A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2

                                     A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: 

                                         Freddy's Revenge

                                         A Screenplay By:

                                             David Chaskin

         BEGIN MAIN TITLE SEQUENCE

         EXT. SUBURBAN HOUSING DEVELOPMENT - DAY

         A big, yellow SCHOOL BUS pulls up to a corner and discharges a       group of TEENAGERS.  It's one of those fantastic spring afternoons and the kids take to their freedom like they were just sprung from          Leavenworth.

                                                      KIDS

                           G'night, Joe...Have a good weekend, etc.

         The BUS DRIVER doesn't answer but nods and smiles as they deboard.          He is a pleasant looking elderly man, wearing a khaki work shirt,       a matching cap and chewing on an unlit, twenty-five cent stogie.

         The DOORS fold shut, the GEARS GRIND and the bus continues along         its route.

         INT. SCHOOL BUS - DAY

         While there are only about a dozen kids on the bus, the noise level is deafening.  GIRLS are yapping, GUYS are horsing around,      someone is fiddling with a ghetto-blaster, trying to decide among          several loud stations.

         EXT. SUBURBAN STREET - DAY

         The bus turns a corner, taking them out of the development and       past some older, less identical looking residences spaced more widely apart.

         INT. SCHOOL BUS - DAY

         The Driver downshifts the old heap, pulls the wheel over to the        curb and reaches over to push the door lever open.

         KIDS file out down he aisle, some of them wishing him well as they    leave.

         ANOTHER ANGLE

         as the gears grind again and the bus pulls away.  We see that    there are only a few KIDS remaining:  TWO GIRLS sit together        toward the center and a lone, nerdy-looking BOY sits at the rear.

         The DRIVER is in front of an aluminum divider and, except for the    top of his cap, cannot be seen.

         END MAIN TITLE SEQUENCE

         ON THE THREE KIDS

         The two girls are pretty, teen-fashionable and just a little       immature.  One of them turns back to look over her shoulder.

         CLOSER ANGLE - THE BOY

         Poor kid.  About 17, four-eyes, bad skin, lousy posture and an          obvious inferiority complex.  He's sweating profussely and he stands slightly to unlatch and lower the window.  He pulls down on     it with all his strength but it is hopelessly stuck.

         He sits back down and sighs.  Suddenly, he feels the girl's stare.          he doesn't turn but sends his eyes over to see who's goggling at          him.

         ON GIRLS - JESSE'S POV

         The first girl turns back to her friend to whisper something.  The      friend turns around to see for herself.

         INT. BUS

         The boy stares forward now and catches her glance directly.

         The girls shift quickly in their seats to face forard and let out with an uncontrollable rush of mean giggles.

         The boy is clearly embarrassed now and looks down at the books in    his lap.

         We hear the engine REVVING - the bus seems to be picking up speed.

         One of the girls stands, ready to get off.

         GIRL'S POV OUT WINDOW: EXT. STREET

         A MOTHER, her PRE-SCHOOL CHILD on a TRICYCLE and their DOG wait         for the bus to discharge the girl.

         EXT. STREET

         The bus speeds past the waiting group, to their amazement.

         INT. BUS

         The standind girl's jaw drops open as they shoot by a familiar looking intersection and continue to pick up speed.

                                                      FIRST GIRL

                                             (to her friend)

                           Hey!

                                             (calling to driver)

                           Hey, that war our stop!

         The bus turns a sharp corner and the first girl almost falls.  The        second girl grips onto the seatback and lifts herself to her feet.

                                                      SECOND GIRL

                                             (calling to the driver)

                           Hey, Joe!  Our stop!

         HER POV - THE FRONT OF THE BUS

         The unseen driver ignores the calls and continues picking up   speed.  We might notice that his hat has changed; in place of the       cap, we can see the top of a BATTERED OLD FEDORA.

                                                      SECOND GIRL (O.C.)

                           Hey, let us off!

         EXT. TWO-LANE STREET - DAY

         The sky has suddenly turned; a wave of threatening clouds sweeps      overhead and the WIND is churning a planting of roadside weeping    willows into a tangled mess of yellow tendrils.

         The bus WHINES near the top end of third, all of its FLASHERS are going like the dashboard was having a major coronary.  It passes        the last house and heads into open terrain.

         IN THE BUS

         THE SECOND GIRL steps into the aisle and starts making her way    toward the front of the coach.

                                                      SECOND GIRL

                                             (under her breath)

                           Deaf old fart...

         She stops suddenly and GASPS as she watches

         THE DRIVER'S ARM

         emerge to throw the floorshift into fourth.  His hand is clad in a        strange GLOVE that tip his fingers with a menacing set of RAZOR-   SHARP, STEEL TALONS.  His sleeve is charred and smoking.

         The bus SWERVES WILDLY as it skids around a corner, throwing its few passengers into collision courses with the walls and each   other.

         A FLASH OF LIGHTNING crashes through the air.

         EXT. DESERT LANDSCAPE

         As the lightning subsides, the sky is dark.  The BUS SCREAMS         along, banging through rocks and ditches, CRASHING through a wall   of overgrown brambles.  Thick clouds of steam pour out from under   he hood and stream back along toward the rear of the vehicle.

         ON THE BOY

         holding o to his seatback and watching out the window in terror as     trees TEAR loose from the ground i the bus'wake.

         We hear a LOUD RUMBLING and the bus begins to shake as if the    planet itself is splitting in two.

         ON THE BUS

         Skidding across the desert landscape, being THROWN to and fro       laterally, at the mercy of the shuddering landscape.

         ON A FRONT WHEEL

         as the tire smacks into a jagged boulder, SNAPPING the wheel from   its axle.

         ON THE FRONT END

         BOUNCING to a violent halt, the bumer digging a long trench into    the earth.

         IN THE BUS

         THE KIDS pick themselves up from the floor.  It is very hot and      smoky inside.  They have moved closer together now, sweating,        scared. Frantically, the boy tries to open a window, but it will          not budge.

         He looks out the window and gasps.

         EXT. POV FROM WINDOW

         THE GROUND below begins to SPLIT apart and tumble into a deep   fissure that is encirling the bus.

         ON THE MOOR, THE BUS CENTER

         The land is IMPLODING all around it; huge chunks of the earth's      crust are shearing themselves loose from the edges of the fissure        and tumbling into oblivion.

         In moments, the bus is stranded on the narrow tip of a towering        ridge of crumbling stone.

         The bus teeters precariously, tasting the smoky abyss in every          direction.

         INSIDE

         THE SECOND GIRL is on al fours in the aisle.  She looks up toward   the driver's seat.

                                                      SECOND GIRL

                                             (seeing something

                                              hideous)

                           Jesus!

         She scrambles to her feet and begins backing off.  The floor of          the bus shifts dangerously, throwing the girl into the edge of one       of the seats.

         ON THE DRIVER

         as he makes his way toward the back.  We don'g see his face but he     is dressed in a filthy green and red sweater.  In the B.G., the    dashboard instruments are sparking and sending thick black fumes          toward the ceiling.  SMOKE is rising off his body as if he just stepped out of some horrible fire.  A small patch of skin on his         hand sizzles and pops and drips a molten glob of flesh that burns        a small hole in a seat cushion.

         His Razor-Talons sweep along the tops of the seat-backs CUTTING   deep gashes into the green vinyl upholstery and SCRAPING horribly   over the tubular steel support poles.

         ON THE BOY

         Terrified.  Lookign first at the awful talons, then out the window       at the DEADLY DROP and back at the bus driver.

         ON THE GIRLS

         Sweating, panicking.  They back away, going from window to window,          trying desperately to pull them down.  They're all locked tight.         One reaches for the emergence door leer at the rear of the bus.          It comes off in her hand.

         The kids huddle together, petrified, screaming, as the driver is          upon her.

         CU: DRIVER

         He lifts the awful, talonned glove in f.g.  Behind, obscured by smoke, we see, for an instant, his fce -- the face of FREDDY.  he      raises his weapon arm higher and STRIKES.

                                                                                      SMASH CUT TO:

         INT. WALSH HOUSE - KITCHEN - MORNING

         CLOSE on a steel blade cutting into red flesh.  We PULL BACK and   see that it is MOM, slicing a tomato at the kitchen counter.

         This is an all-American family; along with a MOM, there's a DAD     and a kid sister named NGELA and they ll are having breakfast         together.

         A moment later, there is a muffled, OFF-CAMERA SCREAM.  Mom looks    up.  We can also make out the RINGING of an alarm clock in another          part of the house.

         ANGELA jumps slightly at the scream.  She's a pretty little    eleven-year old, genuinely cute, not precocious.

                                                      ANGELA

                                             (to Mom)

                           Why can't Jesse wake up like every-

                           body else?

                                                      MOM

                                             (hushed)

                           Shhh.  He must've had another night-

                           mare.

                                                                                               CUT TO:

         INT. WALSH HOUSE - JESSE'S ROOM - MORNING

         ON JESSE'S BED. An alarm clock RINGS LOUDLY.

         JESSE WALSH (17) is sitting up in bed.  He's sweaty and scared and    disoriented as he slams his hand down on the alarm and tries to         shake the nightmare out of his head.

         We see that he's the boy on the bus only he's not half-bad looking     - far from nerdy.  he has no skin problems and he doesn't wear          glasses and his body's in good shape.

         As he gets out of bed, still shaky from the dream, and we see that      his bedroom is littered with cardboard cartons - most of them open    and half-empty.  He trips over a carton on his way to his jeans.

         INT. WALSH HOUSE - KITCHEN - MORNING

         Mom is at the stove cooking eggs for her family.  She looks up,        worried, as Jesse comes in and heads for the refrigerator.

                                                      JESSE

                                             (mumbles)

                           'Morning.

                                                      MOM

                                             (putting on a smile)

                           'Morning, honey.