Latest / Table Read / NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD - ACT ONE: "They're Coming to Get You, Barbara"

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NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD - ACT ONE: "They're Coming to Get You, Barbara" · Table Read

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Zombies, man zombies. I'm New York Times best selling horror
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: author Scott Zigler. Let me bend your ear about a
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: milestone of horror cinema. Shamblers, crawlers, walkers, runners, even exploders.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: The word zombie is ubiquitous for bloodthirsty, undead monsters that
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: hunger for living flesh, that stalk us, that want to
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: eat our brains. But that version of zombies, the version
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: we all know after decades of horror movies, novels, comics, games,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: and even musicals, wasn't always the case. Before nineteen sixty eight,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: the word zombie often did refer to reanimated corpses. But
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: those poor devils were controlled by a priest or, a sorcerer,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: more servant or even slave than ravenous eater of human flesh.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: So what happened in nineteen sixty eight to change that?
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: George A. Romero seminal flick Knight of the Living Dead,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: That's what happened. The creatures in that genre defining work
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: weren't even called zombies. No. In the film, they were
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: referred to as ghouls. But as the shock waves of
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Romero's gory, low budget masterpiece rippled through our culture, redefining
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: what a zombie is. The term retroactively came to be
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: associated with and defined by Romero's vision. But here's the thing.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: The classic film that horror fans know and love didn't
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: rise from the grave fully formed. The original script was
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: unfinished when the camera started rolling, and what was on
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: the page was wildly different. Characters changed names and races,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: dialogue was written in thick country slang, and entire sections
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: of the story simply didn't exist. Yet it was the
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: actors Dwayne Jones, Judith O'Day, Carl Hardman, and Marilyn Eastman,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: working side by side with Romero, who reshaped it as
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: they shot. They rewrote dialogue, improvised scenes, and turned rough
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: pulp into timeless terror. Out of that chaos came something transcendent.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: The film didn't just invent the modern zombie. It proved
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: that horror could evolve, live and breathe, right in front
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: of the camera. And that is why this episode of
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: table Read matters. This live read you are about to
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: hear takes us back to where it began, to the raw,
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: unfinished version that shambled so the masterpiece could run. You
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: will hear the rough edges that discarded lines, the bones
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: of a genre still assembling itself. Because every legend begins
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: as a first draft, and before Night of the Living
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Dead changed everything, it began as this.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: One table read.
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: Now we're gonna say table reading, just I can give
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: me zombie sounds one.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Two three.
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: Room Knight of the Living Dead written by George A.
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: Romero and John A. Russell. Exterior cemetery dusk. It is
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: an ordinary dusk of normal quiet and shadow. The gray
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: sky contains a soft glow from the recent sun, so
• 3:18
  Speaker 4: that trees and long blades of grass seem to shimmer
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: in the gathering night. There is a rasp of crickets
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: and the rustle of leaves in an occasional whispering breeze.
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: Transitions are easy and gradual, with relaxed studies of earth,
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: grass and leafy branches on a high mounted hill. Revelation
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: of cemetery markers does nothing to disrupt the peacefulness of
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: our established mood. When awareness comes, it is almost as
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: though we have known where we were all alone. We
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: are in a typical rural cemetery, conceivably adjacent to a
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: small church, although the presence of a church is felt
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: rather than confirmed. Range from small identifying slates to monuments
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: of careful design. An occasional Franciscan crucifix or carved image
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: of a defending angel over a hundred years of death,
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: indicated in stones syllavic with their year and the status
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: of the families they represent. Over the other night sounds
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: is added the gravel rumble of a slow moving car.
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: A wider shot reveals the car and the mounted cemetery
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: as the car pulls into the gate and moves down
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: one of the cemetery roads. The car passes an extreme
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: foreground and moves away from the camera. In the breeze
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: of its passing, the dead leaves that clutter the little
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: road swirl and move beyond the distant trees, the last
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: receding gray of dusk and surrendering to the black. The
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: car continues. When the car stops, we feel the absence
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: of its sounds, replaced by the crickets and the subtle wind,
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: even as the car is still rocking slightly from its
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: stopping action. We cut to a shot through the driver
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: window at the occupants of the car. The driver is
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: a young man in his mid twenties and his passenger
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: is a young woman. His sister. The man is in
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: shirt sleeves with a loosened tie. His suit coat is
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: on the clothing hook over the back seat. The girl
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: is wearing a simple but attractive summer suit with a
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: jacket removed and folded in her lap. She is fussing
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: with her purse while the man shuts off engine lights
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: and leans back to yawn and stretch his legs. The
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: girl closes a potato chip bag, rushes crumbs, fluffs her
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: hair typical feminine gestures after a long ride. The man
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: stretches again.
• 5:42
  Speaker 5: They ought to make the day the time changes the
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: first day of summer, then two good things would happen,
• 5:46
  Speaker 5: all at once.
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: A little laugh from the man as he straightens his tie.
• 5:51
  Speaker 5: I love the long days and the extra.
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: Sunugh, what good the extra daylight does me? I lost
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: an hour's sleep, and it's dark already, and we still
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: have a three hour drive, and we won't even get
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: back to after midnight.
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: Barbara reaches down to put her shoes on.
• 6:04
  Speaker 5: If it really dragged you that much, you wouldn't do it,
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: Are you kidding?
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: I certainly don't want to blow Sunday on this scene.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: We're either gonna have to move mother to Parkville or
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: the grave to Pittsburgh.
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: Oh, you're just being silly. Mother, can't make a drive
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: like this.
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: John reaches to the back seat and produces a flowered
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: cross shaped grave ornament. In the center of the cross,
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: and gold script on a red field is written, we
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: still remember.
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: Look twenty five dollars.
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: We still remember.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: I don't you know it? And I don't remember what
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: the guy looks.
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: Like, Johnny. It takes you five minutes.
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: Three hours, Nope, nope, six hours, six hours and five minutes.
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: Barbara continues to primp and straighten her outfit. John hands
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: her the grave ornament and leads forward to struggle into
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: a suit jacket.
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: Mother wants to remember, so we have to drive four
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: hundred miles to plants across on a grave as if
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: he's staring up through the ground to check out the decorations.
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: We have to remember, and she stays home.
• 7:11
  Speaker 5: Johnny, we're here, all right.
• 7:14
  Speaker 4: She opens her door and turns to step out. John
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: takes the keys from the ignition and drops them into
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: his pocket.
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: Hey, hey, hey, and barbar you know the radio has
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: been on the whole time.
• 7:26
  Speaker 4: Ladies and gentlemen, please for what Hey, you gotta signal.
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: Charlie must have been the station.
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: John clicks the radio off. He gets out of the
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: car and walks around the front of it, trotting to
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: catch up with his sister. It is obvious that she
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: didn't hear him. He catches up to her and starts
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: to repeat his discovery about the radio.
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: Hey, the radio is okay, it's just.
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: Barbara is more interested in finding the row containing their
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: father's grave.
• 7:55
  Speaker 5: You remember which road's in?
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: Huh uh Oh, it's over here.
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: I think they start in its suggested direction.
• 8:03
  Speaker 5: Did you hear the radio?
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: Hm, the radio's fixed must have been the station, not
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: the radio.
• 8:11
  Speaker 5: Good, you won't be as bitchy driving home.
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: Their gives at each other are not really in anger,
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: but are typical of brother's sister annoyance. They walk through
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: the row of gravestones in the growing darkness.
• 8:24
  Speaker 5: Nobody around. Well, it is late if you get up
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: a little.
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: Earlier, already lost an hour's sleep on the time chain.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: Oh.
• 8:33
  Speaker 5: Sometimes I think you complain just to hear yourself.
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: Talk an hour earlier, and it'd still be light. It's
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: hard enough to find in the light.
• 8:42
  Speaker 5: There it is.
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: They move toward a grave with a standard rectangular stone.
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: It is an unkept grave. It's outline cropped and overgrown
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: with grass and wilted flowers. John takes the flowered cross and,
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: stepping close to the headstone, embeds its wire prong base
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: into the earth as he rambles on, Yeah.
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: I wonder what happened to the one from last year.
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: Every year twenty five bucks for one of these things,
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: and the one from last year is gone.
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: We hear Barbara's voice. The camera stays on John as
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: he builds up some dirt around the base of the ornament.
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: The flowers die and the caretaker somebody takes them away.
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah, a little spit and polish and they can sell
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: them again. I wonder how many times we've bought the scene.
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: He doesn't finish, and standing he sees his sister with
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: a pair of rosary beads, and he stops talking. She
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: is praying silently, looking down at the ground. John straightens
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: his tie and buttons his jacket. He steps behind his sister,
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: puts his hands in his pockets, and rocks nervously on
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: one foot. She continues to pray. John looks around the cemetery.
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: The stones are soft and white. They seem very pale.
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: There are a few moving shadows. The sounds of the
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: night seem louder, but this is only because they have
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: stopped talking. The situation does not seem ominous. John is
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: merely bored. In the distance, a huddled figure is walking
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: among the graves.
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: Come on, barb church was this morning?
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: The girl continues her prayers. John lights a cigarette idly,
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: exhales the first puff of smoke and looks around again.
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: The huddled figures still moves slowly among the graves. John
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: turns to his sister and it's about to say something,
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: but sees her making the sign of the cross and
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: dropping her beads in her purse. She turns from the
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: grave and they both start to walk away slowly.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean prays for church.
• 10:45
  Speaker 5: I haven't seen you in church lately.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: Well, Grandpa told me I was damned to hell. You
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: remember right here, I jumped out at you from behind
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: that tree. Grandpa got all excited.
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: You will be damned to hell, Barbara smiles.
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: Right here, I jumped out from behind the tree at you.
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: Barbara expresses annoyance.
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: He used to be so scared here, Johnny, are you
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: still afraid?
• 11:15
  Speaker 5: Stop it? I mean it.
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: They're going to get you, Barbara.
• 11:20
  Speaker 5: Stop it your ignorance.
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: They're coming for you, Barbara, They're gonna get you.
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: Johnny.
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: Stop, They're coming out of their graves after you. They're coming.
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: They're coming to get you.
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: With this, John throws up his arms and his voice rises.
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: The figure moving among the graves stops and stands for
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: a moment. Barbara glances toward the figure, and momentarily her
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: anxiety turns to embarrassment.
• 11:50
  Speaker 5: You're acting like an idiot.
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: John speaks in a low tone, now glancing at the figure.
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: As they draw closer in their perpendicular paths. John's remarks
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: now are directed to Barbara, as though he didn't want
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: the old man to hear.
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: Here comes one of them. Now he'll hear you is
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: coming to get you.
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: Barbara purses her lips in anger. The couple is now
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: only a few yards from the intersection of their path
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: with the old figure.
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: I'm getting out of here.
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: He bolts and runs up the path. John embarrassed, she
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: cuts herself short and continues to walk more rapidly, now
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: up the path beyond the intersection of the man's row.
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: John stops laughing and turns to look back at his sister.
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: She is near the place where the paths meet, and
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: so is the old man. We cut close to her.
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: She is looking down in embarrassed silence, aware of her
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: proximity with the old man. She feigns poised, and as
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: she makes the intersection, looks up nervously to deliver a
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: socially necessary smile to the old mourner. Ooh. The old
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: man lunches at the girl. His hands grab at her hair.
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: A frightened gasp chokes her. She is coughing. The man
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: grips her arm and slashes at her clothing. She flails about, choking,
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: trying to yell. The man is all over Barbara, unable
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: to hold her in her violin flailing. He is grabbing
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: and tears her jacket and scratches her face. He seems
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: to be trying to bite her arm. John leaps at
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: the man. The three fall to the ground, Barbara kicking
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: and beating with her purse. John gets a firm hold
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: on them, and Barbara is able to wrench through. The
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: man is thrashing wildly at all parts of John's body.
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: They struggle to their feet. The figure thrashes, beats, tears
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: like an animal. John clutches at him, and they fall
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: in a heap in the darkness. Their form is as
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: one flashing thing. Barbara screams wildly. The two men make
• 13:41
  Speaker 4: animal sounds. One figure gains the advantage and slams his
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: fist down against the other's head. Barbara is panic stricken.
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: Her screams turn to frenzied gasps as she finds a
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: tree limb and snatches it up. But then she looks up.
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: She sees that one has vanished the other. She stops
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: in her tracks. Night sounds. A close shot makes it
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: clear that John is lying limply on the ground with
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: the other man hunched over his form. The man is
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: doing something with the limp body still ripping at it,
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: perhaps scraping for money. Barbara cannot tell. The old man
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: freezes and looks up. The girl raises her club and
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: rushes toward him. He jumps into a half standing position,
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: like an animal hunched to spring. Barbara stops in her tracks.
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: The man is breathing heavily. She starts to back away.
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: The man holds very still. She backs away further faster,
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: total fear. The man starts to move slowly, cat like.
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: He steps over the body Barbara drops the club and
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: breaks into a dead run down the path she screeped.
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: The man moves after her, but he is considerably slower
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: than she is, with seeming difficulty in moving, he appears
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: almost crippled in a flailing run. Barbara reaches the car, sobbing,
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: she yanks open the door. She can hear the man
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: drawing nearer. She scrambles into the front seat and slams
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: the door shut. No key. The man draws nearer, seeming
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: to move faster, more desperate to reach the girl. Barbara sobs.
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: She clenches the steering wheel. The driver's window was open.
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: She struggles to roll it up, then pushes the lock button.
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: The man is upon the car. Barbara dives across the
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: seat to slam down the passenger side lock button. The
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: man rips at the door handles and pounds violently at
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: the car. The girl starts screaming again, the man pounding flowing.
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: He grabs a stone from the road. The passenger window
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: shatters into thousands of little cracks. Another pound sends the
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: stone through the window, and hands grabbed through the opening
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: to peel away the flakes of glass and sections. Barbara's
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: screams become more values. She signs enough presence of mind
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: to reach for the emergency break. The man pounds and
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: flails at the window. The car, at the top of
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: a long grade, slowly starts to drift. The man struggles
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: to hold it, rip out the glass. His arm breaks through.
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: His sleeve is ripped and tattered. The hand grabs at
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: the inside of the door. The car moving faster. The
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: man struggles to cling. He is forced to trot after
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: the car faster. He loses his footing, grabs at the
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: fender the bumper. He falls into the road. The car
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: gains momentuma. The man regains his footing and starts after
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: the car. It is moving faster. Barber is frozen in
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: the driver's seat, clenching the wheel. The road ahead is black,
• 16:28
  Speaker 4: the speed is frightening. She pulls the light switch. The
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: head lights dance beams of light among the trees. The
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: beams reveal the grate in the road, which is narrowing
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: to one car width and about two hundred feet ahead.
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: The downhill grade ends and in an uphill grade begins.
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: In desperation, the girl looks out the rear window against
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: the sky. In the light from the cemetery gate. The
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: man is still coming after them. In panic, she looks about.
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: She is still in the cemetery, proper rows of graves
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: on both sides of the road, no lights from the house,
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: no signs of light. The car slows its momentum, carries
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: at some distance up the upgrade. Barbara glances backwards. The
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: man is moving faster toward her. She is terrified. The
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: car reaches a full stop. There is increased panic in
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: her face as she forgets herself, and the car begins
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: to drift backward toward the man. As he draws nearer,
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: the car picks up momentum, carrying her toward the pursuer.
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: She grabs at the emergency brake and yanks it tight,
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: the lurch of the car throwing her against the seat.
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: She struggles with the door hand off. The button pops up.
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: The man draws nearer. She breaks from the car. The
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: man keeps coming, desperately, trying to move faster. Barbara runs
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: off the roadway and onto the turf of the cemetery.
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: She falls, kicks her shoes off, gets up and keeps running.
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: The man is still after her. She reaches a low
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: stone wall which marks the end of the cemetery. She
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: struggles over it and looks ahead for a moment to
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: get her bearings. Across a main highway is a darkened
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: gasoline station and beyond it an old house. She pants heavily,
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: glancing up and down the highway, but there is no
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: sign of traffic. The man is nearing the low cemetery wall.
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: She breaks into a run. Across the highway. The gasolene
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: station shows no signs of life. It is old and decrepit.
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: One light is out over the pumps. The bump house
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: and surroundings are nearly lost in shadow. Some fifty yards away,
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: there's the old house. She runs toward it. She presses
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: against the side of the house in a darkened corner,
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: trying to look up into the window. Across the highway,
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: she sees her pursuer struggle over the little wall and
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: in his clumsiness fall, groveling on the ground. In panic,
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: she runs to the rear of the house and into
• 18:39
  Speaker 4: the shadows of a small back porch. Her first impulse
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: is to cry out for help, but she silences herself
• 18:46
  Speaker 4: in favor of trying to stay hidden. She gasps, trying
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: to hold her breath. Silence night sounds and the sounds
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: of the man's running footsteps slowing to a trot, then
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: a walk. The footsteps stop. Barbara quickly glances about. There
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: is a rear window. She peers through it, but inside
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: everything is dark. The pursuing footsteps take up again. She
• 19:10
  Speaker 4: presses back against the door of the house and her
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: hand falls on the door knob. She looks down at it,
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: grabs it with a turn, and the door opens. She
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: enters quickly, as quietly as possible, and closes the door
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: softly behind her, bolting it and feeling in the darkness
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: for key. Her hand finds a skeleton key and she
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: turns it, making a small rap and click. She leans
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: against the door, listening and can still hear the distant footfalls.
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: Barbara finds that she is in the kitchen of the
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: old house. She gropes through a door and into a
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: large living room, no sign of life. Her impulse is
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: to cry for help, but again she stops herself for
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: fear of being heard by the man outside. She darts
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: back to the kitchen, rummages to drawers in a kitchen
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: cabinet and finds the silverware. She chooses a large steak
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: knife and grasping it tightly, goes to listen at the
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: door again. All is quiet. She goes back into the
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: living room. Beyond it is an alcove that contains the
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: front entrance to the house. She rushes to the front
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: door to make shorre it is locked. Cautiously, she pushes
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: back a corner of the curtain to see outside. The
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: view overlooks an expanse of lawn, large shadowy pine trees,
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: and the service station across the road. There is no
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: sign of the attacker. Suddenly there is noise from outside,
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: the pounding and rattling of a door. Barbara drops the
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: curtain edge and stiffens. More sounds. She hurries to a
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: side window across the lawn. The man is pounding at
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: the door to the garage. She watches her eyes wide
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: with fear. The man struggles with the door, then looks
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: about and picks up something and smashes at it. In panic.
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: Barbara pulls away from the window. Across the room is
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: a telephone. She rushes to it and picks up the
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: receiver diile tone. She frantically dials the operator. Some buzzes
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: and clicks, then I'm sorry.
• 21:06
  Speaker 5: Our lines are busy. Would you hold the line please,
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: I'm sorry.
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: She quickly depresses the receiver buttons, lets them up, and
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: dials again. Long pause. She can hear sounds from the
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: gas station.
• 21:19
  Speaker 5: I'm sorry.
• 21:21
  Speaker 4: She depresses the buttons again, dials four one one for information.
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: Another long pause, than the rasp of a busy signal.
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: The noises from the service station have stopped. She listens
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: for a moment. She shudders with fear. Notices a telephone
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: directory in a stand near the phone. Frantically, her fingers
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: search to pages for the emergency numbers the police. She
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: dials shakily, but before she has dialed the last numbers,
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: the repines of the busy signal come back over the receiver.
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: She depresses the buttons again. Footsteps. She puts the phone
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: down and rushes to another window. A figure is crossing
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: the lawn, coming toward the house. It is a different figure,
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: a different man. She runs to the door and peers
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: out through the curtains again. The man still walks toward
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: the house. A shadow darkens a strip of window at
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: the left of the door. Its abruptness startles her. She
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: peels back a corner of the curtain and sees the
• 22:16
  Speaker 4: back of the first attacker not ten feet away, facing
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: the man who is approaching. The attacker moves toward the
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: new man. Barbara freezes against the door and glances down
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: at her knife. She looks back out at the two men.
• 22:30
  Speaker 4: They join each other under the dark hanging trees and
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: stand looking back toward the cemetery. From inside the house,
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: Barbara squints, trying to see. Finally, the attacker moves back
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: across the road in the direction of the cemetery. The
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: other man approaches the house, seeks the shadows of a tree,
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: and stops in an attitude of stolid watching. Barbara stares,
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: but can see little. She lunges toward the phone again,
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: dials the operator the same recorded message, stops herself from
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: slamming down the receiver. Then suddenly a distant sound an
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: approaching car. She scampers to the window and looks out.
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: The road seems empty, but after a moment, a faint
• 23:14
  Speaker 4: night appears, bouncing and rapidly approaching a car coming up
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: the road. Barbara reaches for the doorknob edges the door
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: open very slightly. The light spills dimly over the area
• 23:26
  Speaker 4: there under the great tree in the lawn is the
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: silhouette of the second man. Barbara shudders. She is afraid
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: to make her break for the approaching car. The figure
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: appears to be sitting quite still, its head and shoulders
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: slumped over. It seems to be looking right at the house.
• 23:44
  Speaker 4: The car speeds by, Barbara just stares at the figure.
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: She cannot run. She closes the door and backs into
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: the shadows of the house. She turns to see all
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: around her. The large, dreary rooms are very quiet, cast
• 23:58
  Speaker 4: in shadow. She spies a stairway, runs toward it, still
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: carrying the knife, and starts up the stairs. The camera
• 24:06
  Speaker 4: is level with her eye and picks up her view
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: of the stairs. As she runs up, panting frantic, she
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: climbs her hand grazing the banister. Still at eye level,
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: the camera starts to pick up the top of the
• 24:17
  Speaker 4: stairway the floor of the second landing, a brief glimpse
• 24:20
  Speaker 4: of something on the floor there. She continues to climb
• 24:24
  Speaker 4: the floor of the landing, zoom in toward camera the
• 24:28
  Speaker 4: hand of a corpse. Barbara stops. The corpse is almost skeletal,
• 24:34
  Speaker 4: with its flesh ripped from it, and it lies at
• 24:36
  Speaker 4: the end of a trail of blood. Screaming an absolute crow,
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: Barbara almost falls down the stairs. She is gagging. She
• 24:44
  Speaker 4: breaks for the door, unlocks, and flings herself out into
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: the night, completely unmindful of consequences. She is bathed in light.
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: Two headlights are screeching toward the camera, the sounds of
• 24:55
  Speaker 4: a vehicle stopping. Barbara covers her face with her arms.
• 24:59
  Speaker 4: Someone rushes towards how are you one of them? She
• 25:01
  Speaker 4: stares frozen. A man stands in front of her. He
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: is large and crude in coveralls and tattered workshirt. He
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: looks very strong and perhaps a little stupid. Behind him
• 25:12
  Speaker 4: is an old, battered pickup truck, which he has driven
• 25:15
  Speaker 4: right up onto the lawn of the house. He holds
• 25:17
  Speaker 4: a large crowbar in his hand and stands there, panting.
• 25:21
  Speaker 4: Behind him, the man of the tree still stands. Barbara
• 25:24
  Speaker 4: is still frozen.
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: I said, are you one of them? I see too,
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: L look like you.
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: The man of the tree moves forward. Barbara screams and
• 25:35
  Speaker 4: steps back. The truck driver spins to face the other man.
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: The other man stops in his tracks. The truck driver
• 25:41
  Speaker 4: backs protectively toward the girl, while the other stands just watching. Finally,
• 25:46
  Speaker 4: the truck driver seizes Barbara's wrist and pulls her into
• 25:49
  Speaker 4: the house, slamming the door behind them. Barbara falls back
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: against a wall. The truck driver locks the door and
• 25:56
  Speaker 4: throws the boat. He is breathing hard. He turns to
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: look at the girl. She brings the knife up in
• 26:02
  Speaker 4: a defensive gesture. All right, that's all right now, She
• 26:08
  Speaker 4: stares widely at him. He immediately concerns himself with its surroundings.
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: He moves into the next room to check the windows.
• 26:16
  Speaker 4: He tries a lamp. It lights, he turns it off.
• 26:19
  Speaker 4: Barbara weakly lowers the knife and falls to a sitting
• 26:22
  Speaker 4: position in a chair. She watches the man intently. He
• 26:26
  Speaker 4: calls to her from the other room.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: Don't you mind to creep outside. I can handle him.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: There's probably gonna be lots of more of them as
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: soon as they find out about us. I'm out of
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: curs And then pumps over there is locked.
• 26:41
  Speaker 4: Do you got any food here?
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: I'll get some grub and then we can beat him off.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: Get out.
• 26:48
  Speaker 4: She just stares at him, and.
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: The phone ain't no good. Well as well have two
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: tin cans to string you live here?
• 27:00
  Speaker 4: He remains silent, looking toward the top of the stairs.
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: The man follows her stair and starts towards the stairs.
• 27:06
  Speaker 4: Half way up, he sees the corpse and stops. Oh,
• 27:09
  Speaker 4: be Jesus. At the bottom of the stairs, he just
• 27:13
  Speaker 4: looks at the girls, shivering with shock in her chair.
• 27:16
  Speaker 4: Then he forces himself back into action. Hey, so we
• 27:20
  Speaker 4: gotta bust out of here.
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: Get to wait with some folks. Somebody we've done something.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: I try to scare up some.
• 27:29
  Speaker 4: Gral He enters the kitchen and starts to rummage. He
• 27:32
  Speaker 4: flings open the refrigerator and the cupboards, finding a stack
• 27:36
  Speaker 4: of large paper grocery bags. He opens one and starts
• 27:39
  Speaker 4: to fill it with things from the refrigerator. He hurls
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: the stuff into the bag. He is interrupted by Barbara's voice.
• 27:45
  Speaker 5: What's happening.
• 27:47
  Speaker 4: The man looks up at her.
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: What's happening?
• 27:52
  Speaker 4: The truck driver looks at her. She stands like a
• 27:55
  Speaker 4: frightened child in the kitchen doorway. He is amazed at
• 27:59
  Speaker 4: her question. A shattering crash startles them. The man drops
• 28:03
  Speaker 4: the groceries and seizes his crowbar. He runs to the
• 28:06
  Speaker 4: front door and looks out through the curtained window. Another
• 28:09
  Speaker 4: shattering sound. The first attacker has joined the second man
• 28:12
  Speaker 4: at the old pickup truck, and with great sticks, the
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: two are smashing out the headlights too. Once the lights
• 28:18
  Speaker 4: are battered out, the two men outside start to beat
• 28:21
  Speaker 4: at the body of the truck. The truck driver spins
• 28:24
  Speaker 4: and lunges toward the girl. How many?
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: How many?
• 28:27
  Speaker 4: She backs further away. The truck driver lunges again, this
• 28:31
  Speaker 4: time in desperation to make her understand. How many?
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: Come on now, God, I know you're scared, but I
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: can handle those two creeps right? How many moores out there?
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: That truck is the.
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: Only chance to get out of here?
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: How many? How many? He grabs her shoulders and she
• 28:49
  Speaker 4: struggles against him, crashing hysterical.
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: I don't know, I don't know happening, I don't know what.
• 29:01
  Speaker 4: She breaks into hysterical globbing. The truck driver finds away
• 29:04
  Speaker 4: from him and breaks for the door. He looks out
• 29:06
  Speaker 4: the window for a moment. The attackers still beat of
• 29:09
  Speaker 4: the truck, wildly, trying to tear it apart. The truck
• 29:12
  Speaker 4: driver flings open the door and leaps off the porch.
• 29:15
  Speaker 4: Two men look up. For the first time, we see
• 29:17
  Speaker 4: the faces of the attackers. They are dead things, and
• 29:21
  Speaker 4: flesh on their faces as rotting and oozing. Their rides
• 29:24
  Speaker 4: bold from deep sockets. Their hair is long, and their
• 29:27
  Speaker 4: clothing rotten and in tatters. They are ghoulish beings, staring
• 29:32
  Speaker 4: up at the truck driver. He starts for them, slowly
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: with building vengeance. He moves steadily at first, with controlled power.
• 29:39
  Speaker 4: He speaks as he advances, wielding his.
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: Crowbar corrigey come horloge, cooly swords crowbar.
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: He concentrates on his attack, moving stolidly toward the two creatures.
• 29:52
  Speaker 4: He breaks almost into a run, but the two, rather
• 29:55
  Speaker 4: than backing off, move toward the man as though drawn
• 29:58
  Speaker 4: by some urge. The man and pounds into them, swinging
• 30:01
  Speaker 4: and thrashing with arms and a crowbar. They are buffeted
• 30:04
  Speaker 4: by his blows. They seem weak compared to him, but
• 30:08
  Speaker 4: his powerful blows don't really stop them. It is like
• 30:11
  Speaker 4: beating a rug. He flings them back and they advance again.
• 30:15
  Speaker 4: It is a violet, brutal struggle, but the big man
• 30:18
  Speaker 4: finally beats the two into the ground, and for a
• 30:20
  Speaker 4: great while continues to pound at their limp forms. He
• 30:23
  Speaker 4: breaks into almost sobbing. If each of us blows. He
• 30:26
  Speaker 4: beats them and beats at them as the girl watches
• 30:29
  Speaker 4: and shock from the porch. He thrashes and beats until
• 30:32
  Speaker 4: she starts to scream again. Her screams pierce the knife.
• 30:36
  Speaker 4: The man stops breathing heavily. He stands enveloped in the
• 30:40
  Speaker 4: quiet of the night. The girl stands in the doorway.
• 30:44
  Speaker 4: The truck driver turns to facer. He is out of breath.
• 30:48
  Speaker 4: Suddenly a noise behind the girl. She spins, and walking
• 30:51
  Speaker 4: toward her from the kitchen is another of the hideous creatures.
• 30:55
  Speaker 4: The truck driver leaps toward the thing to door. Barbara
• 31:00
  Speaker 4: slams the door and locks it, backing against it as
• 31:02
  Speaker 4: another equally brutal struggle ensues in the living room. The
• 31:06
  Speaker 4: big man again beats the attacker down, but another appears
• 31:09
  Speaker 4: at the kitchen door. The truck driver leaps toward it
• 31:12
  Speaker 4: and with powerful crowbar blows drives it out beyond the
• 31:14
  Speaker 4: door so that he can fall against it, shutting it.
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: He bolts it and stands leaning against the frame, trying
• 31:20
  Speaker 4: to breathe long silence. The truck driver just stares down
• 31:26
  Speaker 4: at the floor. I ain't nowhere in here now he
• 31:33
  Speaker 4: no use, disputing that. Outside the house, the fourth ghouls
• 31:37
  Speaker 4: stand staring at the back door, Another slowly walks up
• 31:41
  Speaker 4: behind it, and another at the front of the house.
• 31:44
  Speaker 4: Three moor stand near the bodies of the first two.
• 31:48
  Speaker 4: Pull off and follow focus from the front yard of
• 31:50
  Speaker 4: the house through the curtains at the front door to
• 31:53
  Speaker 4: the face of the girl as she spins to face
• 31:55
  Speaker 4: the camera. Her face twitches in fright and her eyes
• 31:59
  Speaker 4: are wide with a non blinking stare. As she spins,
• 32:02
  Speaker 4: her eyes fall on the floor where the dead humanoid lies.
• 32:07
  Speaker 4: The thing is askew on its back, its right arm
• 32:09
  Speaker 4: extended toward the girl with fingers twisted as though to
• 32:12
  Speaker 4: grab cameras tracking in slowly, there is a slight movement
• 32:17
  Speaker 4: in the thing's hand. It twitches. The whole body twitches slightly,
• 32:22
  Speaker 4: the bent broken neck as the being's head twisted upward
• 32:25
  Speaker 4: in an open mouth, glassy stare. Barbara steps toward the thing.
• 32:30
  Speaker 4: The fear in her face bears the beginnings of a
• 32:32
  Speaker 4: sick frown. The hand twitches again. The girl moves closer,
• 32:37
  Speaker 4: drawn toward it, staring down at it with overpowering curiosity.
• 32:42
  Speaker 4: The thing is something dead with the beginnings of decay
• 32:46
  Speaker 4: on its face and neck. Barbara moves closer. The thing
• 32:50
  Speaker 4: still twitches. She's staring right down into the thing's eyes.
• 32:54
  Speaker 4: Her hands come up to her mouth. The urge to
• 32:57
  Speaker 4: be ill, to scream, to run must all be fought.
• 33:00
  Speaker 4: The glassy stare from bulging eyes right back up at her.
• 33:05
  Speaker 4: Camera shoots back and forth at her face with the
• 33:07
  Speaker 4: staring eyes of the dead thing. Zoom in on the thing.
• 33:10
  Speaker 4: It seems as though the body is going to stand again.
• 33:13
  Speaker 4: Its face holds as much life as it did when
• 33:15
  Speaker 4: it walked. Suddenly, with a rustling sound, the thing moves
• 33:19
  Speaker 4: cut back. The big truck driver has a hold on
• 33:22
  Speaker 4: the thing's legs and is dragging it across the floor.
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: Cut your eyes, girl, I'm getting his dead tree out
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: of here.
• 33:29
  Speaker 4: He is sweating. His voice shows anger and anguish as
• 33:32
  Speaker 4: he drags the body across the floor. Barbara just stands
• 33:36
  Speaker 4: her hands still at her mouth, watching the sounds of
• 33:39
  Speaker 4: the man's breathing and his struggle fill the room with
• 33:43
  Speaker 4: the body. He reaches the back door and lets the
• 33:45
  Speaker 4: legs fall. He filthy. He cuts himself short cut in
• 33:52
  Speaker 4: for a close up. The stark light on the big
• 33:55
  Speaker 4: man's face makes him shine in his sweat. His eyes
• 33:58
  Speaker 4: are alert and afraid. He turns quickly to see through
• 34:01
  Speaker 4: the small window panes in the door outside, lurking in
• 34:05
  Speaker 4: shadow from the huge trees, the three beings watch and wait,
• 34:09
  Speaker 4: their arms dangling and eyes bulging as they stare at
• 34:12
  Speaker 4: the truck driver's activities. With a swift move, the big
• 34:16
  Speaker 4: man unbolts the door, flings it open, and bends toward
• 34:19
  Speaker 4: the inert thing at his feet. The ghoulish things begin
• 34:23
  Speaker 4: to move toward him. With one great heave, the dead
• 34:26
  Speaker 4: form is flopped outside the door. It lies across the threshold.
• 34:31
  Speaker 4: The thing advances, silently, filthy. Another great effort shoves the
• 34:36
  Speaker 4: body almost clear from inside the house. The big Man's
• 34:40
  Speaker 4: efforts cannot be clearly seen by the girl because the
• 34:42
  Speaker 4: door frame is blocking her view. She moves into the kitchen.
• 34:46
  Speaker 4: The truck driver flops the body down onto the edge
• 34:48
  Speaker 4: of the porch. He the big man shudders. He fumbles
• 34:54
  Speaker 4: into the breast pocket of the work shirt. The things advance.
• 34:57
  Speaker 4: He produces a pack of matches, manages to strike one
• 35:00
  Speaker 4: and touches the burning tips of the clothing of the
• 35:02
  Speaker 4: dead thing, and with almost a popping sound. The clothing
• 35:06
  Speaker 4: catches fire. The things in the yard stop in their tracks.
• 35:10
  Speaker 4: The fire blazes, slowly shaking. The truck driver touches the
• 35:15
  Speaker 4: match to other aspects of the thing's clothing. His fingers
• 35:18
  Speaker 4: burn and he snaps them, throwing the match into the
• 35:21
  Speaker 4: heaked form. He is breathing hard standing. He kicks the
• 35:25
  Speaker 4: burning thing off the edge of the porch, watches it
• 35:27
  Speaker 4: roll down three small steps onto the grass, where it
• 35:30
  Speaker 4: lies still, the flames licking around it. The three beings
• 35:34
  Speaker 4: step back slightly. The big man clings to the banister
• 35:37
  Speaker 4: around the little porch. His fists clench and his face
• 35:41
  Speaker 4: is fiery, and the blow of the flames his voice quivers.
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: I'll get you, gets you, allow you. He stands to fire,
• 35:53
  Speaker 4: hollow you encactly Jack.
• 35:57
  Speaker 5: He stands them finally on the little porch and climbing course,
• 36:00
  Speaker 5: separating from the things that wait.
• 36:02
  Speaker 4: Wait is going to be the end of Act one? However,
• 36:05
  Speaker 4: you want to do that to get us out? How
• 36:09
  Speaker 4: about no? I love that He stands defiantly on the
• 36:16
  Speaker 4: little porch, the flaming corpse, separating from the things that wait,
• 36:23
  Speaker 4: and of Act one