ParaNorman Page #10

COURTNEY:

Thank you for doing this Mitch. He

means an awful lot to me. I love

him like he was a brother.

NEIL:

He is your brother.

Courtney counters the backseat barbs by smiling demurely,

but Mitch’s attention has been drawn by something else.

MITCH:

Whoa! Look at that sky!

ParaNorman 45.

60 CONTINUED:
60

The wooded hill rises steeply a few miles in front of

them, and at its top is the old chapel. Pressing down

upon it, huge seething thunderclouds shift into

otherworldly shapes. Mitch and Courtney are mesmerized.

Neil suddenly points past Mitch’s face.

NEIL:

Look out!

Mitch slams on the breaks, twisting the wheel.

MITCH:

Oh no!

61 I/E. MITCH’S VAN ON WOODED ROAD - CONTINUOUS 61

Running down the middle of the road, blinded by the glare

of the van’s headlights, are Alvin and Norman. The van

swerves around them and grazes the trees, the side mirror

flying off as it hits a branch.

Mitch fights to control the van as Courtney SCREAMS.

NEIL:

That was Norman!

Shaken, Mitch realizes another figure is looming out of

the darkness in front of them. He slams on the brakes

again, but too late. The tall dirty-looking figure stands

stock still as the van plows straight into him.

Dust flies up from the wheels of the van as it skids to

an eventual stop in the center of the road.

62 INT. MITCH’S VAN - CONTINUOUS 62

Mitch turns to everyone as he pulls off his seat belt.

MITCH:

Is everyone okay?

Courtney and Neil answer in unison, both of them upside

down in their seats with their legs sticking up in the

air.

COURTNEY NEIL:

No! No!

Mitch, trying to stay calm, looks in his rear-view mirror

and sees a prone shape on the ground some yards back.

ParaNorman 46.

63 EXT. WOODED ROAD - CONTINUOUS 63

Mitch climbs out of the van and sees the figure lying

still on the moonlit road. He nervously jogs over to it.

As he gets closer, Mitch can see the man more clearly. He

is wrapped in filthy tattered clothing of a bygone era

and is covered in dirt. Flies BUZZ around him.

MITCH:

Er... hello, sir?

He hunkers down and is immediately hit by the stench. A

mud-encrusted face stares up at him.

ANGLE ON the van, as Courtney leans her head out.

COURTNEY:

Is he dead or what?

MITCH:

I... I don’t know! He’s not

moving!

The figure’s head lets out a faint GASP.

MITCH (CONT’D)

He’s still breathing!

Mitch reaches out to gently lift the figure’s head but as

he does, there is a CRUNCH and it comes off in his hands.

COURTNEY:

So he’s okay?

MITCH:

Uh... not exactly.

COURTNEY:

What? What did you just say?

Mitch looks from the head back to the van, then at the

head again. He licks his lips nervously as he thinks.

MITCH:

Does anyone know CPR?

Further down the road, Norman runs back toward the van,

Alvin still in tow. He sees Mitch ahead of him, getting

dizzily to his feet, still holding the head.

NORMAN:

Run!

The head in Mitch’s hands suddenly GASPS again, opening

its mouth. Mitch SHRIEKS as the headless figure on the

road sits up and reaches out its arms. Mitch drop kicks

it like a football. It flies, WAILING, into the bushes.

ParaNorman 47.

63 CONTINUED:
63

As if struck by the same blow, the rest of the corpse

staggers backwards.

Alvin and Norman run past him toward the van, bustling

past Courtney and clambering inside.

More corpses are emerging from the trees on either side

of the road. She SCREAMS and leaps back into the van, as

Mitch leaps into the driver’s seat beside her.

64 INT. MITCH’S VAN - CONTINUOUS 64

MITCH:

Did you see that?

COURTNEY:

That was insane!

MITCH:

I know, right? I kicked that like

a hundred yards!

COURTNEY:

Norman, what just happened?!

ALVIN:

Zombies! I swear, okay? We saw

them burst out of their graves!

For real!

He realizes Mitch and Courtney are staring at him, and

tries to disguise his raw panic with nonchalance.

ALVIN (O.S.) (CONT’D)

(to Courtney)

Just so you know, I totally saved

his life, and I could totally save

yours.

COURTNEY (O.S.)

Sorry, who are you?

ALVIN (O.S.)

I’m Alvin. I’m in his class.

Norman, not so easily distracted from the problem at hand

as the others, glances uneasily through the window.

NORMAN’S POV - The zombies lurch arthritically toward the

van, GROANING and GURGLING.

NORMAN:

Uh, guys... maybe we should

actually drive away now.

MITCH:

Oh, right.

ParaNorman 48.

64 CONTINUED:
64

Mitch starts the engine with a YELL, just as the nearest

zombie leers in through the window.

65 EXT. WOODED ROAD - CONTINUOUS 65

CLOSE ON the front wheel, spinning and SQUEALING. The van

spits out a cloud of exhaust fumes as it accelerates

away.

A beat as the smoke clears. The soot-covered zombies

SPLUTTER as they cough up what’s left of their lungs.

They turn from one to the other, awaiting direction from

their leader. But the Dead Judge is nowhere to be seen.

A zombie points down the winding road where the woods

eventually thin out into leafy suburban drives. The

ragged shape of the Judge is clinging to the back of the

van, thrashing around and WAILING as it picks up speed.

The zombies quietly watch until the van moves out of

sight behind the trees, then turn their attention to the

lights of the town center below them. They weigh up their

options and, MOANING, shuffle toward civilization.

69 EXT. SUBURBAN STREETS - NIGHT 69

Further down the hill, Sheriff Hooper is taking a break

from ticketing borderline traffic violations by drinking

a giant malt shake in a plastic cup. She leans against

her parked motorcycle, squinting up at the unnatural

clouds.

SHERIFF HOOPER:

Pesky kids with their cell phones

burning up the oh-zone, that’s

what this is!

She finishes her shake and throws the non-recyclable cup

into the bushes.

Mitch’s van shoots past at high speed in a cloud of dust.

SHERIFF HOOPER (CONT'D)

What the..?

Hooper watches the van tear away, the dark shape of the

Dead Judge visibly clinging to the back doors, his

voluminous cape flapping out behind him like a windsock.

70 EXT. WOODED ROAD, MITCH’S VAN - CONTINUOUS 70

Unseen by the kids, the Dead Judge claws his way up the

rear doors of the van by his ragged fingernails.

ParaNorman 49.

71 INT. MITCH’S VAN - CONTINUOUS 71

Courtney lets out an infuriated GROWL.

COURTNEY:

I just knew something like this

was going to happen tonight!

MITCH:

You did? Wow, ‘cos that zombie bit

really threw me.

Courtney turns in her seat and glares at her brother.

COURTNEY:

Why d’you have to go and get

everyone involved in all your

weird stuff?!

NORMAN:

Well, you weren’t supposed to

follow me, were you?

NEIL:

Sorry. My fault. When I’m nervous

I get mouth diarrhoea.

ALVIN:

Ha ha! Diarrhoea!

COURTNEY:

Oh my gosh, I think I’m having an

aneurism! This is so typical of

you!

NORMAN:

You don’t understand! I’m the only

one who can stop this, Courtney!

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