HALLOWEEN

HALLOWEEN   
a screenplay by John Carpenter and Debra Hill

1     MAIN TITLE SEQUENCE

       OPEN on a black screen. SUPERIMPOSE in dark red letters:

                                   HALLOWEEN

                                                               FADE IN TO:

       Darkness, with a SMALL SHAPE in the center of the screen. As MAIN

       TITLES CONTINUE OVER, CAMERA SLOWLY MOVES IN ON the shape.

       We get closer and closer until we see that the shape is a HALLOWEEN

       MASK. It is a large, full-head platex rubber mask, not a monster or

       ghoul, but the pale, NEUTRAL FEATURES OF A MAN weirdly distorted by

       the rubber.

       Finally CAMERA MOVES IN CLOSE on the eyes of the mask. It is blank,

       empty, a dark, staring socket.  SUPERIMPOSE FINAL CREDIT.

                                                               FADE OUT:

       FADE IN:

2     Black screen. SUPERIMPOSE:

                                   HADDONFIELD, ILLINOIS

                                   OCTOBER 31, 1963

                                                               DISSOLVE TO:

3     EXT./INT. MYERS HOUSE - NIGHT - SUBJECTIVE POV (PANAGLIDE)

       It is night. We move toward the rear of the house through SOMEONE'S

       POV. CAMERA MOVES UP to a Jack-O-Lantern glowing brightly on a

       windowsill. It is a windy night and the curtains around the Jack-O-

       Lantern ruffle back and forth. Suddenly we hear voices from inside the

       house.

                                   SISTER (V.O.)

                     My parents won't be back till ten.

                                   BOYFRIEND (V.O.)

                     Are you sure?

       Then LAUGHTER.

       The POV moves from the Jack-O-Lantern down to another window and peers

       inside. We see the sister's bedroom through the blowing curtains.

       Into the bedroom comes the SISTER, 18, very pretty. She GIGGLES as the

       BOYFRIEND jumps into the room. Alan, 18, he wears a Halloween mask and

       a costume.

                                   BOYFRIEND (V.O.; cont'd)

                     We're all alone, aren't we?

                                   SISTER (V.O.)

                     Michael's around someplace...

       The boyfriend grabs the sister and kisses her.

                                   SISTER (V.O.; cont'd)

                     Take off that thing.

       The boyfriend rips off his mask. He is a handsome young man

       underneath. They kiss again, this time with more passion. The

       boyfriend begins to unbutton the sister's blouse. She responds to him.

       The POV swing away from the window and begins to restlessly pace back

       and forth, agitated, disturbed. We HEAR THE SOUNDS of the sister and

       boyfriend inside the bedroom growing more and more passionate.

       Finally the POV moves back up to the window. Inside through the moving

       curtains, we see the sister and the boyfriend on the bed, naked,

       making love.

       The POV springs back from the window and stalks quickly down the side

       of the house, past the Jack-O-Lantern, around to a door. Quickly the

       door is opened and the POV moves inside.

       The POV glides silently through the house into the kitchen, up to a

       drawer. The drawer is opened. A large BUTCHER KNIFE is withdrawn.

       Then the POV swings around and moves to the kitchen door. We look down

       a hallway to the front door. The boyfriend steps out of the bedroom

       door, buttoning his shirt. The sister stands in the doorway, a sheet

       wrapped around her.

                                   BOYFRIEND

                     I gotta go.

                                   SISTER

                     Will you call me tomorrow?

                                   BOYFRIEND

                     Yeah, sure.

                                   SISTER

                     Promise?

                                   BOYFRIEND

                     Yeah.

       They kiss again and the boyfriend walks to the front door. The sister

       watches as he leaves and shuts the door behind him. Then she turns and

       steps back into the bedroom.

       The POV moves slowly down the hall to the bedroom door and peers

       around inside. The sister sits at her night-table brushing her hair.

       She is still completely nude.

       Slowly the POV moves into the room. Suddenly we move down to the

       discarded Halloween mask on the floor. The POV bends down and picks it

       up. Then suddenly the POV is covered by the mask and we see through

       the eye-holes.

       The POV moves up behind the sister. Sensing a presence, she spins

       around and stares at the POV, covering her breasts quickly.

                                   SISTER

                     Michael...?

       Suddenly the POV lunges forward. The sister continues to stare

       incredulously. There is a RAPID BLUR as the POV drives the butcher

       knife into the sister's chest and out again almost before we've seen

       it.

       The sister looks down at the blood forming at her hands, then back up

       at the POV with an astonished disbelief.

       Then in a WILD PAROXYSM the butcher knife blurs continuously in and

       out of frame, slashing the sister mercilessly. She begins to SCREAM,

       trying to fend off the blows with her hands, then suddenly falls out

       of frame to the floor.

       The POV moves back away from the sister's lifeless body, spins around

       and careens out of the bedroom.

       At top speed the POV races through the darkened house, to the front

       door, out the door, down the steps and rapidly up the street. The

       CAMERA careens along in frenzied flight, up the sidewalk, up a small

       side alley, down someone's back yard, then to a sudden, abrupt halt in

       front of MOTHER and FATHER just coming out of a neighbor's house.

       Mother and Father stare at the POV, at first in puzzlement, then slow,

       growing horror.

                                   MOTHER

                     Michael?

4     CLOSE SHOT - MICHAEL - CRANE

       The father's hand reaches up and rips off the Halloween mask,

       revealing MICHAEL, 6, underneath, a bright-eyed boy with a calm, quiet

       smile on his face.

       CAMERA PULLS BACK, revealing the blood-stained butcher knife in his

       hand, then further back. CRANING UP past his parents standing there,

       up from the neighbor's house to a HIGH SHOT of the neighborhood as the

       sounds of POLICE SIRENS rise in the distance.

                                                               FADE OUT:

       FADE IN TO:

5     Black. SUPERIMPOSE:

                                   SMITH'S GROVE, ILLINOIS

                                   OCTOBER 30, 1978

                                                               DISSOLVE TO:

6     EXT. HIGHWAY - RAIN - NIGHT

       Two headlights appear in the darkness, backlighting the rain that

       pours down on a lonely strip of highway. A station wagon HISSES along

       the wet road surface.

7     INT. STATION WAGON - NIGHT

       The baack seat is separated from the front by a wire-mesh screen, much

       like a police car. MARION, 30, drives. She is dressed in a crisp,

       white nurse's uniform. Next to her in the passenger seat is SAM

       LOOMIS, a clinical psychiatrist. He is a tough-looking man in his

       forties who flips through pages in a manila folder.

                                   LOOMIS

                     ...then he gets another physical by the

                     state, and he makes his apperance before

                     the judge. That should take four hours

                     if we're lucky, then we're on our way.

                                   MARION

                     What did you use before?

                                   LOOMIS

                     Thorazin.

                                   MARION

                     He'll barely be able to sit up.

                                   LOOMIS

                     That's the idea. Here we are.

8     POV THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD - SANITARIUM

       Through the rain we see a large sign:

                            SMITH'S GROVE - WARREN COUNTY

                                   SANITARIUM

       Behind the sign is the sanitarium itself, a cold-looking building

       surrounded by a fence.

9     INT. STATION WAGON

                                   LOOMIS (cont'd)

                     The driveway's a few hundred yards up

                     on your right.

                                   MARION

                     Are there any special instructions?

                                   LOOMIS

                     Just try to understand what we're

                     dealing with here. Don't underestimate

                     it.

                                   MARION

                     I think we should refer to 'it' as

                     'him.'

                                   LOOMIS

                     If you say so.

                                   MARION

                     Your compassion is overwhelming,

                     Doctor.

       Loomis glances at Marion as she lights a cigarette. She shoves the

       matches into the pack and tosses it on the dashboard. Loomis stares at

       the cigarette pack. The pack of matches reads: "The Rabbit in Red

       Lounge -- Entertainment Nightly." Loomis turns his eyes back to the

       rain-slicked road.

                                   LOOMIS

                     Ever done anything like this before?

                                   MARION

                     Only minimum security.

                                   LOOMIS

                     I see.

                                   MARION

                            (defensively)

                     What does that mean?

                                   LOOMIS

                     It means...I see.