Beetlejuice Page #3

EXT:
ROAD IN FRONT OF HOUSE -- DAY

JIMMY is racing down the hill on his bicycle, ROCKET bounding

after him.

At the bottom of the hill is a rickety bridge, spanning the

rapidly flowing Winter River.

JIMMY's bike goes BUMPITY-BUMPITY-BUMP across the uneven boards.

ROCKET, however, veers off the road in order to chase a squirrel.

JIMMY stops his bike in the middle of the bridge, and calls back

after ROCKET.

JIMMY:

Rocket! Leave that squirrel

alone! Mr. Maitland would

skin you alive if he saw you

chasing his animals!

But ROCKET does not reappear, and JIMMY shrugs, and rides on

towards town.

EXT:
FRONT OF HOUSE -- DAY

JANE comes out the front door of the house. She holds open the

front door, as ADAM and BARBARA come out with the flag cake

between them.

JANE goes out into the yard, and opens the rear of ADAM and

BARBARA's station wagon.

JANE:

I'll see you at the picnic,

won't I?

ADAM:

We haven't missed the town

picnic since --

He looks to BARBARA.

BARBARA:

We've never missed it.

JANE starts to get into her car, but, glancing up at the house

and seeing it as a big fat commission, she gives it one more

shot.

JANE:

Six hundred fifty thousand.

You could move to Maui.

ADAM and BARBARA wave, not even bothering to reply. JANE's car

takes off. Careful of the cake, ADAM shuts the rear door of

their station wagon. As they do, there comes into view a bumper

sticker:
WARNING! I BRAKE FOR ANIMALS!

ADAM and BARBARA get into the car, and drive off.

Directly behind them, over the crest of the hills, comes a

hunter's van. A doe is tied to the open back.

INT:
THE STATION WAGON -- DAY

Going down the hill, and towards the bridge.

ADAM is staring with disgust in the rearview mirror at the

hunters, who are tailgating them.

BARBARA, sitting close beside ADAM in the front street, does not

notice.

BARBARA:

Don't use your brakes.

I'm worried about the cake.

ADAM:

We're going downhill. I have

to use --

BARBARA screams and points.

ROCKET has just run out into the path of the car, and is staring

stupidly at the approaching vehicle.

ADAM applies brakes violently to avoid hitting ROCKET.

EXT:
BRIDGE AND RIVER -- DAY

The hunters' van smashes into the back of ADAM and BARBARA's

station wagon, and sends it into the side of the rickety bridge.

It crashes through the railing and hovers a moment on the edge.

ROCKET has ambled slowly out of the way, unhurt.

The Hunters' van also screeches to a halt in the middle of the

bridge.

INT:
THE CAR -- DAY

A piling has smashed through the window on the passenger side,

crushing the upper part of BARBARA's arm. She is wailing in pain

and fright.

ADAM attempts everything at once. He tries to help BARBARA. He

tries to get out of the car to save his own skin. He attempts to

maneuver the car onto the bridge again. None of this succeeds.

The car rocks back and forth a moment, and then slides forward

toward the river.

EXT:
CAR AND BRIDGE -- DAY

The station wagon plunges into the rushing water. It floats for

a moment, and then sinks like a stone.

The hunters' van peels away from the scene of the accident. For

the first time we see an I LOVE NEW YORK bumper sticker on the

car, directly beneath the bloody head of the dead doe.

UNDERWATER --

The station wagon floats downward with panic-stricken ADAM and

BARBARA inside. For a moment we hear their screams, then as the

car fills up with water, the screams are cut off.

EXT:
BRIDGE AND RIVER -- DAY

ROCKET is standing on the bridge staring into the water.

Bubbles of air come up from the bottom and break on the surface

of the water.

The bubbles stop.

ROCKET trots off in the direction of town.

FADE TO BLACK.

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INT:
THE HOUSE -- TWILIGHT

NOISE OF A SLOW CLOCK TICKING.

One after another, we see the rooms of the Maitland house, still,

empty, dimly lighted. From the top of the house to the bottom.

The last room to be seen is the living room.

The clock stops ticking.

A moment of silence and stillness.

Suddenly and for no apparent reason the fire laid in the hearth

ignites and burns with a furious cheerfulness.

BARBARA and ADAM enter, dazed, wet and bedraggled.

BARBARA:

What a wonderful start to

our vacation.

ADAM:

You'll feel better when

you're dry.

ADAM leads her toward the fire. He holds out his hands to be

warmed. BARBARA comes up beside him. All this time she's been

holding her injured arm with the other hand.

BARBARA:

This fire wasn't burning when

we left the house.

ADAM:

How's your arm?

BARBARA:

I'm not sure. It feels

frozen.

She holds her hands out to warm them.

BARBARA's LEFT ARM --

slowly slides out of her sleeve of her coat and plunges into the

fire.

ADAM and BARBARA stare at it dumbfoundedly before ADAM regains

his senses and snatches it out of the fire. Two of the fingers

are burning like candles, and BARBARA industriously blows them

out.

CUT TO:

INT:
LIVING ROOM: A FEW MINUTES LATER

ADAM and BARBARA are sitting on the couch together. BARBARA is

looking away slightly -- as one does when a doctor is drawing

blood -- while ADAM tries to reattach her arm. He's a little

unsure of the procedure, since he's never had to do it before.

BARBARA:

Do you remember how we got

out of the car?

ADAM gets up, a little absently, and wanders to the front door.

He peers out.

ADAM:

I don't think we survived

that crash.

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