Paranormal Activity

COLD OPEN:

EXT. DAIRY FARM --DAY

A small, one-man operation. There’s a house, a few

outbuildings, corrals and a barn.

TITLE:
VENTURA COUNTY, 45 MILES FROM LOS ANGELES

Angle on JIM CROWLEY, a hard-working dairy farmer, 50’s,

dressed in coveralls. He’s opening a gate. DAIRY COWS come

plodding through and head straight towards the milking barn.

They know the routine.

JIM:

Morning, Girls. Let’s move along

now, sun’s been up for an hour.

Jim moves off and doesn’t see the last cow. Her name is

DELILA and she looks like all the rest, except she’s walking

backwards.

INT. MILKING BARN --SAME DAY

Jim making his rounds, moving past the cows in their stalls,

a quaint wooden sign over each: SWEET SUE, OL’ BESS, MAGGIE

MAY, etc. The cows are facing away from us, udders attached

by clear plastic hoses to a complicated milking apparatus. We

can hear the automated pumps shushing rhythmically, see the

milk coursing through the hoses.

Jim reaches Delila. She’s completely still, her milk

stuttering through the hose.

JIM:

You okay, Delila?

Suddenly, Delila turns her head, looks at him, a malevolent

glint in her eyes. She GROWLS.

EXT. DAIRY FARM --MOMENTS LATER

Jim’s wife, ELLEN, hanging clothes on a clothesline. She

hears Jim yelling, then sees him stumbling out of the barn,

scared cows running past him.

ELLEN:

Oh my heavens!

EXT. MILKING BARN --THAT NIGHT

Jim and Ellen have the door open a bit and they’re peeking

in. We hear Delila’s rabid BELLOWING intermixed with

CRASHING and CLANGING. Apparently, she’s wrecking the place.

2.

JIM:

Well it’s not anthrax or hoof and

mouth. I’ve never seen anything

like this in 35 years of dairy

farming.

Ellen wants to say something, is too afraid.

JIM:

What?

ELLEN:

This is not natural, Jim.

JIM:

Not natural? What’s that supposed

to mean?

ELLEN:

Look at her eyes.

Angle on Delila, panting, glaring at them, eyes like molten

orbs, a burgeoning, unnatural fury inside her.

ELLEN:

I’ve only seen that look one other

time. Remember my cousin, Thalia?

JIM:

Aww Ellen --

ELLEN:

Thalia was possessed, Jim. A demon

took hold of that poor woman’s body

and drove her right out of her

mind!

JIM:

Cow’s don’t get possessed, Ellen.

They’re cows.

They hear a BELLOW that’s more like a scream. Delila is

galloping right at them, her face distorted into a snarl,

ears back, teeth bared like a dog. In a panic, they slam the

door shut as Delila rams into it, splintering the wood. Jim

looks at Ellen, realizes she may be right.

JIM:

My God...

END COLD OPEN:

3.

ACT 1

INT. CAMRY --DAY

JOSH KEELING at the wheel, drinking a chocolate milk with a

straw. He’s mid-30’s, casually dressed, attractive, a regular

guy. Music begins, the Talking Heads sing the arrestingly

weird, “Once In A Lifetime” over...

A MONTAGE:

Josh drives through a typical LA suburb, intercut with scenes

of ordinary people doing ordinary things; walking their dogs,

playing tennis, having coffee at Starbucks, talking on their

cells. The scenes are so ordinary they’re almost surreal.

JOSH (V.O.)

Somebody once said, the only normal

people are the ones you don’t know

very well, and how many people do

you know that well? I mean really.

Your family, your friends, the

people you see everyday? Oh sure,

they look normal, but believe me

when I tell you, normal can

disguise the weirdest stuff you can

imagine.

The montage ends.

EXT. PCI --SAME DAY

A small, nondescript commercial building, “Paranormal

Consultants Inc” stenciled discreetly on the door.

COLLIN (V.O.)

I believe all paranormal mysteries

have a scientific explanation...

INT. PCI --CONTINUOUS

A combination office/lab. COLLIN CLARK in the lab area.

20’s, white, geeky, chip on his shoulder. He’s repairing a

homemade device called THE M-PAC. It looks like a cross

between an assault pistol and an ionic blow dryer.

COLLIN:

...and technology will be the key

to unlocking them.

Angle on ATHENA ORTIZ; Latina, 20’s, street edge, hot but not

on purpose. She’s at the reception desk reading a book.

ATHENA:

Some things will always be

mysteries, Collin.

(MORE)

4.

ATHENA (cont'd)

The most you can do is harness

their energy and use them for good.

COLLIN:

(scoffs) Is that like the Witch’s

Hippocratic Oath?

ATHENA:

I’m a bruja.

COLLIN:

My mistake. A bruja.

ATHENA:

Runs in the family. My

grandmother’s a bruja too. In the

barrio she’s famous.

COLLIN:

Oh really?

ATHENA:

Yes, really. I’ve seen her do

amazing things and she doesn’t need

any technology made from stuff you

can get at Radio Shack.

Stung, Collin starts to retort but Josh enters with a BAG OF

DONUTS.

JOSH:

Good morning.

ATHENA:

Morning, Josh.

JOSH:

(off the bag) Apple fritter?

ATHENA:

Maybe some other time, like when

I’m skinny and have a dental plan.

(then) Messages. A Mr. Markett

called. He thinks his wife was a

victim of spontaneous combustion

and he’d like you to investigate

and The New Age Society wants you

to submit a paper on The Taos Hum

Phenomenon.

JOSH:

Screen Mr. Markett, see if he

really had a wife and I don’t have

time to submit a paper.

5.

ATHENA:

We also have that consultation with

Jim Crowley, the dairy farmer? We

should leave soon.

Josh crosses to Collin.

JOSH:

Apple fritter?

COLLIN:

The new girl is not working out.

JOSH:

I think she’s doing great.

COLLIN:

She claims to be a witch, a bruja

no less.

JOSH:

I know, Collin, and could we keep

an open mind?

New angle. The phone RINGS, Athena answers.

ATHENA:

PCI. (then) Josh, it’s Barbara.

JOSH:

I’ll take it in my office.

INT. JOSH’S OFFICE/PCI --SAME

A cramped jumble of files, tapes, books, maps and photos,

Josh picking up the phone.

JOSH:

Hello?

BARBARA (V.O.)

Colonial, God, that’s so

eighties..is that olive? No, it’s

more like a moss...

JOSH:

Honey? What are we talking about?

INTERCUT:

INT. KITCHEN/JOSH’S HOUSE --CONTINUOUS

BARBARA, Josh’s wife; 30’S, attractive, suburban prim. She’s

looking out of the window, watching the house next door. A

delivery truck is in the driveway, workmen toting a new

living room set (the subject of her comments) into the house.

6.

TED STROUD and his wife, LASANDRA, supervising. They’re

attractive, black, 30’s.

BARBARA:

Ted and LaSandra, our new

neighbors? I invited them over for

lunch tomorrow. They seem nice

enough.

Barbara waves at the Strouds, they wave back. As the

dialogue continues Barb takes dishes out of the dishwasher

and wipes off spots only she can see.

JOSH:

Is that why you called?

BARBARA:

I just got off the phone with the

Vice Principal. Danni skipped

school.

JOSH:

She did?

BARBARA:

It’s the new boyfriend. Cal. He’s

taking advantage of her.

Athena appears in Josh’s doorway, gestures, let’s go.

JOSH:

I’ve got to go. We’ll talk about it

later.

They hang up but we stay with Barbara in the kitchen. ADAM

enters. 7 years old, a smart kid trying to figure out how the

world works.

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