Final Shooting Script
Last revised October 7, 1983
Fade in
EXT. NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY -- DAY
The sun shines brightly on the classic facade of the main library at Fifth
Avenue
and 42nd Street. In the adjacent park area, pretty hustlers and drug peddlers
go about their business.
FRONT STEPS
A few people lounge on the steps flanked by
the familiar stone lions.
INT. MAIN READING ROOM -- DAY
People are dotted throughout the room sitting
at the long oak tables polished by decades of
use. Reading lamps with green glass shades
cast a golden glow on the tables. The patina of
age is everywhere. It is very quiet.
LIBRARIAN
A slightly stout, studious looking girl in her late twenties circulates
quietly
among the tables picking up books and putting them on her cart. Everything
seems completely normal and peaceful.
POV
A single eerie musical note signals the presence of something strange looking
down on the Librarian from a vantage point high above the room. It follows
the Librarian as she pushes her cart around the corner.
INT. WORK AREA
The Librarian is alone in a back room sorting books for reshelving. Behind
her
is the card catalogue. One of the books attracts her interest and she starts
leafing through it.
THE CARD CATALOGUE
Another eerie note is heard as one of the drawers silently slides open
behind
the Librarian and hundreds of index cards start popping out. The Librarian
continues reading completely oblivious to this strange phenomenon.
She gets up and moves past another row of cabinets. Two more drawers
quietly slide open, and thousands of file cards start shooting out of the
open
drawers just behind her, but the Librarian still doesn't notice.
THE STACKS
The Librarian works her way through rows and rows of old iron shelves
containing many thousands of volumes stacked from floor to ceiling. As
she
puts the books back in their proper places, she slowly gets the feeling
that
she's being watched. She continues her task but suddenly hears a scratching
noise and stops.
LIBRARIAN (puzzled)
Hello? Is anybody there?
A ROW OF BOOKS
As the Librarian walks down the aisle, books start shooting off the shelf
behind her. She turns suddenly and sees the fallen books.
THE LIBRARIAN
Frightened now, she walks slowly to the end of the aisle and tentatively
peeks
around the corner. Seeing no one, she starts to scratch her head and suddenly
a dozen books fly off the shelf right in front of her and fall to the floor.
THE LIBRARIAN (frightened)
All right! Who's there? Lyle? Is that you?
Very slowly now, her heart pounding, the Librarian tiptoes to the other
end of
the aisle. She gets to the corner and starts to peek around it, afraid
to look but
unable to resist.
INT. THE NEXT AISLE -- DAY
The Librarian comes slowly around the end of the stacks and gets her first
look at the thing that's been watching her. Her eyes go very wide and her
mouth opens in horror. She screams.
EXT. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY -- DAY
Students are entering and leaving a neo-Gothic building on the University's
upper west side campus. A sign identifies the building as: Weaver Hall
--
Department of Psychology.
INT. BASEMENT -- WEAVER HALL -- DAY
At one end of the dingy corridor is a door marked PARANORMAL
STUDIES LABORATORY. A sign dangles from the doorknob: Maid --
Please Make Up This Room. Scrawled across the door is a line of student
graffiti that reads: "Venkman Burn In Hell!" It looks like it's been written
in
blood.
VENKMAN (V.O.)
Now I'm going to turn over the next card and I want you to concentrate
and
tell me what you think it is.
INT. PARANORMAL STUDIES LAB -- SAME TIME - DAY
DR. PETER VENKMAN is administering an ESP test to two student
volunteers, a boy and a girl, who sit across the table from him separated
from
each other by a screen.
Venkman is an associate professor but his rumpled suit and the manic gleam
in
his eyes indicate an underlying instability in his nature. However, while
a little
short on academic credentials, Venkman is long on confidence, charm and
salesmanship.
He turns to the male volunteer, an obnoxious SOPHOMORE, and pulls out a
card from the standard deck of ESP symbols. The card is visible to the
camera over Venkman's shoulder but hidden from the sophomore by a
masonite board that rests between them on the table. The card shows a star
symbol on it.
VENKMAN
All right. What is it?
SOPHOMORE (concentrates)
A square?
VENKMAN (shakes his head)
Good guess -- but no.
He shows the Sophomore the star card then presses a button on the table
which administers a mild electric shock to the volunteer. The Sophomore
twitches involuntarily as the shock passes through the electrode attached
to his
fingertips. Then Venkman turns to the female volunteer, a very beautiful
COED.
VENKMAN
Now just clear your mind and tell me what you see.
He turns over a card with a circle on it.
COED (thinks hard)
Is it a star?
VENKMAN (feigning surprise)
It is a star! That's great. You're very good.
The Coed beams proudly as Venkman turns
back to the Sophomore without showing her
the card.
VENKMAN (to the Sophomore)
Now think.
He turns up the diamond card.
The Sophomore glances nervously at the
electrodes, then ventures a guess.
SOPHOMORE
Circle?
VENKMAN
Close -- but definitely wrong.
He shocks him again and swivels around to face the Coed.
VENKMAN (CONT'D)
Ready?
(she nods and he turns up the triangle card)
What is it?
COED (biting her lip)
Ummm -- figure eight?
VENKMAN (lies)
Incredible! Five for five. You're not cheating on me here, are you?
COED (amazed at her own ability)
No. They're just coming to me.
VENKMAN
Well, you're doing great. Keep it up.
He turns back to the Sophomore who winces as the next card is turned up
--
two parallel wavy lines.
VENKMAN (CONT'D)
Nervous?
SOPHOMORE
Yes. I don't like this.
VENKMAN
Well, just 75 more to go. What's this one?
SOPHOMORE (takes a deep breath)
Two wavy lines?
VENKMAN (burying the card)
Sorry. This isn't your day.
He zaps him again but this time the Sophomore really jumps.
SOPHOMORE (angry)
Hey! I'm getting a little tired of this.
VENKMAN
You volunteered, didn't you? Aren't we paying you for this?
SOPHOMORE
Yeah, but I didn't know you were going to give me electric shocks. What
are
you trying to prove?
VENKMAN
I'm studying the effect of negative reinforcement on ESP ability.
SOPHOMORE
I'll tell you the effect! It pisses me off!
VENKMAN
Then my theory was correct.
The Sophomore gets up, pulls the electrodes off his fingertips and exits.
SOPHOMORE (as he goes)
Keep the five bucks. I've had it!
Venkman turns back to the Coed and shrugs.
VENKMAN
Well, I guess some people have it and some don't.
COED (provocatively)
Do you think I have it, Dr. Venkman?
VENKMAN
Definitely. I think you may be a very gifted telepath.
Suddenly the door opens and RAY STANTZ enters.
STANTZ
He is Venkman's colleague and best friend. A hard scientist with a good
academic background, Stantz is a maverick who genuinely loves a challenge.
At the moment, he seems really keyed up.
STANTZ
Drop everything, Venkman. We got one.
He starts rummaging through cabinets and drawers, gathering up a variety
of
electronic devices.
VENKMAN
He frowns at the intrusion and turns to the Coed.
VENKMAN
Excuse me for a minute.
(he crosses to Stantz)
Ray, I'm right in the middle of something here. Can you come back in about
an
hour?
STANTZ (excited, but hushed and confidential)
Peter, at 1:40 this afternoon at the main branch of the New York Public
Library on Fifth Avenue, ten people witnessed a free-roaming, vaporous,
full-torso apparition. It blew books from shelves at twenty feet away.
Scared
the socks off some poor librarian.
VENKMAN (unimpressed)
Sure. That's great, Ray. I think you should get down there right away and
check it out. Let me know what happens.
STANTZ (insistent)
No, this one's for real, Peter. Spengler went down there and took some
PKE
readings. Right off the top of the scale. Buried the needle. We're close
this
time. I can feel it.
Venkman looks at Stantz, then back at the Coed, torn between duty and
pleasure.
VENKMAN (decides)
Okay. Just give me a second here.
(he crosses back to the Coed)
I have to leave now but if you've got some time I'd like you to come back
this
evening and do some more work with me.
COED
Eight o'clock?
VENKMAN (lying again)
I was just going to say "eight." You're fantastic!
He waves good-bye and exits with Stantz.
EXT. PUBLIC LIBRARY -- DAY
Venkman and Stantz arrive in a taxi and trot up the front steps. Stantz
is
loaded down with equipment.
STANTZ
Spengler and I have charted every psychic occurrence in the Tri-State area
for
the past two years. The graph we came up with definitely points to something
big.
VENKMAN
Ray, as your friend I have to tell you I think you've really gone around
the
bend on this ghost stuff. You've been running your ass off for two years
checking out every schizo in the Five Boroughs who thinks he's had an
experience. And what have you seen?
STANTZ
What do you mean by "seen?"
VENKMAN
Looked at with your eyes.
STANTZ
Well, I was at an unexplained multiple high-altitude rockfall once.
VENKMAN
Uh-huh. I've heard about the rockfall, Ray. I think you've been spending
too
much time with Spengler.
INT. MAIN READING ROOM -- DAY
EGON SPENGLER is looking for spirits when Venkman and Stantz arrive.
Spengler is a real egghead, a New Wave Mr. Spock, who single-handedly got
Venkman through graduate school. Spengler is incredibly intelligent but
amazingly dense at the same time. At the moment he is listening to a table
using
a stethoscope connected to stereo earphones. Venkman comes up behind him
and taps on the table to get his attention.
VENKMAN
Egon?
Spengler hears the tapping and thinks he's made contact with the spirit
world.
Then Venkman slams a heavy book down on the table.
VENKMAN (CONT'D)
Egon!
Spengler jumps at the deafening noise in his earphones and turns to see
Venkman and Stantz.
SPENGLER
Oh! You're here.
VENKMAN
What have you got, Egon?
SPENGLER
Oh, this is big, Peter. This is very big. There's definitely something
here.
VENKMAN
Egon, somehow this reminds me of the time you tried to drill a hole in
your
head. Do you remember that?
HEAD LIBRARIAN
A choleric, middle-aged civil servant, MR. DELACORTE, hurries over to
meet them.
HEAD LIBRARIAN
(nervous)
Hello, I'm Roger Delacorte - the Head Librarian. Are you the men from the
University?
VENKMAN
Yes. I'm Dr. Venkman and this is Dr. Stantz.
HEAD LIBRARIAN (leads them off)
Thank you for coming. I'd appreciate it if we could take care of this quickly
and quietly.
VENKMAN
One thing at a time. We don't even know what it is yet.
INT. AN OFFICE -- A LITTLE LATER
Venkman is questioning the plump Librarian who saw the spirit, while a
Paramedic continues treating her for shock.
LIBRARIAN
I don't remember seeing any legs, but it definitely had arms because it
reached
for me.
STANTZ (excited)
Arms! Great! I can't wait to get a look at this thing.
Venkman glowers at him, still skeptical.
VENKMAN (to the girl)
All right, miss. Have you or has any member of your family ever been
diagnosed schizophrenic or mentally incompetent?
LIBRARIAN
Well, my uncle thought he was St. Jerome.
VENKMAN (looks at Stantz)
I'll call that a big "yes."
(to the girl)
Do you yourself habitually use drugs, stimulants or alcohol?
LIBRARIAN
No.
VENKMAN
I thought not. And one last thing. Are you currently menstruating?
HEAD LIBRARIAN (shocked)
What's that got to do with it?
VENKMAN (snaps)
Back off, man! I'm a scientist!
THE DOOR
Spengler sticks his head in.
SPENGLER (excited)
It's moving!
Stantz and Venkman rush out.
INT. DEEP IN THE STACKS -- DAY
They come slowly down the dark aisle with Spengler leading, taking constant
readings. Their faces are lit mainly by the light of their own monitoring
and
recording equipment.
HIGH POV
Looking down on them from the spectral point of view.
A SPIRAL STAIRCASE
One by one, Venkman, Stantz and Spengler come down the tightly winding,
old iron staircase. They are scared. Books are strewn all over the floor.
A BOOKSHELF
The books start to slide forward then the whole shelving unit topples over
and
almost crushes the team under a ton of books. They jump to safety.
VENKMAN
Nice.
(out loud)
Hello...
Spengler looks at his meters and silently points at a dark aisle intersecting
the
one they're in. The team inches toward it.
SPENGLER
It's here.
They stop at the corner.
INT. THE DARK AISLE -- DAY
The team peeks around the corner and looks toward camera.
THEIR POV -- DAY
An ethereal presence is hovering between the stacks about four feet off
the
ground. It seems to waver on the edge of being and non-being, then a large
legless, headless torso begins to emerge.
VENKMAN, STANTZ AND SPENGLER
They stand there amazed.
STANTZ (whispers)
What is it?
VENKMAN
It looks like a big pair of breasts and a pot belly.
THE TORSO -- DAY
A head and arms begin to form. The apparition is now unmistakably a
full-bodied, somewhat elderly lady.
SPENGLER
It's a woman.
He edges closer to take valence readings. Stantz starts snapping infra-red
photos of it.
STANTZ (excited)
I told you it's real.
VENKMAN (whispers)
What do we do now?
STANTZ (whispers back)
I don't know. Talk to it.
VENKMAN (nods in agreement then hesitates)
What do I say?
STANTZ
Anything! Just make contact.
VENKMAN (takes a deep breath, then addresses the specter)
Hey, Lady?
(the apparition turns and seems to look right past them)
Lady! Can you talk? Who are you?
(no answer) (to Stantz)
This is not working. Think of something else.
STANTZ (sotto voce)
Okay. Okay. I got it. I know what to do. Stay close. I have a plan.
He starts moving closer to the apparition. Venkman and Spengler edge closer,
fighting their fear. They stop just a few feet from the vision.
STANTZ (CONT'D) (whispers)
Okay, now do exactly as I say. Everybody ready?
VENKMAN & SPENGLER
Ready.
STANTZ
Okay...
(shouts)
GET HER!!!
He leaps at the apparition. Venkman and Spengler jump reflexively at almost
the same moment but they all end up on the floor grabbing at thin air.
THE GHOST -- DAY
She drops back a few feet, looms up into a raging demonlike specter and
blasts them with a rush of hot breath as she mouths a single word.
THE GHOST (roars)
QUIET!
VENKMAN, STANTZ AND SPENGLER
They scream and fall backwards.
EXT. LIBRARY -- MAIN ENTRANCE - DAY
They burst through the doors and onto the broad steps, both terrified and
exhilarated by their first real contact with the supernatural. The Head
Librarian
rushes out the door after them and chases them down the steps.
HEAD LIBRARIAN (very agitated)
Did you see it? What was it?
VENKMAN
We'll get back to you.
