BLAIR WITCH II
By
Dick Beebe
Original Story By
Joe Berlinger & Dick Beebe
FIRST DRAFT (Revised)
January 10, 2000
BLACK SCREEN
And in that darkness, white words silently FADE UP:
The following is based on actual events. Some
dramatic re-creation was necessary for reasons
that will become obvious.
Beat. And then slowly swelling up is the sound of panicked
hyperventilation--spasms of words and weeping:
VOICE (HEATHER DONAHUE)
I'm...scared...to close my eyes--
SMASH UP ON
the teary and terrified EYES of HEATHER DONAHUE (the now ubiquitous
scene from "Blair Witch Project" of her confessing to the camera):
HEATHER DONAHUE
--I'm scared to open them.
(beat)
We're going to die out here--
--then, suddenly, this image of Heather FREEZE FRAMES. And we hear
the incongruously perky Voice of ABC's DEBORAH ROBERTS:
DEBORAH ROBERTS (V.O.)
--she'd be a much happier camper
if she'd lived to see this weekend's
grosses--
--abruptly, the freeze-framed image of Heather goes squeeze-boxing
up into the upper left corner of the screen, revealing:
That we're watching ABC WORLD NEWS SUNDAY--the date bannered at the
bottom of the screen: August 1, 1999. Reporter Deborah Roberts sits
behind the Anchor Desk reading TelePrompTer copy:
DEBORAH ROBERTS
In only its first week of wide
release, "The Blair Witch Project"
has taken in a whopping 36 million
at the nation's box office. Not too
bad for an independent film that was
reportedly made for less than the
cost of your average Buick--
CUT TO:
News Video - Day. The Angelika Theatre, New York City. Big and bold
on the marquee: "Blair Witch Project." Tracking shot away from the
theatre and down the street, to see:
NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
--lines to see the new film
stretching five blocks long down
Houston Street--and this was for a
10 a.m. show--
CUT TO:
Close On the long line - Two YOUNG MEN in their late teens being
interviewed on camera:
YOUNG MAN #1
--to get the holy sh--
(BLEEP!)
--scared outta me, man, what do
you think?
YOUNG MAN #2
I heard last night they had people
runnin' screamin' out of the theatre--
CUT TO:
The last scene of BWP projected on a big screen--Heather Donahue
running screaming down the stairs inside the house--and seeing Mike
standing facing the wall--
WHIP BACK
to see that we're inside a theatre, and the audience watching this
is collectively shrieking with surprise--
--and then collectively shrieking even louder as Heather is hit
from behind and goes down, camera with her.
CUT TO:
Another Theatre - Night - Video of an Audience exiting the film.
One YOUNG WOMAN being interviewed is particularly shaken:
YOUNG WOMAN
...the kid...Mike...he was turned
around towards the wall 'cause that's
what that guy in 1940 made all the
little kids do before he killed them--
A gaggle of Male Teenagers pass by in b.g. of the shot. One of
them shouts:
TEENAGER
Just a movie, baby!
The Young Woman looks confused for a moment. Looks into the camera:
YOUNG WOMAN
....no...it was real, what we saw
....wasn't it?--
CUT TO:
Telecast of MARY HART on the set of "Entertainment Tonight."
MARY HART
--whatever you want to call it,
"Blair Watch" is definitely the
Cinderella story of the summer, if
not the century, with now an 80 million
dollar gross in just two weeks--
CUT TO:
News Video of a 30ish GUY railing at the People waiting to purchase
tickets to BWP:
30ISH GUY
--save your money, it's all bullshit
hype! Blair Witch sucks!--
CUT TO:
Some STONER being interviewed on camera:
STONER
--all repeat business, dude--I know
morons who've seen the stupid thing
like three times in one day.
INTERVIEWER (O.S.)
How many times have you seen the
film?
STONER
Like maybe five. But not in one
(BLEEP)
-ing day--
CUT TO:
Critic LEONARD MALTIN holding forth on-air:
MALTIN
--it taps into our universal primal
fears: of the boogeyman, of the
things that go bump in the night--
there's something out there, you
can't see it, and it's coming for
you--
CUT TO:
Video of more audience exit interviews. Two YOUNG MEN in their 20s:
YOUNG MAN #1
--I'll tell you what was scary:
trying to keep my lunch down. If
that stupid camera jiggled one
more time--
YOUNG MAN #2
--some guy the row in front of me
actually did toss--
CUT TO:
WOMAN holding a baby.
WOMAN
--it was just so real--
CUT TO:
Solemn-looking GEEKY GUY:
GEEKY GUY
--it was real--
CUT TO:
Dubious-looking TEENAGE GIRL:
TEENAGE GIRL
--you gotta be kidding me--
there's people out there think
"Blair Witch" was real??--
CUT TO:
Bespectacled MAN IN SUIT:
MAN IN SUIT
--the story of the three students
was fiction. The legend of the
Blair Witch is, apparently, true,
however--
CUT TO:
DIANE SAWYER on "Good Morning America."
DIANE SAWYER
--the brass tacks of the matter
is, love it or hate it, "Blair
Witch" has escalated from being
merely another cinema success
story to a genuine nationwide
phenomenon--if not obsession.
Profits from merchandising tie-
ins going through the roof--
CUT AWAY TO:
Montage of Blair Witch paraphernalia:
--t-shirts and other apparel
--keychains
--posters
--the books-The Blair Witch Project: A Dossier; Heather's Journal
--the CD "Josh's Blair Witch Mix"
DIANE SAWYER (V.O.)
--the official "Blair Witch" web-
site now having received 75
million "hits" to date--
--shot of computer screen, on-line: The Blair Witch Store
DIANE SAWYER (V.O.)
--with that web-site, in just a
matter of a few weeks, begatting
dozens more web-sites, with chat
rooms so packed with fans and foes
you're lucky to get a cyber-word
in edge-wise--
CUT TO:
Computer Screen showing a Chat Room in progress--exchanges flying
back and forth like lightning:
GIRLGENIUS: if story true, then how come end credits
list "written by"???
WARLOX: all docs are written by--somebody has to put
all the pieces together like a story
K-RATIONAL: that's EDITING, idiot--they made whole
thing up--those were actors
CHERUBIM-BO: then how come characters had same names
as "actors"
AK-47: you call that acting
C.I.A-LIST: Congrats any U bought into big lie that
BWP phony have successfully been suckered
by dis-info campaign waged by U.S. govt
they don't want us TO KNOW TRUTH
CUT TO:
Video interview with RONALD CRAVENS, Sheriff of Burkittsville. He's
standing at the corner where the Union Cemetery abuts Route 17.
SHERIFF
--the truth is, this movie's
probably been the best and worst
thing ever happen to this town. The
good thing--well, take a look down
East Main there--
CAMERA PANS
past him towards a stretch of two-lane blacktop with stores on
either side.
SHERIF
--we've got people pouring in here
like it's Times Square, some of 'em
all the way from Europe, Japan. A
whole lot of money being spent. The
bad?
He points to a white wooden post stuck in the shoulder of the road.
SHERIFF
There used to be a sign on it,
"Welcome to Burkittsville." They
showed it in the movie. Somebody
wanna show me where it is now? I
swear to God, these people, they're
coming in and making off with every-
thing isn't nailed down. There's two
other signs I had to take down myself,
put away for safekeeping 'til this
whole damn thing's finally over.
INTERVIEWER (O.S.)
When did you think that'll be?
SHERIFF
Just pray we get to see it this
lifetime.
CUT TO:
Video footage - Burkittsville Union Cemetery. Two KIDS wearing Ohio
State jackets. Wandering around, confused, with gravestone-rubbing
kits under their arms.
KID #1
Can't seem to find 'em.
KID #2
Gotta be around here somewhere--
right here's where Heather stood
in the movie.
Kid #1 looks into the camera.
KID #1
We're trying to find the graves of
those seven kids Rustin Parr killed.
KID #2
Lotta dead kids--just can't find
any died later than like 1867.
Kid #1 stops, squints. The camera travels with his gaze: atop
nearly every other grave marker is a black candle melted into the
stone.
KID #1
What do you think all these candles
are for?
KID #2
I wouldn't touch 'em.
CUT BACK TO:
Sheriff Cravens on Video.
SHERIFF
Nothing much we can do--just enforce
the curfew. Which is dusk, for both
the cemetery and the Black Hills
Forest.
CUT TO:
Aerial shot of the Black Hills area: we see packs of people
everywhere.
CUT TO:
The overgrown foundation of Rustin Parr's house in the middle of
the woods. Manic-eyed Teenagers proudly display their souvenirs for
the camera: rocks and cement slivers.
TEEN #1
This is what you call "striking
gold."
TEEN #2
Fifty bucks a pop minimum back in
Philly.
CUT BACK TO:
The Sheriff on tape.
INTERVIEWER (O.S.)
There seems to be some controversy
whether or not any of this actually
happened.
SHERIFF
That what actually happened.
INTERVIEWER (O.S.)
The three kids who disappeared,
everything that was in the movie,
the whole Blair Witch legend.
The Sheriff just stares for a beat towards the Interviewer like
he/she's completely insane. Then turns and walks away, rubbing his
eyes with a thumb and forefinger like a headache the size of
Manitoba just hit him.
SHERIFF
You'll excuse me--
CUT TO:
An office in L.A. Big "Artisan Entertainment" logo on the wall. A
well-turned out Gentleman (or Woman) who exudes "EXECUTIVE" smiles
gently for the camera.
ARTISAN EXECUTIVE
--the only statement we feel
comfortable making at this time
is: we're happy the film's been
such a success; we grieve with
the families of Heather, Josh
and Mike. Now, if you'll excuse
me--
CUT TO:
Dusk. Sheriff Cravens leaning on his car on a road at the edge of
the forest.
SHERIFF
--this is the only reality I
know: we're averaging about four
lost rubberneckers a week up in
these woods.
The Sheriff puts a bullhorn to his lips; bellows into the woods:
SHERIFF
Get outta these damn woods and go
home! There is nothing in there!
SMASH TO BLACK
And silence. White words again appear in the darkness:
NINE MONTHS LATER
Music begins to be heard under it--uber Goth: Type O Negative's
"Haunted." It suddenly swells--to ear-shatter proportions.
SMASH UP ON
EXT. A VAN - IN MOTION - HIGHWAY - DAY
Zipping fast down U.S. Route 70--West. We see the mileage signs on
both sides of the median indicating where they're coming from and
where they're now going: from Baltimore, towards Frederick,
Maryland. (NOTE: this is shot on 16 or 35mm film, which will be the
medium of "reality" for the rest of the movie.)
The music that's blaring isn't underscoring--it's coming from
inside the Van. As is a WOMAN'S VOICE (ANNA) shouting over it:
ANNA (O.S.)
You want to turn that shit down
just a hair??
INT. THE VAN - CONTINUOUS
TIGHT ON the Driver of the Van, a grunged-out 25 year old with
shoulder-length hair, a well-worn black "Blair Witch Project" t-
shirt and cap: COTTER KALLER. He yells towards the backseat:
COTTER
Shit? This is from "Josh's Blair
Witch Mix," man!
ANNA (O.S.)
Down or off--you're giving me a
migraine.
COTTER
(mutters)
Christ.
He turns the volume down.
COTTER
(petulant)
Just trying to set the mood for the
mission--get the "feeling."
ANNA (O.S.)
Only thing I'm feeling is homicidal.
Cotter grumbles. Then a wicked grin hits his lips. Turns to the
unseen Man sitting next to him in the passenger seat:
COTTER
Hold this.
NICK (O.S.)
What?
COTTER
The wheel.
He clamps Nick's hand on the steering wheel, picks up the 8mm
Camcorder beside him, turns around, and starts shooting into the
back seat.
POV OF VIDEO CAMCORDER
On a not-very-happy-at-the-moment-looking Blonde Woman.
ANNA TASSIO - ON VIDEO
age 20. She rolls her eyes as Cotter begins narrating:
COTTER (O.S.)
The bitched-out babe in back here
is one Anna Tassio--we met one
dark and stormy night in a Blair
Witch chat room, we all did--
ANNA
--Christ almighty--
COTTER (O.S.)
--but she was nicer then--sweeter--
she hadn't vomited twice already
like today--
ANNA
--it's called "morning sickness,"
asshole--
COTTER (O.S.)
(editorial aside)
--a six week bun in the oven--
NICK (O.S.)
(wearily)
--Cotter, just turn the camera
off?
Cotter responds by panning the Camcorder towards the passenger
seat. We see on video:
NICK LEAVITT
a lanky 21 year old wearing wire-rims.
COTTER (O.S.)
This is her equally on-the-rag boy-
friend, Nick Leavitt--
NICK
--turn the camera off--
COTTER (O.S.)
--they're from UMass, doing some
kind of fucking term paper--
NICK
--Graduate Thesis--
COTTER (O.S.)
--about the Witch--
VOICE FROM BACK SEAT
--she doesn't exist--
NICK
--you got that right--
THE CAMERA pans again into the back seat, showing HEATHER ARENDT,
19, with a huge mane of fire-engine red hair.
HEATHER
--and if she ever did--
ANNA (O.S.)
--which she may have--
NICK (O.S.)
--bullshit--
HEATHER
--she wasn't a witch--we embrace
nature, not evil--
COTTER (O.S.)
--thank you, Heather Arendt--and
arend't we glad you're here--a real
witch--
HEATHER
--fuckin' A right--
NICK
--Cotter--
COTTER
--a Wiccan--
NICK (O.S.)
--turn the goddamn camera off!
The Camcorder swings back to Nick.
NICK
We're not making Blair Witch II
here.
COTTER (O.S.)
I am.
One big blur of a pan--Cotter's turned the camcorder on himself. He
issues his manifesto:
COTTER
And let it be known--before we even
get to Burkittsville--it's gonna be
an eighteen thousand times better
movie--for half the cost--
HEATHER (O.S.)
--which'd be about ten bucks--
COTTER
--and unlike the first one, every
second of it's gonna be true! "Blair
Witch: The Real Story!"
NICK (O.S.)
Cotter?
COTTER
I'm not finished.
NICK (O.S.)
We're all going to be if you don't
hit the brakes.
The Camcorder WHIP=PANS towards the windshield:
The Van is about to plow into the rear of a
HUGE COCA-COLA TRUCK
COTTER (O.S.)
Jee-zuz!
Visual pandemonium as the Camcorder goes flying from his hands and
down next to the
BRAKE PEDAL
We see both of COTTER'S FEET smash down on the pedal. Hear O.S.:
screeching of the passengers--screeching of the brake shoes--
screaming of the tires as the Van swerves into the next lane--and
then an angry symphony of CAR HORNS.
HEATHER (O.S.)
You're a complete fucking idiot,
aren't you?
COTTER (O.S.)
Hey, Mr. Graduate Fucking Thesis
here was s'posed to be driving!
NICK (O.S.)
You drive, I'll handle the video,
okay?
COTTER (O.S.)
Fine.
We see the view from the Camcorder as it's scooped up from the Van
floor and brought back up to eye-level again.
ON NICK'S FACE
As he waves two fingers at the lens.
NICK
Bye-bye--
--and the Video zaps to black.
SMASH BACK TO - FILM
Where Nick can be seen tossing the camcorder into the backseat.
Anna catches it, puts it in a back pack and zips it.
COTTER
What're you doing?
NICK
This isn't about us.
COTTER
Right. And the check's in the mail.
CUT TO:
EXT/INT. THE VAN - TWO HOURS LATER - DAY
Doing a relaxed 35 down the narrow ribbon of Route 17. Rural farm
country. The weather's turned grey--making all the 19th Century-
vintage houses and barns they pass look dismal, if not a little
foreboding.
NICK
Cheery little place.
ANNA
It's like traveling back in time.
HEATHER
The good old days: toasting marsh-
mallows over a burning witch.
NICK
They never burned witches in this
country, they hanged them.
HEATHER
Whatever--all I know is the
persecution's going to start all
over again, they keep pumping
out inflammatory bullshit like
this fucking movie--
COTTER
--hey: check that out!
Ahead of them, at a crossroads, is a sign:
Welcome to Burkittsville
COTTER
'Thought those all got stolen.
ANNA
Guess they thought it was safe
to put some up again.
COTTER
Think again.
He starts to slow the Van alongside the sign.
COTTER
Somebody wanna hand me that
claw hammer in back--
--Nick pushes Cotter's leg back down on the accelerator. The Van
jerks past the sign and down the road.
NICK
Get busted on your own time.
We've got a schedule to keep.
Cotter just glares at him.
COTTER
Was it every day or just semi-
weekly you got your ass kicked
as a kid?
NICK
(ignoring him)
Now you can bring the vehicle
to a stop: there on the left.
EXT. BURKITTSVILLE UNION CEMETERY - JUST AFTER
The four of them stand there by the sign to the graveyard. Anna
searching the gray horizon.
COTTER
Why are we here?
ANNA
She e-mailed me yesterday this is
where we should meet her.
COTTER
Who?
NICK
Whatzername--the "psychic" Anna
hired.
ANNA
Domini. Domini Von Teer.
COTTER
What's she look like?
ANNA
No idea, just talked to her on
the 'Net--she's very good.
NICK
So says her website.
ANNA
She is--she's helped solve a
bunch of murders: Arizona, New
Mexico--
COTTER
--how old?
ANNA
I dunno, probably right up
there, based on her resume.
COTTER
Then there she blows.
Cotter points to
THE WOODS
near the far edge of the cemetery. Standing there is an old, gaunt
and particularly Unattractive Woman, staring at them.
COTTER
Terrific--and I was afraid I
wasn't going to get laid on this
trip.
The four of them start tromping towards her.
NICK
Jesus.
ANNA
What?
NICK
That's not whatzername--it's
Mary Brown.
COTTER
From-the-movie-Mary-Brown,
Trailer Park Bible Psycho?
HEATHER
Oh, for chrissake, she was
an actor.
ANNA
No, the kids were actors, the
townspeople were real. Her, the
Sheriff, the Convenience Store
guy--
NICK
--whatever; that's her.
FLASHBACK - B&W
To the interview with Mary Brown from "Blair Witch Project." The
years have apparently not been kind: she looks a good two decades
younger.
CUT BACK TO - THE PRESENT
They're less than 20 feet now from MARY BROWN.
She speaks without expression:
MARY BROWN
What do you want?
ANNA
Just came over to say hello.
MARY BROWN
It's five bucks for signin'
something; ten for signin' a Bible;
twenty, you want to take a picture
with me. Any kind've conversation,
that's subject to negotiation.
COTTER
(sotto)
I don't believe this.
HEATHER
(sotto)
I do.
NICK
Thanks just the same. I think
we're fine.
MARY BROWN
Heather's not.
Heather double-takes.
HEATHER
Me?
MARY BROWN
Heather. I saw her. Elly Kedward's
hands were on her throat, and she
was sucking out the girl's insides
with her mouth.
COTTER
(to Heather)
Heather from the movie.
Mary Brown shakes her head.
MARY BROWN
Heather.
NICK
Been a pleasure meeting you;
we need to go now.
He hustles the other three back towards the cemetery.
HEATHER
I take it back--she wasn't an
actor. She's a nutjob.
COTTER
That's what Josh and Mike said.
HEATHER
Shut-up.
TIME CUT TO:
The cemetery. Everyone spread out looking for:
ANNA
Domino? Domini Von Teer...??
Beat. And then, out of nowhere, seemingly just plunging right out
of the earth
AN ARM
extends into the air not far from them. Paper-pale and stick-thin,
almost skeletal.
DOMINI
Present.
They walk over. See, lying atop a cracked granite marker, a
Young Woman who can't be more than 18. Heroin-chic skinny. All in
black, including her make-up--uber Goth: DOMINI VON TEER.
ANNA
Domini?
DOMINI
Yes.
ANNA
What're you doing there?
DOMINI
Trying to find the energy.
ANNA
Inside the grave?
DOMINI
To stand up--I'm exhausted. Been
on the road since yesterday.
COTTER
You want a hand?
DOMINI
I want amphetamines.
Cotter helps her up.
COTTER
Beer and weed is what I've got.
DOMINI
Both. Now.
Anna and Heather look at the faded marker Domini's been lying on.
It says:
BOY KURTH
May 28 '00
HEATHER
Sweet place to take a nap.
ANNA
Strange girl.
HEATHER
You think so?
As they walk away, Heather sees Mary Brown across the cemetery,
staring at her.
EXT/INT. THE VAN - LATER - AFTERNOON
Snaking its way down the road that wends through the Black Forest
Hills.
INSIDE
Domini and her second beer have commandeered the shotgun seat, Nick
relegated to a tight squeeze in the back seat. Dead silence. She's
slightly unnerving. Finally:
COTTER
So, I hear you're from New Mexico!
DOMINI
Sometimes.
ANNA
Her father's Sheriff of Taos
County.
DOMINI
Sometimes. Where are we going?
NICK
Ruins of the Rustin Parr house.
DOMINI
Guy who killed all the kids in the
'40s.
COTTER
("Outer Limits" tremolo)
"The Voiiiiices made him do it."
ANNA
The Witch's voice.
HEATHER
She wasn't a witch.
NICK
Whatever.
DOMINI
I hear voices all the time.
That pretty much kills the rest of the conversation.
EXT. THE VAN - LATER - AFTERNOON
Parked at the edge of the woods. Back-packs being hauled out of the
rear, camping gear, video equipment.
DOMINI
What is all this shit?
NICK
We're doing dusk-till-dawn taping
of all the places where there've
been alleged Blair Witch "sightings"
--the Parr House, Coffin Rock,
Tappy Creek.
DOMINI
Why?
NICK
See what turns up--which I
guarantee will be nothing. Some
of the rest of the party are more
hopeful--
HEATHER
--or incredibly fucking naive.
ANNA
Hey, folklore--
NICK
--myth--
ANNA
--doesn't just pop out of thin
air. It spins off of real events.
At some point there was a Blair
Witch--
NICK
--or one huge attack of group
hysteria.
COTTER
(snide)
Either way, maybe there's a book
in it, and they both make a ton of
money.
NICK
(snapping)
It's a serious sociological study.
DOMINI
The four of you really have too
much spare fucking time on your
hands, don't you?
HEATHER
And what's your excuse for being
here?
NICK
She got paid.
DOMINI
(shrugs)
I thought the movie was bitchin'.
EXT. THE WOODS - SOON AFTER
Mammoth backpacks strapped on, the five begin walks into the
forest.
COTTER
Wait a sec!
He spins and runs back towards the Van.
NICK
What?
Through the trees, they see Cotter place a pint of bottled water on
the roof of the Van. Starts video-ing it as he walks away.
HEATHER
He really is a fucking idiot.
EXT. DEEPER IN THE WOODS - LATER - AFTERNOON
Slogging up a 45-degree angled hill. This is not exactly Sir Edmund
Hillary and Co.--the five of them already look exhausted.
HEATHER
Didn't we already do this hill?
Nick is staring at three different maps at once as he walks.
NICK
No.
ANNA
You sure?
NICK
Yes.
COTTER
Terrific: an hour, we're already
lost--
--and then a look of trepidation crosses Cotter's face--
FLASH TO:
Footage from "Blair Witch Project"--panic, as Heather, Josh and
Mike realize they've spent all day walking in a circle.
NICK (V.O.)
Cotter?
CUT BACK TO - PRESENT
Nick's glaring at him.
COTTER
What?
NICK
Look over there.
Cotter looks up: less than 500 yards ahead can be seen the ruins of
an Old House.
COTTER
Okay, but--
NICK
--now there.
--Nick is pointing behind him. Cotter looks. From the atop the hill
he can see down to the road--and his Van with the water bottle on
the roof.
COTTER
Oh. Cool.
EXT. THE PARR RUINS - SHORTLY AFTER
All the backpacks and miscellaneous tonnage is already dumped on
the ground. The five of them stretch their legs, massage sore
shoulders and lower backs, while sightseeing the remnants of the
old house and its environs.
Cotter, not surprisingly, is taping everything.
POV CAMCORDER
a huge bite taken out of one of the walls of the foundation, stone,
brick and soil strewn everywhere around it.
COTTER (O.S.)
Where they found the backpacks and
all the film a year later.
ANNA (O.S.)
Buried deep under 200 years worth
of soil, ash, and compost layers.
DOMINI (O.S.)
Yeah, that was a cluster-fuck for
the mind.
NICK/HEATHER (O.S.)
If it happened at all.
Suddenly, the camcorder image starts shaking wildly.
CUT BACK TO - FILM
Cotter seen running full-tilt towards Heather, who's facing one of
the interior foundation walls. He's jiggling the camera like he's
got St. Vitus dance.
CUT BACK TO - VIDEO
We hear Cotter doing a passable Heather Donahue impression--
screeching as the shaking video image PUSHES IN right towards
Heather Arendt's face.
COTTER (O.S.)
Mike! Miiiiiiike! Noooooo!
Heather turns, scowling, and puts her hand over the lens.
CUT BACK TO - FILM
Heather pushing the camcorder out of her face.
HEATHER
You're not only an idiot, you're
a goddamn child.
COTTER
Why does everyone here but me have
have a gigantic stick up their ass?
DOMINI
Hey! Check this out!
CUT TO - CAMCORDER POV:
On one of the foundation's interior walls: a gobbledygook of tiny
handprints and strange, angular glyphs.
DOMINI (O.S.)
Look at those marks--just like
in the movie.
NICK (O.S.)
Ancient runes--
COTTER (O.S.)
--what the fuck's a "rune"?--
CUT BACK TO - FILM
Nick erasing half the marks with one sweep of his palm.
NICK
--chalked just hours ago by ancient
adolescents. It's called vandalism.
ANNA
What is this?
All turn. She's pointing to the large, leafy tree with branches
stretching everywhere above them.
COTTER
Oak?
ANNA
No. What's it doing here in the
middle of the foundation?
HEATHER
Growing. This place burnt down 50
years ago. Trees happen.
Nick flips through a voluminous loose-leaf notebook--points out a
page to Anna.
NICK
Look it's right here--from the Blair
Witch "Dossier"--the sketch the
anthropology students made of their
dig when they found the backpack.
The sketch shows a spindly growth in the middle of the foundation,
no more than six feet high.
ANNA
That's a sapling--this mother's
got to be three hundred years old,
minimum.
NICK
It's a sketch, Anna--it's not to-
scale cartography; the tree was not
the kids' focus--
ANNA
--do you agree it's that old, Nick?
NICK
Okay, fine, whatever, yes--it's an
old tree.
HEATHER
Why don't you just cut it down and
count the goddamn rings--who cares?
ANNA
Because it means the tree is older
than the house.
COTTER
Yeah, so?
ANNA
So whoever built this--
--Nick rustles through the loose-leaf--
NICK
--brother of Rustin Parr's maternal
grandfather, somewhere after 1858--
ANNA
--whoever--they built an entire
house around a tree. Sticking
up right through the living room.
Somebody like to explain that to
me?
NICK
The rest of the family was
crazy as Rusty Parr.
ANNA
Oh, c'mon--even you have to admit
this is weird.
NICK
No--this is weird.
He reaches down and picks one of the now infamous wooden "stick
men" off the ground.
POV - COTTER'S CAMCORDER - CLOSE UP
Sudden, stunned silence as the camera examines it fore and aft.
And then Nick's hands are seen removing the material that secures
the Stick Man's "arms" to his "torso." Torso and legs fall to the
ground, leaving Nick holding a piece of--
CUT BACK TO - FILM
NICK
--sacred and occult Scotch Tape.
DOMINI
Rusty Parr had the right idea on
child care.
EXT. THE PARR RUINS - DUSK
By flashlight, Cotter's fiddling with five vid-cams on tripods that
have already been set up.
Domini lies within the foundation walls staring up at the sky.
Finishes the last of Cotter's beer and discards the empty.
Not far from there, Heather's already got her simple one-person
tent erected.
Adjacent, Nick and Anna are wrestling with the nightmare of trying
to put up some Barnum & Bailey-size number.
NICK
Your parents didn't have a bigger
one?
ANNA
It was free--I recall that was
the chief selling point for you.
NICK
No offense, sweetheart: fuck you.
ANNA
You know, Nick, you've been
something of a total asshole
the past few days.
NICK
Pardon me, I've had a few things
on my mind--like putting this
safari together.
ANNA
Like how weirded-out you are
with this pregnancy thing.
NICK
Let's just leave it at: it was
one hell of a surprise.
ANNA
You don't want it though.
NICK
Your body, your call.
ANNA
Why is there no "our" here?
NICK
Could we take this up later--like
indoors, without half the world
listening?
ANNA
You feel no need to get married or
anything.
NICK
Anna--
ANNA
--fine, later, fine.
COTTER (O.S.)
Sonovabitch!!
All eyes turn: Cotter's standing 20 feet away with rotted wooden
tentpoles and a piece of grommeted canvas that's literally mildew-
disintegrating in his hands.
HEATHER
Nice tent.
COTTER
Hadn't even opened the thing
since Cub scouts.
HEATHER
Never would've guessed.
COTTER
So where the hell am I going to
sleep?
HEATHER
If you're looking at me, look
elsewhere.
COTTER
I've got the Panasonic Portable
DVD player.
Beat. She stares at him.
HEATHER
What movies?
COTTER
Ask me what I don't have.
INT. HEATHER'S TENT - NIGHT
Heather and Cotter jammed in there like Spam, sharing a joint, and
watching "Curse of the Blair Witch" on DVD:
The Interview Sequence with folklorist CHARLES MOOREHOUSE,
explaining the "origins" of the Blair Witch story--Elly Kedward's
banishment, etc.
HEATHER
What I never could figure about
the movie?
COTTER
What?
HEATHER
Three people: two guys, a girl--
sleeping in the same motel room,
the same tent night after night.
COTTER
Yeah?
HEATHER
No fucking.
COTTER
No.
HEATHER
Made no sense. Scared out of their
minds, and the greatest stress
reliever in creation right at
their fingertips. Nada.
COTTER
No sense at all.
(beat)
I'm a little stressed.
HEATHER
Try a long walk.
INT. NICK AND ANNA'S TENT - SIMULTANEOUS
It ain't the Ritz, but they did come prepared: air mattresses, big
Coleman lanterns, a kerosene heater--and heaps of books and
brimming file folders.
They're sitting up in their respective mummy-style sleeping bags,
studying documents, making notes--
--when this high-pitched MOANING can be heard outside the tent.
Nick and Anna looks at each other. Nick grabs one of the lanterns
and dashes for the tent door.
EXT. THE TENT - CONTINUOUS
He shines the light slowly out into the foundation ruins--
--and there's Domini, still lying on her back, staring up, cooing:
DOMINI
Oooh. Oooh.
NICK
Ah, Domini?
DOMINI
What?
NICK
You planning on sleeping out there?
DOMINI
Not planning on sleeping at all.
She points up into the big oak in the middle of the foundation.
DOMINI
Oooh. Oooh.
The call comes back to her from the tree: "oooh-oooh."
Nick sees perched high up on one of the branches: A GREAT HORNED
OWL. It's staring down at them.
DOMINI
I figure I lie here long enough,
maybe he'll swoop down and carry
me off in his talons.
Nick rolls his eyes and goes back into his tent.
COTTER AND HEATHER
are also watching this from their tent.
HEATHER
We should be so lucky.
COTTER
Butt-ugly owl.
They duck back into the tent.
The Owl keeps watching.
FADE TO BLACK.
Several beats. And then in the darkness, a rustling sound is heard.
A whisper that sounds like:
VOICE
...see if it's alive--
CLICK! Then Anna's hand seen--she's just turned on one of the
lanterns. Sits up in her sleeping bag. Listens. The sounds have
stopped.
Beat. She gets out of her bag, grabs the lantern, and goes to the
tent flap--
EXT. TENT - CONTINUOUS
--and just as she steps outside--
--something strikes her hand--
ANNA
--shit--
--the lantern goes flying into the dirt--
--and suddenly out of the darkness come flying--
LITTLE HANDS
wielding small sharpened sticks--or are they tent pegs?--
--and they stab into Anna's belly again and again, accompanied by
shrieks of delight.
Anna screams--
NICK (V.O.)
Who's James?
ANNA TURNS
and finds she's inside the tent, wrapped tight in her sleeping bag.
Staring at Nick, who's propped up on his air mattress with a book
and a lantern, staring quizzically back at her.
ANNA
(disoriented)
What?
NICK
You said the name "James."
ANNA
I don't know.
She pulls her sleeping bag down, looks at her belly--unmarked,
unharmed, bloodless.
NICK
Baby names?
ANNA
I don't know. Nightmare.
NICK
You want me to scooch over next
to you?
ANNA
Yes.
EXT. THE RUINS - NIGHT
Domini is still supine, staring upwards.
DOMINI
This place is like a regular
K-mart of bad vibes, ain't it,
pal?
The Owl doesn't respond.
MAN'S VOICE
(distant)
Please, someone, help me--
SMASH TO
a static shot of dark, dark woods. The Voice continues to be heard
from somewhere deep in there:
MAN'S VOICE
--somebody, please!
PULL BACK
It's coming from the DVD of "Blair Witch Project."
HEATHER DONAHUE'S VOICE
Josh?!?
PULL BACK FURTHER
Cotter and Heather Arendt are fast asleep. Must have drifted off
during the umpteenth viewing.
MAN'S VOICE
(much louder)
Heather???
Heather Arendt is up like a shot.
MAN'S VOICE
Heather?? Josh???
Mild snort of amusement when she sees the movie's still playing on
the DVD. She buttons it off. Starts to lay back down--
MAN'S VOICE
(loud)
Heather????
--bolts right back up on the verge of a coronary.
The Man's Voice screams:
MAN'S VOICE
They're pulling my teeth out!!
Heather literally punches Cotter awake.
COTTER
Wha' the--
She clamps her hand over his mouth. Beat. They listen--
--suddenly, SCURRYING FOOTSTEPS heard; giggling--
COTTER
(through her hand)
--o-fug-me--
MAN'S VOICE
Heaaaaather???
Cotter wrenches himself away, grabs his little 8mm camcorder--
HEATHER
(scared)
What're you, crazy??
COTTER
(exhilarated)
What're you, nuts?
He lunges out of the tent, camera already whirring--
EXT. TENT - CONTINUOUS
--and right into a blinding, light-up-the-night battery of halogen
lamps.
COTTER
Jesus!
Halo-ed in the glare of those lights stand
FOUR LARGE TEENAGERS
in various states of grunge. They all but scream of STONERS. One of
them's got a huge running Beta-Cam on shoulder, another's hefting
a DAT recorder and shotgun mic.
We see Cotter from the POV of these guys camera:
POV BETA-CAM - VIDEO
Cotter shooting back at them with his puny-by-comparison camcorder,
his thermal long-johns halfway down his legs.
STONER #1
Check this out: Burkittsville's
Funniest Home Videos.
Cotter's still shaking.
COTTER
Jesus-Jesus-Jesus--
A furious Heather can be seen scrambling out of the tent. Gets
right in the lens:
HEATHER (O.S.)
What the fuck?!?
CUT BACK TO - FILM
The Stoner Cameraman snaps the Beta away from her.
STONER CAMERAMAN
Hey, that's 50K worth of hi-tech,
chickee.
HEATHER
You gave me a fucking heart attack!
STONER #2
Oh, and you boogied all the way up
here to get a good night's sleep.
STONER #3
We just made your every dream come
true, darlin'.
HEATHER
Get out of here!
COTTER
What're you doing with all this
shit?
STONER #4
Shootin' "Blair Witch II," man--
what's your excuse?
COTTER
Shooting "Blair Witch II."
STONER #2
Oh, dude, I don't think so--that
is just not happening.
STONER CAMERAMAN
This is our gig.
STONER #3
We got jurisdiction, man--we got
fuckin' permits to be here.
HEATHER
Oh, yeah? Let's see 'em.
STONER #4
They're, uh, like, in the car.
HEATHER
Bullshit.
STONER #2
Let's put it this way: one of us
is going, and it's you.
NICK (O.S.)
What's the hassle here?
Nick and Anna appear from their tent.
STONER #2
You and the Brady Bunch, Mr.
Scorsese.
STONER CAMERAMAN
You're interfering with the commerce
of independent film!
Cotter asides to Nick.
COTTER
They're making "Blair Witch II," too.
NICK
No problem, just give us 'til dawn
and we're gone.
COTTER
What?
NICK
Look, guys, we're cold, we're tired
we're shook--we just want to get out
of here as soon as there's light.
We saw something up at Coffin Rock
today--
ANNA
(catching on)
--or someone--
NICK
--scared the living shit out of
us.
STONER #3
What?
NICK
I don't know, I don't know--
HEATHER
--yeah, a hand or something--
COTTER
--coming out of the water--
Now even Domini joins the prevarication party, popping up from
inside the foundation:
DOMINI
--stop it! Stop talking about it!
I'm gonna freak!
ANNA
(tearing up)
I just wanna go home.
STONER #3
(impressed)
Whoa.
STONER CAMERAMAN
You didn't get it on tape, didja?
NICK
Tried, but--
Stoner #2 starts barking orders to his crew:
STONER #2
Strip it down and ship it out!
Coffin Rock!
They're packed up and ready to move in a flash. Stoner #4 turns as
they trot off:
STONER #4
Any other voices or noises you hear
tonight--it ain't us.
The Stoners make Josh Leonard-like cries as they disappear back
into the darkness;
STONERS (O.S.)
Heather??? Mike???? Somebody???
Please????
NICK
They were never seen again. Their
footage was found a year later--
underexposed and useless.
Tired laughter.
NICK
How're the cameras doing?
COTTER
Due for a re-load and battery
check. I'll get on it.
HEATHER
'Give you a hand. I think my
sleep for the night just ended.
ANNA
Join the club.
NICK
Well, everybody grab a coat, and
pull up a rock for a night of
witch-watch.
The four campers proceed to their respective tasks.
Domini stays perched on the foundation, watching where the Stoners
disappeared. To herself:
DOMINI
Something....really twisted...is
going to happen.
She looks up. The Owl's gone.
FADE TO BLACK.
Birds heard in the darkness. And snoring.
FADE UP ON:
INT. NICK AND ANNA'S TENT - DAWN
Cuddled together, fast asleep.
EXT. THE PARR FOUNDATION - SIMULTANEOUS - DAWN
Domini conked out on the grass, curled in a fetal position.
INT. HEATHER'S TENT - SIMULTANEOUS - DAWN
Ditto Heather, sprawled half-in/half-out of her sleeping bag.
Only Cotter is awake--well, making an attempt at it, anyway.
Squints at his digital watch: 5:45am.
COTTER
Jesus...wha' happened...
He groggily gets to his knees and dog-walks out of the tent.
Several beats.
And then we hear outside the tent:
COTTER (O.S.)
Oh, fuck me! Oh, Jesus!
The cries wake Heather--
INT. NICK AND ANNA'S TENT - SIMULTANEOUS
--as well as Nick and Anna--
EXT. THE PARR FOUNDATION - SIMULTANEOUS
--even Domini, who pops her head up and starts to ask:
DOMINI
What happ--
--and then she sees; they all see--
COTTER
--they're all gone!--
--five tripods, all minus the Video cameras they used to support--
COTTER
--and none of 'em were mine!
I-am-so-fucked, I-am-so-fucked--
where the hell was everybody???
NICK
Asleep--
COTTER
--what happened to the goddamn
"Witch-watch??"
NICK
--I dunno, I just woke up--
DOMINI
--last thing I remember were those
four clowns shooting the movie--
COTTER
--yeah, the goddamn stoners! Who
you think stole the stuff!?
NICK
Yeah. Got to Coffin Rock, found
zip, and came back, ripped off
the cameras.
Domini looks at one of the mangled tripods.
DOMINI
Ripped? They look like they were
bit off.
NICK
Smells Like Teenage Spirit.
COTTER
This is funny?? This is tens of
thousands of fucking dollars!
(shouts into the woods)
You pricks! I'll see you in
fucking court!!
ANNA (O.S.)
Not the only things missing, Nick.
Nick turns. Anna's at the tent door holding a pile of empty file
folders and two looseleaf notebooks that have somehow been torn
clean in half. Now Nick's incensed:
NICK
That's almost a year's worth of
work!
(into the woods)
Scumbags! Oh, Jesus, Jesus....
DOMINI
At least you still have the tapes.
COTTER
One set. Everything from midnight
on--
DOMINI
--no, I think they're all in there.
She's pointing to the collapsed section of the basement foundation
where the original "Blair Witch Project" Tapes were found.
The other four stop and stare at her.
And then Cotter goes diving in the hole. Beat.
COTTER (O.S.)
Sonovabitch!
And emerges with two grimy handfuls of VHS, Beta, and 8mm video
tapes.
HEATHER
Those ours?
Cotter brushes dirt from them; holds them up for inspection.
COTTER
My handwriting on the face
labels.
And then his excitement switches to confusion. Turns to Domini:
COTTER
How'd you know they were--
DOMINI
(shrugs)
--hunch. Just sort've saw 'em
there.
COTTER
My ass--you saw those four
fucking baboons put 'em there!
DOMINI
No.
NICK
Cotter, I think she's right. Why
would those guys go to all the
trouble of stealing the camera
and all this other stuff and leave
the tapes?
COTTER
Spite.
NICK
They were making a movie--if they
were going to steal anything it'd
be just the tapes, to see if we
had anything they didn't.
DOMINI
I don't think it was them.
COTTER
Oh, who did then? Blair Witch?
Snatching equipment to make her
own sequel?
DOMINI
I don't know yet.
COTTER
Well, please keep me fucking
informed!
HEATHER
Those four guys--it's the only
thing that makes sense.
She looks over at Domini, who says nothing--just stares into the
woods.
NICK
This is a goddamn disaster. Let's
just pack it up and go.
ANNA
I want to see the tapes.
NICK
And what do you possibly think
you're going to fucking see there?
ANNA
No idea. But if that's all we've
got left--
COTTER
--nothing left to play 'em on,
honey.
ANNA
Oh, sorry, right.
COTTER
You can be goddamn sure, though,
I'm going to be looking at every
second of 'em when I get back
to Baltimore--I get proof who
stole my shit and I call the cops!
ANNA
We're ticketed to fly back from
Baltimore, anyway.
HEATHER
Me, too.
COTTER
Hey, I got a whole editing suite
in my loft--more the fucking
merrier.
NICK
Pointless.
DOMINI
No. I don't think so.
EXT. STREET IN N. BALTIMORE - SEVERAL HOURS LATER - AFTERNOON
The Van pulls up to the curb in a savagely decrepit and extremely
desolate old industrial section of North Baltimore.
COTTER
403 41st Street, kids: home.
NICK
I dunno it's safe to even get out
of the car.
COTTER
By day? No sweat.
HEATHER
What about night?
COTTER
Not a great idea. Especially
'cross the street.
All four look: a thickly wooded area that looks like mostly sumac.
COTTER
Druid Hill Park.
ANNA
That's a joke?
COTTER
That's its name. A pastoral
glade gamboling with crackheads
and homeless and averaging at
least one homicide a week.
NICK
Let's get inside.
COTTER
First enormous brick warehouse
on your right.
INT. COTTER'S BUILDING - JUST AFTER
Four of the five of them ride nervously in a huge, ancient elevator
that ascends in a series of jerks. Cotter's oblivious.
COTTER
Used to be a meat-packing plant.
Slaughter on the ground floor--
carcasses schlepped up on this
thing for dissection and grinding
and--
HEATHER
--Cotter: shut up.
COTTER
What?
INT. DOOR TO COTTER'S LOFT - JUST AFTER
Cotter opens the elevator grates, revealing a metal door with a
single lock. He fits a key into it
NICK
Just one lock in this neighbor-
hood?
COTTER
All I need--
--throws the door wide--
--the LOUD BARKING of what sounds like a pack of pit-bulls greets
them.
COTTER
Get inside quick, they'll stop.
HEATHER
Too busy eating us?
COTTER
Just go.
INT. COTTER'S LOFT - CONTINUOUS
He shuts the door; the BARKING stops. Everyone's eyes zapping all
360 degrees around them: no dogs.
Cotter taps a small speaker above the door;
COTTER
Baltimore's cheapest burglar alarm.
He re-opens the door a crack--the BARKING starts anew. Closes it.
Nothing.
COTTER
Had the door jimmied a few times.
Nobody's yet made it inside.
He ushers them into a huge
DOUBLE-STORIED SPACE
easily 30 feet high. Exposed brick walls--massive iron roof beams.
And crammed to bursting with bizarre esoterica everywhere:
--carousel horses, huge airplane propellers, a bowsp'rit from an
old clipper ship, lawn jockeys, a set of bunkbeds made entirely of
wagon wheel parts, bowling balls, cannonballs, pinball machines.
COTTER
Mi casa y su casa!
HEATHER
Su casa y shit-o hole-o.
COTTER
Hey, hon'--this is what pays the
rent and tuition.
NICK
Running a junk yard.
COTTER
A Cyber Entrepreneurialship.
HEATHER
English.
COTTER
I spend a lot of time on e-Bay.
Buying, selling--sometimes buying
then re-selling at substantial
mark-up, sometimes just selling
crap I find in the street.
ANNA
Looks like business is booming.
COTTER
There's some stuff that's hard to
part with. Editing's stuff's up
there--
--he points to a loft overhanging the big room--a thin wooden
railing separating the work space from a sheer 20 foot drop.
COTTER
--stairs are back through the
kitchen--and a ton of bedrooms,
you wanna dump your stuff or
catch a nap--
INT. COTTER'S LOFT WORK SPACE - A WHILE LATER - DUSK
Cotter's running tape through his new video iMac. The rest of them
are gathered around the screen in various degrees of discomfort.
They look like they've been there for some time. A lot of yawns.
Nick's rubbing his temples like somebody's pounding a marimba
inside his head.
ON SCREEN: they're all watching minute after minute of nothing.
Darkness. The outlines of the Parr Foundation. Trees in the back-
ground. Silence.
Several beats as they continue to watch this stasis. Then:
NICK
I think we get the gist.
ANNA
We've looked at half of one
tape.
COTTER
There's four other angles, man,
we haven't even--
NICK
--great: we can watch Domini
sleep for hours--or, shit,
maybe if we stay at it for
a couple of days, maybe a deer'll
dash by!
ANNA
For once could you just sit down,
shut up, and give something a
chance?
NICK
We're leaving--case dismissed for
lack of evidence. Maybe on the
ride home we can figure how the
fuck we're going to graduate
with no thesis.
ANNA
I'm not going anywhere, 'til--
NICK
--bullshit!
COTTER
Hey, chill, man--
DOMINI
--there's something here, Nick--
NICK
--fuck you--all off you--
--he grabs Anna by the wrist and yanks her up--
NICK
--now c'mon!
ANNA
Get your goddamn--
--and suddenly Anna stops. Doubles over, clutching her abdomen.
NICK
What--
COTTER
--oh, Jesus--
--blood can be seen soaking through her jeans.
ANNA
I need to go to a hospital.
INT. EMERGENCY ROOM - UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, BALTIMORE - NIGHT
Domini, Heather and Cotter standing grimly in the Waiting Area.
Finally, they see Nick exiting a Trauma Room, looking even grimmer.
DOMINI
She lost it.
Nick nods.
INT. TRAUMA ROOM - JUST AFTER
Anna's lying on a OB/Gyn table in a johnnie, clearly sedated, but
with a face and eyes still soaked with tears. An E.R. INTERN
(Female) is cleaning her up.
ANNA
Why?
INTERN
Any number of reasons--pick one,
it's as good as the other.
ANNA
I was out hiking, camping the past
two days--that's what did it--I
killed it--
INTERN
--doubtful, Mrs. Leavitt. The main
thing to remember is, whatever the
reason, it was for the best--
it meant something was wrong.
ANNA
Something was wrong.
INTERN
Look, this is not my field of
expertise. You seem stabilized,
but why take any chances? Let's
keep you overnight and have the
Staff obstetrician do a follow-up
tomorrow.
ANNA
I guess--
--and then Anna sees what the Intern is writing on her chart:
To see Boyd Kurth
5/26/00
Anna's eyes go wide.
INSIDE HER HEAD
she flashes on the grave marker that Domini laid on in the
Burkittsville Cemetery: same name, same date.
BACK IN THE TRAUMA ROOM
Anna yells:
ANNA
No!
INTERN
Mrs. Leavitt--
ANNA
--I'm not staying here!
INTERN
Let's talk to your husband--
ANNA
--he's not my husband!
She's flails at the Intern, trying to get up, tearing pages from her
chart.
ANNA
Where are my clothes??
EXT/INT. COTTER'S VAN - LATER - NIGHT
They all sit silently as Cotter drives. The now-fully clothed Anna
just sits in back like a zombie.
NICK
(softly)
We'll stay overnight, get a hotel--
ANNA
--Cotter's--
COTTER
--whatever you want, no problem--
NICK
--still go see the OB in the morning--
ANNA
--no.
Anna tosses a crumpled ball of paper into Domini's lap. She opens
it. It's the top page of Anna's chart. Domini looks at the Intern's
jotting "see Boyd Kurth--"
--her head snaps up. Beat.
DOMINI
Nick. Do what she says.
INT. COTTER'S LOFT - BEDROOM - LATER - NIGHT
Nick tucks her into an elderly four-poster bed. Colonial in style.
Another one of Cotter's "finds."
NICK
What can I get you?
ANNA
Sleep.
She closes her eyes.
INT. COTTER'S WORK SPACE LOFT - SIMULTANEOUS
Domini, Heather and Cotter gathered around his iMac, drinking beer.
DOMINI
Something happened to Anna in
Burkittsville, in the woods,
I don't know.
COTTER
What? That made her lose the baby?
DOMINI
Something. Someone.
HEATHER
Who? What?
Domini just shakes her head.
HEATHER
Women miscarry all the--
DOMINI
--no.
COTTER
This is a little nuts.
DOMINI
Turn the tapes back on.
COTTER
Fine.
He goes to it. Without even looking, Domini pulls the shoulder of
her shirt down, rubs something on her upper arm. Heather sees it:
a good-sized burgundy-colored mark, oblong, vaguely spidery in
shape.
HEATHER
What's that?
DOMINI
Hmm? I dunno. Chafing from the
backpack, something.
HEATHER
That'd be up on your shoulder,
maybe your lower back.
DOMINI
Then I have no idea.
And now Cotter's staring at it.
COTTER
Does it hurt?
DOMINI
Like hell. Play the goddamn
tape.
The first image that pops up is Domini sprawled out on the grass of
the Parr Foundation. Deep in REM sleep, her leg jerking like a
dog's. Domini sees it--a snort of embarrassed laughter.
INT. NICK AND ANNA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
Nick bolts awake to the sound of laughter. Looks next to him,
Anna's fast asleep. He looks relieved--then clucks to himself when
he sees that he's fallen asleep next to her on the big old four-
poster with his clothes on.
Starts to take off his shirt--
--and then hears the laughter again. Louder. It seems to piss
him off.
He gets out of bed, opens the door. Hisses:
NICK
Hey, knock it off, willya?
But there's nobody there. He walks down the hallway towards the
kitchen.
INT. COTTER'S WORK SPACE - JUST AFTER
Nick appears on the stairs leading into the work-loft. Sees the
three of them huddled over the iMac.
NICK
You wanna keep it down, she's
trying to sleep.
COTTER
Sorry, I didn't think we were
making that much noise.
NICK
It's not a real "funny" time for
us, okay?
HEATHER
(confused)
No....it's not.
Nick just shakes his head, snorts with disgust. Goes back down the
stairs--
INT. KITCHEN - JUST AFTER
--when he hears the laughter again.
NICK
Christ almighty--
--he starts to storm back up the stairs to the loft--
--when he realizes he's walking away from the sound of the
laughter. He stops. It's coming from the hallway--
INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS
--further down the hallway. Louder. He walks faster towards it.
It's coming from the open door of his and Anna's bedroom. Starts to
trot. Louder. Takes the corner into--
INT. THE BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
--the laughter stops--
--as does Anna, who appeared for a moment to be twirling round and
around in the middle of the room.
NICK
What's going on?
Anna looks down at herself and lets loose a giggle of astonishment.
ANNA
Nothing. I dunno--
NICK
--you should get back into bed.
ANNA
I guess, yeah.
She does so. Nick once again tucks her in.
NICK
Was that you laughing?
ANNA
What?
NICK
Just now?
ANNA
No.
NICK
Just...try and go back to sleep.
ANNA
I get dreams. I don't like 'em.
NICK
What'd you dream?
ANNA
Little boys. Looking up my skirt
as I danced. Giggling.
NICK
Here.
He pops out two Xanax from a hospital sample bubble pack. Hands
them to Anna.
NICK
This'll help.
She swallows them dry.
ANNA
Good.
She closes her eyes.
DOMINI (V.O.)
There--
INT. COTTER'S WORK LOFT - LATER - NIGHT
Domini's pointing to the iMac screen.
COTTER
There, what? I didn't see anything.
DOMINI
Back it up, rewind, whatever you
call it.
COTTER
Fine.
He does so.
HEATHER
What'd you see?
DOMINI
Motion. Stop there. Play it again.
Cotter hits PLAY. They're watching tape from a camera that was
placed almost to the ground, aimed upwards--
DOMINI
--there! In the tree.
Cotter freezes the image. The tree is so dark and so far in the
distance of the shot, he and Heather have to put their eyes right
up to the screen to even see it.
COTTER
Whatta you got, telescopic vision?
HEATHER
Still don't see it--
DOMINI
--that blur, right by that branch.
She puts her finger right on the screen. Cotter quickly removes it
--squints.
COTTER
Okay, a blur.
DOMINI
Can you zoom it or something,
make it real close, real big?
COTTER
I'm the ebay Boy, remember? I can't
exactly afford that kind of equipment.
DOMINI
Who do you know who can? Where do we
go?
HEATHER
For a blur?
DOMINI
There is something there--don't ask,
just trust me.
COTTER
Can't you like just divine it?
DOMINI
If I could do that, I'd be at the
goddamn racetrack, not here.
COTTER
(sighing)
I got a friend at a Lab. I could
get the whole thing blown-up,
enhanced--
DOMINI
--go!
COTTER
Four in the morning?
EXT. 41ST STREET - NIGHT
Cotter wearily unlocks the door to his Van.
He looks all around him--finally up:
There's an Owl staring down at him from a tree in Druid Hill Park
across the street.
INT. COTTER'S WORK LOFT - LATER - NIGHT
Heather is bringing a cup of hot tea and 40 ounce bottle of Malt
Liquor up the stairs. Sees Domini still in front of the iMac,
trying to figure out how to work the thing.
HEATHER
Cotter'll kill you.
DOMINI
He'll never know.
HEATHER
Two-to-one he dusts the keyboard for
fingerprints the second he gets back.
She hands Domini the beer. Keeps the tea for herself.
HEATHER
At least go drink it somewhere
spilling it won't drive him
to suicide.
DOMINI
Okay.
Domini gets up and slumps down on the broken-backed couch in the
work-loft.
HEATHER
What is it you thought you saw
on that tape?
DOMINI
Still working on it.
HEATHER
Elly Kedward?
DOMINI
No. Elly Kedward's not the problem
here, I don't think. She was just a
good old-fashioned white witch--
PAGE 62 IS MISSING FROM THE HARD COPY OF THIS SCRIPT!
SID
You're gonna owe me the rest
of your life, bud.
COTTER
I know, I know.
SID
Beta Cam's still coming back
tomorrow, right?
Beat. Cotter flushes for a moment.
COTTER
Absolutely.
SID
Before 5:00--
COTTER
--hours before--
SID
--Christ, they find out I let you
have it for the weekend--
COTTER
--no one'll ever know.
Sid pauses the tape.
SID
This is what you wanted enhanced?
COTTER
Yeah.
SID
You mind me asking: why the fuck?
COTTER
The, uh, blur there.
SID
Looks like a rope.
INT. COTTER'S WORK-LOFT - NIGHT
Heather has apparently gained a tad enough mastery to run tape
through the iMac.
She's playing and replaying a short section of Cotter's camcorder
tape where the bunch of them were interacting with the Stoner Film
Crew.
She keeps seeing a FLASH on the tape. Between two trees far in the
background. But she can't seem to freeze the image inside the
flash. It looks vaguely like a MIDDLE-AGED MAN.
HEATHER
Does this look like a person
stand there to you?
(no response)
Domini...?
She turns. Sitting on the couch where Domini was is now the very
clear presence of
A MIDDLE-AGED MAN
in a topcoat. He says nothing, just stares straight ahead. There's
a horrible wound in his forehead.
Heather is mindboggled--and petrified. She manages to stammer out
the word:
HEATHER
Dad...?
DOMINI (O.S.)
What'd you say?
Heather's neck snaps to her right. She's sitting on that same couch
with Domini.
Her eyes scan the entire loft. There's no one there but the two
women.
DOMINI
Are you alright?
HEATHER
....I don't know.
FADE TO BLACK.
Beat. And then in the darkness, a pack of dogs heard BARKING.
FADE UP ON
INT. COTTER'S ELEVATOR - DAWN
He's having trouble getting the key out of the lock. The door is
wide open. The recorded pit-bulls bark and bark and bark.
INT. COTTER'S WORK - LOFT - SIMULTANEOUS
The barking bolts Heather and Domini up like a shot.
INT. NICK AND ANNA'S BEDROOM
Likewise Nick.
Anna doesn't seem to hear it--fast asleep.
As soon as Nick makes it to the door, the barking stops.
INT. COTTER'S WORK LOFT - JUST AFTER
Nick, Domini and Heather are gathered around him like kids on
Christmas.
DOMINI
So lemme see it.
COTTER
Just let me get my coat off--I had
eight cups of coffee, I'm wired for
sound here.
HEATHER
Where is it?
COTTER
I got the tape enhanced--and I
managed to sleaze a photo blow-up.
Jesus, he's gonna kill me when he
finds out about the camera.
HEATHER
Gimme it!
Cotter throws her the 8"x10" blow-up of the frame.
Heather looks at it, her face falls.
HEATHER
Still looks like a blur, only
bigger.
Domini grabs it. Stares at it, puzzled.
COTTER
My friend Sid said it looked
like a rope.
And now Domini's eyes go wide.
DOMINI
Jesus.
HEATHER
What?
DOMINI
That's the reason.
NICK
What?
DOMINI
Why she kills children.
COTTER
The witch?
DOMINI
It's not about witches, goddamnit!
NICK
Someone want to tell me what's
going on--
DOMINI
--and we brought it back with us!
HEATHER
What?
DOMINI
It touched me, don't you see
it now?
She yanks down the shoulder of her shirt: the burgundy-colored mark
on her arm has grown larger and more distinct. It seems to have
finger-like tendrils spreading out from it.
DOMINI
Its fingers! Here. And here--
--she yanks down the front of her shirt: there's another burgundy
mark there--
DOMINI
--and here and here and here!
She pulls back her hair: there are two more growing on the back of
her neck.
DOMINI
I don't know how to stop it!
I don't know how to kill it!
But it's here right now!
Domini's head is in her hands. She's hyperventilating. Heather puts
her arms around her.
HEATHER
Slow it down, slow it down,
whatever it is, we'll figure
it out.
DOMINI
That's why she kills children.
HEATHER
I know, I know--
ANNA (O.S.)
--you don't.
They all look up. Anna's standing in the doorway looking at Domini.
ANNA
They put their palms in the blood.
And then they press them on your
skin.
And Anna walks out of the room.
INT. COTTER'S BEDROOM - JUST AFTER - DAY
Domini's lying down, Heather beside her. She's drinking a beer,
seems much calmer--though she's got an afghan cinched around her
entire body, toes to chin.
HEATHER
You gonna be alright?
DOMINI
Sure. I'm sorry.
HEATHER
No big deal. I'm just trying
to understand.
DOMINI
Get some more beer.
HEATHER
(laughs)
I think you closed the bar again.
I'll have to go out.
DOMINI
Go to the store. When you get
back, I'll try to make sense
of it for you.
Heather gets up, starts for the door. Stops.
HEATHER
What're you afraid's going to
happen?
DOMINI
That they'll start touching
us inside our heads.
INT. DELI - N. BALTIMORE - DAY
Heather sticks two six packs inside a car. Double thinks. Goes
back and grabs two more.
AT THE REGISTER
Heather waits in line. She sees that across the street is Druid
Hill Park. Stares aimlessly into the woods, chewing on a thumb
nail. She looks seriously worried.
CHECK-OUT CLERK (O.S.)
Sweetheart?
Heather shifts her gaze to the Check-Out Clerk--and she shrieks:
Standing behind the Clerk is
THE MIDDLE-AGED MAN
she saw in the loft, with the wound in his head.
CLERK (O.S.)
Miss?
Heather's eyes dart back to the Clerk.
CLERK
Are you alright?
Heather's eyes dance around the deli. The Man is gone.
HEATHER
You have a phone?
CLERK
Just outside--
EXT. 41ST STREET - JUST AFTER - DAY
Heather stands at a payphone by the curb. We hear ringing on the
other end. Finally a pick-up. But an OPERATOR'S VOICE is heard
first:
OPERATOR'S VOICE
You have a collect call from
Heather. Will you accept the
charges?
Long beat on the other end. Finally:
WOMAN'S VOICE (MOM)
...yes.
The Operator clicks off.
HEATHER
Mom...?
MOM'S VOICE
Yes.
HEATHER
I was just calling, I know it's
been a long time--
MOM'S VOICE
--what do you need this time,
Heather?
HEATHER
Nothing. It's nothing like that.
I just wanted to know if Dad--
--a sound on the other line of the phone dropping, banging on the
floor or against a wall--
HEATHER
--Mom...? Mom??
--a Voice comes back on the line. But it's MALE now:
MAN'S VOICE
She wants me to talk to you, Heather.
HEATHER
Who is this??
MAN'S VOICE
Your mother's pastor.
HEATHER
What happened to my Dad??
MAN'S VOICE
There was an accident early this
morning. Another car. Your father's
injuries were fatal.
HEATHER
Yes.
MAN'S VOICE
I'll tell your mother not to
expect you at the funeral.
HEATHER
No.
The phone clicks dead on the other end. Heather lets the receiver
just drop and begins walking, leaving her two bags of beer on the
sidewalk, in a daze.
And then she starts running.
INT. COTTER'S ELEVATOR - JUST AFTER - DAY
Heather's banging like crazy on the door to the loft.
Finally, she hears the sound of Cotter snapping open the deadbolt.
He opens the door. The recorded dogs bark. Heather slams the door
behind her.
HEATHER
Where's Domini?
COTTER
My room, asleep, last I checked.
Heather barges past him and towards Cotter's bedroom.
INT. COTTER'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
Heather walks in. The bed's empty. The afghan's lying in a pile on
the floor--
--along with all of the clothing Domini last had on.
HEATHER
Domini...?
She doesn't bother calling her name again, there's nobody in the
room.
INT. KITCHEN - JUST AFTER
Nick and Cotter look up at Heather, confused.
NICK
Well, she's got to be somewhere
here.
COTTER
No one's been in or out since you
left. Would've heard the dogs.
CUT TO:
Heather dashing up the stairs into the work-loft.
HEATHER
Domini??
Empty.
CUT TO:
Cotter poking through the two hallway closets. Nothing.
CUT TO:
Nick looking in the closet and under the bed of his and Anna's
bedroom. Nobody.
Anna sleeps through it all.
CUT TO:
Heather really starting to lose it. Rampaging through the big main
room, pushing aside all of Cotter's huge carousel animals, looking
behind those things she can't move, dumping things willy-nilly on
the floor.
HEATHER
Domini!!!!
CUT TO:
Cotter helping Heather open one of the windows in the big room.
Looking out on the ledge. Looking down to the sidewalk, five
stories below. Nothing.
HEATHER
Fire escape??
COTTER
Don't have one.
Heather screams out the window:
HEATHER
Dominiiiiiiii!!!
INT. KITCHEN - SOON AFTER - DAY
Heather, Anna and Cotter sit at the table nervously. Heather is
literally shaking.
COTTER
She would've had to have a key,
anyway, to lock the deadbolt
behind her.
HEATHER
Well, she got out of here some-
how because she's not here!!
NICK
Parents. She might've called--
SMASH TO:
Heather on the phone.
HEATHER
Taos, New Mexico. The Sheriff's
Office, please....thank you.
She hangs up. Picks back up. Punches in a number in a blur. Beat.
Someone picks up on the other end:
WOMAN'S VOICE
Good morning, Sheriff's Office.
HEATHER
Yes! I need to speak to Sheriff Von
Teer.
WOMAN'S VOICE
He's in a meeting. Could I have him--
HEATHER
--it's urgent!
WOMAN'S VOICE
Could I tell him what it's
regarding?
HEATHER
His daughter, for God's sake--
I need to know if he's heard from
her this morning.
Beat on the other line.
WOMAN'S VOICE
...the Sheriff is a widower. They
never had any children.
Heather is struck dumb.
WOMAN'S VOICE
....Ma'am?
HEATHER
I'm talking to Taos, New Mexico--
WOMAN'S VOICE
--yes--
HEATHER
--the Sheriff's Office--
WOMAN'S VOICE
--yes, Ma'am, can I help you with
anything else?--
HEATHER
--his name's Von Teer! His daughter's
named Domini!--
WOMAN'S VOICE
--thank you for calling--
The line goes dead.
The three of them just stand there, staring at each other,
petrified.
And then Anna walks in the room.
ANNA
I'm glad she's dead. She brought
the thing that killed my child.
INT. KITCHEN - LATER - AFTERNOON
Heather sits at the table alone, staring at the 8x10 that Cotter
made for Domini.
HEATHER
What did you see here that I
can't see, damnit!
She runs a finger down the length of the blur in the branches.
HEATHER
What is it that scared you
so much?
Nick enters, heads for the blotched, '60s vintage Mr. Coffee maker.
NICK
Finally got her back to sleep.
HEATHER
Nick, what you should do is get
her back up and get her to a
goddamn doctor.
NICK
Jesus, you don't think I know
that? You don't think I've
tried? She won't fucking go--
she won't leave this place.
HEATHER
She's off her fucking rocker--
NICK
--I know!
HEATHER
I'm sorry.
NICK
Yeah, I know. It's...alright. We're
all a little--
HEATHER
--a lot.
NICK
Heather.
HEATHER
Yeah.
NICK
Okay. Hypothetically.
HEATHER
Shoot.
NICK
You think....there could've been
something up in those woods that
Anna--
HEATHER
--it's not a could've--there was,
Nick. And it fucked up Anna, and
did something to Domini, and it
caused my father to die, and it's
here with us in this place now.
And I don't have one single idea
in hell what's going to happen
next, just that it's going to
happen to one of us. And then
the other. And then the other.
It's going to get into our brains.
And Heather finally loses it and starts weeping--great wracking
sobs. Nick's a little awkward at first how to comfort her. Finally
just starts lightly massaging her neck.
NICK
There's explanations. Rational
explanations for everything that's
happened. We'll drive ourselves
crazy if we keep obsessing on
supernatural what-ifs.
HEATHER
That feels good. Lower--down
into my neck.
Nick moves his hands down--
--and somehow the two of them are then guiding his hands down into
her blouse, onto her breasts--
--and she's moaning, and grabbing hard onto his hair--
--and pulling his whole head down to hers. And their lips and
tongues meet, and they're biting each other like animals--
--and his hands are yanking and twisting hard on her breasts,
between her legs--
--and she's literally clawing him with her fingernails, drawing
blood down the length of his chest--
--until she reaches a burgundy-colored mark right at his belt line
with tendrils like fingers--
--SNAP!--it's like someone woke them from a dream. They both look
at each other, baffled--what the hell just happened? But it wasn't
a dream. Nick's chest is streaming blood; there's blood on
Heather's lips--
--matching the color of the mark on Nick's waist, and the one
Heather now sees inside her elbow.
They both move away from each other, uncomprehending--and scared.
INT. NICK AND ANNA'S BEDROOM - DUSK
Nick pacing the floor as Anna lies in bed.
NICK
I don't know what it is, but there
is something happening here, and
it's starting to scare the living
shit out me, and look, I'm just
not going to argue the point
anymore--you want to stay here,
stay, but I've got to get the
fuck out of here, and I'm begging
you to come with me.
ANNA
I can't.
NICK
Then I'm going--
ANNA
--no, you're not. You love me too
much. You don't want to see them
kill me.
INT. COTTER'S WORK LOFT - NIGHT
Cotter's behind the iMac, screening tape millimeter by millimeter,
downing one Coke after another. He's so caffed-out, both his body
and his voice is shaking.
COTTER
This could be something right
here, do you think it's some-
thing, Heather--?
Heather doesn't even look up. She's just sitting on the broken-
backed couch staring at Domini's 8"x10".
COTTER
--but that could be just a shadow,
I think it's a shadow, it's nothing,
Heather, do you think it's nothing--
--and he just keeps prattling on oblivious, eyes fixed on the tape
moving at a snail's pace in front of him.
HEATHER
It's about the tree, it's
something about the tree.
She puts it down on a cushion and snatches up the dog-eared copy of
the "Blair Witch Dossier." Easily flips to the page Domini showed
her: Elly Kedward trussed in the wagon in the woods.
Flips backwards in the book, looking for something--
HEATHER
--the goddamn tree, Domini,
for chrissake, what?
--and then she stops on the page that shows the anthropology
students' sketch of the Parr foundation; the skinny little sapling
in the middle--
--then back to the woodcut of Elly Kedward in the woods--
--then back to Domini's photo of the foundation--the huge tree--
HEATHER
Same trees. They took Elly Kedward
out to the same kind of trees.
COTTER
(still oblivious)
--I look and look in the tree, all
I ever see, he's always there watching,
that stupid owl, over and over--
HEATHER
--Cotter, where can I get on-line?
COTTER
--anywhere, anywhere, all up and live,
all the time--fucking owl--
Heather slips in front of one of Cotter's PC's.
TIME CUT TO
Heather on-line, in the middle of Blair Witch Chat Room, typing:
WICCA GIRL: anybody know where tree is they
tied Elly Kedward?
Beat. And then a response.
COFFIN ROX: Black Hills
Heather responds, types:
WICCA GIRL: thanx--anybody know where??? in Hills
Beat. Response:
TREACLE-TREACLE-LITTLE-EILEEN: My two cts? By Rusty Parr's
house hadda be that close how else could
she whisper into his ear?
Heather stops typing; absorbs this.
HEATHER
Cotter?
COTTER
Fucking owl!
HEATHER
You think it's possible the tree
in the Parr foundation is the same
one they tied Elly Kedward to?
COTTER
No idea--goddamitt!
And then suddenly another response appears in the Chat Room:
COFFIN ROX: Check BW Cult book, 1809--they have
full account
Heather grunts. Types back:
WICCA GIRL: 1 copy in exist. you got it?
COFFIN ROX: no just seen it
WICCA GIRL: where
COFFIN ROX: one of us
WICCA GIRL: if you're out there and got it anybody,
contact me this mailbx urgent
COFFIN ROX: location described pretty good in
section bout first boys disappeared
afer Elly dies - James Kurth &
another kid
Heather stops typing. To herself:
HEATHER
Boy Kurth.
COTTER
Heather, does that look like Domini
there?
Heather doesn't look up from her screen. Impatient, trying to put
pieces that don't fit together.
HEATHER
Where?
COTTER
Down there in the Park.
Heather looks up. Cotter is looking down through the big room's
huge windows; he's waving to someone.
Heather gets up. Slowly peers over the loft railing. Squints.
HEATHER'S POV
A stark-naked Domini is standing in Druid Hill Park. Looking up at
them.
EXT. DRUID HILL PARK - JUST AFTER - NIGHT
Heather and Cotter's pace slows drastically as they try and
navigate the overgrown pathways inside the Park. The flora is dense
below and above--moonlight barely penetrates where they're walking.
HEATHER
Domini...?
Cotter puts a finger to her lip. Whispers:
COTTER
Not the place you want to
announce your arrival.
HEATHER
How's she going to know where
to--
COTTER
--things got a way of finding
you here.
They walk.
HEATHER
It's freezing.
COTTER
Next time try putting on shoes--
--the two of them stop dead in their tracks. Through the thicket
ahead of them they can see a clearing. Illuminated by the moon is
what appears to be an old
WOODEN OX CART
with SNOW drifted up nearly to the hubs of its wheels.
HEATHER AND COTTER
are suddenly so cold they can see their breath in the air.
HEATHER
What the fuck--??
COTTER
--I don't know.
He grabs her hand and pulls her through the thicket. They enter
THE CLEARING
the snow is now gone. Where the cart was is now just a stack of
rotting cut brush. A clean-up effort someone must have started,
then abandoned. Heather and Cotter stare at each other, baffled--
and not a little afraid.
COTTER
The moon trying to shoot down
through all these trees--can make
things funky--
HEATHER
--I saw what I saw.
COTTER
Yeah. Me too.
HEATHER
The cart they brought Elly Kedward
into the woods with--
COTTER
--into the Black Hills with--200-
something miles from here--
HEATHER
--Domini!
They both see it at the same time:
A NAKED WHITE BODY
face down at the base of a tree. Heather races over, kneels down
next to it.
HEATHER
Oh, Jesus, what happened, are
you--
--and Heather lets out a screech. The face of the body reveals an
ELDERLY MALE. Filthy, tongue lolling black out of its mouth. He's
been dead for some time.
COTTER (O.S.)
Be it still alive, James?
HEATHER
What--
Heather turns--
A PACK OF LITTLE BOYS
wild-eyed and wielding sticks, RUSH AT HEATHER--
BOY #1
--then finish the job, lads!
--Heather screeches again, throws up her arms to protect herself--
COTTER (O.S.)
Jesus!
Heather looks up: Cotter's lying on the ground, holding his
bleeding forehead.
COTTER
What the fuck you do that for??
Heather looks at her hand. She's clenching a sharp stick in it.
The Little Boys are gone. The body of the Dead Man is not.
HEATHER
I didn't.
She grabs his hand, pulls him up. They start running.
INT. COTTER'S KITCHEN - LATER THAT NIGHT
Heather and Cotter at the table, still out of breath and shaking,
as they tell Nick what happened.
HEATHER
--and one of the little boys,
his name was James. As in the
boy James Kurth--the first child
to disappear from the town of
Blair after they banished Elly
Kedward.
A look of alarm comes to Nick's face. But he says nothing.
HEATHER
What?
NICK
I dunno it's anything. It's a
name Anna's mentioned--from her
dreams.
COTTER
I can't handle this anymore.
He produces a large, thick spliff and torches it up. Big hit, and
passes it to Heather, who takes an even bigger one.
NICK
How much of that stuff you guys
been smoking?
COTTER
Enough to keep sane.
NICK
Enough to make shapes and shadows
in the dark into something else.
HEATHER
Spare me.
NICK
Hey, chemicals, fear, sleep-
deprivation--and a round-the-clock
obsession with the occult--hell've
a recipe for a mind-fuck.
COTTER
Except we seem about 18 times
more together than you.
Heather spit-takes a lung-full of smoke.
COTTER
I'd strongly advise you to join
us--
HEATHER
--before you lose your emotional
lunch.
NICK
(shrugging)
Yeah, what the hell.
He takes the joint, sucks in mightily--
HEATHER
Atta boy--
--and then the whole kitchen seems to explode--
--GLASS and MULLIONS from the big window in the room come hurtling
in shards at them--
--and then when the noise finally stops, and the flying debris has
all hit the floor, they all look down and see:
ON THE PEELING LINOLEUM
A HORNED OWL
broken and bleeding from its header through the window. Spasming,
and then dying. Eyes wide, staring up at them.
No one says a word. They just look at it.
INT. COTTER'S WORK-LOFT - LATER - NIGHT
A lot of chairs, but nobody's sitting down. Cotter, Heather and
Nick all look like their nerves are fraying down to bare wire.
HEATHER
We are being fucked with here,
someone or something.
NICK
Domini.
HEATHER
Why in the world would she--
NICK
--why in the world would she just fly
the coop in the first place?
COTTER
Chrissake: why any of this?
NICK
I think it's time to get out
of here.
HEATHER
Nobody's going anywhere--
COTTER
--hell, I don't think I'm ever
leaving this place again--
HEATHER
--one of us, all of us--I have
no idea--brought whatever this
thing is back here. We're not
going to go out there and spread
it around like Typhoid Mary. We're
gonna figure it out, we're gonna
bring a goddamn end to it.
NICK
Domini's the only logical
explanation.
HEATHER
We're not dealing with fucking
logic here!
COTTER
It's Domini, it's not Domini, I
don't care--all I know is I'm not
dealing with something--anything--
snuffing me in my sleep. I want to
do what we did in the woods--
surveillance of this whole place
24/7, with somebody monitoring
those cameras every second. There's
something, somebody here, I want to
see 'em coming.
NICK
I thought all your equipment got
stolen.
COTTER
All the shit that was worth anything,
yes. You'd be amazed, though, what you
can get free on the 'net.
He opens a desk drawer--there must be a dozen little palm
corders in there.
INT. THE LOFT - VARIOUS LOCATIONS - NIGHT
What Cotter lacks in other equipment, he makes up for with cable:
huge SPOOLS of it--and he's running it from the various tiny vid-
cams to a motley bank of monitors he's set up on the kitchen table.
HEATHER
duct-tapes one of the little units on the top of a closet door-
frame in the hallway.
COTTER
sees he has an excellent angle on the front door/elevator.
ANNA
watches half asleep and befuddled in their bedroom as Nick aims a
camera on a jerry-rigged broom-handle tripod.
COTTER
connects the cables in the kitchen--sees Anna and a clear view of
the bedroom door.
NICK & HEATHER
collaborate on installing a camera from Cotter's work-loft that
provides a view of the dark area under the work-loft. Nick lowers
the camera on a rope, while Heather guides and supports the cables
attached.
COTTER
watches the camera descend on one of the monitors. Satisfied by the
view it's giving him, he yells:
COTTER
That's good! Tie it off!
BACK IN THE WORK-LOFT
Nick does so. Ties the rope securely around the loft railing. Ties
a slip knot in the loose end and lassoes it over one of the iron
beams above to keep it from being a hazard. He has to jump to catch
the rope as it comes down again from the beam--
--stumbles backwards slightly as he catches it--
--hitting the spindly loft railing--
--which suddenly SNAPS!
And Nick goes tumbling out into mid-air, the slip-knot in the rope
in his hand the only thing keeping him from plummeting 20 feet to
the floor below--
NICK
--Jee-zus!!!--
COTTER
sees it happen on the monitor.
COTTER
--Christ!!
He dashes out of the kitchen.
BACK IN THE WORK-LOFT
Heather is trying to lift Nick back up by the rope by sheer
physical strength she doesn't have--
HEATHER
I can't do it!
NICK
Don't! You're making me lose my
grip.
COTTER (O.S.)
I'm coming! I'm coming!
And Cotter comes dashing in with a tall metal step ladder.
COTTER
Just hold on!
NICK
I can't!
Cotter splays the ladder open, starts clambering up it.
COTTER
Just let it go, I've got you!
NICK
What're you nuts--
COTTER
--it's less than four feet,
just--
NICK
--shit!!!
Nick loses his grip--starts falling--
--Cotter snatches hold of him as he falls, pinning Nick between the
ladder and his torso.
The ladder wobbles precariously--
COTTER
--don't move, don't even breathe--
--and then the ladder finally comes to a stable rest.
Nick is savagely shaken as he slowly climbs down.
NICK
Jesusjesusjesus....
Ditto Cotter:
COTTER
Yeah--please don't do that
again.
A giggle is heard from the doorway to the big room. They all look:
ANNA
is standing there, laughing with her hand against her mouth like a
little child. She sing-songs:
ANNA
I could see up your dress.
INT. KITCHEN - LATER - NIGHT
Cotter, Heather and Nick watch the monitors on the table in
silence. Drinking coffee. They all look majorly exhausted--but none
of them look in any immediate danger of falling asleep. Their eyes
dart from monitor to monitor, relievedly seeing nothing--except
Anna tossing restlessly in bed.
Heather sees that Nick is massaging something on his forearm that's
making him wince. Without a word, she rolls his sleeve up:
A wine-colored mark that looks vaguely like a jagged J.
HEATHER
Gothic rune--the letter "S."
NICK
Or a blood blister--or a bruise.
COTTER
Must be that blue collar life we
all lead.
Cotter pulls up his pant leg: two blurry burgundy marks--crescent
shapes overlapping each other.
HEATHER
That's a "j."
COTTER
For "James?"
HEATHER
Goes right along with these two.
She pulls back her hair--where jaw meets neck: two smudgey marks
that together look like badly-drawn lowercase "n"s.
HEATHER
Put 'em together that's a "k."
James Kurth--
NICK
--or Lyme Disease or poison sumac,
or God knows what-else we could have
picked up in the woods.
HEATHER
You know what we picked up in the
woods--
--and then there's a sharp knock at the door.
All three sets of eyes zoom towards the sound, but no one moves.
The knocking grows louder, more insistent. Still, they remain
frozen. Frightened.
They look at the monitor giving an angle of the door/elevator.
Nothing can be seen--just a dark blur in the door's peephole
indicating someone's standing in the elevator.
HEATHER
Who?
COTTER
No one ever comes here.
NICK
Have to open the door to find
out.
The knocking increases, along with muffled shouts of:
VOICE BEHIND THE DOOR
Cotter...? Cotter...?
COTTER
....I'll....go.
Cotter gets up and slowly walks to the door. The rapping and
shouting increasing in volume with each step.
Finally, a deep breath. And then Cotter looks through the peep
hole. He sees:
SID
his Techie friend from the Film Lab glowering back at him.
SID
I know you're in there, you
piece of shit!
COTTER
(quietly)
You have to go.
SID
Not until I get that Beta Cam
back! We're both in a world of
shit here!!
COTTER
(quietly)
I can't.
SID
It's my fucking job, man!!
COTTER
I can't let you in.
Sid starts knocking again.
Cotter walks back to the kitchen. Sits down in front of the
monitors. Watches as the knocking continues. Finally stops. The
expression on Cotter's face never changes.
TIME CUT TO - THE SAME - SEVERAL HOURS LATER
So quiet, so tense, they can hear the clocks ticking all over the
loft: 4:10a.m.
NICK
I should check on Anna.
HEATHER
Check the monitor, she's fine.
NICK
She's far from "fine."
HEATHER
You're needed here--keep watching--
COTTER
--f'chrissake, Heather, it's not
like the two of us are gonna doze
off he leaves for two seconds--
HEATHER
--I don't trust anybody, not even
me, anymore--
COTTER
--shhhh! #5, there's something up
there!
Their eyes all go to the Monitor with the view of Cotter's work
loft. Beat. They freeze.
A slight WHIRRING--then slow WHOOSHING heard. Movement seen in the
darkness.
NICK
What?
COTTER
One of the printers.
Cotter gets up.
HEATHER
No. We all go.
NICK
Anna--
HEATHER
--fuck Anna!
COTTER (V.O.)
No, you--
INT. THE WORK LOFT - JUST AFTER
Cotter handing a sheaf of print-outs to Heather.
COTTER
--it's for you. Came through email.
How it started printing without a
command, though--
Heather looks up at them in astonishment; dithered:
HEATHER
--it's the "Blair Witch Cult"--a copy--
some pages from--one of them on the site
must've gotten my message--
COTTER
--who?
HEATHER
Doesn't say--it's just these pages.
She tries to make out the ancient, smeared scrawls of this nearly
200 year old book.
HEATHER
(reading)
"taken by the witch as they were
marked by her--first Jamie Kurth
when the stain appeared on his
brow that next summer--
--the next page is illegible, Heather flips forward:
HEATHER
"for t'was said he and Jon Edmunds
and other boys who found Elly Kedward
still on her tree in the snow. Poking
her with sticks finding her still
living. Taking her bonds and noosing
them to her neck, hanging her from
her tree until she perished."
Heather looks up at the others in wide-eyed.
HEATHER
That's the little boys. Elly Kedward
didn't die from "exposure" out there:
she was executed.
(resumes reading)
"Killing Elly Kedward, but not the
witch herself, who floated from the
mortal husk--"
Heather looks up; she echoes Domini's words:
HEATHER
"It's why the witch kills children."
NICK
I thought all witches were benign and
good.
HEATHER
Not this one.
INT. NICK AND ANNA'S BEDROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT
Heather tries to rouse Anna in bed.
HEATHER
I need you to talk to me, talk
to me about the dreams--about
James, the other boys.
ANNA
I don't...I don't understand them
myself.
HEATHER
Try, please, Anna--
ANNA
--bad boys, mean boys, cowardly
boys--just like Domini.
HEATHER
What do you mean?
ANNA
A coward too. That's why she had
to go.
HEATHER
What happened to her, where did she
go?
ANNA
Don't know--just that she was afraid--
HEATHER
--Anna--
Anna winces.
HEATHER
What, are you alright?
ANNA
My eye, is there something in my
eye?
Heather looks.
HEATHER
Not that I can see.
ANNA
Closer. Lift the lid and look--
it hurts.
Heather lifts Anna's eyelid, gets close to her face and looks.
HEATHER
No.
ANNA
Closer.
And Anna gently guides Heather's face down. Begins stroking it. And
the next thing Heather knows, her body is gravitating towards
Anna's. She's kissing her, stroking and fondling her as Anna guides
her fingers. Pulling down the covers, guiding Heather down the
length of her body to--
--a spot on the mattress between Anna's legs that's soaked solid
with fresh, gleaming blood.
Heather yanks herself away, now seeing that the entire mattress is
blood-covered. Runs from the room.
INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
Heather stares at her face in the mirrored surface of a toaster.
Blood blots on her cheek--vaguely in the shape of little palm
prints. She's hyperventilating as she tells Cotter.
HEATHER
Remember....what Mary Brown said--
she could see the witch's hands on
my face, her mouth sucking on mine.
COTTER
Anna's the witch.
Nick enters.
NICK
What the fuck's going on here?
HEATHER
Does she have marks, Nick--like the
ones we have, that Domini had?
NICK
Why?
HEATHER
Does she, goddamnit??
NICK
Not that I've seen--but that has
no meaning--that means nothing.
COTTER
Why was she exempted, Nick?
NICK
Maybe whatever they are, they
just haven't appeared yet on
her?
HEATHER
You really believe that?
Beat.
NICK
It's possible for chrissake--
HEATHER
--the marks appear, then you
disappear. Like the little
Kurth boy, like Domini, as
soon as they come to full
bloom--and mine are!
She pulls down her blouse--the marks on her neck have grown--they
are the size of--and very clear image of--the palm-prints of a
child, ringing around Heather's neck as if strangling her.
COTTER
Mine, too. And so are yours,
pal.
He points to Nick's exposed midriff--the stains have spread up from
his waist into his abdomen--
HEATHER
Like a blueprint for disembowelment.
NICK
There are other explanations! She is
not the goddamn witch, that's insane!
HEATHER
Then just give me one of your
explanations that all three of
us'll buy.
NICK
I don't....
--and then Nick hears giggling. His eyes and everyone's eyes go to
one of the video monitors:
THE BIG ROOM
of the loft. Where they see Anna twirling round and round on her
tip-toes, laughing, as though she were simultaneously being hanged
and looking up the dress and giggling at the person being hanged.
Now even Nick looks petrified.
INT. THE LOFT - VARIOUS LOCATIONS - JUST AFTER
The Big Room. Nick enters on the run.
NICK
I want to see something!
ANNA
Whatever you want.
NICK
The clothes--take 'em off--
I want to see every square
inch--
ANNA
--no, what's wrong with you?
HEATHER & NICK
Watch on the monitor: Nick showing the huge mark on his torso.
NICK
Are you marked like this??
ANNA
Why?
NICK
I see for proof positive you're
the goddamn witch--
Anna dashes from the room.
AT THE ELEVATOR
Heather grabs her, as Anna's trying to open the door to escape. The
recorded dogs start barking madly.
HEATHER
You killed Domini, didn't you,
witch??
ANNA
I'm not a witch, you're all crazy!
Anna runs panicked into the kitchen--and right into Cotter. He
grabs her by the arms.
COTTER
Just say you are--we won't hurt
you--
--Heather runs in behind her--
HEATHER
--we'll just make you go away,
so you can't hurt anyone else--
--Nick enters the kitchen--
NICK
--like you hurt the baby--
ANNA
--what're you saying?? I didn't
have anything to do with--
COTTER
--the witch kills children--
ANNA
I haven't killed any--
HEATHER
--Jamie Kurth, Jonathan Edmunds--
ANNA
(in terror)
--my God, Nick???
NICK
Just say the words, Anna.
She tries to dodge Nick and get back to the elevator, he cuts her
off.
Ditto, the other direction and Heather--
--Anna sprints up the stairs--
INT. COTTER'S WORK-LOFT - JUST AFTER
--and finds she's got nowhere to go but down--20 feet worth of
down. And Nick, Heather and Cotter are closing in on her from the
stairs.
ANNA
Please! Please...? I haven't
done anything.
HEATHER
Bullshit! Talk!
ANNA
Nick!!
NICK
Out of my hands.
Cotter barges past them all, grabs the tope that Nick dangled from
the loft space with--
ANNA
What're you doing??
--Cotter throws the slip-knot loop around her neck.
COTTER
Hang you like the witch you
are, unless--
ANNA
--Nick!!
HEATHER
Confess!
Cotter tightens the rope.
ANNA
Alright! Fuck you, fuck all of you!
I'm her.
Heather grabs the vid-cam from the railing and starts recording
her:
NICK
Oh, Jesus, no--
ANNA
--fuck your bullshit pieties! You
were the next to die, asshole!
PAGE 102 IS MISSING FROM THE HARD COPY OF THIS SCRIPT
INT/EXT. VARIOUS LOCATIONS - DAYS FOLLOWING
A dizzying montage of video "real" footage much like the opening of
the film.
TV Reporters telling us that "once again, like Columbine and
"Basketball Diaries," life has imitated violent art. In this case,
the Blair Witch Project," where, yesterday obsessed fans of the
film performed ritualistic murder--"
Nick, Heather and Cotter seen: in cuffs, being led into the
Baltimore Police Station.
Seen: grainy static-cam of them being interrogated.
Seen: news-film of the inside of the Loft--where Anna was found
"murdered." And then a closet where an unidentified nude woman was
found similarly "executed." The News camera zooms in on the nude
body of Domini crumpled in that closet, visible rope burns on her
neck.
Seen: Nick's confession. That Anna admitted to being The Evil.
Seen: the footage Heather shot of Anna "confessing."
But all the police and we see is Anna with a rope around her neck,
pleading to Nick, Heather and Cotter not to kill her: "I haven't
done anything!!! Why are you doing this??? Please, God--"
END