.
91 ANGLE - TO DOOR
at end of the hall. In simulation of the two men's
approach, the CAMERA MOVES cautiously toward the door.
Then HOLDS.
92 MED. CLOSE SHOT - BUCKNER AND TIM AT DOOR
They stop. Buckner gestures Tim to flatten himself
against the opposite wall, out of the door's line. Tim
does. Then Buckner gives him the lantern. Gun poised,
Buckner slowly, very slowly, and soundlessly, turns the
doorknob.
93 INSERT - THE DOORKNOB
as Buckner turns it ever so slowly.
94 BACK TO BUCKNER AND TIM
Buckner, holding the knob fully turned, looks at Tim. A
second's joint gathering of courage and purpose. Then,
they move suddenly, together, into the room as Buckner
throws the door open (inward).
95 INT. THE UPSTAIRS ROOM - NIGHT - SHOT - BUCKNER AND TIM
They come into the room, tense, Buckner first, intending
to shoot, Tim right behind him, with the light. And
they stop.
96 THEIR PANNING VIEW OF THE ROOM
There is no one. But, unlike the rest of the house, this
room is more or less "furnished": an old-fashioned up-
stairs living room for a lady: chairs of antique vintage,
much brocade, a settee, footstools, a quaint little piano,
a chaise, sewing things -- for embroidery, for petit
points -- etc. And, wherever the light falls, there are
cobwebs and layers of dust. Windows, with tattered old
drapes, line the outer wall, and there is no other door
but the one Buckner and Tim came in by.
97 BACK TO BUCKNER AND TIM
They move in more. Tim puts the lantern on a table, joins
Buckner in examining the room. It is then that Tim
looks back at the lantern.
TIM
Look! Look at the lantern!
They both look.
98 ANGLE - LANTERN
The light is fading.
99 BACK TO BUCKNER AND TIM
They rush to the lantern.
TIM
It's running out of kerosene....
BUCKNER
There's plenty of coal oil...
I filled it myself.
He squats down, eye-level with the lantern.
BUCKNER (contd)
Wick's fine....
TIM
Then, what's wrong with it....?
Buckner looks around the room before he answers. And for
the first time, there's a different look on his face: it
is the beginning of fear. Then:
BUCKNER
Nothing....
He straightens up. He takes the ever-fading, slowly fading
lantern in his left hand. The revolver is once more drawn.
Buckner's eyes keep searching the room.
BUCKNER (contd)
We're getting out of this room.
The lantern light, always fading slowly, Tim moves for the
door. Buckner, revolver trained at the room, backs out.
100 INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT - MOVING SHOT - TIM AND
BUCKNER
They back away. But Tim keeps throwing looks behind him,
to the staircase as if in fear of the assailant approaching
from there. Buckner always has his gun trained at the
open doorway of the room they have just left. Sheer terror
grips both men's faces.
101 SHOT - AT THE STAIRS
They start down, Buckner still backing, Tim still throwing
many looks down the stairs, afraid of attack from that
direction. The lantern is useless, the light nothing more
than a faint glow that is turning into a pinpoint. Then
the light is gone.
102 INT. THE GRAND HALL - NIGHT - ANGLE FROM HALL FLOOR UP
THE STAIRS - TIM AND BUCKNER
silhouetted against the great windows that back the stair-
case, Buckner and Tim hurry down. Near the foot of the
stairs, they stop. For:
TIM
Look!
He means the lantern. For now, slowly (but more rapidly
than it had faded), the flame comes back to life.
TIM (contd)
The light's coming back!
They stand there, watching the flame grow stronger and
stronger. Buckner throws one last look upstairs. Then,
he moves for the drawing room door.
103 ANGLE TO DRAWING ROOM DOOR
There it is, illuminated, open, the light spilling into
the drawing room where the firelight flickers.
104 BACK TO TIM AND BUCKNER
They exchange a look. Both are thoroughly shaken by what
they have been through.
BUCKNER
Stay behind me....
Tim obeys. Cautiously, gun trained on the drawing room
door, they move to it. At the doorway, they look in.
105 THEIR ANGLE - INTO DRAWING ROOM
The spill of lantern light and the dying fire illuminate
John, there exactly as we last saw him.
106 BACK TO BUCKNER AND TIM
It is Buckner who exhales in relief.
TIM
All the way down those stairs --
I kept thinking he had gotten up
and was moving toward us, from
behind....
Buckner grunts. He looks up the stairs.
BUCKNER
Whatever it is up there, we don't
have a chance in the dark, not
with this lantern acting up....
TIM
Have you any idea what made the
lantern die down like that, and
then flare up again....?
BUCKNER
I don't know...something...
(looks at it)
Maybe something wrong with the
wick, I don't know....
TIM
Do you still believe I killed
my brother?
BUCKNER
(quietly)
No...No -- I don't believe
you did.
There is a pause.
TIM
What can we do with him? Can
we take him into town?
BUCKNER
Not right now.
TIM
But we've got to tell people
what happened out here. We've
got to get help....
Buckner shakes his head.
BUCKNER
Think about it. You might get
into a lot of trouble, son.
Who'd believe your story?
TIM
But -- you've seen -- for
yourself....
BUCKNER
And would they believe me?
TIM
You have to make them believe
you....
BUCKNER
Only way to do that is explain
what's in this house. Or better
yet, find it....
TIM
Then...what are you going to do?
BUCKNER
I don't rightly know, just yet...
whatever it is...it's in here
waiting...laughing at us, most
likely.
Tim looks around and shivers.
BUCKNER (contd)
Might as well get your brother
out into my wagon.
After a moment, Tim nods.
BUCKNER (contd)
Then we'll come back in and wait.
We'll just have to wait till
something happens.
107 OMIT
108 CLOSE SHOT - TIM'S FACE
as he realizes what this may mean. He turns and looks o.s.
109 OMIT
110 WHAT HE SEES
John's covered body.
111 ZOOM IN TO EXTREME CLOSE SHOT - JON'S HAND
It's relaxed its hold on the hatchet...quite still, quite
lifeless.
FADE OUT
END OF ACT II
ACT III
112
thru EXT. THE OLD HOUSE - NIGHT - FULL SHOT
117 as Buckner closes the back door of his station wagon.
Tim stands waiting, beside him, then follows the sheriff
into the house.
118 INT. THE GRAND HALL - DAY - MEDIUM FULL SHOT
as they enter and cross to the side drawing room.
BUCKNER
May as well start in there...
Their footsteps sound loud, and echo as they cross. They
go into the side drawing room.
119 INT. SIDE DRAWING ROOM - NIGHT - MEDIUM SHOT
They enter. The sleeping bags are still there. Buckner
stands looking around. Tim watches him and then, after
a moment, sits on the broken settee.
TIM
What are you looking for?
BUCKNER
I don't know yet...
He stops at a little table with a drawer, pulls the
drawer out; it is empty. He looks around, and then
moves to the portrait, regards it.
TIM
Who is that?
BUCKNER
Miss Elizabeth Blassenville...
She was the last one to live in
the house. She lived here alone
for years, after her sisters were
gone...
TIM
Gone? You mean, died?
BUCKNER
No...went away...Folks in town
wondered how much longer they
were going to hang on to a house
that was going to ruin and a
plantation that was already
nothing but weeds...When they
disappeared, folks understood...
Tim has moved to the portrait, regards it.
TIM
But she stayed on...
BUCKNER
In the end, she left too...There
was a rumor she had gone to
San Francisco and married there...
TIM
Do you suppose that - whatever is
in this house - chased them away
too?
Buckner looks at him, then he smiles.
BUCKNER
The Blassenville sisters left
over fifty years ago....What I've
just told you is only what I've
heard...No, it was a simple case
of there being no one to help them,
and the place rotting all around
them...Let's look upstairs.
He picks up the lantern. Tim follows him out of the
room.
120 MEDIUM SHOT
As they move for the stairs:
BUCKNER
It's kind of sad thinking of
three sisters, growing old in
a place like this, with no one
to take care of them...
TIM
What happened to the plantation
workers?
BUCKNER
Nobody'd work for them. One by
one, they ran away...
TIM
Why?
121 MOVING SHOT
as they mount the stairs.
BUCKNER
There was a mean streak in the
sisters...They had a man working
for them, Jacob Blount...From
Barbados. He's still alive.
Old, half-out of his mind...lives
a few miles away, in the swamplands...
They used to beat him.
TIM
The sisters...?
BUCKNER
Yup...Still, he stayed on. I
guess out of loyalty to the
parents who brought him here
first from the Islands...And
there was a servant - young girl,
Joan....I've heard stories told
how the sisters beat her, too.
Beat her until blood came...
Finally, she ran away too.
TIM
But why were they so cruel?
BUCKNER
(shrugs)
I don't know. It was a long
time ago...
TIM
Sounds insane to me.
BUCKNER
(off-hand)
Maybe they were.
And they have turned off on to the upstairs hall.
122 INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT - MOVING SHOT
that pulls back as they approach. In the light of day
we see now that there are two other rooms, the doors on
either side of the hallways (which ends at the door to
the room we entered the previous night)...Buckner draws
his revolver as they come off the stairs.
BUCKNER
Let's take a look.
He has gestured to the first door. CAMERA HOLDS as they
move to it. Buckner swings the door open, the hinges grate,
rust on rust. They look in.
123
thru INT. FLANKING ROOM - NIGHT - FULL SHOT
125 It is a music room. An old piano, a table with a spread
and candelabra, velvet chairs, a chaise, guitars, a
spavined harp, and lutes on the wall. Everything is
covered over with dust, thick dust.
126 THEIR ANGLE - THE CHAISE
Dust and cobwebs all but smother it.
127 BACK TO SCENE
As Tim looks around, Buckner moves over to the guitars
and lutes on the wall. He studies them, runs a finger
over one of them.
128 INSERT - A GUITAR
It is covered with dust, and Buckner's finger leaves a
thick line.
129 BACK TO BUCKNER
He moves away, towards the piano. He looks down at the
keyboard. His face tightens, with sudden interest. He
hits a few notes. The piano is wheezy, out of tune.
Then he looks at his hand with interest, as SCENE WIDENING
he comes back to Tim. He still looks at his fingertips as:
BUCKNER
You notice this?
Tim crosses to stand beside him.
TIM
That's funny.
BUCKNER
Dust everywhere--tons of it,
and yet, not a fleck on this
keyboard.
Tim frowns.
TIM
It's like somebody plays it.
BUCKNER
Somebody plays it all right...
(looks around)
Maybe somebody who killed your
brother.
Tim nods slowly, then looks o.s.
129A WHAT HE SEES - DUST
that lies like a carpet between the piano and the door. He
and Buckner have moved around the periphery of the room.
TIM
How can anybody walk across dust
covered floors and not leave
any tracks?
BUCKNER
(drily)
That ought to be easy for anyone
who can make a dead man walk.
He looks around for a long moment.
BUCKNER (contd)
I want to take a look at that
other room...where we were before.
He heads for the door and exits, Tim following.
130 INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT - TIM AND BUCKNER
go toward the door to the Upstairs Room. As they approach,
they stop. Buckner grunts with surprise.
TIM
What's wrong?
BUCKNER
The door. It's closed. I didn't
shut it.
TIM
A draft could've slammed it...
Buckner shrugs, turns the knob.
BUCKNER
(thoughtfully)
I don't think so. We'd have
heard it.
They go in.
131 INT. UPSTAIRS ROOM - NIGHT
favoring door as they enter. Tim waits by the door as
Buckner moves to several pieces of furniture. He stops at
an old sewing table and opens one of the drawers: Buckner
reacts. Something in the drawer.
132 INSERT - INTO DRAWER
There's an old book - like a diary. Cobwebs in the
drawer and on the book.
133 BACK TO SCENE
As Buckner takes out the book, scraping away the cobwebs,
blowing away the dust.
TIM
What's that?
Buckner opens the cover, reads. Then:
BUCKNER
Looks like a diary ...Miss Elizabeth's
name is on it...Very small hand,
very fine...
(flipping pages)
TIM
May I look?
He hands Tim the book, with:
BUCKNER
(nods)
Here.
Tim moves to window. The light is better. Starts to read
from book. Buckner sits.
134 SHOT
Which OPENS CLOSE on the diary (towards the end of it),
and then WIDENS during:
TIM'S VOICE
"I can sense someone prowling
about the house at night...after
the sun has set and the pines
outside are black...
They exchange a look.
BUCKNER
Go on.
TIM
"Often, in the night, I hear a
fumbling at the door. I dare
not open it. Oh, merciful Heaven,
what shall I do?"
(he looks up
at Buckner)
I can't make out the rest of the
page. The ink's faded...
He turns to another page.
135 CLOSE - BUCKNER
He frowns.
BUCKNER
The "thing" was after her, too.
(a beat)
That was a long time ago.
136 BACK TO TIM
who studies the diary.
TIM
Here's something legible...
(reads)
"All the help have run away.
My sisters...gone...I am here,
alone...."
136A TWO SHOT
He looks up at Buckner.
BUCKNER
Alone?
Tim nods.
TIM
(reading with
difficulty)
"But...why?"
(a beat)
There's a blur...and the ink
blotted here...
(a beat)
"...if someone murdered my
poor sisters..then Eulalie..."
BUCKNER
What about Eulalie?
(NOTE: Eulalie is pronounced YOU-LA-LEE.)
TIM
I can't make out the next few
lines...here...
(reads)
"She named Jacob Blount...and
Eulalie...the servant girl, but
she would not speak plainly...
perhaps she feared to..."
BUCKNER
Jacob Blount?
TIM
(intent on diary)
"I shall die as hideously as
they...
BUCKNER
"They" what?
TIM
That's as far as it goes.
Tim hands the diary to Buckner, who sits shaking his head
as if refusing to believe.
BUCKNER
Eulalie! It isn't possible.
(a beat)
Still, she'd have reason. Those
beatings...the way they treated
her.
TIM
Who was Eulalie?
137 CLOSE - BUCKNER
He does not answer Tim's question.
BUCKNER
In this house...alone...for
over fifty years!?
(a beat)
Impossible!
PULL BACK as he rises.
BUCKNER (contd)
Come on.
TIM
(rising)
Where are we going?
BUCKNER
To see Jacob Blount.
He starts out. Tim hesitates looks around the room,
then follows.
DISSOLVE
138 EXT. JACOB'S CABIN - IN CLEARING - NIGHT - SHOT
CAMERA SWINGS Tim and Buckner into a small clearing in
the woods. There, quite near, is a small cabin. A thin
wisp of smoke curls up from the stick-and-mud chimney.
139 CLOSE SHOT - TIM AND BUCKNER - AT CABIN DOOR
Buckner knocks on the leather-hinged old door. No answer.
He knocks again. Then he pushes the door open and gestures
Tim to follow him in. They enter.
140 INT. JACOB'S CABIN - MEDIUM SHOT
It is shabby and unkempt. The light is on the dim side -
for only one small window lets in the late afternoon sun...
There, by the hearth, is JACOB BLOUNT, huddled beside an
open fire upon which is set a large black pot. He neither
looks up, nor moves not in the slightest, as Tim and
Buckner enter and see him from the middle of the single
room.
BUCKNER
(a slight calling)
Jacob...
No move, nothing, from old Jacob there by the hearth.
Tim follows Buckner to him.
141 CLOSER SHOT - THE THREE OF THEM
And we see now that the tattered old man is incredibly
old, his face a mass of wrinkles. He has fallen off to
sleep. Buckner touches his arm, shakes him gently.
BUCKNER
Jacob...
(nothing)
Jacob, it's Sheriff Buckner.
Ever so slowly, the old Jacob's eyes open; he seems very
far gone into senility. Thin, the mind wandering always,
eyes hardly seeing, utterly frail, and the voice all but
an aspirate whisper only. The eyes look directly at
Buckner, all but not seeing him.
BUCKNER (contd)
Jacob, I've come to ask you
some questions...
Slowly, Jacob's eyes wander over and try to focus on Tim.
BUCKNER (contd)
Last night, a man was murdered
in the old Blassenville place...
Jacob's eyes slowly move back to fix on Buckner.
JACOB
Nobody there now - they're all
dead -
BUCKNER
Someone is hiding in that house,
Jacob....Who is it? Do you know?
JACOB
(vaguely)
All of them, dead...but they come
back...at night...
Again he falls into silence.
BUCKNER
What do you mean they come back...?
JACOB
All of them...the pigeons...
Buckner throws a look at Tim, who is startled by the word.
It irritates Buckner.
BUCKNER
Jacob, who is in that house?
Jacob only looks at him.
BUCKNER
I think you know.
(a pause)
Miss Elizabeth thought you knew.
Still, Jacob doesn't answer. He has fallen into a kind
of stubborn, sullen stupor. Buckner turns away, in disgust.
TIM
(less "pushing")
Jacob, we found a diary of
Miss Elizabeth's...She was
afraid that her sisters had
been murdered...Were they?
No answer from Jacob.
BUCKNER
(pushing hard)
Joan would have had reason to
murder them...They beat her,
cruelly...Why did they beat her,
a harmless, simple, ignorant servant.
And at the word, stung into Fury, Jacob lashes back.
JACOB
Eulalie was no servant. She was a
lady of quality...a Blassenville,
like them....
His own outburst shocks him instantly into terror.
142 REACTION SHOT - BUCKNER AND TIM
Tim is surprised, of course; but, knowing the implications,
Buckner is stunned.
BUCKNER
(aspirately)
What did you say...?
143 BACK TO SCENE
Jacob won't speak again; real terror is growing in him.
He cowers at Buckner's insistent approach.
JACOB
They had the same mother...but different fathers.
BUCKNER
Eulalie was their half-sister...?
Silence from Jacob. Buckner turns to Tim.
BUCKNER
Oh -- that would explain everything...
The other sisters' rage at her; and
Eulalie's own motive for killing them....
TIM
What?
BUCKNER
The house. The plantation...
She could live on there, alone,
a Blassenville...
He spins back to Jacob.
BUCKNER
(insistently)
It is Eulalie in that house, even
now, isn't it, Jacob.
Jacob is near whimpering.
JACOB
Life is sweet - even to an old
man...
TIM
You mean, someone would kill you,
if you told us?
JACOB
Not someone. No human...
Scared he cringes. Buckner leans close to him, urgently.
BUCKNER
Who then, Jacob? What, then?
JACOB
(terrified)
No...The Big Serpent would send
a little brother to kill me if
I told...
Buckner grabs the old man's shirt front.
BUCKNER
You've got to tell me!
JACOB
(whimpering)
I made a promise I would never
tell when they made me maker
of zuvembies...
And Buckner releases him, in shock. Tim is puzzled,
not understanding...Old Jacob, released, whimpers, crawls
into the nearest corner, huddles there like a frightened
animal, the old eyes staring back at Buckner always.
144 ANOTHER ANGLE - BUCKNER AND TIM
Buckner is completely "thrown".
TIM
Zuvembies! What's he talking
about?
BUCKNER
Voodoo superstition...They're
supposed to be women who - well -
They're not supposed to be human
any more...
TIM
You mean, he can turn women into -
zombies?
BUCKNER
They think so...I guess he believes
it too.
The ignorant superstition has irritated Buckner. He
moves to Jacob.
145 SHOT - BUCKNER, JACOB, TIM
Tim moves in too but stays on the edge of the scene.
Buckner leans close to Jacob, who cringes.
JACOB
She knew I was a maker of zuvembies...
she came and stood in my hut and asked
for the holy drink...
BUCKNER
Who came?---Eulalie?
Jacob's eyes search the cabin, urgently, as if trying to
seek out an unseen threat.
JACOB
(babbling, scared)
They live for ever. Time means
nothing. An hour, a day, a year:
all is one...she can command the
dead...and birds, and snakes, and
wolves...And only lead can kill her...
He stops, the eyes darting everywhere.
BUCKNER
What is it?
JACOB
Listen!
And his eyes go to the door of the cabin. They all look.
146 ANGLE TO DOOR
It is wide open.
147 BACK TO SCENE
Jacob stares at the door, in terror.
JACOB (contd)
If I speak, she will come...
BUCKNER
Nothing will happen to you...
JACOB
(softly)
No more.
But now something of quiet, sullen finality has fallen
on the old man. He rises and shuffles back to the pot
and the fire.
148 MEDIUM SHOT
As far as old Jacob is concerned, there is no one in the
cabin now but himself. He reaches down to his pile of
fire-wood, places a couple of branches in the fire...
Buckner comes to him insistently.
BUCKNER
You do know, Jacob. You know
and I'm ordering you to tell me...
But old Jacob only turns, reaches down to the pile of
firewood, and places another branch on the fire.
BUCKNER
Is Eulalie still in that old
house?
The old man doesn't seem to have heard. Again he turns
to the firewood, groping among the heaps of stick for
more wood. Buckner's patience snaps. He strides to
Jacob with:
BUCKNER (contd)
You're going to tell me, if I
have to -
But suddenly, Jacob's voice breaks out in a loud scream
of terror and pain. His arm darts back from the firewood
convulsively.
149 CLOSE SHOT - JACOB'S ARM
Coiled around Jacob's arm is a mottled snake.
150 BACK TO SCENE
Both Tim and Buckner are rooted in horror as old Jacob
falls to the hearth, screaming, upsetting the pot.
BUCKNER
(to Tim)
Stay back...
He darts for the firewood, takes up a branch.
151 ANGLE - THE SNAKE
It crawls away from Jacob's arm. The o.s. screaming
continues.
152 BACK TO SCENE
Tim dashes for the writhing, screaming old man; Buckner
moves quickly for the snake, the branch upraised. Down
it comes. Again...again...again...again...And then he
straightens up, the snake crushed...He moves quickly to
Jacob and Tim, throwing aside the branch, his hand darting
into his pocket and coming out with a pocket knife.
BUCKNER
(urgently)
We've got to make an incision -
drain the poison out...
He kneels by Jacob. The old man's screaming has stopped.
153 EXTREME CLOSE SHOT - JACOB'S ARM
We can see the snake bites. The pocket knife, blade
open, comes in. Buckner is about to make the incision...
and then we see Jacob's clenched fist go limp, and the
fingers uncurl loosely; then they are motionless.
154 BACK TO SCENE
Both Tim and Buckner have seen. Tim looks at Buckner.
TIM
He's dead.
Buckner is silent. He feels for pulse. A moment passes.
Another. Another. Then Buckner lets the hand fall.
BUCKNER
(softly)
Yes...
They rise, looking down at old Jacob.
TIM
(hoarsely)
What do we do?
BUCKNER
We'll have to leave him here,
for the time being. We'll come
back for him when it's light.
TIM
(quietly)
He said the Great Snake would
send a little brother....
BUCKNER
Nonsense! Snakes like warmth;
it crawled in and coiled up among
the firewood. Old Jacob disturbed
it, and it bit him. That's all
there was to it ....
TIM
Are you sure?
Buckner throws him an irritated look.
BUCKNER
(snaps)
There's nothing to these
superstitions...Nothing at all.
And he moves away irritably. Tim watches him a moment,
and then he goes too.
DISSOLVE
155 OMIT
156 EXT. OLD HOUSE - NIGHT - FAVORING PORCH
as Buckner and Tim approach. The pigeons have returned.
They swarm over the sheriff's station wagon and the porch
railing.
157 CLOSE SHOT - TIM
as he reacts to seeing the pigeons. He turns to
Buckner with a "I-told-you-so" look.
TIM
You wouldn't believe me...but
see.....
(he gestures)
...they've come back.
158 WHAT THEY SEE - CLOSER ON THE PIGEONS
159 as they begin to COO. The distant owl adds a MOURNFUL
160 NOTE.
FADE OUT
END OF ACT III
160 ANGLE - TO HOUSE
as we see Buckner and Tim moving closer and closer to
it...And, from somewhere, an owl starts its mournful
calling again, just as it had done on the previous night.
FADE OUT
END OF ACT THREE
FADE IN
161 EXT. THE OLD HOUSE - NIGHT - FULL SHOT
We FEATURE the station wagon. Pigeons are on its top,
are around it on the ground. A soft COOING.
DISSOLVE
162 OMIT
163 INT. SIDE DRAWING ROOM - NIGHT - MED. SHOT
Buckner is adjusting the lantern. Tim is at the window,
looking out, agitated, nervous, depressed. Light from
the fireplace dances thru the gloom.
164 OMIT
165 BACK TO SCENE
Tim turns away from the window.
TIM
Why do they stay there...beside
him...all night....
BUCKNER
I don't know.
TIM
That cooing...that awful sound ....
He goes back and sits. Buckner takes up John's sleeping
bag and moves with it nearer the door.
BUCKNER
I'll stay close to the door.
TIM
(low)
All right.
Buckner gets down on his seeping bag. The pigeon's
COOING has gotten a bit LOUDER. He darts a look at
the window, increasingly tense.
TIM
If nothing happens tonight,
what will we do?
He is still looking at the window and the station wagon
out there.
BUCKNER
We'll have to take your brother
in and hope they believe us....
Tim moves, edgily, to his sleeping bag, sits on it.
TIM
Do you think something will happen?
BUCKNER
I don't know.
TIM
You still think it's Joan?
BUCKNER
She would be old. So very old.
But she's the only logical one....
TIM
But we searched the whole house
this morning and this afternoon...
Where could she be hiding, all
these years?
BUCKNER
An old house like this...built way
before the War...there'd be lots
of places...Some of them had secret
passages and rooms, where the
women and children hid during
the War....
Tim is silent. He looks around, apprehension growing;
for the COOING is now just a little bit LOUDER.
TIM
How would she eat?
BUCKNER
(grunts)
Beats me....
A pause.
TIM
Do you believe what old Jacob
said...That she doesn't need
food, and can make the dead
walk, and can command snakes
and birds, and can live forever....?
BUCKNER
Of course not.
TIM
You have any better explanation....?
Buckner is silent. Tim turns now, to lie down.
166 CLOSE SHOT - TIM
Something he sees on the sleeping bag disturbs him.
167 HIS CLOSE ANGLE - TO HEAD OF SLEEPING BAG
It is the gash from John's hatchet. Tim's fingers touch
it, tremblingly.
168 BACK TO TIM
He lies down, his head coming right down on to the gash.
The juxtaposition of head and remembered hatchet disturbs
him the more. He lies staring up, wide-eyed, at the ceiling.
169 HIS ANGLE - STRAIGHT UP - AT CEILING
And, of course, only silence comes from up there.
170 BACK TO TIM
tensely staring up. Then a sharp metallic CLICK startles
him. He turns to look aside.
171 HIS ANGLE - TO BUCKNER
It is Buckner's testing of his revolver. Again he tests
the firing mechanism. Click! Then he begins to reload it.
172 BACK TO TIM
He looks a few moments longer.
173 ANGLE TO BUCKNER
loading the gun.
174 EXTREME CLOSE SHOT - THE REVOLVER
being loaded, the bullets sliding in one by one.
DISSOLVE
175 INT. THE SIDE DRAWING ROOM - NIGHT - SHOT
which OPENS on flickering lantern. SCENE WIDENS
to INCLUDE Tim. He is fast asleep. But he must be
dreaming some disturbing dream, for he tosses, and his
face convulses in frightened protest against whatever it
is that tortures his sleep. And we are aware of something
else: the pigeons' COOING has grown to the same vibrant
intensity it achieved on the previous night. We see, too,
that there is some moonlight, faint, pale, coming in
through the windows.
176 ANOTHER ANGLE - TIM
His dream continues to torture him...and then, suddenly,
there's an awful nightmare moan escaping from his lips. His
hands move in frantic swiftness for his head, as if to pro-
tect it, even as he sits up, as if jerked up. And the moan
turns into a moaned calling:
TIM
(hoarsely, out of
his nightmare)
John!
It takes him a few moments before he realizes that he has
had a nightmare. Realization brings no relief; a sickening
feeling only. And then it turns back into terror -- for
now he HEARS that the nightmare is quite real: he hears
the pigeons' COOING -- that loud hummed vibrant sound. He
looks around in the near darkness, fear mounting. And then:
TIM (contd)
(calling softly)
Sheriff....
117 HIS ANGLE - SHERIFF'S SLEEPING BAG
It is just beyond the fall of light, in darkness. There
is no answer from there.
178 BACK TO TIM
He stares. Again, he calls softly:
TIM
Sheriff....
And getting no answer, he rises.
CAMERA MOVES with him as he approaches the sheriff's
sleeping bag, and, as he comes, the light falls on the
o.s. sleeping bag.
179 ANGLE WITH BEAM - TO BAG
It is empty.
180 BACK TO TIM
He reacts with a gasp, turns as there is a sudden heighten-
ing to the COOING outside. He is completely in the
grip of terror now. He moves out quickly into the grand
hall.
181 INT. GRAND HALL - NIGHT - MED. SHOT - TIM
Moonlight streams in from the window beyond the staircase.
Tim moves forward to CLOSE.
182 HIS ANGLE - UP TO THE CEILING
No sound -- no footfalls, no scream of pain -- comes in
answer to Tim's look.
183 BACK TO TIM
Perspiration drips from his face. He is close to panic.
TIM
(loud)
Sheriff....?
The word echoes, answering itself. There is no other answer.
Tim's panic grows. He turns to the staircase, eyes glued
on the dark upstairs.
184 MOVING SHOT
on the staircase, as he goes up. He goes slowly. Consider-
ing the state of near-panic he is in, it is all but super-
human on Tim's part to keep on mounting the staircase,
riser by riser...And, always, his eyes are trained ahead,
up, fixed on the darkness above.
185 SHOT - TO TOP OF STAIRCASE
and the darkness there...getting closer...closer.
186 BACK TO TIM
mounting...mounting...And then, at the last, his nerve
breaks.
187 SHOT - TO TOP OF STAIRCASE AND BEGINNING OF HALLWAY
Somewhere in the darkness a door closes, not loud.
188 BACK TO TIM
THE SOUND -- and again, the heightening of the cooing --
push Tim into full panic. He turns and flees down the
stairs.
189 MED. FULL SHOT - FROM BOTTOM OF STAIRS
as Tim comes racing downstairs, blindly. At the last
step, he trips and falls forward; it is a hard, nasty
fall, face-down.
190 CLOSE SHOT - TIM
as he lies, face-down...dazed...And, o.s. the pigeons'
COOING heightens even more; the whole house, once more,
seems to vibrate with the supernatural sound...Then,
as CAMERA PULLS BACK SLIGHTLY, Tim raises himself slowly
to a sitting position. He is facing CAMERA -- and an odd
thing has happened; there is neither fear nor pain on his
face any longer. Rather, it is like a mask: a settled,
blank mask. One is tempted to say, like a death-mask.
SCENE WIDENS MORE, and Tim keeps on sitting, stock still,
and the whole house continues to hum with the strange
SOUND. Then slowly, but with no sense of tentativeness,
Tim rises. It is like someone rising from his sleep, to
sleepwalk. As slowly Tim turns his back and starts back
for the staircase. He goes up, called, bidden.
191 INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT - ANGLE TO HEAD OF STAIRCASE -
TIM
He comes off the staircase and on to the hall. He moves
forward, as slowly as ever, but in an even smooth unhesi-
tating walk. CAMERA MOVES FORWARD to meet him, and they
meet when Tim stops and seems, as if by some silent command,
to wait...to wait for someone. Then CAMERA ANGLES down
to his feet. The slight finger of moonlight reveals that
he is standing on the edge of the great dark stain that
was John Branner's blood.
192 REVERSE
to the upstairs room at the end of the hallway. A few
feet away from Tim it is pitch black. We cannot see as
far as the door. But then suddenly, moving to us and Tim,
is a figure, arm upraised...We are aware of whiteness, the
whiteness of a flowing gown; we are aware of hair, long,
dishevelled, "insane" hair; we are aware of the upraised
arm and the fact of a cleaver in the hand; and finally,
CLOSE, we have the most fleeting, nightmarish, moon-dis-
torted impression of a face. But can we call this a face?
It is wrinkled beyond metaphor.
FLASH CUT
193 CLOSE SHOT - THE CLEAVER
It is at the top of its upward swing, it is about to come
down.
FLASH CUT
194 CLOSE SHOT - TIM'S HEAD
Tim only stands there, waiting for the blow. The cut
lasts just for the duration of a revolver shot, deafeningly
-- but deafeningly -- close.
FLASH CUT
195 EXTREME CLOSE SHOT - REVOLVER
ANOTHER SHOT, and ANOTHER.
FLASH CUT
196 TIM'S REVERSE
down the hallway. The apparition is disappearing into
darkness even as we HEAR another SHOT from revolver.
And, out of the darkness, we hear the DOOR SLAM shut, loud.
197 BACK TO TIM
The shot now INCLUDES the empty flanking room. And Buckner
is moving out of it fast for Tim.
BUCKNER
Hey!....
He slaps Tim's face a couple of times, to rouse him out
of his trance-like stupor.
BUCKNER
Son...It's me...Buckner...
You all right?
Tim comes to, very weakly.
TIM
Yeah...Yeah...I guess so.
BUCKNER
I've been waiting in that side
room over two hours. I figured it
would happen in the same spot....
Tim, full consciousness returning, sags against the wall;
he cannot hold back sobs of relief. He presses his face
against the wall, like a child, weeping. Buckner gives
him a moment.
BUCKNER (contd)
(with surprising
gentleness)
Go ahead...I don't blame you...
(then:)
It went in there. I must've hit
it every time...There's no way
out of that room...You wait here.
Tim goes on in his soft, almost soundless hysterically
releasing weeping against the wall. Buckner takes
the lantern. His revolver poised, he moves for the
door at the end of the corridor.
198 MOVING SHOT - TO DOOR
which is now illuminated by the lantern. At CLOSE,
we stop.
199 SHOT - BUCKNER
He gets to the side of the door. Then he kicks it open
and goes in, half-running, in a crouch.
200 INT. UPSTAIRS ROOM - NIGHT - SHOT - BUCKNER
charging in. As before, he stops.
201 BUCKNER'S REVERSE ANGLE
There is no one in the room.
202 BACK TO BUCKNER
Puzzled, he darts the lantern light around. Then he
aims it at the floor.
203 ANGLE - TO FLOOR WITH BEAM
And there's a trail of blood. CAMERA BEGINS TO MOVE,
FOLLOWING the trail of blood, MOVES ACROSS the room,
and then stops at the base of a wall. The lantern light
moves up, revealing a false fireplace, pulled out slightly,
disclosing a hidden corridor beyond.
204 FROM BEHIND BUCKNER
as he brings the lantern near, throwing a feeble light
into the corridor behind the fireplace. He puts the lantern
down, takes hold of the fireplace with both hands and pulls.
It resists, but finally moves with a loud SCREAK. Buckner
picks up the lantern, peers into the corridor, then steps
inside.
205 INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT - SHOT TIM
He has regained some control of himself, turns now to the
room at the end of the hallway.
TIM
(calling)
Sheriff ---?
He goes to the room at the end of the hallway.
206 INT. UPSTAIRS ROOM - NIGHT - MED. SHOT - TIM
He comes in, looks around.
TIM
(calling)
Sheriff ---?
There is no answer. Tim moves to the side. He finds
himself before the false fireplace section. He looks in.
207 HIS POV - INTO FIREPLACE WALL SECTION
Beyond is a very narrow passageway, and it seems to open
up into another and secret room. In that room, we can see
Buckner lighting candles. He turns and calls back.
BUCKNER
Stay back there ....
208 BACK TO TIM
But he moves in anyway.
209 INT. THE SECRET ROOM - NIGHT - SHOT
Buckner is setting a candle down and turns with dis-
approval as Tim appears out of the passageway. Tim stops.
210 CLOSE SHOT - TIM
He reacts with growing shock.
211 HIS VIEW
which falls on three skeletons, all in the fragments of
pre-World War One dress, all on the floor, against one
wall. The candlelight plays eerily on them.
212 BACK TO TIM AND BUCKNER
Tim gasps, is stunned into silence.
TIM
Who are they?
BUCKNER
All three Blassenville sisters
I guess -- including Miss
Elizabeth...All murdered.
CAMERA SWINGS with him to the first skeleton. He indicates
the skull of the first one.
BUCKNER (contd)
The way your brother was...the
way you were going to be.
213 INSERT - THE SKULL
214 BACK TO TIM AND BUCKNER
Buckner moves away from the skeletons, back to Tim.
TIM
Who was it?
Buckner nods, points to the side.
BUCKNER
There -- There she is...Eulalie.
Tim looks, as the lantern shines into a corner.
215 ANGLE WITH LANTERN LIGHT
The figure that is huddled there is very old, very wrinkled.
It wears a tattered old gown, like the other sisters; a
tiara such as a young southern belle might have worn to a
ball; a shawl...rings...bracelets.
216 CLOSER ANGLE - EULALIE
She is dead, blood staining her dress.
DISSOLVE
217 EXT. THE PORCH - DAY - SHOT - TIM AND BUCKNER
They come out, Tim carrying the lantern. And they stop,
seeing:
218 THEIR ANGLE - TO EAVES AND OUT FRONT
The pigeons are gone. It is very quiet.
219 BACK TO TIM AND BUCKNER
They exchange a look.
TIM
They're gone....
BUCKNER
Maybe they're gone for good...
Now.
Tim regards him. Then:
TIM
You believe what old Jacob told
us now, don't you?
BUCKNER
(finally)
Yes....
He looks around the porch, then he moves away:
BUCKNER (contd)
Come on...Come away from this
evil house....
And, CAMERA SWINGING with them, go on off the porch. They
head for the station wagon, get in. They start it, and
the station wagon swings away from the old house.
220 SHOT - THE CAR
keeps moving away and then disappears into the woods; the
silence comes back.
221 ANGLE BACK TO OLD HOUSE
There it is, alone in the night. And, in the silence the
lonely owl begins to HOOT again -- as the picture gets very
dark.
FADE OUT
- THE END -
This was a THRILLER!