FADE IN ON

that most persistent summer SOUND: crickets in high grass--
ree-ree-ree-ree... This in dark which slowly

DISSOLVES TO:

EXT.  A GRAVE MARKER  SUMMER DAY

It’s a plywood cross leaning aslant. Written on the crossarm in
black paint which has faded: SMUCKY  HE WAS OBEDIENT. The letters
are faded. They are also straggling and ill-formed--the work of a
child.

MAIN TITLES BEGIN.

EXT.  ANOTHER GRAVE MARKER

A child’s printing again, this time on a chunk of warped crating:
BIFFER BIFFER A HELLUVA SNIFFER UNTIL HE DIED HE MADE US RICHER 
1971-1974.

MAIN TITLES CONTINUE

EXT.  TWO MARKERS

I think all these shots are LAP DISSOLVES. All is silence but for
the crickets and the wind stirring the grass. Around the markers
themselves, the grass has been clipped short, and by some markers
there are flowers in cheap vases. Crisco cans, Skippy peanut
butter jars, etc.

These two markers: IN MEMORY OF MARTA OUR PET RABIT DYED MARCH 1,
1965 (on a wide flat board) and GEN PATTON (OUR! GOOD! DOG!) APRIL
1958 (another board).

MAIN TITLES CONTINUE

EXT.  FIVE OR SIX MARKERS

We can’t read all of them; some are too faded (or the
"gravestones" themselves too degenerated), but we can see now that
this woodland clearing’s a rather eerie -- and well-populated --
animal graveyard.

We can see: POLYNESIA, 1953 and HANNAH THE BEST DOG THAT EVER
LIVED. HANNAH’S tombstone is part of an old Chevrolet hood,
painstakingly hammered flat.

MAIN TITLES CONTINUE.

EXT.  ANGLE ON THE PET SEMATARY

From here we can see most of the clearing, which is surrounded by
forest pines. We can see that the graves--maybe 80 in all--are
arranged in rough concentric circles. On the far side of this
clearing is the end of a path which spills into this graveyard
clearing. The end of the path is flanked by wooden poles which
hold up a crude arch. We can see no writing on this side -- the
words on the arch face those arriving along the path.

MAIN TITLES CONTINUE

EXT.  THE ARCH, FROM THE PATH SIDE, CU

MAIN TITLES CONCLUDE. Written on the arch in faded black paint is
the work of some long-gone child: PET SEMATARY.

THE CAMERA HOLDS ON THIS FOR A MOMENT OR TWO, THEN PANS SLOWLY
DOWN to look through the arch. From this angle we are looking
across to a deadfall--a tangle of weather-whitened old dead
branches at the back of the graveyard. It’s maybe twenty-five feet
from side to side and about nine feet high. At either end are
thick tangles of underbrush that look impassible.

AS MAIN TITLES CONCLUDE, THE CAMERA MOVES SLOWLY IN on the
deadfall. And as it does, we realize that there is a horrible
snarling face in those branches. Is this an accident? Coincidence?
Our imagination? Perhaps the audience will wonder. THE CAMERA
HOLDS ON IT and then we

DISSOLVE TO:

BLACK. And a white title card: MOVING DAY.

EXT.  A HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY  EVENING

SOUND of crickets: ree-ree-ree-ree...

To the left of this house: a big empty field. Behind it: the
woods. Before it: a wide two-lane road.

The house is a pleasant two-story New England dwelling with a
shed/garage attached. In front of it is a sign which reads QUINN
REALTORS 292 HAMMOND STREET, BANGOR. A big SOLD strip, like a
bumper sticker, has been plastered across it diagonally.

GROWING SOUND: the rumble of a truck. A big, big truck. It belts
between the CAMERA and the house -- a tanker truck with a silver
body and the word ORINCO written on the side in blue letters. Its
short-stack is blowing quantities of dark brown smoke. Behind it
comes a Ford wagon, which slows, signals, and turns into the
driveway of the house we’ve been looking at.

EXT.  REAR OF THE WAGON

As LOUIS CREED brings it to a stop we get a good look at the
license plate (Illinois) and a bumper sticker (HAVE YOU HUGGED
YOUR M.D. TODAY?)

The ENGINE SOUND stops. For a moment or two we hear only the ree-
ree-ree-ree of crickets. Then:

ELLIE CREED (voice)
Is this our new house, daddy?

LOUIS CREED (voice)
This is it.

EXT.  THE WAGON, A NEW ANGLE

The two front doors and one back door open. LOUIS CREED, about 32,
gets out from the driver’s side. RACHEL CREED, his wife, gets out
from the passenger side. From the rear door comes ELLIE CREED, a
girl of 6. They are staring, fascinated, at the house.

They come together, the three of them, by the front of the wagon,
still staring at the house. LOUIS is clearly nervous.

LOUIS
So...what do you think?

RACHEL begins to smile. She turns to LOUIS and hugs him.

RACHEL
It’s gorgeous!

ELLIE
Am I really gonna have my own room?

LOUIS
Yes.

ELLIE
Yaay!

She looks toward the side lawn and sees a tire on a rope hanging
down from the bough of a tree.

ELLIE (to RACHEL)
Is that a swing?

RACHEL
Yes, but the rope might be--

ELLIE
Yaay!

She goes running toward it. RACHEL gives LOUIS a tired smile.

LOUIS
Let her go. It’s cool.

RACHEL
Louis, the house is beautiful.

They kiss--gently at first, then more passionately. As he draws
her more tightly against him, a baby--GAGE--begins to cry from the
car. LOUIS and RACHEL break the clinch.

RACHEL
The Master of Disaster awakes.

This SOUND is joined by the unhappy yowling of a pent-up tomcat.

LOUIS
And Buckaroo Banzai.

RACHEL
Come on--let’s parole ’em.

They walk to the car, RACHEL going to one of the back seat doors,
LOUIS to the rear of the wagon.

INT.  THE FRONT SEAT, WITH RAHEL AND GAGE

GAGE is sitting in his car seat, not exactly crying but certainly
yelling to be let out. The seat, dash, and floorboards are
littered with roadmaps, soda cans, Big Mac boxes, and similar
crud. These folks have driven all the way from Chicago to Maine in
this station wagon, and the wagon looks it.

RACHEL
Decided to wake up and see what home
looks like, huh?

She begins to unbuckle the straps and harnesses. GAGE is just
wearing a t-shirt and a diaper. He’s fifteen months old.

EXT.  THE REAR OF THE WAGON, WITH LOUIS

He opens the doorgate and lifts out a cat carrier. We see a big
tomcat inside--mostly what we’re aware of are shining green eyes.

ELLIE (voice)
Daddy! Mommy! I see a path!

LOUIS, cat carrier still in hand, turns toward:

EXT.  ELLIE IN THE TIRE SWING

She’s got it penduluming back and forth in long wide arcs.

EXT.  THE VIEW UP TOWARD THE WOODS, ELLIE’S POV

We see the field, and a clearly marked and mown path leading up
its flank and into the dark woods.

THE CAMERA DIPS AND PENDULUMS as ELLIE swings.

EXT.  RACHEL AND GAGE (FRONT OF THE CAR)

RACHEL (irritated)
Not so high, Ellie! You don’t know
how strong that rope is.

She puts GAGE down. He totters a bit on his little legs and then
stands there, looking at his sister.

EXT.  THE ROPE AND THE BRANCH, CU

The bark has rubbed off the branch--it looks like a bone peeping
through decayed flesh. The rope is old, discolored. And it is
fraying away as we look at it. Soon ELLIE, like Humpty Dumpty, is
going to have a great fall.

EXT.  LOUIS (REAR OF THE CAR)

He’s set the cat-carrier down and is straightening up.

ELLIE (raptuous voice)
Wheee!

LOUIS
Ellie, you heard your m---

His eyes widen.

EXT.  ELLIE

ELLIE
Wh--

SOUND: A heavy twang! as the rope breaks. The tire swing--with
ELLIE still inside it--goes crashing to the grass. ELLIE screams
and begins to cry--a little hurt and a lot surprised.

LOUIS and RACHEL run to her.

LOUIS RACHEL
Ellie! Are you all right? Honey? Are you okay?

EXT.  ELLIE, RACHEL, LOUIS, A CLOSER SHOT

ELLIE’S parents reach the tangle of tire, rope, and six-year-old
girl.

ELLIE
Hurrts! It hurrrrts!

LOUIS
Anyone who can scream that loud isn’t
ready for intensive care just yet--
looks like she just skinned her knee.

Nevertheless, he begins to rapidly disentangle his daughter from
the tire. RACHEL helps.

EXT.  GAGE

He’s standing in the driveway by the front of the car, utterly
forgotten in the heat of the moment. His diaper is sagging quite a
bit; the boy needs a change.

He stares toward the scene of the accident for a bit, then loses
interest. CAMERA FOLLOWS as he walks down the side of the station
wagon, little bare feet slapping on the asphalt. He stops for a
moment at the back, looking at the cat-carrier, which LOUIS never
got around to opening. CHURCH is staring hopefully out through the
mesh.

GAGE
Hi-Durch!

CHURCH
Waow!

GAGE bends down and tries to open the cat-carrier’s door. No soap.
Either he can’t solve the latch or his fingers don’t have the
strength. Anyway, he stops trying after a moment.

SOUND: Growing thunder of an approaching truck - a big one.

EXT.  THE ROAD (GAGE’S POV)

A big tanker truck--silver body, ORINCO written on the side in
blue letters--blasts by.

EXT.  GAGE, BY THE CAT CARRIER

The windlash if the passing truck blows GAGE’S hair back from his
forehead. We should be scared here--not by the truck, but by
GAGE’S lack of fear. He’s smiling, happy.

GAGE
Druck!

He starts down the driveway toward the road.

EXT.  LOUIS, RACHEL, ELLIE (AT THE SWING)

ELLIE has been disentangled from the swing. She’s sitting by the
wreckage at the end of the driveway, weeping hysterically (as much
from tiredness as from pain, I think) as LOUIS and RACHEL examine
her scraped knee. The wound doesn’t look too serious.

LOUIS (to RACHEL)
Would you get the first aid kit?

ELLIE (screaming)
Not the stingy stuff! I don’t want the
stingy stuff, daddy!

RACHEL suddenly looks around toward:

EXT.  THE FRONT OF THE WAGON (RACHEL’S POV)

No one there.

EXT.  RACHEL, ELLIE, LOUIS, BY THE SWING

RACHEL
Gage’s gone!

LOUIS
Jesus, the road!

They get up together.

EXT.  GAGE, AT THE EDGE OF THE ROAD

A truck is coming. A great big one.

EXT.  ANGLE ON THE TRUCK, CU

The grille looks like a tombstone that’s learned how to snarl.

EXT.  GAGE

He takes a step into the road...and then big, gnarled hands grab
him.

GAGE looks rather surprised at this, but not worried--this kid is
used to being picked up and treated humanely. To GAGE strangers
are as interesting as...well, as interesting as Orinco trucks.

EXT.  GAGE AND JUD CRANDALL

The fellow who has picked GAGE up is a man of about eighty in old
blue jeans, a faded Bruce Springsteen t-shirt. Over this he wears
a faded khaki vest with bright silver buttons. His face is deeply
wrinkled and kindly.

JUD CRANDALL (to GAGE)
No you don’t, my friend--not in
that road.

But he softens this with a grin. GAGE grins back at him.

GAGE
Drucks!

JUD (low)
No shit, Sherlock.

JUD carries him up the driveway to the station wagon. Here he’s
joined by LOUIS and RACHEL, out of breath and really scared. ELLIE
brings up the rear. She’s still sniffling.

RACHEL
Gage!

JUD (hands him to her)
He was headed for the road, looked
like. I corralled him for you, missus.

RACHEL
Thank you. Thank you so much.

LOUIS
Yes--thanks. I’m Louis Creed.

He sticks out his hand and JUD shakes it. LOUIS takes it easy--no
crushing JayCees grip, or anything like that--the old guy looks as
if he might have arthritis.

JUD
Jud Crandall. I live just across the road.

RACHEL
I’m Rachel. Thanks again for saving
the wandering minstrel boy, here.

JUD
No harm, no foul. But you want to watch
out for that road. Those damn trucks go
back and forth all day and most of the
night.

He leans over toward ELLIE.

JUD
Who might you be, little Miss?

ELLIE
I’m Ellen Creed and I live at 642
Alden Lane, Dearborn, Michigan. (Pause)
At least, I used to.

JUD
And now you live on Route 9 in Ludlow,
and your dad’s gonna be the new doctor
up to the college, I hear, and I think
you’re going to be just as happy as a
clam here, Ellen Creed.

ELLIE (to LOUIS)
Are clams really happy?

They all laugh--even GAGE.

RACHEL
Excuse me, Mr. Crandall--I’ve got to
change this kid. It’s nice to meet you.

JUD
Same here. Come over and visit when
you get the chance.

As RACHEL, carrying GAGE, moves away:

ELLIE (worries)
Daddy, do I really have to have the
stingy stuff?

LOUIS
No-I guess not.

ELLIE
Yayyy!

She goes belting off.

JUD (amused)
I guess your daughter there ain’t
going to die after all.

LOUIS (also amused)
I guess not.

JUD
House has stood empty for too long.
It’s damn good to see people in it again.

SOUND: A truck engine, gearing down.

EXT.  A MOVING VAN

It blinks and comes lumbering into the Creed’s driveway.

EXT.  LOUIS AND JUD

LOUIS
Hey--they actually found the place!

JUD
Movin’ in’s mighty thirsty work. I
usually sit out on my porch of an evening
and pour a couple of beers over m’dinner.
Come on over and join me, if you want.

LOUIS
Well, maybe I----

RACHEL (voice)
Louis, what’s this?

EXT.  RACHEL AND GAGE

GAGE has been changed, and RACHEL is following him as he explores
the nearest edges of the new homestead. They are fairly close to
the wreckage of the tire swing, and here is the head of the path
ELLIE has already glimpsed.

EXT.  LOUIS AND JUD

They cross to the van. The FIRST and SECOND MOVERS are just
climbing out of the van.

FIRST MOVER
You Mr. Creed?

LOUIS
Yes. Just a second.

EXT.  RACHEL AND GAGE, AT THE HEAD OF THE PATH

She’s holding GAGE on her hip now, and both of them are looking at
that strange (and oddly enticing) path which disappears into the
deepening twilight. LOUIS and JUD join them.

LOUIS
The movers--

RACHEL
Yes--I know. This path, Louis? Where does
it go?

LOUIS
I don’t have the slightest idea. When I saw
the house, this field was under four feet
of snow.

RACHEL (smiling)
I bet Mr. Crandall knows!

JUD nods. He smiles, too, but underneath the smile we sense that
he is serious.

JUD
Oh, ayuh! I know. It’s a good story, and
a good walk, too. I’ll take you up there
sometime, and tell you the story, too--
after you get settled in.

He smiles at them and they smile back--it is a look of
understanding and real liking, in spite of the age difference
between the CREEDS and JUD.

EXT.  THE CREED HOUSE  NIGHT

SOUND: Crickets. Ree--ree--ree-ree...

There’s one light upstairs, one downstairs. Perhaps we see the
path, glimmering away into the field? Either by virtue of it being
mown, or by virtue of some gentle optical trick? Maybe.

INT.  THE LIVING ROOM  NIGHT

There’s a light on in the kitchen, but it just casts a dim glow in
here. The room has a fireplace and a lovely wooden floor. It’s
going to be nice, but now it’s just a big bare box with movers’
cartons stacked all over the place.

LOUIS is drinking a can of Pepsi, and he looks pretty damned
tired--anyone who’s ever moved house and can remember the first
night in the new place will understand.

He finishes the last of the Pepsi and surveys the living room. He
sits on one of the bigger boxes, takes cigarettes from his pocket,
and lights one. He drops the spent match in the empty can, and
taps into the can during the scene.

SOUND: Feet coming down the stairs. The door on the far side of
the room opens and RACHEL comes in, wearing a nightgown.

RACHEL (crossing to LOUIS)
Kids are asleep, doc.

LOUIS
Great.

He hugs her. She hugs him back warmly--for a moment they are just
two good people in all the big darkness of their new house.

RACHEL
You’re not really going over to have a
beer with that old guy, are you?

LOUIS
Well, I’ve got a million questions about
the area, and---

RACHEL
---and you’ll end up doing a free
consultation on his arthritis or urinary
problems and---

LOUIS
Did you see his shirt?

RACHEL (giggles)
Sure. Bruce Springsteen.

LOUIS
I really do have a million questions
about the area...but the thing I’m
really curious about is how come this
octogenarian Yankee is decorating the
slumped remains of his pecs with the
Boss.

She laughs.

EXT.  THE PATH OF THE CRANDALL HOUSE  NIGHT

Pervasive SOUND of the crickets as LOUIS comes rather hesitantly
up the crazy-paved path from the road’s edge.

JUD (voice)
That you, doc?

EXT.  THE SCREENED-IN PORCH OF THE CRANDALL HOUSE

We hear the SQUEAK of a rocker; we see the dim red fitful glow of
JUD’S Pall Mall. We see by its glow that he is wearing Walkman
earphones.

EXT.  LOUIS

LOUIS
It’s me.

INT.  THE PORCH, WITH JUD

The Walkman is in his lap. He switches it off and puts the
headphones casually around his neck, like a kid.

JUD
Well, come on up and have a beer.

INT.  THE PORCH, A SLIGHTLY WIDER SHOT

LOUIS comes on up. JUD has got a pail of ice beside his chair with
some cans of beer in it. He opens one and hands it to LOUIS.

JUD
You need a glass?

LOUIS
Not at all.

JUD
Good for you.

LOUIS drinks half the can at a draught.

LOUIS
God, that’s fine.

JUD
Ain’t it just? The man who invented
beer, Louis, that man was having a
prime day for himself.

LOUIS
What were you listening to?

JUD
Allman Brothers.

LOUIS
What?

JUD
The Eat A Peach album. God, they were
good before drugs and bad luck caught
up with them. Listen to this, Louis.

He passes the headphones over. LOUIS puts them on. JUD presses the
Walkman’s PLAY button.

SOUND: Ramblin’ Man blasts us out of our seats.

LOUIS winces and rakes the spidery earphones off his head.

JUD
I’m sorry. Wait.

He turns it down.

JUD
Try that.

LOUIS puts the earphones back on and listens for a few moments.
It’s the instrumental break. Gregg and Duane Allman dueling hot
Fenders. LOUIS takes the earphones off.

LOUIS
Nice.

JUD
I like rock and roll. No...I guess
that’s too mild. I love it. Since
my ears started to die out on me,
it’s the only music I can really hear.
And since my wife died...I dunno, some-
times a little rock and roll fills up
night. Not always, but sometimes. (Pause)
One more time--welcome to Ludlow. Hope
your time here will be a happy one.

LOUIS (great sincerity)
Thank you, Mr. Crandall.

He drinks again--they both do. There’s a moment of companionable
silence here, broken by the SOUND of a big truck. They look
toward:

EXT/INT.  THE ROAD (THROUGH THE PORCH SCREEN)

One of those big tanker trucks goes rumbling by--now there are
little amber running lights on top of it. It’s going fast, too--
sweeps by in a blast of air.

INT.  THE PORCH, WITH LOUIS AND JUD

LOUIS (wincing)
Jesus!

JUD (lights a cigarette)
That’s one mean road, all right--you
remember that path your wife commented on?

LOUIS
The one that goes into the woods--sure.

JUD
That road--and those Orinco trucks--
are the two main reasons it’s there.

LOUIS
What’s at the end of it?

JUD (smiles)
Another day--after you get settled in a
bit. Meantime, doc---

Here JUD raises his glass in a toast.

JUD (continues)
Here’s to your bones.

LOUIS clinks his glass against JUD’S.

LOUIS
And yours.

They drink.

EXT.  ROUTE 9  NIGHT

LOUIS crosses from the CRANDALL side to his own, and the CAMERA
FOLLOWS as he walks slowly up the driveway and past the wagon. He
pauses for a moment, looking thoughtfully--hopefully--at his new
house. Then something--the CRY of an OWL, perhaps--draws his
attention the other way...toward the path.

He walks to its head and stands looking out at it--it glimmers in
a wide cut swath that’s a bit ghostly in the dark.

A SHAPE suddenly lurches out of the high grass at him, and LOUIS
recoils with a startled, muffled cry.

EXT.  CHURCH

The cat, sure; who--or what--else? We see his big green eyes in
the dark as he cries his strange feline hello: Waow!

EXT.  LOUIS AND CHURCH, AT THE HEAD OF THE PATH

LOUIS
Church! God, you scared the life
out of me!

CHURCH
Waow!

LOUIS bends and picks up the cat. As he does, that truck SOUND
comes again and he looks toward:

EXT.  THE ROAD, LOUIS’S POV

Another Orinco tanker drones by, fast.

EXT.  LOUIS AND CHURCH

LOUIS (to the cat)
I know one thing that will keep you
home, good buddy.

He starts toward the house.

BLACK. And in that blackness, we see a second title card: THE DEAD
SPEAK.

INT.  A KITCHEN BLACKBOARD, CU  DAY

Written on it is: MONDAY 1.) CHURCH SPAYED 10 A.M. QUENTIN
JOLANDER, D.V.M. And below, in even bigger letters: 2.) ELLIE’S
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!

THE CAMERA PANS LEFT, showing us the kitchen. There are still a
few cardboard cartons around, but the place is getting in shape.

We look out the window and see the CREEDS, led by JUD CRANDALL,
climbing the path toward the woods. LOUIS has got GAGE in a
Gerrypak.

EXT.  AT THE TOP OF THE HILL, WITH CREEDS AND JUD

They are also at the edge of the woods. JUD stops and lets them
catch up.

JUD
Take a look behind you.

They turn around, and their faces express their wonder.

LOUIS
My God!

RACHEL
It’s beautiful!

EXT.  THE VIEW

It is indeed beautiful. The CREED house is in the f.g., Route 9
just behind it (with one of the ever-present Orinco trucks droning
along), but behind that is the great sweep of the Penobscot river
valley, dozing under a fall sky of clear blue.

EXT.  AT THE TOP OF THE HILL, WITH JUD AND THE CREEDS

JUD
You folks ready to go on?

LOUIS
Sure.

ELLIE
But where are we going, Mr. Crandall?

JUD
You’ll see soon enough, hon.

They go into the woods, still following the path.

EXT.  FOREST  DAY

These are old woods indeed--huge trunks with dusty sunlight
shafting through them. It looks as though man has never made his
mark here.

THE CAMERA PANS SLOWLY DOWN to them, on the path. Here it is
carpeted with pine needles, but it is just as clearly marked.

JUD stops. LOUIS looks glad of the rest; he’s sweating and there
are wide dark patches under his arms where the Gerrypak’s straps
are.

LOUIS
Who owns the woods up ahead? Paper
companies?

JUD
Nope. The Micmac Indians. What’s up
ahead is all that’s left of their
tribal lands.

ELLIE (giggling)
Micmac, Ricmac, Kickmac, Sickmac.

JUD (smiles)
Ayuh, it’s a funny word, ain’t it?
You tired of totin’ that yowwen yet, doc?

LOUIS
Not yet...how much further is it?

JUD
Aw, you’ll be okay. Less than a mile.

He starts off again, fresh as a daisy. ELLIE scampers after him.
LOUIS rolls his eyes at his wife and RACHEL rolls hers back. Then
they press on.

EXT.  THE ARCH READING PET SEMATARY

EXT.  JUD AND THE CREEDS, ON THE PATH

JUD (stopping)
This is the place, honey.

ELLIE is of course second. Se tries to read the words on the arch
but can’t. She whips around to look at her mother.

ELLIE
What’s it say, mommy?

A strange expression has come over RACHEL’S face--she doesn’t like
this. Not a bit.

RACHEL
It says Pet Cemetery, hon. It’s
misspelled, but...that’s what it
says.

She runs for the arch. RACHEL starts; looks more uneasy than ever.

RACHEL
Ellen--!

EXT.  ELLIE

She’s almost under the arch. She looks back, questioning.

EXT.  RACHEL, LOUIS, JUD

RACHEL (a bit lame)
Be careful.

EXT.  ELLIE

She goes racing into the Pet Sematary.

EXT.  RACHEL, LOUIS, JUD

JUD lights a cigarette with a wooden match, using his thumbnail.

JUD
I told you it was a bad road,
Louis--it’s killed a lot of pets
and made a lot of kids unhappy.
But at least something good come
of it. This place.

ELLIE (excited voice)
Mom! Dad! Y’oughtta see it!

EXT.  ELLIE, AT THE EDGE OF THE SEMATARY

She surveys the rude markers with puzzled delight, then runs
toward the center, pausing to investigate some of the markers as
she goes. We clearly see the symmetrical pattern of rings.

EXT.  RACHEL, LOUIS, JUD

They are walking slowly toward that rude archway. LOUIS is
extremely interested in all this, but it’s becoming clearer and
clearer that RACHEL is troubled. They stop and look in.

RACHEL
How can you call it a good thing?
A graveyard for pets killed in the
road! Built and maintained by broken-
hearted children!

JUD
Well, but Missus Creed! It ain’t
quite that way, deah!

LOUIS
I think it’s rather extraordinary.

RACHEL
Extraordinarily morbid, maybe.

She’s growing more and more upset. JUD looks at her curiously.

JUD
Well...they have to learn about death
somehow, now don’t they, Missus Creed?
The little ones?

RACHEL (coldly)
Why?

JUD
Well...well, because--

ELLIE (voice)
Mommy! Daddy! Look at me!

EXT.  ELLIE, ON THE DEADFALL

She has begun to climb it, and this looks like an extremely
dangerous proposition. ELLIE, however, is having the time of her
life. A branch breaks under one of her feet and she switches
nimbly to the next one up.

EXT.  THE GROWNUPS, AT THE ARCH

JUD (alarmed)
No, honey! You don’t want to go
climbing on that! Come on down!

He hurries in.

EXT.  ELIIE, ON THE DEADFALL

She looks back at JUD.

ELLIE
It’s okay, Mr. Crandall--

EXT.  ELLIE’S FOOT, CU

The branch she’s on breaks with a dry CRRRACK. Her foot drops down
suddenly.

EXT.  ELLIE AND JUD

She totters backward, pinwheeling her arms, and JUD catches her as
she falls. Not much of a catch because she wasn’t too far up.

LOUIS joins JUD and ELLIE. GAGE jounces along on his back.

LOUIS
Have you got a death-wish, Ellen?

ELLIE
Well, I thought it was safe--

JUD
Best never to go climbing on old blowdowns
like this, Ellie--sometimes they bite.

ELLIE
Bite?

JUD
Ayuh.

EXT.  RACHEL, STANDING AT THE ARCH

Her discomfort makes one thing very clear--she doesn’t want to
come in.

RACHEL (calls)
Is she all right, Louis?

EXT.  LOUIS, JUD, ELLIE

LOUIS (calls back)
Fine! Come and see!

EXT.  RACHEL, STANDING AT THE ARCH

RACHEL (calling)
I think I’ll sit this one out, doc.

EXT.  LOUIS, JUD, ELLIE--BY THE DEADFALL

ELLIE
I want to look around, daddy--
may I?

LOUIS
For a little while.

JUD looks toward:

EXT.  RACHEL AT THE ARCH (ELLEN IN F.G.)

RACHEL has retreated a bit. She sits on the pine needle carpet of
the path, opens her purse, and draws out cigarettes.

EXT.  LOUIS AND JUD

JUD looks at LOUIS as if to say "What’s all this about?" LOUIS
looks away.

ELLIE (voice)
Dad! Daddy! Look! A goldfishie!

EXT.  ELLIE

She runs from one tombstone to the next, cheerful as maybe only a
kid could be in such a place. She looks at BIFFER’S tombstone; at
SMUCKY’S.

EXT.  LOUIS AND JUD

They are walking slowly toward her. LOUIS is looking at the
tombstones.

LOUIS
I can hardly read these.

JUD
Ayuh--they get older as you go
toward the middle. (Points) Pete
LaVasseur’s dog is buried there...
(points) the Stoppard boys’ racing
pigeon that Missus Cowley’s cat
got...and I think that’s the cat
himself right there, although it’s
been so many years I can’t tell for
sure.
(calling)
Missy Ellen! Come over here just a
minute!

EXT.  ELLEN

She runs amid the tombstones--they have worked their way near to
the center and there are quite a few of them--and joins the
adults.

JUD
I see you’re quite a reader for such
a little girl. Can you read that?

He points again, and Ellen goes over for a look-see.

EXT.  ELLEN, AT THE GRAVE MARKER

It is a small slate marker slanted to one side. ELLEN reads the
words laboriously, tracing them with her finger.

ELLEN
"Spot a good fellow we love you boy."
(Pause) "Owned by Judson...Judson..."
Gee, I can’t read the rest.

EXT.  JUD AND LOUIS

JUD
Last name’s Crandall, little missy.

LOUIS looks at him sharply as ELLIE rejoins them.

JUD
That’s where I buried my dog Spot
when he died of old age in 19 and
14. Dug it good and deep. By the
time I finished, I had blisters all
over my hands and a hell of a crick
in my back. Soil’s stony up here.

ELLIE looks awed. LOUIS looks a little awed, too.

JUD sweeps a hand around, indicating the whole sematary, but is
still looking at ELLEN.

JUD
Do you know what this place is,
Ellie? Oh, I know you know it’s a
boneyard, but a bone ain’t nothing
and even a whole pile of ’em don’t
amount to much. Do you know what a
graveyard really is?

ELLIE
Well...I guess not.

JUD
It’s a place where the dead speak,
Missy.

He sees her startled, uneasy expression and laughs. He ruffles her
hair reassuringly.

JUD
No--not right out loud. Their stones
speak...or their markers. Even if the
marker ain’t nothing but a tin can
someone wrote on with a Magic Marker,
it speaks. Ain’t that so, Louis?

LOUIS
I think it is so, Ellie.

ELLIE
What if you can’t read what’s
written on there anymore?

JUD
Well, it still says some animal got
laid down here after, don’t it?

ELLIE
Yes--

LOUIS
And that someone cared enough about
that animal to mark the spot.

ELLIE
To remember.

JUD (smiles)
Yes. To remember. This ain’t a scary
place, Ellie. It’s a place of rest
and speaking. Can you remember that?

ELLIE (a little awed)
Yes, sir.

They start to walk slowly back toward the arch.

EXT.  RACHEL, OUTSIDE THE ARCH

It’s clear she’s impatient and out-of-sorts with the whole thing.

RACHEL (calls)
Louis, can we go? I’m tired!

EXT.  LOUIS, ELLIE, JUD

ELLIE
Mommy! This is a place where dead
animals talk! Mr. Crandall said so!

EXT.  RACHEL AND ELLIE

But RACHEL is not amused. She doesn’t like any of this.

RACHEL (soft)
Did he.

EXT.  LOUIS AND JUD

LOUIS
My wife is not crazy about cemeteries
of any kind. As you may have noticed.

JUD
Me neither. But I believe in knowing
your enemy.

LOUIS looks at him, startled, then decides this is a joke. He
laughs. JUD smiles, a trifle thinly.

EXT.  THE ARCH, A NEW ANGLE

The men rejoin RACHEL and ELLIE.

LOUIS (voice)
Did we take too long?

RACHEL (curt)
Well, if supper’s burned, I’m not
the one going out for pizza.

They move away.

EXT.  THE DEADFALL, FROM THE ARCH

The face we saw at the beginning of the movie wasn’t there when
the visitors were there...but it’s sure there now, leering at us.

INT.  THE KITCHEN TRASH CAN  NIGHT

There are two greasy boxes poking out with NAPOLI PIZZA stamped on
them. Guess dinner was burned.

THE CAMERA PULLS BACK and we se LOUIS sitting at the kitchen
table. The table is covered with newspapers. On it, LOUIS is
putting together a complicated model boat, using glue and
tweezers. He’s wearing glasses.

ELLIE comes in, wearing a nightgown. She watches him for awhile.

LOUIS (not looking around)
Hi, babe.

ELLIE
Daddy, that Pet Sematary is there
because of the road, isn’t it?

LOUIS looks around at her, surprised.

ELLIE
That’s what I think. I heard
Missy Dandridge tell Mom when
Church was fixed he wouldn’t
cross the road so much.

LOUIS
Well, it’s always better to take
precautions--but I’m sure Church
will be all right, honey...

INT.  JUST OUTSIDE THE KITCHEN DOOR

RACHEL is coming along with some dirty dishes. She hears voices
and stops, listening, her face troubled and afraid.

ELLIE (voice)
No he won’t! Not in the end! He won’t
be all right in the end no matter how
you fix ’im!

INT.  LOUIS AND ELLIE

Ellis has started to cry.

ELLIE
In the end he’s gonna croak, isn’t he?

LOUIS
Lovey...Church might be still alive when
you’re in a high school...and that’s a
very long time.

ELLIE
It doesn’t seem long to me. It seems
short. I think the whole thing about
pets dying s-s-sucks!

Poor kid’s bawling her eyes out now. LOUIS folds her into his arms
and she hugs him tightly, wanting his comfort.

LOUIS
If it was up to me I’d let Church live
to be a hundred...but I don’t make up
the rules.

ELLIE (muffled)
Well who does? God, I suppose. But he’s
not God’s cat! He’s my cat! Let God get
His own, if He wants one! Not mine! Not
mine! Not--

She breaks down completely, sobbing, and LOUIS rocks her back and
forth.

INT.  THE HALLWAY OUTSIDE THE KITCHEN, WITH RACHEL

She is crying silently.

INT.  ELLIE’S BEDROOM  NIGHT

She is a dimly perceived hump in the darkness. An oblong shaft of
light falls on her, illuminating her more clearly. She’s asleep
with her teddy encircled by one arm and her thumb corked into her
mouth.

INT.  THE DOORWAY, WITH RACHEL

RACHEL looks at her daughter with infinite love and then quietly
closes the door.

INT.  LOUIS’S AND RACHEL’S BEDROOM  NIGHT

LOUIS is in his pajamas, propped up on pillows on his side of the
bed. There a number of medical books scattered around him and he’s
making notes from one as RACHEL comes in.

RACHEL
She’s finally asleep.

LOUIS
She was a little over-excited,
that’s all. Poor kid.

RACHEL
It was that place. That creepy cemetery
up in the woods. Whatever disease the
kids in this town have got, I don’t want
Ellie to catch it.

LOUIS
Jesus, Rachel, what’s got into you?

RACHEL
Do you think I didn’t hear her tonight,
crying as if her heart would break?
Here she is thinking Church is going to
die.

It should be clear to us by now that, despite her words, RACHEL is
much more upset than ELLIE was. LOUIS slowly puts his notebook
aside and caps his pen.

LOUIS
Rachel...someday Church is going to
die.

RACHEL (whirls on him)
That is hardly the point! Church is
not going to die today, or tomorrow--
Never mind. I can see you don’t have
the slightest idea what I’m talking about.

She stalks to the bathroom, which adjoins. LOUIS follows. She goes
in and slams the door. He goes for the knob.

LOUIS
Rachel--!

SOUND: CLICK OF THE LOCK.

LOUIS stares at the door, bewildered and upset.

EXT.  ROUTE 9  NIGHT

Here comes a big Orinco truck, droning along, headlights glaring.

INT.  LOUIS’S AND RACHEL’S BEDROOM

The headlights of the truck illuminate the room and we see LOUIS
and RACHEL asleep, each as far over to his/her own side as he/she
can get, with a big empty space in the middle.

Lights and TRUCK SOUNDS slowly fade.

INT.  GAGE  MORNING

Cheerful little clots of scrambled eggs are scattered all the way
across the tray of his high-chair--it looks a little like a map of
the Pacific islands done by a guy who only had a yellow crayon.
Now he scoops up a handful and throws them.

INT.  THE KITCHEN TABLE, WITH ELLIE

Splat! Eggs on the serving plate of toast.

ELLIE
Yee-uck! Gross!

INT.  THE KITCHEN, A WIDER SHOT

RACHEL is at the sink, doing dishes (we see the blackboard with
its message near her).

LOUIS comes in, wearing a sport-coat and slacks, ready for his
first day on the job...and ELLIE is in a pretty first day of
school dress.

LOUIS
He can’t help it, babe. Emily Post is
going to be beyond him for a few years.

INT.  BY THE KITCHEN DOOR

Here is the cat-carrier with CHURCH inside it. He waows unhappily.

INT.  THE KITCHEN TABLE, WITH ELLIE AND GAGE

ELLIE gets down and goes across to the cat-carrier.

ELLIE
I don’t want him to get his nuts
cut, daddy! What if he dies?

INT.  RACHEL AND LOUIS, BY THE SINK

LOUIS looks shocked and amused by ELLIE’S colorful choice of
words.

LOUIS
Good God! Where’d you hear that?

INT.  ELLIE

ELLIE
Missy Dandridge. And she says it’s a
operation!

INT.  RACHEL AND LOUIS, BY THE SINK

LOUIS tries to kiss RACHEL’S mouth. She turns her head slightly so
he gets her cheek instead. She’s still mad. LOUIS’S amusement
dies.

RACHEL
Honey, Church will be fine.

INT.  ELLIE, BY THE CAT CARRIER

ELLIE
But what if he dies and has to
go to the Pet Sematary?

INT.  LOUIS AND RACHEL, BY THE SINK

She gives him a look as if to say: "There! Now do you understand
what you did?"

RACHEL
Don’t be silly. Church is not going
to die.

LOUIS
According to what Mr. Crandall says, the
road’s a lot more dangerous than the
operation. Church will be just the same.
Well--almost the same--and we won’t have
to worry about him getting turned into
catburgers by one of those damn Orinco
trucks.

At this RACHEL tightens up still more in that funny way--she’s
actually angered by LOUIS’S reference to catburgers--but under the
anger we sense she is deeply shocked, as a prudish woman might be
shocked by a dirty joke. For RACHEL, that’s just what death is.

RACHEL
That’s enough of that kind of talk!

LOUIS
I just said--

RACHEL
I know what you just said. Ellie,
clear your place.

ELLIE goes slowly back to the table.

ELLIE (sets the plate down)
I’m scared. What if school here isn’t
like in Chicago! I’m scared and I want
to go h-h-home!

ELLIE bursts into loud tears and puts her hands over her face.

INT.  THE KITCHEN, A NEW ANGLE (FEATURES LOUIS AND RACHEL)

THE CAMERA FOLLOWS as they go to the table to comfort ELLIE.

RACHEL
You’ll be fine, Ellie. Now you can be
excused. Go and wash your face.

LOUIS
And Church will be fine.

ELLIE (anxious)
Do you promise, Daddy?

LOUIS
Well, honey...you know that...

RACHEL
Don’t shilly-shally, Louis. Give
the little girl her promise.

LOUIS (reluctantly)
Church will be fine. I promise.

ELLIE
Yayyyy!

She runs off, cheered up. And RACHEL is cheered up, too.

RACHEL
Thank you, Louis.

LOUIS
Oh, you’re welcome. Only if some-
thing should go wrong while he’s under
the gas--it’s a one-in-a-thousand shot,
but it happens--you explain to her.

He gets up and leaves the table. She looks after him, stunned and
a little frightened.

INT.  GAGE

GAGE (conversationally)
Here, Durch!

He picks up a large glob of scrambled eggs from his tray and
throws it in the direction of the cat-carrier.

INT.  THE CAT-CARRIER

CHURCH is close to the mesh, looking out. Scrambled eggs hit the
mesh, driving him back, surprised.

EXT.  THE CREED HOUSE  MORNING

The school bus pulls up, red lights flashing. ELLIE runs toward it
across the lawn, with her lunch-box.

EXT.  LOUIS, RACHEL, AND GAGE, IN THE FRONT DOORWAY

RACHEL
Have a great day!

LOUIS grabs GAGE’S hand and makes him wave it.

GAGE
Bye-bye!

EXT.  THE BUS

ELLIE climbs aboard. The red flashers go out and the bus pulls
away.

EXT.  THE CREED DRIVEWAY  MORNING

The station wagon is parked there. LOUIS comes out with a heavy
briefcase in one hand and the cat-carrier in the other. He opens
the wagon’s doorgate.

A small car turns into the CREED driveway and parks beside LOUIS.
A rather sour-looking middle-aged woman gets out and crosses the
front of her car. Her color is bad. This is MISSY DANDRIDGE. She
looks at the cat-carrier.

MISSY
Gonna get his--

LOUIS
--nuts cut, yes. Thank you, Missy,
for introducing that colorful phrase
into my daughter’s vocabulary.

MISSY
Don’t mention it.

She opens the passenger side door of her car and we see a big neat
pile of folded sheets. She reaches for them, then winces and
presses her hands against her midriff for a moment, as if with an
attack of indigestion.

LOUIS (sees this)
How’s that belly-ache of yours?

MISSY (gets the sheets)
No better and no worse.

LOUIS
You ought to see a doctor about it.

MISSY
It’ll pass. They always do.

She starts toward the house with the sheets.

EXT.  THE SIDE YARD  MORNING

RACHEL hurries past MISSY, who turns to look and then goes on into
the house. LOUIS has just put the cat-carrier into the back of the
wagon and closed the doorgate as RACHEL reaches him.

RACHEL (anxious)
Still friends, doc?

LOUIS appears to consider this seriously for a moment...and then
he smiles and hugs her. They kiss.

RACHEL
Thank God. I was a little worried
there. Have a great first day at
school, doc. No broken bones.

LOUIS (smiles)
Not so much as a sprain.

EXT.  VICTOR PASCOW AND FRIENDS  MORNING

PASCOW is in a blanket that is being carried by three boys and one
girl. They are all yelling at each other not to joggle him, not to
drop him. A small knot of horrified college kids moves with the
bearers.

PASCOW’S head is upside down to the CAMERA, which retreats ahead
of the advancing students. Fixed eyes stare. Half of his head has
been shattered inward. Before the catastrophe he was a husky male
of about twenty. He’s dressed in a U of M muscle shirt and red
jogging shorts.

THE CAMERA PULLS JERKILY TO ONE SIDE, allowing the bearers to
mount the steps of a brick building. The infirmary. The lookers-on
break to either side. The infirmary doors open.

EXT.. NURSE CHARLTON, AT THE DOORS

She’s the head nurse, a tough old babe of about fifty.

CHARLTON
Holy Jesus.
(turns)
Steve! Steve! Dr. Creed! Dr. Creed,
we’ve got a mess here! Stat!

The bearers sweep past her and inside, leaving a red smear of
blood across the midriff of MARCY CHARLTON’S uniform.

INT.  THE INFIRMARY RECEPTION AREA

THE CAMERA will show us all we need to see, but its movements will
seem almost random; this is like being in the hotel kitchen after
Sirhan shot Bobby.

As the students bring in PASCOW, LOUIS comes running, followed by
STEVE MASTERTON, his P.A. Standing to one side are two student
nurses in candystriper uniforms. They’re boggled and horrified.

LOUIS kneels. THE CAMERA RUSHES FORWARD, shoving between
onlookers. LOUIS looks at the wound. There’s shattered bone and
pulsing brain tissue beneath.

There’s a scream; the girl who was carrying one corner of the
blanket is having hysterics.

GIRL
Vic! Vic! Oh Christ! Vic!

LOUIS (to CHARLTON)
Get her out. Get them all out.

CHARLTON puts her arms around the girl.

GIRL (struggling)
No! No! He can’t die! He can’t die!

THE CAMERA MOVES BACK DOWN as LOUIS takes an opthalmascope from
STEVE and shines it in PASCOW’S bulging, fixed eyes.

CHARLTON is just pushing the last of them gawkers and bearers out
the door.

LOUIS
Steve, get the ambulance over here
right now. He’s got to go to EMMC.

STEVE
The ambulance is at Sonny’s Sunoco
downtown, getting--

LOUIS
--a new muffler, oh shit--

PASCOW makes a weird gargling noise. Blood suddenly spurts out of
his mouth. He begins to seizure.

One of the candystripers shrieks. THE CAMERA JERKS UP TO COVER the
student nurses. One turns and throws up on the wall.

CHARLTON rushes over.

CANDYSTRIPER
I can’t look at it...I can’t stand it...

CHARLTON (slaps her)
Yes you by God can. Go get the hard
stretcher!

As they start away, one helping the other down the hall, and as
CHARLTON starts over to where PASCOW lies dying on his blanket,
THE CAMERA DROPS TO LOUIS AND STEVE.

LOUIS
Help me hold him.

They hold PASCOW’S spasming body.

STEVE
It wouldn’t matter if we did have
the ambulance.

LOUIS
It wouldn’t matter if we had the SST.

PASCOW begins to quiet.

LOUIS
He’s going. Steve, go call the motor-
pool. Marcy, roll out the crash wagon.

CHARLTON
It won’t--

LOUIS
I know it won’t! But let’s for God’s
sake do it by the rules!

She leaves. LOUIS is alone with PASCOW. CHARLTON has drawn the
drapes, so the doctor and the dying man have complete if temporary
privacy.

INT.  LOUIS AND PASCOW, A CLOSER SHOT

LOIS
There wasn’t even supposed to be a
sprain today, my friend--that’s what
I told her.

PASCOW’S fixed eyes suddenly roll and his left hand bear-traps
LOUIS’S right wrist. The dying man pulls him slowly but
relentlessly down, until their faces are only inches apart.

PASCOW
...Pet Sematary...

LOUIS recoils, breaking the grip of the hand...but he cannot quite
snap the grip of those bright dying eyes. Blood leaks from
PASCOW’S mouth.

LOUIS (whispers)
W-What did you say...?

PASCOW struggles hard to speak again. At first he can only gurgle.

PASCOW
It’s not the real cemetery...
(Long pause) The soil of a man’s
heart is stonier, Louis...a man
grows what he can...and tends it.

LOUIS leans forward again, terrified, yet needing to know.

LOUIS
How do you know my name?

PASCOW (gurgling)
I’ll come...to you.

LOUIS grabs PASCOW’S bloody shoulder.

LOUIS (low but urgent)
Dammit, how do you know my name?

INT.  HALLWAY ENTRANCE TO RECEPTION, WITH STEVE

STEVE
Louis, they’re sending a--

INT.  LOUIS AND PASCOW

PASCOW begins to spasm again.

LOUIS (snaps)
Help me!

PASCOW spews more blood as STEVE kneels beside LOUIS.

INT.  THE MAIN INFIRMARY HALLWAY

CHARLTON is pushing along your basic MEDCU goodie-cart, covered
with emergency life-saving gear.

INT.  LOUIS, STEVE, PASCOW

PASCOW’S spasms are weakening.

LOUIS (to CHARLTON)
Never mind. He’s going.

PASCOW’S hand comes up and paws at LOUIS’S shirt, leaving a bloody
handprint. Then it falls limply back. PASCOW is dead.

LOUIS
Steve, will you get a sheet to cover
him with?

STEVE leaves the frame and LOUIS stares fixedly down at the body
of VICTOR PASCOW. He closes the eyes.

EXT.  A COUNTRY ROAD, LATE AFTERNOON

It’s the leading edge of Maine fall, sunny and wonderful. Here
comes LOUIS’S station wagon. As it reaches THE CAMERA, it swivels
to TRACK.

RADIO (voice-over)
Tragedy struck on the first day of the
University of Maine’s fall semester
when Victor Pascow, a nineteen-year-old
sophomore--

INT.  THE CAR, WITH LOUIS

He still looks shocked by the tragedy. The dying man’s bloody
handprint is partly visible on LOUIS’S shirt in spite of his
sport-coat.

LOUIS abruptly turns off the radio and swerves over to the side of
the road.

EXT.  THE STATION WAGON

IT comes to a slueing, shuddering stop, almost going in the ditch.

INT.  LOUIS, BEHIND THE WHEEL

LOUIS
He said my name. I heard it. He
said my name.

He stares blankly through the windshield.

EXT.  THE CREED HOUSE  NIGHT

All lights are off. It’s late.

INT.  THE CREED BEDROOM  NIGHT

LOUIS and RACHEL are asleep, each on his/her own side of the big
double. THE CAMERA MOVES IN ON LOUIS.

SOUND: Loud, hollow BANG. It’s very loud--loud enough to wake the
dead.

LOUIS sits up. Beside him, RACHEL sleeps on. LOUIS’S eyes widen in
terror as he stares at:

INT.  THE DOORWAY, WITH PASCOW

He’s exquisitely dead. Now pallid as well as smashed up.

PASCOW
Come on, doc. We got places to go.

INT.  LOUIS

He is in terror...but he is also in a state of near-trance.

INT.  PASCOW

PASCOW
Come on, doc--don’t make me tell you
twice.

INT.  LOUIS

He glances at RACHEL. Although PASCOW has spoken in a fairly loud
voice--and the opening door was like a bomb--she’s still fast
asleep. LOUIS looks back toward PASCOW...and then gets out of bed.
He’s naked except for a pair of pajama bottoms.

INT.  PASCOW

He turns and leaves the doorway.

INT.  LOUIS

He reaches the bedroom doorway himself and looks back at:

INT.  THE BED, LOUIS’S POV

RACHEL is sleeping as before, and LOUIS himself is also in bed
asleep, although his rest is uneasy...as if he’s having a bad
dream.

INT.  THE DOORWAY, WITH LOUIS

LOUIS (relieved)
Oh. Thank God.

PASCOW (Voice)
Hurry up, doc.

INT.  THE KITCHEN

LOUIS enters and crosses toward the door which gives on the
shed/garage. This door stands open. LOUIS pauses by it.

PASCOW (low)
Come on, doc...

LOUIS goes into:

INT.  THE SHED/GARAGE

The station wagon is a dark hulk. LOUIS crosses to it and stands,
perplexed.

PASCOW looms softly behind him and puts an arm around him. LOUIS
turns... and suddenly his face is less than an inch from PASCOW’S
mutilated face.

PASCOW
Let’s go, doc.

LOUIS (moans)
I don’t like this dream.

PASCOW
Who said you were dreaming?

He begins to move toward the garage door. After a moment LOUIS
follows him.

EXT.  THE FIELD BEHIND THE HOUSE, LONG  NIGHT

We can see two shapes moving up the path toward the woods--PASCOW
and, behind him, LOUIS.

EXT.  THE PET SEMATARY ARCH

CAMERA HOLDS, THEN PANS DOWN as LOUIS passes under the arch.

EXT.  LOUIS, CLOSE

He looks around, obviously afraid.

EXT.  THE PET SEMATARY, LOUIS’S POV

We can see why. By starlight this is one scary place.

EXT.  LOUIS

He suddenly sees something else, and now his fear is close to
terror.

EXT.  THE DEADFALL, LOUIS’S POV

The face is back in the tumbled branches. It yawns and snarls.

EXT.  LOUIS

He walks toward the deadfall as if hypnotized. PASCOW’S hand falls
on his shoulder. LOUIS turns, terrified.

EXT.  PASCOW, CLOSE

He really is a dreadful mangled mess.

PASCOW
This is the place where the dead speak.

EXT.  LOUIS

He closes his eyes.

LOUIS
I want to wake up. I want to wake up,
that’s all. I--

EXT.  LOUIS AND PASCOW

PASCOW
The door must not be opened. The
barrier must not be crossed. Don’t
go on, doc. No matter how much you
feel you have to. There’s more
power here than you know.

He points at:

EXT.  THE DEADFALL

That grinning face--and perhaps now there are other effects as
well, subtle but there? Dim red light? A misty smoke drifting
through the tumbled dead branches? The director will know.

After a moment there is a HUGE GRUNTING ROAR from the woods behind
the deadfall--it sounds like no animal we’ve ever heard before.
There is the sound of something huge shifting and snapping a tree
like a toothpick.

EXT.  PASCOW AND LOUIS

LOUIS has crumbled to PASCOW’S feet. His eyes are squeezed tightly
shut.

LOUIS
Please, I want to wake up. Leave me
alone. It’s not my fault you died; you
were as good as dead when they brought
you in--

PASCOW
The power of this place is old and
always restless. Sometimes the dead
do more than speak. Remember, doc.

CAMERA BEGINS MOVING SLOWLY IN ON LOUIS.

LOUIS
Leave me alone!

PASCOW
Remember.

CAMERA IS TIGHT ON LOUIS.

RADIO (voice)
--another beautiful day in Maine!
This is Michael O’Hara sayin’ that
the git-go ain’t gonna be that bad.
Temps are going all the way up to 70...
We got the Ramones for Ludlow...here’s
"Sheena."

As the Ramones start blasting "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker":

INT.  LOUIS, IN BED

His eyes snap open. He’s in his own bedroom. As he sits up THE
CAMERA ANGLE WIDENS OUT so we can see that he’s in bed alone; the
covers on RACHEL’S side are thrown back.

After the initial confusion and fear, LOUIS looks deeply relieved;
he looks the way I suppose we all look upon waking up and
realizing our worst dreams were only dreams after all.

RACHEL (calls)
You up, doc?

LOUIS
Getting there.

RACHEL
I got eggs down here!

LOUIS
Good d--

He throws the covers back and freezes.

INT.  LOUIS’S FEET, LOUIS’S POV

They are covered with mud and pine needles. The sheets are greased
with woods-muck.

INT.  LOUIS, CU

Utter terror.

INT.  THE LAUNDRY CHUTE, CU

LOUIS’S hands enter the shot and dump a bundle of sheets into the
chute.

INT.  LOUIS, IN THE UPSTAIRS HALL

He’s naked but for a towel around his waist. He’s obviously fresh
from the shower.

He starts down to the bedroom to dress.

BLACK. And on it a third title card: CHURCH.

Over this the SOUND of a RINGING TELEPHONE.

LOUIS (voice)
Hello?

INT.  THE CREED LIVING ROOM  AFTERNOON

There’s a bowling match on TV. LOUIS, dressed in his Saturday
afternoon grubs (jeans and a Maine sweatshirt), has the phone to
his ear.

JUD CRANDALL (phone filter)
Louis? ’Fraid you may have a spot of
trouble.

LOUIS (frowning)
Jud? What trouble?

INT.  THE CRANDALL LIVING ROOM, WITH JUD

He’s on the phone, looking out his window.

JUD
Did you tell me Rachel took the
kids back to Chicago for a few days?

INT.  THE CREED LIVING ROOM, WITH LOUIS

LOUIS
For Ellie’s birthday, yes. I didn’t
go because her old man thinks I’m a
shit and the feeling is heartily re-
ciprocated...they’ll be back tomorrow
night. Jud, what’s this about?

INT.  THE CRANDALL LIVING ROOM, WITH JUD

JUD
Well, there’s a dead cat over here on
the edge of my lawn, Louis. I think it
might be your daughter’s.

INT.  THE CREED LIVING ROOM, WITH LOUIS

LOUIS
Church? Oh. Oh, Jesus.

EXT.  THE CRANDALL HOUSE, MEDIUM-LONG

We’re looking across from the CREED lawn. LOUIS waits for one of
those trucks to go blasting by and then crosses. It’s cold and
windy. Downed autumn leaves fly.

LOUIS and JUD stand over a small furry body like mourners.

JUD (voice)
Well?

EXT.  THE CAT’S BODY

It’s lying on its belly and doesn’t look much damaged. Hands--
LOUIS’S--come into the frame. He puts one hand under the cat’s
head and lifts it so the open eyes, now a dull green, stare into
THE CAMERA. There’s some blood on its ruff. That’s all.

EXT.  LOUIS AND JUD, ON THE EDGE OF THE CRANDALL LAWN

LOUIS
It’s Church.

JUD
I’m sorry. At least it don’t look like
he suffered.

LOUIS
Ellie will, though. She’ll suffer plenty.

From his jacket pocket he takes a green plastic garbage bag and
hands it to JUD. JUD holds the bag’s mouth open on the ground
while LOUIS kind of shoves the body in. During this:

JUD
Loved that cat pretty well, didn’t she?

LOUIS
Yes.

LOUIS twists the bag shut and puts one of those plastic ties on
it. Then he holds it up.

LOUIS
Bagged cat. What a mess.

JUD
You going to bury him in the Pet
Sematary?

LOUIS (a little bitter)
I guess that’s what it’s there for, huh?

During all of this JUD has grown peculiarly intense.

JUD
Going to tell Ellie?

LOUIS
I don’t know.

JUD
Seems like you told me about a promise
you made--

INT.  THE CREED KITCHEN  MORNING

GAGE is in his high chair. ELLIE, in her first-day-of-school
dress, is in her place. LOUIS is sitting at his own place staring,
hypnotized, at the middle of the table, where there is a large
serving dish. On the dish is scrambled eggs, strips of bacon, and
CHURCH’S corpse--staring eyes, bloody ruff and all.

RACHEL (impatiently)
Don’t shilly-shally, Louis. Give the
little girl her promise.

EXT.  THE CRANDALL LAWN, WITH JUD AND LOUIS

LOUIS (defensive)
That was a mistake. But Rachel...
she doesn’t like to talk about
death, or even think of it. Her
younger sister died of spinal
meningitis when Rachel was eight.
Rachel was there when it happened.
Alone. I guess you could say it
made a complex.

JUD
Cat’s just as dead, Louis.

LOUIS (snaps)
Well that’s a big help! (Pause) I’m
sorry, Jud.

JUD
No need to apologize.

LOUIS
Maybe when they call I’ll just tell
Ellie I haven’t seen the damn cat
around. You know?

JUD (after a long pause)
Maybe there’s a better way.

EXT.  THE START OF THE PATH TO THE PET SEMATARY, LONG  EVENING

LOUIS and JUD cross the road from the CRANDALL side. LOUIS is
carrying the plastic bag in one hand and a flashlight in the
other. JUD has a pick and shovel in one hand and a flashlight of
his own in the other.

Evening shadows have grown long. It’s maybe an hour until dark.

JUD and LOUIS stop near the replaced tire-swing.

EXT.  LOUIS AND JUD

JUD has a Walkman clipped to the belt of his pants and earphones
slung around his neck.

LOUIS
Jud, this is crazy. It’s going to
be almost dark before we get back.

JUD
It’s going to be dark before we even
get where we’re going, Louis. But
we can do it...and we’re going to.

LOUIS
But--

JUD
Does she love the cat?

LOUIS
Yes, but--

JUD
Then come on.

He puts the earphones on, effectively forestalling further
argument, and pushes the PLAY button on the Walkman. We can hear
Marshall Crenshaw singing "Crystal Girl." JUD starts away. After a
moment, LOUIS follows.

EXT.  THE PET SEMATARY AND THE BACK OF THE ARCH  LATE EVENING

The SOUND of crickets...ree-ree-ree...

The SOUND of footfalls.

Faintly, the SOUND of Huey Lewis and the News, singing "Working
For A Living."

It’s now almost twilight.

JUD and LOUIS enter the Pet Sematary. LOUIS is looking around
curiously.

LOUIS
Well, folks, here we are, in Louis
Creed Dreamland.

JUD snaps off the Walkman and puts the earphones around his neck
again.

JUD
What say, Louis?

LOUIS
Nothing. (Pause) Do we plant him on
the outer circle or start a new one?

JUD
We’re still not where we’re going.

He walks past LOUIS and toward the deadfall. LOUIS follows.

LOUIS
What do you mean?

JUD
The place we’re going is on the
other side of that.

He points at the deadfall.

LOUIS
We can’t climb over that. We’ll break
our necks!

JUD
No. We won’t. I have climbed it a time
or two before, and I know all the places
to step. Just follow me...move easy...don’t
look down...and don’t stop. If you stop,
you’ll crash through for sure.

LOUIS
I’m not climbing that.

JUD
Give me the cat. I’ll take care of it
myself.

He holds out his hand and LOUIS sees the old man means exactly as
he says. After a moment he says:

LOUIS
Let’s go.

JUD starts up one side of the deadfall, and in spite of its
snarled tangles, he mounts as easily as a man climbing a flight of
stairs. After a few second, LOUIS follows.

LOUIS (low)
Thank God my Blue Cross is paid up.

EXT.  THEIR FEET

First JUD’S pass THE CAMERA, then LOUIS’S, partly obscured by the
swinging cat-bag. Their feet unerringly find the right branches
and just as unerringly miss holes which look like ankle-breakers.

EXT.  LOUIS

He’s grinning, exhilarated.

LOUIS
God, this is amazing!

EXT.  JUD

There are beads of sweat on the old man’s face. He looks both
stern and a little scared.

JUD
Just don’t stop and--

EXT.  LOUIS

He looks down.

EXT.  LOUIS’S FEET

A dead branch snaps under one of them like a gunshot and that foot
plunges down maybe six inches.

EXT.  LOUIS

He lurches to the edge of balance, then regains it.

LOUIS
And don’t look down. Right.

He continues.

EXT.  THE DEADFALL, REVERSE  TWILIGHT

JUD reaches the top and starts down the far side. LOUIS reaches
the top.

EXT.  LOUIS

LOUIS (amazed)
Holy...!

EXT.  BIG GOD WOODS, LOUIS’S POV

In the dying glow of twilight, this should be a mystic, awe-
inspiring shot. There’s no more scrub underbrush and junk pines
and juniper-bracken here; ancient firs rise almost like Sequoias.
The sunset light shafts among them. This is a real forest... an
old forest. And winding upward among the trees along that needle-
carpeted floor, clearly marked by large white stones, the path
goes on.

EXT.  LOUIS

He’s stopped on top of the deadfall, still surveying all this with
frank amazement.

EXT.  JUD

JUD (turns to look)
Come on, Louis--don’t stop!

EXT.  LOUIS, ATOP THE DEADFALL

LOUIS (grinning)
I’m all right! I’m f--

EXT.  LOUIS’S FEET

One of the branches snaps. LOUIS’S foot plunges. His cuff rips.

EXT.  LOUIS, JUD’S POV

We’re looking up at a fairly steep angle as LOUIS staggers off-
balance. He steps with his other foot, misses, and goes flying.

EXT.  LOUIS, CLOSER

He does a half-somersault in the air and hits the deadfall on his
back, the green garbage bag flying out of his hand. His flashlight
also goes. Branches crack. White dust puffs out from under him.

EXT.  JUD, AT THE BASE OF THE DEADFALL

LOUIS thumps to the ground nearby. JUD kneels beside him.

JUD
Louis! You all right?

LOUIS sits up groggily. His pants are torn. His sweatshirt is
torn. His ankle is bleeding.

LOUIS (dazed)
Sure. I guess I just lost my happy
thoughts for a second there.

LOUIS gets slowly up and retrieves the bag, which is rather
shredded now--and we can see catfur through some of the rents.

LOUIS (continues)
I shouldn’t have stopped...and it
does bite.

He whaps the flashlight against his palm a time or two and the
light comes on. Satisfied, he shuts it off.

JUD
No, you shouldn’t have stopped. But
you got away with it. Important thing
is are you sure you’re all right?

LOUIS
Yes. (Pause) Where are we going, Jud?

JUD
You’ll see before long. Let’s go.

He starts off up the path. After a moment LOUIS follows, carrying
the bag.

EXT.  LOUIS AND JUD, FROM THE DEADFALL

Again, there should be a sense of awe and mystery as they go
tolling up the path into the twilight, dwarfed by those ancient
firs.

SOUND OF CRICKETS, LOW at first, then UP TO LOUD: Ree-ree-ree...

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT.  LOUIS AND JUD, AT THE EDGE OF LITTLE GOD SWAMP  TWILIGHT

Lots of undergrowth here, and creeping ground-mist, too. The SOUND
OF CRICKETS is now only a part of the soundtrack: BUZZ OF CICADAS,
THUMP OF FROGS. Swamp-sounds.

LOUIS looks frankly doubtful.

JUD
This next bit’s like the deadfall, Louis--
you got to walk steady and easy. Just follow
me and don’t look down.

EXT.  LITTLE GOD SWAMP, LOUIS’S AND JUD’S POV  DEEP TWILIGHT

Mysterious...awesome...scary. Dead trees poke out of the murk like
twisted hands. There’s scummy water standing around tussocks
covered with long grass, most of it dead. There’s a lot of choking
underbrush.

All of this fades away into a grim, obscuring fog.

EXT.  LOUIS AND JUD

JUD
Micmacs used to call it Little God Swamp.

LOUIS
Is there quicksand?

JUD
Ayuh.

LOUIS (nervous; joking)
Are there ghosts?

JUD looks at him expressionlessly.

JUD
Ayuh.

JUD starts off, stepping to the first tussock. After a moment,
LOUIS follows.

EXT.  JUD, CU

His face is set, strange.

JUD
There’s a lot of funny things down
this way, Louis.

EXT.  LOUIS, BEHIND JUD

LOUIS
You’re telling me.

EXT.  JUD

JUD (still walking)
The air’s heavier...more electrical...
something. You might see St. Elmo’s
Fire...what the sailors call ’foo-lights.’
It makes funny shapes, but it’s nothing.

EXT.  LOUIS

HE looks up and his eyes widen as he sees:

EXT.  ANGLE ON LITTLE GOD SWAMP, LOUIS’S POV

A faintly glowing, ethereal shape hangs in the branches of one of
the dead trees. It looks a bit like a corpse. In fact, I think it
looks quite a bit like PASCOW’S corpse.

As we watch it fades...fades...is gone.

EXT.  LOUIS

He’s somewhere between being mystified and puzzled and being
scared. Now a weakly glowing fireball rolls slowly across the
surface of the standing water toward him...and then just fades
into the thick mist.

LOUIS
It’s funny, all right.

EXT.  JUD

JUD
Just don’t stop, Louis. You don’t
ever want to stop down here in
Little God. (Pause) And you don’t
ever want to look behind you,
whatever you hear.

EXT.  JUD AND LOUIS, LONG ANGLE  NIGHT

We see them moving through the mist like wraiths, JUD with his
digging tools, LOUIS with his light and his Hefty-Bag coffin. The
whole swamp is glowing dimly.

EXT.  THE FAR SIDE OF LITTLE GOD SWAMP  NIGHT

In the extreme f.g. we can see firm ground sloping up. Ahead is a
thick white mist. And here comes JUD and LOUIS slogging through it
and out of it. Both of them are wet from the knees down. They head
into the woods on the far side.

EXT.  A LOW, STONY BLUFF OR STEEP HILL

In the book this is described as being almost a cliff, but a rocky
hill rising out of the woods would serve just as well. We can see
steps cut into the side, and two figures--LOUIS and JUD--toiling
up them.

EXT.  JUD AND LOUIS, A CLOSER SHOT

JUD’S panting and out of breath; LOUIS is, if anything, in worse
shape.

JUD
Almost there, Louis.

LOUIS
You keep saying that.

JUD
This time I mean it.

He tops the last step and stands on a rocky level under the stars,
the wind blowing his hair off his deeply lined brow. A few moments
later LOUIS joins him and stares with undisguised wonder.

EXT.  THE MICMAC BURYING GROUND, LOUIS AND JUD’S POV

The top of this hill or bluff is rocky and bare, but there are a
number of rocky piles. But for every pile of rocks we can see,
there are ten littered heaps, as if the neat piles had been burst
apart. There’s a shape to all of this, and it is the shape of the
Pet Sematary: concentric circles.

SOUND: The wind, blowing ceaselessly.

EXT.  LOUIS AND JUD, AT THE EDGE OF THE BURYING GROUND

LOUIS (awed)
What is this place?

JUD
This was their burying ground, Louis.

LOUIS
Whose burying ground?

JUD
The Micmac Indians. I brought you here
to bury Ellen’s cat.

LOUIS
Why? For God’s sake, why?

JUD
I had my reasons, Louis. We’ll talk later.
All right?

LOUIS
I guess so...but...

JUD
You want to rest a bit before you start?

LOUIS
No, I’m okay. Will I really be able to
dig him a grave? The soil looks thin.

JUD
Soil’s thin, all right. But you’ll manage.

He hands him the pick and shovel.

JUD
I’m going to sit over yonder and have a
smoke. I’d help you, but you’ve got to
do it yourself. Each buries his own.
That’s how it was done then.

JUD walks away, leaving LOUIS with the digging tools in one hand
and the flashlight in the other. After a minute, LOUIS walks out
into the burying ground.

EXT.  LOOKING DOWN INTO A SHALLOW HOLE  NIGHT

SOUND: The wind. It blows ceaselessly up here.

The hole’s about two and a half feet deep. Stubby rocks protrude
from the sides. The pick comes down, hits a rock at the bottom,
and flashes fire.

EXT.  LOUIS

He drops the pick and sticks his hurt hands in his armpits. Beside
him we see a low pile of rocks and earth.

JUD (voice)
Should be deep enough.

He joins LOUIS. He’s got a lot of rocks in his arms.

LOUIS
You think so?

He notices the rocks.

LOUIS
What are those for?

JUD
Your cairn.

EXT.  THE MICMAC BURYING GROUND, LOUIS’S POV

Those tumbled piles of rock are very obvious.

EXT.  LOUIS AND JUD, BY CHURCH’S GRAVE

LOUIS
Doesn’t look like they last long.

JUD
Don’t worry about that.

LOUIS
Jud, why am I doing all this?

JUD
Because it’s right.

He walks off again.

LOUIS looks after him for a moment, then kneels down.

EXT.  LOUIS, BY THE GARBAGE BAG

He opens it and looks in at CHURCH’S stiffening corpse.

LOUIS
Pax vobiscum, Church old buddy. You
were a hell of a god cat. I doubt if
you were worth all this aggravation,
but you were a hell of a good cat.

He tumbles the bag containing the body into the grave, and then
begins pushing the stony soil over it with the spade.

EXT.  THE CAIRN, CU  NIGHT

LOUIS’S hands come into the frame and add a final two or three
stones.

EXT.  LOUIS, BY THE CAIRN

He looks at it for a moment and stands up. JUD is right there.

JUD
That’s fine. You did real good.

LOUIS looks at him.

EXT.  THE CREED HOUSE  NIGHT

There’s a light on in the kitchen, but that’s all. There’s silence
at first, and then the PHONE STARTS RINGING.

EXT.  LOUIS’S FIELD  NIGHT

LOUIS and JUD are coming down the path with their tools and their
lights. They are both clearly fagged out.

SOUND, FAINT: The telephone.

LOUIS
Oh, shit! Rachel!

He drops the tools and sprints.

EXT.  THE CREED’S SIDE YARD, BY THE TIRE SWING

LOUIS runs into the side yard. SOUND of the phone is louder.

EXT.  THE KITCHEN DOOR OF THE CREED HOUSE, WITH LOUIS

He runs to the door and inside.

EXT.  THE END OF THE PATH, WITH JUD

He stands there, eyes inscrutable.

INT.  THE LIVING ROOM, WITH THE PHONE

It stops. A beat later LOUIS enters the room. He picks it up,
although he already knows it’s too late. He listens to the SOUND
of the dial tone and then drops it back into the cradle,
disgusted.

He starts to dial a number from memory.

JUD (voice)
Louis.

INT.  THE KITCHEN/LIVING ROOM DOORWAY, WITH JUD

JUD
When you talk to ’em, not one word
about what we done tonight. ’S’far’s
you know, the cat’s still fine.

INT.  LOUIS, BY THE PHONE

After a moment he lowers it into the cradle.

INT.  JUD

JUD
You’ll understand. In the meantime,
keep your peace. What we did, Louis,
was a secret thing. Women are supposed
to be the ones who are good at
keeping secrets, but any woman who
knows anything at all would tell you
she’s never seen into a man’s heart.
The soil of a man’s heart is stonier,
Louis--like the soil up there in the
old Micmac burying ground. A man
grows what he can...and tends it.

During this, he’s come across the room to LOUIS and dropped his
hand on LOUIS’S shoulder.

LOUIS
But--

JUD
No buts! Accept what’s done, Louis.
What we done was right. Another time
it might not be, but tonight it was...
at least I hope to Christ it was. Now
you make your call...but not a word
about tonight.

EXT.  THE ROAD, WITH JUD

SOUNDS: Boops and beeps of a touch-tone telephone. Ringing. Then:

DORY GOLDMAN (voice)
Goldman residence.

LOUIS
Hi, Dory...it’s Louis--

During this, another SOUND has been growing: an approaching truck.
As JUD gains his side of the road, he looks back, and we read fear
on his face--no matter what he said to LOUIS, he’s sorry for
tonight’s piece of work.

A moment later a highballing Orinco truck cuts between THE CAMERA
and JUD.

INT.  LOUIS, IN THE LIVING ROOM  NIGHT

He’s on the phone, smiling and happy.

RACHEL (voice)
You want to talk to the birthday girl?

LOUIS
That’d be real fine.

ELLIE (voice)
Hi...daddy?

LOUIS (sings)
Happy birthday to you/Happy birthday
to you/Happy birthday, dear Ellie/Happy
birthday to you!

ELLIE (voice)
That was awful, daddy.

LOUIS
Yeah, I know...how are things out
there in Chicagoland?

ELLIE
Fine...except when Mom was airing
Gage’s diaper rash, he walked away and
got into Grampa’s study and pooped in
Grampa’s favorite chair.

LOUIS (grinning broadly)
Way to go, Gage!

ELLIE (voice)
What?

LOUIS
I said that’s too bad. What did you
get for presents from Gramma and Grampa?

ELLIE (voice)
Lots of stuff! I got two dresses...and
a Chatty Cathy doll...

INT.  THE GOLDMAN LIVING ROOM, WITH ELLIE

She’s dressed for bed, in fuzzy pink pajamas. Her Chatty Cathy is
crooked in one arm. In her lap is a Garfield transistor radio.

ELLIE
...and a Garfield radio! How’s Church,
dad? Does he miss me?

INT.  THE CREED LIVING ROOM, WITH LOUIS

The smile fades off his face. It’s replaced with a look of
combined guilt and unhappiness. He’s looking at his hands, which
are still dark with the dirt from CHURCH’S grave.

LOUIS
Well...I guess he’s just fine, Ellie.
I haven’t seen him this evening, but--

INT.  THE GOLDMAN LIVING ROOM, WITH ELLIE

RACHEL, holding GAGE, sits on the arm of ELLIE’S chair.

ELLIE
Well, make sure you put him down
cellar before you go to bed so he
can’t run out in the road and get
greased. And kiss him goodnight for me.

LOUIS (voice)
Yuck! Kiss your own cat!

ELLIE
Want to talk to Gage?

Before he can answer, she puts the phone in GAGE’S hand. ELLIE and
RACHEL watch, amused, as GAGE gobbles into it. Perhaps RACHEL
encourages him to say a few words.

INT.  THE CREED LVING ROOM, WITH LOUIS

From the telephone comes the sound of GAGE talking and chortling.
LOUIS is not listening. His eyes--and his mind--are far away.

EXT.  THE CREED HOUSE  MORNING

LOUIS is raking leaves on the side lawn, near the tree with the
tire swing. After a moment or two of this he props the rake
against the tree and starts toward the garage. He goes in.

EXT.  THE GARAGE, WITH LOUIS

It’s dim in here. LOUIS is crossing to the door which communicates
to the kitchen. As he passes the station wagon, he hears a cat
HISS. He turns.

INT.  CHURCH, ECU

He’s on top of the car, but at this point we probably don’t
notice; THE CAMERA is so close that CHURCH looks like he’s coming
right down our throats. He’s hissing angrily.

INT.  LOUIS

He recoils and stumbles backward with a cry. He hits a tool-rack
on the wall and a lot of them fall down with a LOUD JANGLING
NOISE.

INT.  ON TOP OF THE STATION WAGON, WITH CHURCH

He jumps down, frightened by the noise, and the CAMERA TRACKS as
he goes flying out the garage door into the sunlight.

INT.  LOUIS

He gets slowly to his feet again. He’s getting over his fright but
we can see he’s totally freaked out by what gave him that fright.
He goes to the garage door and looks out.

LOUIS (calls)
Church?

EXT.  THE SIDE YARD, LOUIS’S POV

Grass and fallen leaves. No sign of CHURCH.

EXT.  LOUIS’S STUNNED FACE, CU

INT.  THE KITCHEN, WITH LOUIS

He’s spooning cat-food into a dish. He goes to the door--there
should be a total of three doors in the kitchen: one to the living
room, one to the shed/garage, and one which leads directly
outside. LOUIS uses this latter door now.

EXT.  THE KITCHEN STOOP, WITH LOUIS

He puts the dish of food down and sits beside it.

LOUIS
Food, Church...food!

SOUND: Miaow.

EXT.  THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE, LOUIS’S POV

CHURCH comes slinking out of the bushes and comes slowly toward
THE CAMERA. He stops, looking mistrustful.

EXT.  LOUIS

LOUIS
Come on, Church! Chow down!

EXT.  CHURCH

He crosses to the stoop and begins eating the food.

LOUIS (to himself)
Christ. I don’t believe this.

He picks CHURCH up. CHURCH miaows again--he wants the food.

LOUIS (wincing)
God, you stink, Church.

CHURCH is looking at the food, trying to get out of LOUIS’S arms.

LOUIS
In a second.

He tilts the cat’s head back so he can get a look at CHURCH’S
neck.

EXT.  CHURCH’S NECK, CU (LOUIS’S POV)

There’s some sort of mark here--a clear remnant of the crash. A
line of white fur, or perhaps a dark red scar where no fur at all
grows.

EXT.  LOUIS AND CHURCH, ON THE STOOP

LOUIS sees something else as he lets the cat’s neck go. He tweezes
something out of CHURCH’S whiskers.

EXT.  LOUIS’S HAND, ECU

It’s a shred of green plastic.

EXT.  LOUIS AND CHURCH

LOUIS
Chewed his way out. Jesus Baldheaded
Christ, he ch--

CHURCH suddenly claws at his face.

LOUIS
Ow!

He claps his hand to his face. CHURCH leaps for the food. LOUIS
slowly takes his hand away. There are claw marks on his cheek,
welling blood. He looks at the cat.

EXT.  JUD CRANDALL’S GARDEN, WITH JUD

The garden is a plot of about half an acre. JUD comes trundling
slowly along a row, pushing a wheelbarrow. There are several
pumpkins in it. JUD is wearing old khaki gardening pants and a
Ramones sweatshirt. He’s wearing his headphones and we can hear
the Romantics doing "What I Like About You." JUD is singing along
and bopping a little--as much as his arthritis will allow, if you
can dig it.

He sees a real big pumpkin, stops, and bends over to get it.

He takes out his pocket-knife and slits the pumpkin-vine. He gets
the pumpkin in his arms and stands up. He turns...and LOUIS is
right there (kind of a cheap jump, but always fun), looking
totally stunned.

JUD, startled, drops the pumpkin. LOUIS reaches out and slides the
phones off JUD’S ears.

LOUIS
What did we do?

INT.  THE CRANDALL KITCHEN

LOUIS is sitting at the kitchen table. JUD is at the fridge. JUD
comes back with a couple of long-necked bottles of beer and opens
them.

JUD
I most generally don’t start before
noon, but this looks like an exception.

LOUIS
What did we do, Jud?

JUD
Why, saved a little girl from being
unhappy...that’s all. Drink up, Louis!

LOUIS drinks about half the beer.

LOUIS
I tried to tell myself I buried him
alive. You know--Edgar Allan Poe meets
Felix the Cat. But...

JUD
Wouldn’t wash?

LOUIS
No. I’m a doctor. I know death when I
see it, and Church was dead. He smells
horrible and he uses his claws, but
he’s alive...and I feel like I’m going
crazy. It was that place, wasn’t it?

JUD
Ayuh. It was the rag-man told me about
the place--Stanley Bouchard. Us kids
just called him Stanny B. He was half
Micmac himself.

LOUIS drains his beer.

LOUIS
Can I have another one?

JUD
I guess it wouldn’t hurt.

He gets up and goes to the fridge.

INT.  JUD, AT THE FRIDGE

JUD
The Micmacs used to bury their dead
up there long before the whites came.

He returns to the table with the beer.

JUD
They buried their dead and for a long
time their dead stayed buried. Then
something happened. Half the tribe died
in a season. The rest moved on. They
said a Wendigo had soured the ground.

LOUIS
Wendigo?

JUD
Spirit of the north country. Not a good
spirit. Wendigos are great liars and
tricksters, according to the stories.
And if one touches you...

JUD pauses, perhaps a flustered, and gathers his thoughts.

JUD
Maybe it really was a Wendigo--
I ain’t the one to say it wasn’t--
or maybe it was just some disease.
Whatever the reason, those that were
left moved on. But they left that
place...the way it is now.

JUD shrugs, and drinks.

EXT.  JUD AS A BOY, CU/SEPIA TONE  DAY

The time here is about 1910. JUD is wearing short pants. He’s
crying, not in any big-deal histrionic way, but as if he means to
keep doing it for a long time. I mean he looks really sad.

JUD (voice)
I loved my dog a lot, Louis. When Spot
died, I thought I was gonna die.

JUD is sitting on the front stoop. It’s the same house JUD lives
in now, but the porch hasn’t been added yet, and the road is dirt
rather than tar.

Along this road comes a horse-drawn wagon--STANNY B.’S wagon. The
wagon’s full of junk, rags, bottles...stuff to sell and swap.
Strung across the top are bells, and we can hear their CHIMING
SOUND...but faint, like bells heard in a dream.

STANNY B. is old and drunk. Dust spumes up behind the wagon as he
draws up to the CRANDALL house and stops. He gets down, almost
falls, takes a bottle out of his back pocket, drinks, and
approaches JUD. We can see him speaking.

INT.  JUD’S KITCHEN, WITH JUD AND LOUIS

LOUIS
You and this old Indian rag-man--

JUD
Stanny B. did for me what I did for
you last night, Louis. Only I wasn’t
alone when Spot came back.

EXT.  THE CRANDALL BACK YARD/SEPIA TONE  DAY

JUD’S MOTHER is back to THE CAMERA, hanging sheets on the line.
The sheets billow. And suddenly, pushing out from behind them,
quite near her, is a small mongrel dog. SPOT. He’s covered with
graveyard dirt. His eyes are red and rolling. He splashes the
sheets with the muck of his passage.

JUD (voice)
My mother was with me.

She sees who it is--what it is--and backs away, screaming,
horrified.

EXT.  SPOT, CLOSER/SEPIA

JUD (voice)
He’d got caught in bobwire that infected.
You could still see the marks on him.

And so we can, around his neck and along the side of his head.
These marks are the counterpart of the marks we’ve already seen on
CHURCH.

SOUND of JUD’S MOM SCREAMING. Like the bells, these are screams
heard in a dream.

EXT.  THE BACK STOOP OF THE CRANDALL HOUSE/SEPIA

The BOY JUD comes running out, dressed in a night-shirt.

EXT.  JUD’S MOM/SEPIA (JUD’S POV)

She’s cringing against the fence at the rear of the yard. SPOT
stands in front of her, swaying from side to side, as if doped.

JUD’S MOM (dim; far)
Get your dog, Jud! He stinks of the
ground you buried him in! Come here
and get your dog!

She is in utter terror.

EXT.  THE BOY JUD/SEPIA

Horrified...ashamed.

EXT.  JUD’S MOM/SEPIA

JUD’S MOM (terror)
COME AND GET YOUR DOG!!

INT.  JUD AND LOUIS, IN JUD’S KITCHEN

LOUIS
How did your mother take it, Jud?
How did she take it when your dog
came back from the dead?

JUD’S face is a complication. He’s lying to LOUIS, certainly--but
is he also lying to himself? Yes, I think so.

JUD
Well, she was a little upset at first,
and that’s why I thought you ought to
hold your peace when you talked to
your people last night...you did, didn’t
you, Louis?

LOUIS
Yes.

JUD
Why, then, things should be fine.

LOUIS
A little upset is all she was? Because
I’ll tell you, Jud, my brains feel a
little like a nuclear reactor on the
edge of a meltdown.

JUD
She got used to the idea. Spot lived
another four years. He died peacefully
in the night that second time, and I
buried him in the Pet Sematary...where
his bones still lie.

EXT.  THE ROAD BETWEEN THE TWO HOUSES, WITH LOUIS AND JUD

We see them crossing.

LOUIS (voice)
You still haven’t told me why you
did it.

EXT.  JUD AND LOUIS, ON THE CREED FRONT LAWN

JUD
A man doesn’t always know why he does
things, Louis. I think I did it because
your daughter ain’t ready for her
favorite pet to die.

LOUIS
What?

JUD
Ellie’s a little scared of death. And
the main reason Ellie’s that way is
because your wife is a lot scared of
death. Now you just go ahead and tell
me I’m wrong.

But LOUIS’S reaction tells him he’s not wrong--in fact, JUD has
hit the nail right on the head.

INT.  BATHTUB FIXTURES, CU

LOUIS’S hands come into the frame and turn the spigots.

INT.  THE BATHROOM, WITH LOUIS

He starts to undress, still looking troubled. We should notice
that the door behind him is firmly shut. The bathroom has no
windows.

INT.  THE BATHTUB SPIGOTS

The hot water is steaming. LOUIS’S hands enter the frame and turn
off the faucets. SOUND of LOUIS climbing in.

INT.  LOUIS IN THE TUB

A big sigh and an expression of exquisite pleasure. He relaxes in
the hot water. After a few moments he puts a wet washcloth over
his face.

INT.  BY THE KITCHEN SINK, WITH RACHEL

RACHEL
Don’t shilly-shally, Louis. Give
the little girl her promise.

INT.  THE KITCHEN TABLE

GAGE is in his high chair. ELLIE is at her place, crying. In
RACHEL’S place sits VICTOR PASCOW, bloody and wrecked. LOUIS sits
in his place. On the platter of bacon and scrambled eggs is
CHURCH’S mangled body.

PASCOW
The door must not be opened. The
barrier must not be crossed.

LOUIS
You don’t understand--

INT.  THE BATHTUB, WITH LOUIS

The washrag is slipping, but it still covers his face.

LOUIS (mutters)
--I’m a doctor.

INT.  THE CREED KITCHEN TABLE

In attendance: PASCOW, LOUIS, ELLIE, GAGE in his high chair. Lying
in the middle of the table, clotted with dirt and blood, eyes
staring, neck a gory mess of infected wounds, is SPOT. He’s also
dotted with clots of scrambled egg and bits of bacon.

PASCOW
Sometimes the dead do more than speak.
Remember, doc.

INT.  RACHEL, AT THE KITCHEN SINK

RACHEL (with great force)
Don’t shilly-shally, Louis. Promise me.
Promise me. Promise me.

INT.  THE BATHTUB, WITH LOUIS

The washcloth has slipped enough so we can see his eyes are
closed--he’s dozing.

LOUIS
Promise...

INT.  THE CREED KITCHEN TABLE

To LOUIS, ELLIE, PASCOW, GAGE, and the corpse of SPOT enters JUD,
his eyes shocked and staring.

JUD (to LOUIS)
You do it for all the best reasons,
but that ain’t why. You do it because
it gets hold of you...you do it
because you have to.

INT.  LOUIS, IN THE BATHTUB, CU

The washrag has worked its way down to his mouth by now. His doze
is deepening; he’s started to snore a little.

SOUND: A splash. Something has been dropped into the bath.

LOUIS opens his eyes. Looks puzzled. Looks down. Eyes widen in
shock.

INT.  THE BATHWATER, LOUIS’S POV

A very large and very mangled dead rat floats in the bath,
actually brushing against LOUIS’S chest. Blood has begun to stain
the water.

INT.  LOUIS

Turns his head, preparatory to leaping out.

INT.  THE TOILET LID, WITH CHURCH

Its mouth yawns open. It hisses, showing bloodstained teeth.

INT.  THE BATHROOM

LOUIS leaps from the tub. Grabs a towel and begins to rub himself
frantically. He’s grossed out. The cat tries to arch against him
and he hits it. CHURCH falls to the floor, hissing.

LOUIS looks at the closed door.

LOUIS
How the hell did you get in?

He may not know that, but he knows how it’s going to get out. He
opens the door to the upstairs hall. If CHURCH doesn’t go at once,
LOUIS helps it with his foot.

Then he looks down at:

INT.  THE BATHTUB WITH BRER RAT, LOUIS’S POV

INT.  LOUIS

Staring at the rat. Over this: THE SOUND OF JET ENGINES.

EXT.  A DELTA 727

Its landing gear unfolds preparatory to touching down at Bangor
International Airport.

INT.  A DEPLANING AREA  DAY

Lots of people making their way up the jetway.

INT.  LOUIS, OUTSIDE THE SECURITY POINT

He’s looking anxiously for his people. In one hand he’s got half a
dozen roses. His face lights up.

INT.  THE DEPLANING AREA, LOUIS’S POV

Here comes LOUIS’S family. ELLIE is a little ahead. RACHEL is
pushing GAGE in his stroller. ELLIE sees LOUIS and lights up.

ELLIE
Daddy!

She runs for him.

INT.  JUST OUTSIDE THE SECURITY POINT

ELLIE comes belting up to LOUIS, weaving among the deplanees like
a slalom skier. She leaps into his arms. LOUIS swings her
cheerfully.

LOUIS
Hi, sugar!

She smacks him noisily. He smacks her back just as noisily.

ELLIE
Daddy, is Church all right?

LOUIS’S face changes. All at once he’s watchful.

LOUIS
Yes...I guess so. He was sleeping
on the front porch when I left.

ELLIE
Cause I had a bad dream about him.
I dreamed he got hit by a car and
you and Mr. Crandall buried him in
the Pet Sematary.

LOUIS (trying to smile)
That was a silly dream, wasn’t it?

ELLIE
Is he really all right?

LOUIS
Yes.

ELLIE
Because you promised.

LOUIS
I know.

RACHEL reaches them. She’s pretty tired. Hair hanging in her face,
good travelling clothes now looking a bit wrinkled and a bit
stale.

RACHEL
Want to take your son, doc?

LOUIS does. GAGE is ecstatic.

LOUIS kisses RACHEL deeply.

INT.  THE CREED KITCHEN, NIGHT

CHURCH at the door, waiting to be let out. ELLIE does the honors.
CHURCH oils out into the shed/garage. ELLIE closes the door. She
looks distressed. She crosses the kitchen again.

INT.  THE CREED LIVING ROOM, NIGHT

RACHEL, in a flannel nightgown, is watching TV. LOUIS is reading a
medical tome and making notes. GAGE, zipped into a warm blanket
suit, is sacking on the couch.

ELLIE (entering)
Can cats have shampoos?

RACHEL
Yes--you have to take them to someone
who grooms animals, though. I think
it’s pretty expensive.

ELLIE (still upset)
I don’t care. I’ll save up my allowance
and pay for it. Church smells bad.

LOUIS
I’ve noticed it, too. I’ll cough up
the money, Ellen.

ELLIE
I hate that smell.

INT.  LOUIS, CU

He looks both grim and sad--a man discovering that what you pay
for you own, and what you own always comes home to you.

LOUIS
Yes--I hate it, too.

BLACK. And on it, a fourth title card: MISSY DANDRIDGE.

SOUND: A pen scratching over paper.

INT.  A STUDY DESK, CU

A single sheet of lined paper is spotlighted by the glow of the
desk-lamp. On it, MISSY’S right hand is just finishing: "Dr. says
Intestinal Cancer. Cannot face this Pain. Sorry."

The hand puts the pen down. It tears the paper in two, leaving
just the half with the message.

INT.  THE DANDRIDGE CELLAR, NIGHT

A light comes on and we see a hangman’s noose strung over a beam.
It dangles above a kitchen table which has been relegated to
cellar duty.

SOUND: Descending footsteps.

INT.  THE NOOSE, CU

SOUND of MISSY climbing onto the table.

Her face enters the frame. She looks very sick. She puts her head
into the noose and rakes it tight at the hyoid bone.

EXT.  THE DANDRIDGE HOUSE, NIGHT

One light on...a cellar light.

SOUND: Ree-ree-ree...then...

SOUND: Kick! THUMP!

SOUND: Ree-ree-ree...

INT.  THE CELLAR, WITH MISSY DANDRIDGE

She hangs limply, hands dangling at her sides, above the table,
which now lies upon its side. We can see the note clearly. She
pinned it to the bodice of her housedress.

SOUND: Car engines starting up.

EXT.  IN FRONT OF THE GRACE METHODIST CHURCH  DAY

People are coming out and getting into their cars and turning on
the headlights, even though it is only mid-morning.

In the immediate f.g. is a hearse. Four pallbearers are loading a
coffin into it.

EXT.  LOUIS AND ELLIE, ON THE CHURCH STEPS

ELLIE
They’re all turning on their lights!
Daddy, why are they all turning on
their lights in the middle of the day?

JUD, dressed in a rusty old black suit and a black tie, comes out
and stands with them. He looks haggard and old.

JUD
They do it to honor the dead, Ellen.

ELLIE
Is that right, dad?

LOUIS
Yes. To honor the dead.

EXT.  THE CHURCH PARKING AREA

More cars start up; more lights come on; the back doors of the
hearse swing closed.

EXT.  LUDLOW CEMETARY  DAY

[NOTE: In the book LOUIS finds it difficult to enter at night
because of a high iron fence. Here we should see there’s no such
problem; there’s only a low stone wall between the graveyard and
the public road.]

The mourners are of course gathered around the grave of MISSY
DANDRIDGE. The coffin rests above it on runners.

MINISTER (voice)
May the Lord bless you and keep you;
may the Lord make his face to shine
upon you, and comfort you, and lift
you up, and give you peace. Amen.

EXT.  LOUIS, ELLIE, JUD

As the mourners begin to break up, these three start back toward
LOUIS’S car.

JUD
Rachel not feeling well?

LOUIS
Well...a touch of the flu...

ELLIE
She’s in bed. She was throwing up.
Ever since Mrs