THIS MATERIAL IS THE PROPERTY OF EDWARD R. PRESSMAN FILM CORPORATION ("PRESSMAN") AND IS INTENDED AND RESTRICTED SOLELY FOR USE BY PRESSMAN PERSONNEL, DISTRIBUTION AND DISCLOSURE OF THE MATERIAL TO UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS, OR THE SALE, COPYING, OR REPRODUCTION OF THIS MATERIAL, IN ANY FORM, IS PROHIBITED. THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION AND THE CHARACTERS DEPICTED HEREIN IN NO WAY RESEMBLE ANYONE LIVING OR DEAD.
FADE IN ON:
DEEP SHADOW
Parts of the screen slowly lighten to REVEAL what appears to be the silhouette of Christ on the cross. The shadow of a birdflutters into frame,landing on its shoulder.
BASIL (V.O.) Let he remain; for he with righteous eye look upon death and yet not die and through the streets the black angels go; in heaven we shall meet, so says the crow.
The figure comes into focus to REVEAL it's a SCARECROW with a large black crow on its shoulder. Slowly PULL BACK to REVEAL it's perched atop arundowntwostory tenement building.
Subtitle reads: "October 31, 2010 Halloween" as we TILT DOWN the face of the building, which is at the end of a
DEADEND STREET Thesound of a RUMBLINGengine and BOOMING opera precedes the arrival of an ominous black hotrodded hearse.
The driver's side door opens. Out steps MAX, a small hunchback in a black chauffeur's uniform. He steps around to the passenger's side rear door and opens it.
A very tall, 50ish man with black hair steps out. His razorsharp features, accented by long jagged sideburns and a pointed goatee, resemble nothing short of Satan himself. But in direct contrast to his evil face are his clothes a priest's suit and collar. This is FATHER DAMIEN FINCH.
DAMIEN Max, the bag.
MAX Got it right here, boss.
DAMIEN Follow me.
Max follows Damien up the steps and into the building
INT. BUILDING SAME
The halls are lined with flickering jacko'lanterns. Max limps after Damien up the creaky stairs to the second floor.
MAX Sweet Jesus, somebody in this building sure loves Halloween, eh boss?
DAMIEN When I want the opinion of a humpback mongoloid, you'll be the first to know. Until then, keep your sideshow babble to yourself.
MAX Yes, boss. Sorry, boss.
Damien stops before a door adorned with strange voodoo paraphernalia. Loud noises of sex coming from within. Damien pounds on the door and waits.
A bald, GORILLALIKE MAN answers in a filthy bunny costume. Damien pushes him aside and enters
THE APARTMENT A filthy packrat heaven. More Halloween decorations. Piles of junk, old newspapers and garbage. Birdcages stuffed with chickens hang from the ceiling. Overfed cats lie everywhere.
Sitting among it is an illtempered dwarf, RONNIE, watching three TV's, each playing a different porn film. Sitting next to him is an ARMLESS OLD MAN breathing from an oxygen tank. The Dwarf acknowledges Damien, then goes back to watching TV.
INT. HALLWAY
Max follows Damien down a long hallway. It's a taxidermist's dream, lined with every dead animal imaginable. A dead dog is crucified to a heavy wooden door at the end of it.
Damien snaps his fingers and motions for the bag. Max hands over the bag.
DAMIEN Wait in the car. Max limps back down the hall. Damien KNOCKS on the door.
GRETCHEN (O.S.) Who is it?
Damien.
DAMIEN
The door opens and Damien enters. As the door shuts behind him, PUSH IN~ON the dog's head, its eye sockets squirming with maggots.
INT. GRETCHEN'S ROOM SAME
GRETCHEN HAGGIS, an old witch, stands opposite Damien over a bizarre cauldron shaped like a threeheaded wolf. Swirling smoke and brilliant beams of light pour forth, illuminating strange sculptures of demonic figures that line the room. These figures seem to come to life when hit with the powerful light.
GRETCHEN Give it here, give it here.
Damien opens the bag and removes a bundle wrapped in plastic.
DAMIEN This is the last.
GRETCHEN Yes, number thirteen. The circle is now complete. All is as it should be, all is as it shall be. a She unwraps the plastic to reveal a BABY. It has second, tiny deformed head growing from its neck. Gretchen smiles.
GRETCHEN Mmmm... two heads, what a little cuter.
Gretchen drops the baby in the cauldron and the room explodes with fiery light. As they stare into the vapors, their eyes turn completely white, as though they are possessed.
GRETCHEN I see the gods of Kasimordon are smiling down upon you, Damien. I see their sharp pearly teeth stretching back in beautiful grins. They have the answers you seek.
Shadowy spirit figures appear in the rising smoke now.
DAMIEN Tell me, I must know! I've waited a lifetime for these answers. Are my dreams truly the shapes of things to come? Have I seen the future?
GRETCHEN Ah, the future... explain this future.
The spirit figures suddenly shoot into Damien's body. He goes into a delusional state.
DAMIEN Yesss... the future... the beautiful visions of dead upon dead...
MOVE IN TIGHT on Damien's blood red eyes
A DEATH MONTAGE
as we
DISSOLVE TO:
of the world's terrifying future. Diseased bodies lay dead and dying in thestreets.DISEASE CONTROL WORKERS in plague suitscollect the bodies and burn them.Damien walks among the horror, unaffected. Thriving in it.
DAMIEN (V.O.) Misery upon misery... the ground bleeding beneath my steps in a dying frenzy.
EXT. ABANDONED BUILDING NIGHT
Damien preaches to a small crowd.
DAMIEN Matthew 16:18.Upon this rockI will build my church and the gates of Hades shall notprevail against it.
INT. CHURCH NIGHT
DISSOLVE TO:
DISSOLVE TO:
A slightly older Damien, now wearing a flowingrobe, makeshift church. A large crowd sits mesmerized.
inside a
DAMIEN Revelations 118... I am he that livith and was dead and am alive for evermore and I have the keys of death and Hades... DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. GALLOWS NIGHT
Several people wait to be hanged at a large wooden gallows. Damien addresses the crowd, his hair now long and gray.
DAMIEN Brothers and sisters, this is a dawning of a new day. The heretics responsible for our suffering will be exposed and (MORE)
DAMIEN (cont'd) exterminated. We shall punish the guilty and cleanse our world of Satan's servants.
The floor drops open and they fall, their necks snapping collectively like a clap.of thunder. The crowd ROARS and chants Damien's name. He overlooks them, arms raised.
DAMIEN (V.O.) The power of hate... pure, untainted power... like a velvet glove cast in iron, clutching the throat of a sick, anemic world... a world where the meek inherit nothing but pain and suffering, constant and eternal.
INT. GRETCHEN'S ROOM SAME
DISSOLVE TO:
Lightning crashes, then all is normal again. The lights subside, the smoke settles. Their eyes return to normal.
DAMIEN So... it is true.
GRETCHEN Oh, yes, my brother Damien. These are not mere hallucinations. These are the prophecies.
DAMIEN But when... how will I know?
GRETCHEN You will know. Soon the jaws of hell will snap open and the cards of fate will be dealt. You, my friend, will be one of the fortunate few dealt a winning hand.
Something new in the vapors catches Gretchen's attention.
GRETCHEN (CONT'D) Hmmm, something isn't right.
What?
DAMIEN What do you see? Is there more?
GRETCHEN I see an obstacle. It's faint, but I see... an adversary.
More smoke belches from the cauldron.
EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD STREET DUSK
A faint image forms...
DISSOLVE TO:
A street sign: "Bray Street." CHILDREN in Halloween costumes run by as we PUSH IN ON a house. A friendly scarecrow propped in the wellkept yard. We CONTINUE through the front door.
INT. HOUSE SAME
A nine yearold boy, BASIL GORGON, is helping his MOM, an attractive woman in her mid30's, decorate a Halloween cake.
GRETCHEN (V.0.) It is a child. He is small and frail, but one day he will stand between you and the legacy of brutality you desire.
PUSH IN on the cake, its design a skull with wings. "R.I.P." written on the forehead and "Happy Halloween" on the bottom.
DAMIEN (V.O.) Impossible. How can this boy threaten me...? Jeopardize my plans?
INT. GRETCHEN'S ROOM SAME
The image grows hazier before them.
GRETCHEN This I cannot explain. But believe what I speak, Damien. There is more to this boy than even I can see. He is a threat!
CUT TO:
Damien becomes grim as he watches the vanishing image the laughing face of Basil. Lightning crashes as we
CLOSE ON A TELEVISION SCREEN
DISSOLVE TO:
Playing, "UNCLE WOLFIE'S CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE," a black and white, lowbudget 60'sstyle horror movie show. The host, UNCLE WOLFIE, vampire and a werewolf. He sits in a cheesy graveyard set on an ornate sofa made of coffin lids. He speaks in a bad Bela Lugosi voice.
UNCLE WOLFIE Aoooooo! Well, boils and ghouls, I hope it's not too scary for you, my little fiends. A ha, ha, ha.If it is, you better call your mummy... shouting) Mummy!
An EGYPTIAN MUMMY walks over and sits with Uncle Wolfie.
UNCLE WOLFIE (CONT'D) Welcome, Mummy. Speaking of mummy's, what do you get when you cross a mummy with a vampire... hmmm?
PULL BACK to REVEAL we are
INT. BASIL'S HOUSE NIGHT
Basil sits on a stool in front of the TV, dressed for Halloween in a black robe and skeleton gloves. His MOM applies skull makeup to his face. Basil has a white streak in his hair and a large bandaid on his forehead.
BASIL A giftwrapped bat.
The action on TV shows a toy bat wrapped in bandages dropping from above and dangling over Uncle Wolfie's head.
UNCLE WOLFIE A giftwrapped bat! nowHoo hoo! And for something really disgustingly horrifyinegvil,awordfromoursponsor.
Moo! As Basil and his mother break into laughter, PAN OVER TO a framed family portrait of a baby Basil with his mother and FATHER,'who is dressed in a police uniform. CUT TO:
EXT. BASIL'S STREET NIGHT Alive with Halloween excitement. CHILDREN dressed as witches, ghosts and goblins scurry from house to house. CUT TO:
INT. BASIL'S HOUSE NIGHT Basil is sitting at the kitchen table, eating cookies and milk. Mom is washing dishes.
BASIL Mom. MOM Yeah, Baz. BASIL (re: his bandaid) Can I take this off? It looks dumb. The Crimson Ghost wouldn't wear a stupid bandaid.
MOM Well, maybe the Crimson Ghost shouldn't get into so many fights at school and he wouldn't have to. BASIL But Mom, I told you, Davey Vines took Joey's spelling book. I had to hit him. He was laughing at us and calling us Momma's boys. MOM I know baby, but you can't keep fighting with those big kids. Just ignore them, okay?
BASIL That's not what Dad would've done.
MOM (sighs sadly) I know, but... just be careful, Baz. (goes to inspect his wound) Let's take a look... (peels back the bandaid) I guess it's healed. But promise me now, no more fighting.
Basil looks sincere, but crosses his fingers behind his back.
BASIL I promise.
MOM Good. Now ready? One, two... (rips off the bandaid) Three.
BASIL You tricked me.
She winks, tweaks his nose. Then the doorbell RINGS. Basil jumps up excitedly and runs toward the door.
BASIL I got it! I got it!
MOM (shouting after him) See who it is before you open the door!
Basil runs down a short hallway to the front door. He pulls up a step stool and looks through the peephole.
BASIL'S P.O.V. THROUGH PEEPHOLE
It looks like a father and son trickortreating. The father is dressed as a devil in a red hooded robe, a grinning mask covering his face. His son is in a creepylooking clown suit.
BACK TO BASIL
stepping off the stool and opening the door. The clown just stares at Basil. The devil peers inside to see if anyone else is home.
BASIL Hey, Bozo, you're supposed to say, "trick ortreat." (the clown just stares) I can't give you any candy until you say "trick or treat." That's the rule.
The clown opens his sack and sings in a deep, adult voice.
CLOWN Trick or treat,smell my feet, give me something good to eat.
The clown actually Ronnie throws his sack over Basil's head and carries him kicking and screaming inside the apartment. The devil actually Damien shuts the door.
Mom screams as they burst into the TV room with Basil.
Basil!!
MOM
She starts to run over. Damien aims a gun at her.
DAMIEN One inch closer and you die.
MOM (stops, mortified) Please don't hurt him.Take whatever you want.
DAMIEN That's exactly what I intend to do. ( to the clown) Take the bag off his head. Let the poor boy enjoy his last few breaths among the living. The clown removes the bag. Basil's makeup is now smeared with sweat, his face like the Crow makeup.running down He's in a state ofshock,numbly staring at the TV.
DAMIEN(CONT'D) So this is my arch rival.
His mother gets on her knees to beg for mercy, sobbing.
MOM No, please don't hurt him. He's all I have. God, no, I'll do anything...