No. 00477 December 26, 1980 THE THING First Draft Screenplay by BILL LANCASTER From The Story HHO GOES THERE by DON A. STUART — NOTICE — THIS MATERIAL IS THE PROPERTY OF UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS, INC. AND IS INTENDED AND RESTRICTED SOLELY FOR STUDIO USE BY STUDIO PERSONNEL. DISTRIBUTION OR DISCLOSURE OF THE MATERIAL TO UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS IS PRO- HIBITED. THE SALE, COPYING OR REPRODUCTION OF THIS MATERIAL IN ANY FORM IS ALSO PROHIBITED.#00477 THE THING cast MAC READY - 35. Helicopter pilot. Likes chess. Hates the cold. The pay is good. GARRY - 46. The station manager. Stiff. Ex-army officer. Wears a handgun. CHILDS - 33. Six-four. Two-fifty. Black. A mechanic. Can be jolly. But don't mess. BLAIR - 50. Senior biologist. Edgy. Inquisitive. Overworked. FUCHS - 25. Sensitive. Intelligent. Unassuming. An assistant biologist. DR. COPPER - 45, Professional. A decent man. A good doctor. PALMER - 27. Second string chopper pilot. Crack mechanic. Long hair. Slight sixties acid damage. NAULS - 22, The cook. Bright. Black. Mischievous. Irreverent. But kindhearted. Roller skates. NORRIS - 44. Stocky. Rugged looking. A geophysicist. An incipient heart condition. BENNINGS - 38. A meteorologist. CLARK - 24. The dog handler. Likes his job. SANCHEZ - 21. ‘The radio operator. In the winter of 1981 these men were commissioned by the United States National Science Foundation to gather data concerning the physical and natural sciences on the continent of Antarctica.#00477 THE MAIN COMPOUND OF U.S. OUTPOST #31 The interior is a cramped and never ending maze of hallways, passageways and doors which connect the many. rooms and com- partments within the compound. Sturdy, but prefabricated materials have been used in its construction. There is a laboratory. An infirmary. A kitchen and mess hall. A communications room and sleeping quarters. Other cubicles are for storage and supplies. The most spacious area of the building, and the main center of activity, is the Rec Room. Of the many entrance ways to this room can be seen the small work chambers with their sophisticated computers and other scientific equipment. The below quarter houses the generator and still other compartments for storage. A long underground tunnel connects the main compound to the dog kennel.#00477 ‘THE THING FADE IN A STARRY BLACKNESS From out of the billions, the smallest of specks drives slowly forward. It closes; getting larger; its features becoming more identifiable: a vessel. Flip-flopbing; out of control. Its stern roaring with flame. It passes; its blue fire surging onto screen. “THE THING" A thundering. FADE TO A BLIND AND FERAL WHITENESS .+.Glacial desert...gusts of snow...superimpos. ANTARCTICA 1982 WINTER A SOUND Loud and strident. A helicopter streaks across frame. It travels precariously close to the ground; its chassis battered and swayed by the wind. INT. COPTER Red dials beam on the faces of two men. One carries a rifle and searches the horizon with binoculars. The other pilots. ‘Their unkempt faces, their blazen eyes notate a wildness. They bark at each other in some Scandinavian tongue. Two men arguing like mad and desperate children. The man with the binoculars sights something. EXT. HORIZON - BINOCULARS' POINT OF VIEW - A DOG It turns and snarls at the craft some fifteen hundred yards to its rear. Then whirls and gallops off. A gun blast kicks up snow at its heels.ja 10 ql #00477 2 INT. COPTER 6 Another blast of rifle fire as the man takes issue with his prey. The pilot slams a fist into his gunman friend and implores for better aim. The craft swoops lower and the engine is put into full throttle. EXT. HILL - THE DOG 7 running feverishly up and over a hill of ice. A weather- beaten, wooden sign sticks up on the other side: U.S. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION -- OUTPOST #31. A rifle blast kicks up more snow. EXT. COMPOUND OF U.S. OUTPOST #31 8 A large, almost snow-covered building. Not far from that a tall, meteorological balloon tower. A scattering of several small shacks at varying distances from the main compound. The smaller hovels are connected by wooden planked walkways and steadying ropes. Multicolored pennants stick out of the snow marking pathways and directions to outdoor experiments. A tractor and two helicopters sit idle, covered with mounds of continuously mounting snow. TWO MEN, NORRIS AND BENNINGS 9 standing some thirty yards from the main building are in the process of letting up a large red balloon. Childs, a hefty black man, is twenty yards away tinkering with a snowmobile. Their beards are caked with ice. It is winter and it is harsh. The faint sound of the copter turns their attention. THE COPTER 10 flying even lower now. The man with the gun leans dangerously outside and fires away at the dog as it nears the outpost. THE MEN 1 outside the compound look to one another, incredulous.ja 12 13 14 15 #00477 3 THE COPTER 12 much too low now, and chastised by the wind, attempts a high- speed landing, directly on the heels of the sprinting dog. It bounces violently on the hard-packed surface. Once. Twice. Passing the dog. A third bounce sends it skidding. It flips; its blades snapping off like toothpicks. It lands belly-up, soundless except for the whine of its engine. The man with the gun rolls out before the explosion. INT. MAIN COMPOUND 13 The half a dozen men, playing cards, monitoring equipment, listening to music -~ spring to their feet, startled. EXT. COMPOUND 14 The dog reaches Norris and Bennings, as they awkwardly wade through the snow, toward the downed copter. THE SURVIVOR 15 of the crash, his eyes crazed with determination, struggles to his feet. Heedless of his companion, he double-times his way to the men and the dog. He reloads his gun and bellows in his Scandinavian tongue. Norris and Bennings have no idea what he is saying. The survivor waves his arm as if shooing them off, screaming as he does so; his face now caked with blood. The two men are bewildered. The dog jumps up, licking and pawing them, imploring for safety. Blam!! The visitor fires. The men jump back in disbelief. NORRIS What the fu.... Blam! Blam! The crazed visitor screams and fires as he stalks after them. His countenance ablaze, mad. Ice and snow kick up about the terrified Americans. A bullet smacks into the dog's hip, sending it skidding and howling in pain. CONTINUEDja 1s 16 1 18 19 20 21 #00477 4 CONTINUED 15 Childs, the black man by the snowmobile, takes cover, diving behind his machine. Bennings is hit. Norris pulls, drags him back toward the compound. The dog crawls along beside them. The intruder is relentless in his assail. He runs, screaming, firing, screaming, reloading and firing. INT. COMPOUND 16 Total confusion. Some watch helplessly through the small, fogged-up and translucent windows. Others try to mobilize, grabbing for their heavy jackets. CLOSE ON A .357 MAGNUM 7 as it efficiently breaks through a windowpane and into the cold. A steady hand grips it firmly. THE SCANDINAVIAN 18 getting closer. Kablam! Suddenly, his head jerks back. He falls to his knees and then face down into the snow. NORRIS AND BENNINGS 19 stare blankly, but relievedly at the fallen man. ‘The dog whimpers in pain. CHILDS 20 pokes his head out from under the snowmobile. INT. MAIN COMPOUND - REC ROOM 21 The rumbling of voices fades. The men adjust their eyes to station manager Garry, as he extracts his gun from the broken window, relieves it of its spent shell and puts it away. cur TOia 22 23 #00477 5 EXT. BURNING COPTER 22 Several men spray snow on the burning wreckage. There is no hope for the pilot. cur TO INT. COMPOUND - CLOSE ON THE PALLID FACE OF THE SCANDINAVIAN 23 INTRUDER A neat round hole is set in the middle of his forehead. Station manager Garry holds up something akin to an ID. GARRY Norwegian...Jans Bolen. Fuchs, a young and sensitive-looking biologist, stands closest to the large area map of Antartica. Several men sit and stand around viewing the body that lies on two brought-together card- tables. FUCHS Gotta be from the Norwegian camp. GARRY How far's that? FUCHS "bout eight kilos southwest. GARRY (surprise) That far? Garry directs his attention to Norris, the rugged-looking, fortyish, geophysicist, who was one of the men being shot at. Next to him sits Childs, the large black who had been working on the snowmobile. GARRY You catch anything he was saying? NORRIS Yeah. I caught that he wanted the better part of my ass to come apart. Garry motions inquiringly to Childs. CHILDS am I starting to look Norwegian to you, Bwana?ja 24 25 #00477 6 INT. INFIRMARY 24 Dr. Copper, mid-forties, works on the outstretched leg of Bennings, the meteorologist. Clark, the dog handler, is mending the hip of the wounded dog off in the corner. Bennings lets out with an ouch. DR. COPPER Don't 'ouch' me. Two stitches. It just grazed you. He helps a shaken Bennings up off the table. BENNINGS What in the hell were they doing?.. Flying that low...shooting at a dog...at us.... DR. COPPER Stir crazy. Cabin fever...Who knows. The dog yelps and whimpers as Clark tries to calm him. CLARK I'll be here a while. Shell's pretty deep. INT. RADIO ROOM 25 Blair, senior biologist, fifty, balding, leans against the entrance door. He looks on as the young, bored-looking radio operator, Sanchez, attends to his equipment. Bursts of static. SANCHEZ It's no go. BLAIR Well, get to somebody. Anybody. We've got to report this mess. SANCHEZ Look, I haven't been able to reach shit in two weeks. Doubt if any- body's talked to anybody on the whole continent.26 #00477 7 INT. HALLWAY 26 Nauls, the cook, glides along on his roller skates down one of the many narrow hallways that connect the various compart- ments of the main compound. He is black, a little mischievous about twenty-two. He comes to a flashy skidding stop at one of the entrances to the rec room area, where the men are gathered with the dead Norwegian. NAULS Maybe we at war with Norway. Station manager Garry directs a question to Fuchs, who is leafing through a thick file of papers. GARRY How long have they been stationed there? FUCHS Says here about eight weeks. Dr. Copper enters the room. Bennings limping after him slightly. GARRY (shaking his head) That's not enough time for guys to go bonkers. NAULS Bullshit, Bwana, sweetheart. Five minutes is enough to put a man over down here. Palmer, a spacy, twenty-seven-year-old, novice pilot and mechanic, agrees, as he lights a joint. PALMER Damn straight. NAULS I mean Palmer been the way he is since the first day. Palmer smiles and flips the cook the bird. GARRY How many in their party? CONTINUEDja 26 #00477 CONTINUED The men's 26 FUCHS (referring) Started with six. There'd be four others left. DR. COPPER How do you know? attention turns to Copper. DR. COPPER (continuing) .+-Guys as crazy as that could have done a lot of damage to their own before they got to us. GARRY Nothing we can do about that. DR. COPPER Yes, there is. I'd like to go up. GARRY In this weather? DR. COPPER (turns to) Bennings? BENNINGS Winds are going to let up a tad, next couple of hours. GARRY A tad? BENNINGS Can't condone it much myself. But is it a short haul. Hour there, hour back. . Garry still does not much like the idea. Palmer takes another hit off his joint. PALMER Shit, Doc, I'll give you the lift if, GARRY Forget it, Palmer. Doc, you're a pain in the ass. CONTINUED1b #00477 9 26 CONTINUED - 2 26 GARRY (Cont'd) (turns) Norris, go get MacReady. Slight laughter from some of the men. NORRIS (grins) MacReady ain't going nowhere. Bunkered in till spring. GARRY Just go get him. NORRIS (stands) Anyway, he's probably ripped. 7 EXT. U.S. OUTPOST #31 27 Norris, bundled in his sixty-five pounds of clothing, exits the main compound. He walks the prefab wooden planks up the precipice; his destination is some one hundred yards up the slope -- to a shack. He grabs onto the steadying roves and pulls himself against the wind and blowing sleet. INT. MAC READY'S SHACK - CLOSE ON ICE CUBES 28 being dumped into a glass, followed by the pouring of whiskey. An electronic Voice is heard. vorce Bishop to knight four. MacReady takes a sip of his drink; makes his way over to his electronic chess game. A large Mexican sombrero hangs on his back. He is tall; about thirty-five. His shack is sparse but unkempt. A few centerfolds on the wall are interspersed by an occasional poster of some Mediterranean or South American paradise. The chess game is of larger than normal size. The pieces move automatically with the press of a button. He sits down and chuckles over his opponent's bad move. MAC READY You poor little son of a bitch. You're starting to lose it, aren't you? He confidently taps out his move. His companion's response is immediate. CONTINUEDlb 28 29 #00477 10 CONTINUED VvoIcEe Pawn takes queen at knight four. MacReady's grin slowly fades as he examines the board. ‘there » heed= is a pounding at his door. MacReady broods for a bit less of his visitor and makes his next move. vorcE (continuing) Rook to knight six. Check. More impatient pounding. MacReady glares at his opponent for a beat. He bends forward, opens up a flap containing the chess game's circuitry and pours in his drink. ‘There ensues a snapping, popping sound as smoke and sparks rise from the machine; followed by a flush of chess gibberish. MacReady gets up from his seat, mumbling on his way to the door. MAC READY +++Cheating bastard He opens the door. Norris steps in followed by a flurry of snow and wind. NORRIS You jerking off or just pissed? MAC READY We got any more of those electronic chess things down in supply? NORRIS Get your gear on, Let's move. MAC READY What for? NORRIS You're not going to believe it. EXT. OUTPOST 28 29 One of the grounded choppers is boing readied for take-off. Childs holds a huge industrial torch to the engine, warming it up.tv 30 #00477 nn INT. MAIN COMPOUND - CORRIDOR 30 Garry, Bennings, Dr. Copper, Palmer and facReady wind their way throuyh the slender corridors on their way to the chopper. Dr. Copper carries a satchel of medical supplies. MacReady, going over his flight chart, looks mad as hell. Dialogue overlaps. MAC READY GARRY «..Craziness -Quit the griping This is goddamn in- MacReady. Sooner sane.... you're there -- sooner you're back. MAC READY It's against regulations to go up this time of year! DR. COPPER Screw regulations! Four guys could be crawling around on their bellies qut there! MAC READY So, I don't want to end up crawling around with them when we go down. GARRY Look, if you're going to keep bitching, MacReady -- Palmer's offered to take him up. MAC READY What are you talking?! e's had two months training in those chopper: PALMER (defiant) Four! MAC READY (to Bennings) What is it out there, anyway? Forty-five knots? BENNINGS Sixteen. MAC READY (disgusted) And the horse you rode in on . Sixteen for how long?! You can't predict this time of year....tv 31 32 33 34 35 36 #00477 12 INT./EXT. CHOPPER 31 br. Copper sits next to MacReady, who is at the controls. Mackeady tightens the string of his sombrero around his neck and starts up its choking engine. MacReady fights violently with the controls as he struggles to get the craft into the air. It finally rights itself and moves up and off into the grey-white sky. INT. MAIN COMPOUND 32 A couple of the men mingle in the area. Clark, the dog handler, looks out the window. CLARK Mac's really taking it up, huh? The dog, a large bandage on his hip, wades through the room. Under tables. Past men's legs. It hobbles slightly. No one takes notice. cur To EXT. THE CHOPPER 33 moves over a ridge of ice. Columns of smoke can be seen rising ominously from a quarter mile off. EXT. CHOPPER - POINT OF VIEW 34 As they near, the smoke looms thicker. A black, tar-like gush; billowing up into the grey sky from the whiteness below. EXT. NORWEGIAN CAMP 35 smoke climbs upward in the f.g. MacReady sets his craft down. Pull back to reveal the camp itself: resembling the aftermath of a western fort, sacked and ravaged by Indians. small fires and debris are strewn everywhere. The prefab Administration Building exposes gaping holes. Smoke rises from the almost entirely snow-buried Quonset huts. Embers swirl in every direction. INT. CHOPPER 36 The two men look at each other in silence. They get out.ea ee ae tw 37 38 39 40 aL #00477 13 CLOSE ON A LARGE, MAKESHIFT FUNERAL PYRE 37 emoldering to a close. A hastily conceived crematorium. flood, books, furniture, tires, anything that will burn has boon mixed together with the Charred remains of several dogs and the body of a man. Curious mounds of a melted and blackened goo are heaped within the mess. [A small can of gasoline lies nearby. A large oil drum not far off. MAC READY AND COPPER 38 their faces ashen as they take in this grotesque sight. MacReady turns to view the Norwegian compound. He then exchanges a look with Copper. MacReady heads back toward the chopper. ‘THE CHOPPER 39 mMacReady unhinges the behind the seats. ‘otgun that is latched to the panel EXT. THE MAIN BUILDING - THE DOOR 40 MacReady and Dr. Copper stand hesitantly amidst the wisps of Snow and embers. MacReady tries the door. It is unlocked. fe slowly pushes it open with his gun. A creaking. A long pitch-black corridor. Copper shines a flashlight. DR. COPPER Anybody there!? No answer. Just wind. They exchange a look and enter. INT. NARROW CORRIDOR 41 The two men move slowly. It is dank and cold. Their breath, bleating like exhaust. A soft, steady wind howls overhead. The flashlight is not much help. Further down, they hear a faint hissing sound. As they get closer it more resembles static. The flashlight finds a Goor at the end of the corridor. The sputtering static comes from within. CONTINUEDtv 41 #00477 14 CONTINUED 41 ‘the face of the door has been shredded. An ax sticks out from its middle. MacReady wrenches out the ax. There is blood on it. ‘The men acknowledge this for a beat. MacReady tries the knob. It opens slightly. Something is blocking it from the other side. MAC READY Anybody in there?! Nothing. DR. COPPER We're Americans! Nothing. MAC READY Come to help you!! MacReady pushes against the door. MAC READY (continuing) Give me a hand. They push, shove, grunt. The door gives a bit. Finally more. It widens enough for MacReady to see that a large computer- like machine is blocking their path. MacReady wedges in and shines the flashlight. It is the communications room. Holes in its roof have allowed in the freezing cold. The flashlight exposes the back of the radio chair. One more nudge allows them into the room. A beat as they catch their breath. MacReady spots a Coleman lantern. We lights it with a match. Holds it up. The brighter light exposes the top of a man's head sitting in the radio chair. MAC READY (continuing) Hey, Sweden!.. You okay? The chair rocks slightly with the gentle breeze. They inch closer. A yard from the chair, MacReady stops the Doctor. He pokes his gun at the chair's back. MAC READY (continuing) Sweden!? CONTINUEDtv 41 #00477 15 CONTINUED - 2 41 Dr. Copper spots something. From the man's wrist on the armrest, he follows a long, yarn-thick, red line, ending in a pool of frozen blood on the floor. The two men step around the chair. The Norwegian stares up in blanched death. A gaping black hole for a mouth. His throat and wrists slit. An old-fashioned straight razor in his lap. MacReady turns off the hissing radio, and marches to the other door. It is locked and barricaded. DR. COPPER (more to himself) My God, what in hell happened here? MAC READY Come on, Copper. The two men free a machine-like obstacle from the other exit. MacReady opens lock and pushes the door open. More blackness. Stronger wind. Copper holds the lantern high as they make their way down a row of wooden steps and into a cavernous, underground causeway. MAC READY (continuing) Hey, Swede DR. COPPER (irritated) They're not Swedish, goddamn it, they're Norwegian, MacRe. Whap!!!!! Something slaps into the Doctor's face from the darkness. ‘The lantern crashes to the ground. The Doctor stumbles, falls. MacReady grabs the flashlight and whirls in different directions. A panting beat. Silence. Dr. Copper holds up what hit him. A thick centerfold, buf- feted by the wind. MacReady takes it. MAC READY Norwegian of the Month, Doc. Harmless. MacReady pockets it for further viewing.ty 42 #00477 16 INT, THE NARROWEST OF CORRIDORS 42 The supporting beams have long since buckled and cracked from the constantly moving ice underneath. The evidence of fire has further weakened the foundations. The wood creaks over- head. Bits of ice and silt trickle down. The two men walk haunched, cautious. MacReady gingerly tries to make his way around a broken and smoldering beam. He brushes it gently sending a shower of debris from the yawning roof. The two men wait until it subsides and then move on. Further down. MacReady's knee bumps into something along the wall, causing him to stumble slightly. He shines his light on it. An arm is sticking out of a steel door about three feet off the ground. The door has been slammed shut. The arm pinned. its fist still gripping a small welding torch. The flame long since gone out. MAC READY (wincing) Holy shit... He tries the door. Unlocked. Tt opens. The arm drops to the ground. It had been severed by the force of the slam. Its owner is nowhere to be seen. MacReady, sickened, coughs. Dr. Copper mumbles. DR. COPPER Christ.... They step over the arm and into another slim passageway. Moving along they come to rest in front of a door with Norwegian lettering on it. MacReady pushes it open with his foot. Dozens of papers fly about, flailed by the holes in the Quonset hut-style roof. The place is a wreck. They enter. MacReady surveying the small room with his flashlight. DR. COOPER (continuing) ... Laboratory. Broken beakers, test tubes, a microscope are illuminated. MacReady notices a video camera. CONTINUEDps 42 43 44 45 400477 17 CONTINUED 42 c MAC READY Portable video unit. Copper makes his way over to the main work table. He shuffles through papers, glancing at the writing. MAC READY (continuing) Anything? DR. COPPER All in Norwegian. Dr. Copper bends down and begins gathering the papers, strewn about the room. MAC READY What are you doing? DR. COPPER Could be important work. Might as well bring it back. MAC READY It's getting late. Hurry it. I'm going to check the last few rooms He exits. Amongst the rubble, Dr. Copper finds a pocket tape recorder and several cassettes. He selects a tape and is about to pop it in when he senses something to his rear. He turns. Looks. A beat. Nothing. INT. HALLWAY 43 MacReady shoves himself into another room. INT, ROOM 44 Debris and wood flush down on him. ‘The receding ceiling had been blocking the door from above. He brushes his coat and shines the light upwards. The ceiling is a shambles. He then shines the light deeper into the room. INT. NORWEGIAN LAB 45 Dr. Copper is playing the small tape recorder. A casual Norwegian voice drones on as if making notes. He fast forwards. The same casual drone. MAC READY (0.s.) Copper, come here!!46 #00477 18 INT. ROOM 46 Dr. Copper enters, squeezing in, through the door. ‘The wood cracks overhead. More debris comes falling down. MAC READY Careful. It's about to go. Copper dusts himself. MacReady stands before a huge block of ice. Fifteen feet long. Six feet wide. Four feet tall. It has partially melted, but its thawing process has been stopped by the now freezing temperatures within the outpost. Its one curious feature: the middle has been thawed and scuppered out. Giving it the appearance of a large bathtub. The two men study it uncomprehendingly. MacReady's gaze turns to a large metal cabinet at his left. He moves for a closer look. Several photographs are pasted to its door. Small snapshots of the Norwegians at work and play. He tries to open it. Stuck. The partially caved-in ceiling is slightly blocking the top of the door. He tries again, careful not to dislodge the wood and plaster above. Bits of dust float down. DR. COPPER Watch it. His grip is too strong. It gives suddenly, unexpectedly. The large metal door flies open. Large chunks splash from the ceiling. ‘They come thumping to the floor, behind and in front of the open cabinet door. MacReady Coughs and waves away the dust. He peers inside. Nothing much. Some empty shelves. Some small scientific gear. His flashlight then locates a large photograph taped to the inside of the cabinet door. It is a picture of five Norwegians, arm in arm, all smiles, toasting each other. They are on either side of the frozen block of ice, pridefully displaying it for the camera. The block looks much thicker. Its interior opaque. MacReady looks to the block of ice and then back to the photo- graph. He untapes it, pockets it and shuts the door. CONTINUEDda 46 47 48 #00477 19 CONTINUED 46 An armless corpse swings into his face from behind the clos- ing door. Dislodged from the ceiling, the body and MacReady go crashing to the floor. cur To INT. U.S. OUTPOST - RECREATION ROOM a7 The loud beat of Warren Zevon's song, "The Werewolves of London," can be heard throughout the compound. The room is empty. Close on a video pong game, its ball of light lazily traveling back and forth. The dog, its tail wagging, its bandage on, walks by. INT, KITCHEN 48 Zevon's record is blasting from Nauls' stereo. He skates from the big walk-in freezer and plunks down a large side of beef on the wood cutting table to thaw. He skates from pot to pan keeping time with his sounds. He smells. Tastes. Adds a little something here, a touch there. He clearly enjoys his work. Station Manager Garry stops past the open door. GARRY Turn that crap down, Nauls. You can hear it all over camp! NAULS Oui, Bwana, Can do. He skates over and turns it down, but not much. GARRY What are we having tonight? NAULS Beef flambe avec oregano e and sau- teed in a deep garlic sauce. GARRY (wincing) Did you tell Childs about the garlic? CONTINUEDtv 4g 49 50 #00477 20 CONTINUED 48 NAULS I don't have no time to take no special requests from no SOB. He eats what I cook or he don't eat. GARRY He's going to whup you one day. INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM 49 Garry enters and sees that Sanchez has nodded off in front of his receiver. His headgear is still on. Garry walks over and turns up the volume, the static jolting Sanchez awake. SANCHEZ Hey, man. GARRY You reach anybody yet? SANCHEZ We're a thousand miles from anybody else, man. It's going to get a hell of a lot worse before it gets better. GARRY Well, stick to it. INT, COMPOUND CORRIDOR 50 An empty hallway. Larger than most. Doors to several sleep- ing quarters on either side. The dog slowly walks through. One of the doors is open up ahead to his left. The dog stops in front of it and looks in. Someone is inside. Inside the small cubicle, a slight portion of a man's back can be seen as he sits bent over a chair; his large shadow displayed on the wall. Back in the corridor. The dog looks up the hall once and casually to the other end. No one. He enters the room. The sound of a man's voice, too indistinct to tell whose, mumbles a, "Hello boy." A beat. The sound of a glass breaking. A muffled scuffling. The door is slammed shut from the inside. And then silence. cur TO1b 51 52 54 #00477 a1 EXT. COMPOUND 51 Fuchs, the young biologist, is finishing up his daily jog around the compound. He stops at the end of a long Quonset hut almost completely buried in the snow. The hut is fifty yards long and connects to the main compound. He enters a tunnel from a latch door up top. INT. TUNNEL 52 He jogs down the steps, passing the underground dog kennel and trots toward the compound through the long narrow tunnel. He passes and waves to Clark, who rolls along a wheelbarrow of dog food. : CLARK 53 opens the door to the small kennel and serves up the dinner. The dogs, about seven of them, yelp and bark eagerly. INT. UNDERGROUND PASSAGEWAY 54 near the fuel supply bladders. Older and more rickety than the quarters above. Childs waltzes through, humming, a big smile on his face. He stops at a door with six locks on it. Different kinds. Combination locks, key locks, etc. He opens each one separately. INT, STORAGE ROOM as Inside are several marijuana plants. Sun lamps beam down on them. Childs inspects them with a wide grin. CHILDS How my brothers and sisters doing today? Doin’ fine. He moves over to a tape deck, selects a cassette, grins back at the plants and turns it on. CHILDS (continuing) What say to some nice Al Green for my babies, huh? CONTINUED1b 55 56 57 58 #00477 22 CONTINUED 55 He waters them carefully, as Al Green sings softly. He hears a panting and turns around to see the dog. His bandage is gone. CHILDS (continuing) What you?...You get hell on out of here. The dog is shooed off. Childs turns back grumbling. CHILDS (continuing) omin' in here,..goin' to urinate on my babies. INT. MAIN COMPOUND - HALLWAY 56 Blair passing through, holding a chart and carrying a rack of test tubes, notices a large bandage on the floor. He picks it up, inquiringly. Tt is mangled and shredded. INT. GENERATOR ROOM 57 Palmer works on the generator. He hears the sound of approaching propeller blades from outside. And then the sound of his tool box crashing to the floor. He turns to see what caused the ruckus. ‘The dog, who has entered the shed, has jumped on the work table and upended the tool box in its eagerness to look out of the above window. Palmer curses under his breath and calls out. PALMER Clark! Will you kennel this goddamn dog? (bangs wrench against pipe) Hey, Clark THE DOG 58 It paws at the window and watches as the chopper, carrying MacReady and Dr. Copper, fights against the newly arrived heavy winds and lands safely.Ib 59 #00477 23 INT. STATION MANAGER GARRY'S QUARTERS 59 Garry, MacReady, Dr. Copper, Norris, Bennings, Blair and his assistant, Fuchs, are present. ‘The small Norwegian video unit has been set up and its contents are being viewed on a TV screen. Grainy, home movie-ish, no sound. The proceed- ings are grim. Shots of the Norwegians at work. Others of them playing soccer on ice. Generally the footage is a prosaic record of their day-to-day life. Norris shuffles the bundle of notes Dr. Copper brought back with him. NORRIS Can't make heads or tails out of most of this stuff, but I could read some of their coordinates. Numbers are numbers. And it seems they were spending a lot of time at a place four miles northeast of their camp. GARRY What were they involved in? MacReady, working on the video machine, answers. MAC READY Little ice core drilling...some seismology. ..glaciology...same old shit we do. ‘The present footage is a shot of them all naked and probably drunk, holding a sign across their waists as they stand out- doors in super-freezing weather. BENNINGS How much more of this crap is there? DR. COPPER About nine more hours. BENNINGS We can't learn anything from this. DR. COPPER Probably right. CONTINUED1b 59 #00477 24 CONTINUED 59 MacReady turns on the light and shuts off the video machine. He then slides the portable tape deck across the table to Dr. Copper. They exchange a look. DR. COPPER (continuing) MacReady and I were listening to some of these cassettes on the way back. (somberly) Like you gentlemen to hear it. A Norwegian voice drones on calmly, making verbal notes. Norris shrugs. BENNINGS What do you want from us? MAC READY (lat) Just listen, Dr. Copper fast forwards. The calm voice continues. And then a loud blast, followed by a pounding. The sounds of confusion. Voices. Loud. Frenetic. Men's feet running up and down wooden floorboards. A gurgling. A hissing. Screams. And then a screeching. More blasts mixed with the din of wild, carnage-wrought cries. And then more screeching. A screeching unlike anything these men have ever heard. The men look from one another in silence as they listen. Dr. Copper turns it off. DR. COPPER Goes on like that quite awhile. (beat) What do you gentlemen make of it? GARRY Could be anything...Men in isolation .+.some beef that snowballed...got out of hand...Or one man alone might have gone mad and done it all. NORRIS Maybe the whole camp got bent... Something they ate. What about food poisoning, Doc? CONTINUEDlb 59 60 #00477 2 CONTINUED - 2 59 Dr. Copper taps the tape deck pensively. DR. COPPER Maybe. He glances at MacReady, and then back to the others. DR. COPPER (continuing) There's something else we want you to see. INT. INFTRMARY 60 Dr. Copper and MacReady begin dumping the heavy contents of a large plastic trash bag onto the slab. DR. COPPER We found this. Displayed on the slab is what appears to be the corpse of a man. Badly charred. What is left of the trousers and shoes of the bottom torso are ripped and split, as if his legs and feet had burst from the inside. His upper body is an almost undecipherable gnarled mass of protoplasmic mush. ‘the head is strangely disfigured and looks larger than normal. It is situated not on its shoulders but near the abdomen, ‘tendon-like appendages are wrapped around the carcass and sticking up and out in odd postures. One is wrapped around the body's left leg. The shirt has been ripped and lies shredded in the tar-like mess. ‘The men grimace. DR. COPPER (continuing) I know he's pretty badly burned... but could fire have done this? Blair, sickened but fascinated, pokes at the tendon-like things and the tarry goo. DR. COPPER Blair, I'd like you and Fuchs to help me with autopsies on this one and the one Garry shot this morning.lb 61 62 63 #00477 26 INT. REC ROOM - CLOSE ON A TABLE HOCKEY GAME - LATER 61 Foosball. Nauls and Clark are going at it hot and heavy. Sanchez sits off in a corner thumbing through an old issue of Photoplay. Bennings, Norris and Garry are engaged in a card game Bennings is about to play a card when he feels something under the table. He looks. It is the dog. BENNINGS Clark, will you put this mutt with the others where he belongs?! Clark fetches the dog from under the table. CLARK So there you are. Where you been all day? (examines hip) :+-Already gnawed off your bandage, huh? INT. LAB 62 Larger than most of the other rooms and well-equipped. Dr. Copper is performing an autopsy on the Norwegian intruder, killed early that morning. Blair sits over his microscope, while Fuchs prepares slides. The other body is draped with a sheet, waiting its turn. Dr. Copper pulls off his gloves. DR. COPPER Nothing wrong with this one. Physiologically, anyway. (to Blair) Find anything toxic? BLAIR No drugs...alcohol. Nothing. INT. TUNNEL 63 Clark leads the dog through the long, cold tunnel toward the kennel. A new dressing has been placed on its hip. He unlatches the door to the kennel and leads him in.lb 64 66 67 #00477 27 INT. KENNEL 64 About twenty feet long, five feet wide. Poorly lit. Cramped with dogs. Some of them sleeping. Others pacing around and curious, greet their new companion, sniffing, panting and rubbing up against him. Clark pats the dog and several others, then leaves, latching the door behind him. INt . SLEEPING CUBICLE 65 Childs lies in his cot watching a small television. ‘The show is a tape of an American TV game show. He has seen this one too many times, extracts the cassette and injects another game show. Palmer is stretched out in the other cot, reading a comic book and smoking a joint. Childs beckons for it and takes a hit. INT. PUB 66 A small area, just off the rec room. Set up like a bar. MacReady is alone looking over the rest of the videotapes from the Norwegian outpost. Mundane to esoteric chores of Antarctic camp life. He looks bored. INT. LAB 67 Blair is hovered over his microscope. He wears a puzzled and disturbed look. He quickly switches slides. Looks. And switches back again, studying intently. BLAIR Doctor Copper, come here! Copper, looking exhausted, approaches. Blair lays in a new slide. BLAIR (continuing) Look at this. Dr. Copper studies for a beat. DR. COPPER Dead tissue...Probably liver, no? BLAIR Yes. CONTINUEDlb 67 68 400477 28 CONTINUE! 67 Blair quickly sets in another slide, focuses and motions for Copper to take another look. Copper is confused. He shrugs. DR. COPPER I don't understand. Fuchs takes the opportunity to look. Blair moves over to the disfigured corpse and indicates one of the fibrous, tendon-like appendages. BLAIR It's tissue from one of these sinewy rods. Fuchs is befuddled as he examines. FUCHS (befuddled) What in the world kind of cell structure is this? BLAIR That's the point. DR. COPPER (tired) I don't get you, Blair. BLAIR I'm not sure it is any kind of cell structure. Biologically speaking. DR. COPPER (sighing) This really isn't my field, Blair. Let's wrap for the day and get back into this in the morning. Dr. Copper undoes his lab coat and lays it over a chair as he exits. Blair stares down ominously at the mutilated body. EXT. COMPOUND - NIGHT 68 A steady stream of sleet pounds the compound and small surrounding shacks.lb 69 70 7 #00477 29 INT. REC ROOM 69 Vacant. The wall clock reads four-thirty. INT. HALLWAY 70 Sleeping cubicles on either side. The sound of snoring. INT. PUB nm MacReady, bleary-eyed, is still viewing the tapes. Something catches his eye. He rewinds, then starts it forward again. The screen shows the Norwegians on the surface of what appears to be an enormous, flat glacier. They are spread out on the ice around a large odd oval shape; their arms outstretched. It fades to black and then a Norwegian comes on mugging childishly in front of the camera, apparently quite pleased with something. The tape fades to black again and the picture reappears. This time they have marked off the large oval area with flag sticks. Closer shots show three of the men digging a deep hole into the ice. There is a small patch of something dark and metallic at the bottom. MacReady leans forward, intrigued. The men are now sinking something deep into the ice at various points around the markings. MacReady squints and mumbles to himself. MAC READY Decanite?...Thermite charges?... The tape jump cuts again showing a long shot of the markings. No Norwegian in sight. An explosion kicks up the ice. A beat as the ice sprays to the ground. Then the camera appears to shake as the ground beneath it quivers. Another immense explosion follows. An earthquake-like force throws the camera to the ground. MAC READY (continuing) What in.... The tape continues, distorted, unviewable. A distinct crack in the lens. MacReady quickly rewinds.1b 12 B 74 15 16 #00477 30 INT. KENNEL - NIGHT Most of the dogs are sleeping or lounging. The new dog watches them calmly, silently. He takes several steps towards a group of about five dogs and sits upright. Completely still. He stares at them. A beat. ‘The dogs are aware of something. They begin to seem a bit confused, uncomfortable. The new dog continues to stare. Sitting rigidly, unnaturally still. His eyes dead, lusterless black spheres. Bewildéred, a few dogs start to pace. As if sensing some~ thing: a portent. A danger. But so odd. They begin a soft, purring growl. The new dog remains a statue. The growling builds. More dogs begin to pace. Nervously. Faster, encircling. Emit~ ting hisses, snarls. The lack of response driving them into a frenzy. Barks. Growls. More frenetic pacing. The din escalating. Three dogs start to close in on the stranger. They attack. THE SHADOW OF THE NEW DOG against the kennel wall. ‘The shadow suddenly lurches upward, seeming larger. he kennel roars. INT. PUB MacReady is still going over bits of the same footage, fascinated. He hears the far-off clamor of the dogs. INT. NAULS' QUARTERS He, too, bothered by the noise, tosses and turns in his sleep. INT. CLARK'S QUARTERS Clark snores. MacReady has entered. MAC READY Clark. CONTINUED 12 73 14 75 761b 16 78 79 80 81 #00477 31 CONTINUED 76 No response. MacReady nudges him. Clark rolls away, annoyed. MacReady pinches his snoring nose, cutting off the air. Clark sits up, groggy. MAC READY (continuing) Dogtown's going nuts. Take care Gish INT. TUNNEL 17 Clark, sleepy, irritated, makes his way down the freezing corridor. The wind soughing loudly overhead. CLARK 78 reaches the kennel door. The savage outpouring of noise from within baffles and angers him. He unlatches the door. CLARK What's got into smack! Just as he opens the door, two dogs, as if jettisoned from a cannon, knock him off his feet. Growls, barks, snarls. And a screeching from within. INT. KITCHEN 79 MacReady is fetching himself a beer. The sound of the far- off screeching. He freezes. A beat. He turns and sprints. HIS BEER CAN 80 as it smashes the glass of the fire alarm. He pulls the lever. INT. TUNNEL 81 The alarm is blaring throughout the camp. MacReady, Garry, Norris run through the narrow tunnel led by Clark. MacReady carries a shotgun. Garry, half-dressed, has his .44, Clark, a fire ax. CLARK I don't know what the hell's in there, but it's weird and pissed off, whatever it is.da 82 83 84 #00477 32 INT. HALLWAY 82 Chaos. Men, half naked, bounce from their cubicles. Pulling on their pants, digging into shoes. Blair and Fuchs race past Sanchez, who stands in his long johns. SANCHEZ What's burning, man? They shoot by him, INT. CHILDS' CUBICLE 83 Childs is grappling with his belt buckle. CHILDS Mac wants the what?? BENNINGS (at the doorway) That's what he said. Now! Move! Bennings is off. INT. TUNNEL 84 as the men approach the locked kennel door. ‘The two dogs thrown into Clark bark ferociously and scratch at the door trying to get back in. One is badly bloodied. ‘The fight inside rages on. MacReady and Clark brace them- selves by the narrow door. Norris and Garry hold back the two hysterical dogs. Clark undoes the latch and he and MacReady enter the kennel. he light has been broken and it is pitch black. MacReady snaps on his flashlight. Norris and Garry can't contain their animals and the dogs burst into the room. They smash into MacReady and send him sprawling. Total confusion: the dogs; the men; the screeching; the blackness. CLARK Mac, where are you? MacReady gropes for his flashlight and rights himself. He finds Clark. Then shines it around the cramped room trying to get his bearings. The light finds a mass of dogs in a wild melee in the corner. CONTINUEDaa 84 85 86 87 #00477 33 CONTINUED 84 Barking mixed with hissing, a gurgling, a screeching. Dogs being hurled about and then charging back into the fray with a vengeance. The flashlight illuminates parts of some "thing." A dog. But not quite. Impossible to tell. It struggles powerfully. Garry pokes his head into the blackness. GARRY What's going on, damn it? MacReady aims his shotgun at the entire pack. MAC READY I'm going to shoot. CLARK No! Wait!! Clark wades into the pack, grabs at dogs' hides and throws them back. He then wields his ax into the fray, chopping and hacking away at the gurgling, hissing silhouette. From out of nowhere, a large, bristly, arachnid-like leg springs up and wraps around Clark's ax. It sends Clark smash- ing violently into the wall. OUTSIDE 85 More men running, nearing the kennel. Several squeezing in with Garry, trying to get a look. INSIDE 86 MacReady fires several rounds. A dog is flung at him, knock- ing him and his flashlight once more to the ground. Garry squeezes in and begins blasting away in the direction of the hissing and screeching. A dog is hit. MacReady crawls for his flashlight. MAC READY Clark? Where are you? Clark! Blam. Blam. Garry continues firing at the silhouette. INT. TUNNEL 87 Childs, huffing and puffing, lugs the huge industrial torch toward the crowded kennel doorway. CONTINUEDda #00477 34 87 CONTINUED 87 CHILDS What's happening? MAC READY (0.s.) Childs, you got that torch? You get your ass in hereti 88 INT. KENNEL 88 Childs scrunches in, disoriented by the blackness, and bumps into Garry, knocking him off balance. CHILDS Where are you? MacReady signals with his flashlight and then points it at the gathering of snarling dogs. MAC READY Torch it over there! CHILDS The dogs? MAC READY Screw the dogs!! Torch it!! Childs lets loose with a burst of blue flame. A mewing, a screeching. Part of the kennel starts to burn. GARRY (panic) We're on fire! MAC READY Don't let up, Childs! GARRY (to outside) Extinguishers. Childs moves closer, continuing his assault on the hissing, gurgling presence. Men charge into the room and begin spraying dogs and burning walls. Dogs and men choke and cough amidst the smoke and CO). The screeching lessens. The hissing and gurgling fade. Childs turns off his torch. cur TOda 89 90 91 #00477 35 INT. REC ROOM - NEXT MORNING 89 Those of the men that have gathered exhibit a pale and quiet uneasiness about them. Blair, in silent awe, stands over the badly burned corpses of two interlocking dogs, that lie before him on a table. They are connected as if they were one animal. Though, the one wearing the remnants of Clark's bandage is much larger and appears less doglike. Its ‘entire torso is cracked and peeled, as if its innards were trying to burst out. Odd appendages, recoiled and withered by the flame, are wrapped grotesquely about both bodies. Clark, his eyes set in glassy stare, sits in shock. Nauls comforts him. Childs stands nearby smoking a joint and star- ing at the floor, Blair, transfixed, continues hovering over the united cadavers. Weighing. Thinking. A very, worried look on his face. The dead bodies of two other dogs from the kennel are not far off. INT. INFIRMARY 90 Fuchs is attending to the shredded bodies of three other badly wounded dogs. INT. REC ROOM 91 Nauls pats Clark on the shoulder and grins, trying to pick up his spirits. NAULS It's okay now, man. It's dead. It's over. (turning) Right, boys? Right, Blair? you tell my man here, Blair. Blair tries to smile. BLAIR Of course it is. CONTINUEDda 91 92 93 #00477 36 CONTINUED 91 NAULS (to Clark) You see. Clark turns to him with a childlike smile. CLARK I know. Mr. Childs killed it. I saw. NAULS Right, man, Right. Dr. Copper enters and hands Clark a glass of water and two pills. DR. COPPER Take these. INT. SMALL WORKROOM 92 Norris is going through some maps. MacReady is bent over his shoulder. Norris finds the one he's looking for. NORRIS Here. This is where they were spending most of their time. MAC READY (takes map) This is the exact location? NORRIS ‘That and a couple other places. MAC_READY Well, find them all. And mark them’ so I'1l know exactly. Bennings pokes his head in the room. BENNINGS Pretty nasty out, Mac. Thirty- five knots. MAC READY Screw it, I'm going up anyway. INT. MAIN COMPOUND - MORNING 93 Station Manager Garry has joined Blair by the stuck-together bodies. Blair motions to the bandage. CONTINUEDda 93 94 96 #00477 37 CONTINUED 93 BLAIR Wasn't anything that got in from the outside. Was that dog. The Norwegian dog. GARRY I just can't comprehend any of this. Tt was just a dog. CHILDS (evenly) ‘tweren't no dog, Bwana. BLAIR That tape MacReady showed us this morning... . GARRY Couldn't make much of it myself. BLAIR I've asked him to try and locate the site. Okay with you? GARRY Sure. You think there's a connec~ tion? BLAIR Maybe. EXT, CHOPPER 94 high above the Antarctic expanse. INT. CHOPPER 95 MacReady pilots. Young Palmer and Norris are with him. It is clear but the winds are troublesome. The ride is a shaky one. Norris refers to their map. He points. NORRIS, one of their sites would be directly over here. They aim for a large mountainous wall. As they go up and over...they see: A FLAT, GLACIAL EXPANSE 96 on the surface, an enormous blackened oval shape.da 97 98 99 100 #00477 38 INT. U.S. OUTPOST #31 - LAB 97 All the bodies of the dogs have been brought in. Fuchs stands by as Blair studies through his microscope. INSERT ~ A MICROSCOPIC SAMPLING 98 of two cells. They appear to be much different from each other. They are joined at the ends but are completing the process of breaking off from each other. ON BLAIR 99 A disturbed look on his face. He checks his watch, as if timing the procedure. EXT. GLACIER - TRACKING WITH MAC READY, NORRIS AND PALMER 100 as they walk along the ice. They come to a stop at the edge of a sharp drop. Pull back to reveal -- the massive black hole about fifteen feet beneath the ice. Charred, gnarled and mangled metal are all that is left of what was once an enormous sphere. The twisted remains of a superstructure, the only surviving indicator of its shape. MacReady's and Norris' eyes meet each other in silence. Palmer is in awe. PALMER Wow.... MacReady finds a burnt thermite canister. He and Norris climb down. They move along amongst the wreck. Almost everything but the skeletal superstructure has disintegrated into a fine ashy powder. Norris digs for ice samples at the perimeter of the wreckage, while MacReady browses through the center. Palmer continues to marvel, as he walks around the oval, atop the ice. MacReady returns and kneels down next to Norris as the latter examines a piece of metal. CONTINUEDda 100 101 102 #00477 39 CONTINUED 100 NORRIS Magnesium of some type...or some kind of strange alloy. (Looks out at debris in disgust) And those poor dumb bastards had to go and blow the hell out of it. MAC READY So what do you make of it? NORRIS You know damn well what we both make of it. MAC READY No chance it could have been some new kind of test craft? Norris shakes his head no. NORRIS Seismic activity has been pushing this area up from way down for a long time... (holds up ice sample) -+.This ice it was buried in...It's over a hundred thousand years old. Palmer calls out, waving them over. EXT. GLACIER 101 The two men join Palmer about fifty yards from the oval. A large rectangular chunk has been cut out of the ice. It is fifteen feet long, six feet wide and eight feet deep. MacReady kneels down to observe. A beat A gust of wind picks up the snow at their feet. cur To INT. REC ROOM - NIGHT 102 Fascinated, a few of the men are reviewing the Norwegian video- tapes of the finding of the mysterious craft. MacReady sits quietly by his chess set. contemplating a large glass of Scotch Clark, less interested than the others, is flipping through the Norwegian Nudie magazine. CONTINUEDda 102 400477 40 CONTINUED 102 Blair, looking worried, sits off in a corner, pondering the photo of the block of ice and fingering a piece of crumbled- up metal brought back from the site. Childs, viewing the tapes, can't quite believe it all. CHILDS Okay now, Mac, run this by me again. Thousands of years ago this rocket ship crashes, right?..And the. MacReady is not listening. CHILDS (continuing) MacReady! MAC READY Look I'm just guessing.... CHILDS Well, go on. MAC READY So it crashes, and this guy, who- ever he is, gets thrown out, or walks out, and ends up freezing. CHILDS I just can't believe this voodoo pullshit. You believe this voodoo bullshit, Blair? Blair says nothing, lost in thought. Palmer, stoned, a joint dangling from his mouth, is searching for information through stacks of old issues of The National Enquirer and The Sta PALMER (rambling) Happens all the time, man. They're falling out of the skies like flies. Government knows all about it... Chariots of the Gods, man...They practically own South America. I mean they taught the Incas every- thing they knew. CHILDS Cool it, Palmer!! CONTINUEDda 102 #00477 41 CONTINUED - 2 102 Palmer shakes a magazine at him adamantly. PALMER Read von Daniken! Have you read von Daniken? Get your facts straight! Clark marvels at a particular photo. CLARK Jesus, why would those guys ever want to leave Norway...? CHILDS (pacing) So, MacReady, come on now. These Norwegian dudes come by...find him and dig this guy up. MAC READY Yeah, they dig him up and cart him back. He gets thawed out, wakes up and scares the shit out of them. And they get into one hell of a brawl... CHILDS Now how's this motherfucker wake up after thousands of years in the ice, huh? MAC READY (annoyed) I don't know how. Because he's different than we are. Because he's a space guy. He can do things like that. A little ice doesn't faze him. What do you want from me, anyway. Go ask Blair. CHILDS You buy any of this, Blair? A beat as Blair stares straight ahead, transfixed. He speaks softly; to no one in particular. BLAIR It was here...got to that dog...It was here in this camp CONTINUEDda 102 103 #00477 42 CONTINUED - 3 102 whe men take in his grave countenance. GARRY So?..So what? It's over with. Blair turns to them. A pause. The men search his face. BENNINGS (edgy) Well, isn't it? INT. LAB - CLOSE ON A SHEET 103 as Blair rips it off exposing the tangled mess of interlocking dogs. Pull back. All the men have gathered.. Some of the men settle into chairs, others stand. BLAIR Whatever that Norwegian dog was. It...It was capable of changing its form (indicates their dog) -+-when it attacked our dog...it Somehow was able to digest...or... or absorb it...and in the process shaped its own cells to imitate our dog's cells exactly... (holds up gooey dog leg) ..-This for instance isn't dog at all -- it's imitation...We got to it before it had time to finish one NAULS Finish what? BLAIR Well...I checked some of this tissue under the scope...I think the whole process would have taken an hour. maybe more. And then I suppose both would have changed back to dog form. CONTINUEDda 103 #00477 CONTINUED Silence. 43 103 DR. COPPER Some type of asexual reproduction? BLAIR Something like that...but not really... PALMER Well, that Thing in the ice sure weren't no dog. BLAIR (impatient) Of course not...We'll probably never know what its original form was like...But whenever it was revived, it...Well, ‘The Thing was probably disoriented...and realized it couldn't survive, long for long in our atmosphere...But being the incredibly adaptable creature it was -..it tried to become something that could...Before the Norwegians killed it...it somehow got to this dog. CLARK What do you mean 'got' to the dog? BLAIR It was a life form that was able to imitate and reproduce, whatever it ate or absorbed, cell for cell -- and without losing any of its origi- nal mass. BLAIR The concept is staggering, I know... I...1 don't fully understand it myself. CHILDS (skeptically, points) You're saying...that big muther in the ice, became that dog. CONTINUEDps 103 104 #00477 44 CONTINUED - 2 103 BLATR (nodding) 1 think we're talking about an organism...that could imitate other life forms...perfectly...It could have gone on and on...It could have become one dog...it could have become as many dogs as it wanted to -- and without losing any of it's own self.... NORRIS You been into Childs' weed, Blair? Blair slams his fist on the slab. BLAIR Look, I know it's hard to believe.. GARRY (breaking in) So what's our problem? BLAIR Well...there's still some cell activity...it's not entirely dead yet. Several of the men nearest the carcasses jump back knocking over a chair. cur To EXT. COMPOUND - NIGHT -SPLASH - CLOSE ON THE DOG CARCASSES 104 lying on the snow. They are being soaked with gasoline. FUCHS (0.8.) (in violent protestation) You can't do this! You can't burn these remains. Pull back. Fuchs is beside himself. Childs has the large torch. MacReady empties another can on the bodies. Dr. Copper stands nearby. FUCHS (continuing) .++Don*t you know how important... CONTINUEDas 104 #00477 45 CONTINUED 104 MAC READY and the horse you road in on, Fuchs. (to Childs) Light it up. childs lights the tip. FUCHS How can you be a party to this, Copper? DOCTOR COPPER Look, Fuchs... . Fuchs makes a determined move for the torch. FUCHS Well, I'm not going to let this happen He grabs the torch. Childs struggles with him for a beat and then flings him to the ground. Dr. Copper grabs him preventing him from getting back up and rebukes him sternly. DOCTOR COPPER Fuchs, you know damn well these carcasses could have properties we'd never be able to deal with. New viruses...bacteria...We're doing the only thing we should be doing FUCHS What we should be doing is making sure that better men than you or I have a chance to examine this material. Childs splayes the remains with a jet of flame. Fuchs shakes his head in frustration and disgust. FUCHS I just can't believe it...We're going to go down as the biggest bunch of assholes in history. MAC_READY Fuck history. At least we're going to live to be an old bunch of ass- holes. cur Toas 105 #00477 46 INT. KENNEL - NIGHT The night feeding. Clark dishes out the food. Blair is taking blood samples from the remaining three dogs. A beat as BLAIR (perplexed; bothered) Clark, did you notice anything strange about that dog? dust any- thing at all? Any little thing? CLARK No. Just that he recovered real quick...That night when I found him in the rec room, he had already scraped off his bandage. Before I put him with the others, I redressed his wound and noticed it had healed up real good.... Blair stares at Clark. BLAIR That night? CLARK (pets dog vigorously) Yeah. BLAIR What was he doing in the rec room? CLARK Well, after I worked on him -- thought I'd let him rest. Left the room for a bit. When I came back, he was gone. BLAIR Well, where was he? Where did he go? CLARK Don't know. Looked for him for a bit...couldn't find him. i BLAIR (a long beat) You're saying he wasn't put into the kennel until the night? Clark seems uneasy under Blair's intense gaze. CONTINUED 105as #00477 47 105 CONTINUED 105 CLARK Well...yeah. Blair stands, his eyes still glued to Clark. BLAIR How long were you with the dog? Alone, I mean? CLARK Ah...He was hurt bad. Bullet nicked an artery...I don}t know...An hour +++hour and a half. Blair's eyes glaze as if in revelation. CLARK (continuing) What the hell you looking at me like that for? BLAIR Nothing, Nothing at all. He backs out of the kennel. 106 © INT. HALLWAY - COMPOUND 106 Irritated, harrassed, station manager Garry moves briskly down the hall. Blair, worried and pale, tries to keep up with him. BLAIR +++Tt could have gotten to somebody. GARRY Anybody sick? BLAIR No, I...I don't mean infection... or disease. Garry stops at the entrance to the communications room. GARRY Any luck yet? Sanchez shrugs. SANCHEZ Couple seconds of an Argentine disco station. CONTINUEDas #00477 48 106 © CONTINUED 106 GARRY Well, stick with it. 1 want you in here round the clock. We got to get help in here.... BLAIR (alarm) No...No, you can't let anyone in here...That dog was all over this camp... Bennings interrupts, entering the hallway, refering to his meterological chart. BENNINGS (to Garry) Travel wise weather's looking pretty grim, next couple weeks anyway... FUCHS -++Goddamn fools.... The men from outside come stomping through the hallway. Fuchs approaches Blair. FUCHS You've still got those slides? BLAIR (absently) Slides..? CHILDS (waving him What slides?!..Well, not off) anymore you don't got no -+,Forgot about the slides.... slides.... Childs moves toward the lab. CHILDS -+-We ain't leaving a trace of that crap around. Fuchs sprints after him. FUCHS CHTLDS No you don't, ‘11 burn up that micro- childs. scope if I have to.... GARRY (angered, watching them scuffle) Cut it out you two!! CONTINUEDas 106 #00477 49 CONTINUED - 2 106 BLAIR (pleading) No! people leave. . Blair, Listen to me, Garry. Please.. GARRY (to MacReady) If the weather clears enough before we reach anybody -- I'm sending you and the Doc up to MacMurdo. BLAIR MAC READY You can't let I ain't going anywhere zs in anything over forty knots, Garry.... GARRY (snapping) ‘The hell you won't, MacRead: BLAIR Don't you understand?! That thing didn't want to become a dog.. GARRY (fed up) Damn you, Blair! You've already got everybody half-hysterical around here. You should have come to me with your crazy findings first.... BLAIR You can't let anybody leave! GARRY I've got six dead Norwegians on my hands, a burned up flying saucer, and we've just destroyed the scien- tific find of the century. Now fuck off!! ashen-faced, falls silent. As if in a daze, ‘he watches the men as they continue to converse. Suspicious, frightened. MAC READY (0.5.) What's it like? BENNINGS (0.5.) Tomorrow maybe okay... but after that some pretty nasty northeasternly shit's coming in... . GARRY (o-s.) I'll send Palmer if I have to, MacReady. cur Toas 107 108 #00477 50 INT. KITCHEN 107 Nauls, about to prepare dinner, scowls as he rummages through his many cabinets. NAULS Where's that big ol’ steel pot of mine?! Damn! He turns to examine the cabinets above the large stove. He spots something in the nearby kitchen trash can. Disgusted, he pulls out a torn and shredded pair of long johns. cur To INT. REC ROOM 108 MacReady, a can of beer by his side, is blowing up some strange inflatable object. Childs, looking worried, halts his game of solitaire. CHILDS Maybe we should fumigate this place or something...mix up some kind of DDT stuff? Bennings is playing solitaire also. BENNINGS Don't worry about it. MacReady puffs away. His balloon begins to take shape. CHILDS I mean they may be bugs floating all over this place. Palmer playing pinballs offer: PALMER The clap. Space clap. MacReady's inflatable object turns out to be a full size replica of a big busted woman. She slightly resembles Farrah Fawcett. MacReady smiles up at her. MAC READY Not to worry, boys. Penicillin will kill anything. Right, honey? Just. ask her. She looks like she ought to know. CONTINUEDas 108 109 110 #00477 51 CONTINUED 108 He gives her an affectionate peck on the cheek. Nauls skates into the room. He shakes the crumpled up pair of long johns in his fist. NAULS Which one you muthers been tossing his dirty underwear in the kitchen trash?! He flings it across the room. It hits MacReady's mannequin and sends it sputtering around the room. NAULS (continuing) I want my kitchen clean. Germ free! We got enough problems with gen Nauls spins on his skates and storms off. MacReady fetches the strangely shredded underwear, rolls it up and throws it across the room into the trash bin. EXT. COMPOUND - NIGHT 109 Pitch black except for the barest of lighting which outlines the building. Wind. ‘The swirl of ice. INT, MAC READY'S CABIN ~ NIGHT 110 Far away from the others MacReady sits in his little hovel putting the final screw into his mended chess set. On the other side of the set, his busty, inflatable companion has been propped up in a chair. His sombrero hangs down her back, keeping her in place. Hawaiian music plays from his tape deck. MAC READY All set. He puts down his screwdriver, holds up his glass and offers a toast with a big grin. MAC READY (continuing) To you, my dear. CONTINUEDas 110 ull #00477 52 CONTINUED 110 He clinks the drink he has made for her that rests on her side of the board. He sips, He turns on the machine and makes his first move. MAC READY (continuing) Now go easy on me, Esperanza. I'm just a beginner. The set answers for Esperanza. CHESS VOICE Rook takes bishop-at queen four -- rook takes pawn at queen two - rook takes queen at queen one ~: checkmate. MAC READY Aw shit. He flips open the circuitry panel in disgust. He tosses his screwdriver on the board and grabs his drink, downing it. MAC READY (continuing) Sorry, hon. He reaches inside his ice bucket. Empty. MAC READY (continuing) Never any damn ice around here.... EXT. MAC READY'S CABIN - NIGHT qn MacReady exits. He swacks at a nearby bank of ice with a small ice pick. MAC READY Now in Mexico...Tahiti...They got ice...They got ice coming out of their ears. The sound of a clanking. He turns his attention, Metal against metal. Strange. MacReady listens. It appears to be coming from far off below, near the camp.km 12 112-0, 113 ala 11s 116 a7 #00477 53 MAC READY 112 as he makes his way down with the aid of the steadying ropes. The clanking louder now. He senses the direction. MAC READY 112-a at the bottom near the main compound. The sound has stopped He looks around in the near blackness. A beat. ‘THE CHOPPERS ni) sitting idle in the dark. MacReady approaches. The door to one of the cockpits is slightly ajar. He opens it cautiously. INT. CHOPPER le Mackeady slips in. He turns on a flashlight. The controls have been mangled. Beaten with something heavy. Bang! MacReady, startled, turns. Like the sound of a gun. Coming from the main compound. INT. COMPOUND - MAIN ENTRANCE 11s Confusion. Shouts. MacReady enters. He grabs Palmer as he and Bennings rush by. MAC READY What's. PALMER Blair. He's gone berserk. BENNINGS He's in the radio room. Got a gun. Beat on Sanchez something fierce. HALLWAY - RADIO ROOM ENTRANCE 116 ‘The men are on either side of the open radio room doorway. Garry peeks his head in. A gunshot blast forces him back. RADIO ROOM uy Sanchez lies on the floor, groaning. Blair holds the gun on the door. He wields a fire ax with the other hand and smashes down on the radio. CONTINUEDkm 400477 54 117 CONTINUED 117 BLAIR Anybody interferes, I'11 kill! Nobody's getting in or out of this camp 118 HALLWAY 18 MacReady has joined the others. MAC READY He smashed one of the choppers up good. Childs, go check the other one and the tractor. Childs is off. 119 RADIO ROOM 11g Blair crunches the ax down once again, while keeping an eye on the door. BLAIR +.-You think I'm crazy? Fine! Most of you don't know what's going on -~ but I'm damn well sure some of you d (crunch) Tt can imitate anything! Become anything! It can imitate us!..And it wants to leave...to get out of here. 120 BACK TO HALLWAY 120 NORRIS The back window. A couple of us could maybe surprise him. MAC READY Too damn dangerous. 121 BACK TO RADIO ROOM 121 BLAIR -.Dogs can't make it 1000 miles to the sea. No skua gulls to imitate this time of year...No penguins this far inland. There's nothing that can reach the sea from here except us! CONTINUEDkm 12k 122 123 #00477 55 CONTINUED 121 He brings the ax down hard on the radio. BACK TO HALLWAY 122 Childs runs up, out of breath. CHILDS He got both choppers and the tractor...I don't know how bad yet. Garry readies his large .357 magnum. MAC READY No, wait a minute. (to Norris) The fuse box. Norris double-times down the hall. MacReady turns the corner and into the rec room. He grabs one of the thick card tables. MacReady returns with the table to the hallway. BLAIR +.-Don't you understand? It doesn't want to attack us...or kill us. It wants to become us! All of us!..I£ one cell of this Thing got out it could imitate every living thing on Earth. Nothing could stop it! Nothing! MAC READY (humoring) Look, Blair, maybe you're right about this. But we've got to be rational. We've got to talk this over. I'm unarmed and I'm coming in. BLAIR No, you're not! T don't trust any of you! NORRIS 123 xeaches the fuse box. He opens it.km 124 125 126 #00477 56 HALLWAY 124 MacReady readies the table like a shield. MAC READY If you're right we've all got to stick together. The lights go. MacReady charges into the black room. Blair fires. MacReady barrels into him, knocking him to the ground. He pummels him with a right hand and manages to control the gun. The others dive in and pile on. cur To INT. BLAIR'S QUARTERS - NEXT DAY 125 Blair sleeps soundly on his bunk. Dr. Copper’ and Fuchs watch him, DR. COPPER Sit with him for a while, will you? Fuchs nods. Copper exits. cur TO INT. HALLWAY 126 Garry and Norris, looking weary, move along. Dr. Copper follows. GARRY How is he? DR. COPPER Heavily sedated. He'll be out for a while. GARRY Was he still ranting on about kill- ing us? DR. COPPER Before he dozed off...the same. GARRY I think he's too damn dangerous to have hanging around camp. NORRIS We could put him out in that tool shed. It's comfortable...warm. GARRY Not a bad idea. He can ride it out there.km 127 128 129 130 #00477 57 EXT. COMPOUND ~ DAY 127 Harsh and grey. Getting very dark as winter takes a stronger hold. Bennings is dumping the trash in a large hold in the snow which acts as the trash dump. Bennings finishes and drags the empty bins past Palmer and Childs, who are fixing the wounded choppers. BENNINGS These ladies ever gonna fly again? CHILDS He really did a number. But I think we're lucky. INT. RADIO ROOM 128 The radio looks a mess. Norris and Sanchez, a bandage wrapped around his head, examine the damage. He is in pain and still looks a little groggy. SANCHEZ I'll see what I can do. But they didn't teach me much about fixing these things. Norris smiles and pats him comfortingly. NORRIS They didn't teach you much about working them either. EXT. COMPOUND 129 Heavily clothed, MacReady and Fuchs help the sedated Blair to the tool shed some seventy-five yards from the main com- pound. They have brought thick wooden boards with them. INT. TOOL SHED 130 More spacious than MacReady's. Very livable. They enter and set Blair down on the cot. There are two windows. MacReady motions to one of them. MAC READY You take that one. I'11 get the other. Leave a bit of an opening so he can see out.sp 131 132 #00477 58 EXT. SHACK 131 Fuchs and MacReady nail the boards over the windows, as they can't be locked from the outside. Blair's droopy-eyed, heavily drugged features loom up at MacReady through the window. MAC READY How you doin', old boy? BLAIR (softly) I don't know who to trust. MAC READY (numoring) Know what you mean, Blair. ‘Trust is a tough thing to come by these days. Just trust in the Lord. BLAIR (beat) Watch Clark. MAC READY What? BLAIR Watch him close. Ask him why he didn't kennel the dog. Blair's face disappears from the window. cur To INT. MESS HALL - MORNING - CLOSE ON A BUFFET OF EGGS, BACON, 132 TOAST, ETC. Pull back. The men help themselves. It is a cramped, elon gated room. Dr. Copper approaches Nauls and hands him a capsule. DR. COPPER Put this in Blair's juice before you take him his tray. Clark comes running into the room, pallid, out of breath. The men turn to Look. CLARK The dogs.... cur TOsp 133 134 #00477 59 INT. THE KENNEL 133 Empty. Clark and Garry examine the latch of the kennel door. GARRY Doesn't look broken. CLARK No. Door was wide-open. I know I latched it. EXT. COMPOUND ABOVE THE UNDERGROUND KENNEL - CLOSE ON DOGS' 134 TRACKS in the snow. ‘They lead from the kennel's open stairwell and out onto the ice. All the men have gathered. CLARK All three of them took off. NORRIS Have they ever done this before? CLARK No. GARRY Then why? BENNINGS Maybe spooked by the other night. MacReady is writing down what appears to be a list on a pad. Garry and DR. COPPER How long do you suppose they've been gone? CLARK I haven't seen them since their last feeding. Could be as much as twenty-four hours. MAC READY They couldn't have gotten that far in this weather. several others turn to MacReady quizzically. GARRY You're not thinking of going after them, are you? CONTINUEDsp 134 #00477 60 CONTINUED MAC READY I am going after them. NORRIS What in hell for? Even if Blair's right -- they'll just die out there. No food. They're over a thousand miles from any- thing. PALMER Choppers aren't going to be ready for days. MacReady hands his list to Bennings. MAC READY Get these things out of supply and meet me over by the snow- mobiles. GARRY You're not going to catch them in one of those with the start they got. MAC READY Palmer, how long would it take you to strap those big four- cylinder carburetors on? PALMER (grins) Oh, I got you. Not too long. MAC READY Then get a move on. Childs, come with me. He puts his arm around Childs and pulls him along. others watch them walk off, a little bewildered. GARRY (shouting after them) Besides, what are you going to do when you catch up to them? (no answer) Damn fool. Bennings is reading MacReady's list. The CONTINUED 134sp 134 135 136 137 #00477 61 CONTINUED - 2 134 BENNINGS Holy shit. (hands list to Garry) Whatever he's going to do, he ain't fucking around. EXT. OUTDOOR WORK AREA - CLOSE ON THE BARREL 135 of the large torch. A fierce stream of flame bursts from its nozzle. Pull back. The stream has shot out some fifteen feet. Childs has been modifying it. CHILDS I can get maybe another five or six feet out of it. MAC READY That's good enough. CLOSE ON PALMER 136 as he works on the snowmobiles. Into frame rolls a wheel- barrow on sleds. A box marked DYNAMITE is its most promi. nent article. Pull back. Bennings reads off the list of supplies. BENNINGS All right...Box of dynamite. ..box of thermite...three shotguns... box of flares...two flare guns.. thirty cans gasoline...and a case of alcohol. MAC READY Let's load ‘em. EXT. ANTARCTICA - ICESCAPE 137 The two vehicles rip across the hard, flat ice, bolstered by the added horsepower. They follow the still visible dog tracks in the snow. cur Tosp 138 139 140 #00477 62 THE SUN 138 sliding across the horizon, signaling midday. The snow- mobiles whoosh past. Bennings drives the one loaded with supplies. MacReady and Childs double up on the other. cur To MAC READY 139 steadying his binoculars, while Childs drives, spots some- thing up ahead. The vehicles slow down and come to a halt. Something lies just ahead of them in the whiteness, in the middle of the dog tracks. ‘THE MEN 140 kneel down by the "something." It is the half-eaten remains of a dog. Its hind legs and lower stomach picked clean. Its ripped hide, flapping in the wind. Its top half missing. CHILDS What is it? MacReady follows the line of continuing dog tracks. MAC READY Maybe dinner. BENNINGS Dogs don't eat each other. MAC READY (beat) I know. CHILDS Where's the other half? MAC READY Probably the next meal. MacReady moves to the snowmobile and grabs a two-gallon can of gasoline. He turns to Bennings. MAC READY Where these tracks headed? BENNINGS Nowhere...Just straight to the ocean. CONTINUEDtv 140 14 142 143 #00477 63 CONTINUED 140 ‘A beat as MacReady takes this in. He pours the gas over the remains and sets it aflame. MAC READY Let's move. Childs and Bennings are not that anxious to continue. CHILDS They could be hours ahead of us, Mac. BENNINGS Gonna get dark soon, too. Supposed to be fifty below tonight. MacReady gets in and revs up the engine. MAC READY urn back if you want. Childs and Bennings return shrugs. cur 70 THE SUN 141 making its last pass, rolling off the horizon. Only a slight orange hue left. cur To THE SNOWMOBILES a2 move slower, positioned on either side of the tracks. The tracks abruptly change direction. The men come to a stop. Tt is much colder now. Their beards, a mask of white powder. MacReady surveys the new direction. ‘They are headed toward a far-off ridge of bluffs. Large, windswept mounds of ice. cur To THE SNOWMOBILES 143 as they move through a valley of newly-formed dunes and tall ice cliffs. ‘The last of the sun obscured, the headlamps are turned on and pointed at the tracks. he men look behind, in front, and from side to side, as they proceed cautiously through the maze. Up anead MacReady spots:tv 144 #00477 64 A DOG 144 It sits, its back to them, unconcerned, heedless of their arrival. Tt is munching on the other half of the dog car~ cass. The men stop their machines some twenty yards from it. They are hemmed in at the valley's narrowest point. Childs, carrying the torch, and MacReady, armed with a thermite bomb, wade awkwardly but carefully toward the animal in their snowshoes. Bennings stands back by the snowmobiles. Childs and MacReady spread out some dozen feet from the dog. Tt continues to pay them no mind, content to chew its food. CHILDS Where's the other one? Bennings surveys the tops of the snow bluffs that encircle them with his flashlight. MAC READY (to dog) Where's your buddy, boy? Huh? No response. MacReady searches the near vicinity with his light. All three are growing uneasy. MAC READY (cont inting) Let that thing fly, Childs. Don't let up until he's ash. Childs turns on the gas and lights the tip. Bennings is still watching the bluffs. Something from be- neath the snow reaches up and grabs his feet. He is ripped back down through the hard snow in one incredibly powerful motion. He screams, his head the only thing sticking out of the ice. Childs and MacReady tura, confused, unable to see anything but Bennings' screaming head. ‘They rush toward him. MacReady stumbles. ‘The sound of a snapping, a crackling to MacReady's rear, He freezes; turns back to the dog. Its back is still to him; its coat of hair sticking up like that of a porcupine. It snarls; its face turns slowly toward him. Its skin splitting; its mouth ripping open wildly. MAC READY Child: CONTINUEDtv 144 400477 65 CONTINUED 14a Childs stops, confused as to who to help first. He notices the dog haunched and ready to spring. lie steps back toward MacReady. The dog/Thing leaps for MacReady; an incredible jump of some twenty feet. Childs lets loose a blast, hitting the dog in midair; the force of the spray knocking it back and tumbling to the ice in flames. MacReady throws his thermite canister. It discharges and engulfs the screeching animal in fire. BENNINGS 145 howling in pain. The ice underneath him thrashes violently. Childs and MacReady stand by helplessly, unable to see what has him or what action to take. Childs moves closer to help. MAC READY (pulls him back) No_don' Bennings' head disappears with a sudden jerk through the ice. The ice continues to rumble like boiling water, moving in different directions. Part of Bennings' body pops up in a different area and is just as quickly pulled back down. MacReady and Childs watch on in frustration and anger. CHILDS What we going to do?! MAC READY How the fuck do I know?! Bennings' head and shoulders then surface near one of the snowmobiles. Something has him. Unclear as to what. The jowls of a dog. But huge. Bennings' heavy clothing begins to rip, tear, as if his skin underneath was bulging out. The jowls seem to be absorbing its head. MacReady runs for the snowmobile. MAC READY Torch ther CHILDS But.... MAC READY He's gone already! Do it! CONTINUED