Red Planet Page #9

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?

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