Page 3
INT. FIREHALL OFFICE -- NIGHT
Janine turns off the light at her desk. She packs up her purse and puts
on her
coat. The phone rings. Janine answers it unenthusiastically.
JANINE
Ghostbusters ... Yes, it is ... Yes, of course they're serious. You do!
You
have! Yes, sir. Well, they're out on another case now, but if you'll give
me the
address ... Don't worry, they'll be totally discreet.
She hits an alarm button and a loud bell starts ringing frantically.
INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
The alarm sounds and everyone jumps up, scattering takeout cartons.
INT. DORM -- NIGHT
The alarm continues. Everyone enters in haste and scrambles into jumpsuits.
There is much hopping on one leg and bumping into one another.
BRASS POLE
Fully suited, Venkman jumps on and slides down followed quickly by
Spengler. Then Stantz jumps at it but hits it at the wrong angle. He slowly
slides down out of sight with a stunned look on his face.
INT. GARAGE BAY -- EQUIPMENT RACKS -- NIGHT
Everyone pulls throwers, traps, packs and harnesses off the wall.
EXT. FIREHALL -- NIGHT
The garage door slides up and in a blaze of light and screeching tires,
the
ambulance squeals out and makes a right turn. The vehicle has been painted
flat black and has been fitted with communication wafers and antennae.
All the
original lights have been replaced with purple and white strobes and the
siren
has been altered to emit a low, unearthly moaning The purple and white
strobe
bars give the car a strange ultraviolet aura. It rounds the corner and
heads up
the West Side Highway.
EXT. HOTEL -- FRONT DOOR -- NIGHT
The black ambulance screeches up to the main entrance, siren blaring.
Emblazoned on the door is the Ghostbusters' new logo. It's the international
symbol of prohibition, a red circle with a diagonal red stroke across a
ghost.
The DOORMAN steps forward as Venkman, Stantz and Spengler leap out of
the car. They open up the rear door and remove their equipment. People
on
the street stop and gawk.
INT. HOTEL LOBBY -- NIGHT
As the Ghostbusters enter, people turn and stare at their strange appearance.
They all wear matching blue futuristic jumpsuits with proton packs strapped
to
their backs. They also wear brushed-metal, flip-down ecto-visors worn on
the
head like a welder's mask. Knee and elbow pads complete their strange
outfits.
VENKMAN
He looks ill-at-ease and embarrassed by their outlandish getups as the
HOTEL MANAGER descends on them accompanied by a Slavic
MAINTENANCE MAN and a worried BELL CAPTAIN.
MANAGER (agitated)
Thank you for coming so quickly. The guests are starting to ask questions
and
I'm running out of excuses.
STANTZ
Has this ever happened before?
MANAGER
Well, most of the original staff knows about the twelfth floor ... The
disturbances, I mean ... But it's been quiet for years ... Up until two
weeks ago
... It was never ever this bad, though.
STANTZ
Did you ever report it to anyone?
MANAGER
Heavens, no! The owners don't like us to even talk about it. I hoped we
could
take care of this quietly tonight.
STANTZ
Yes, sir. Don't worry. We handle this kind of thing all the time.
They cross the lobby to the elevators, attracting lots of curious interest
from
the hotel guests.
VENKMAN
A GUEST accosts him while they wait for an elevator.
GUEST
What are you supposed to be?
VENKMAN
Me? We're ... uh ... the exterminators. Somebody saw a cockroach on the
twelfth floor.
The Guest looks at Venkman, noting the heavy proton pack on his back, the
odd-looking particle thrower and flipdown ecto-visor.
GUEST
That's gotta be some cockroach,
VENKMAN
Well, you can't be too careful with those babies.
The elevator arrives and he gets on with the others.
INT. THE ELEVATOR -- NIGHT
The Ghostbusters look nervous as they ride up the elevator.
STANTZ
I just realized something. We've never had a completely successful test
with
any of the equipment.
SPENGLER
I blame myself.
VENKMAN
So do I.
STANTZ
No sense worrying about it now.
VENKMAN (doubtful)
Sure. Each of us is wearing an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on our back.
No
problem.
The elevator stops at the Twelfth Floor.
INT. TWELFTH FLOOR CORRIDOR -- NIGHT
The elevator doors open and Venkman peeks out into the hall. He steps out
cautiously, followed by the others.
THE END OF THE HALL
A BELLBOY comes around the corner behind them, pushing a room service
cart loaded with dirty dishes.
STANTZ
He hears the rattle of the dishes behind him, whirls and fires a stream
of
protons from his wand. Spengler is so keyed up, he too spins and fires
wildly.
THE BELLBOY
He ducks as the particle streams blow the
dishes off the cart and scorch holes in the wall
behind him.
VENKMAN (shouts)
Cease fire! The Bellboy peeks out from behind
the cart.
THE GHOSTBUSTERS
They breathe a sigh of relief.
STANTZ (to the Bellboy)
Sorry, Buddy!
SPENGLER
We'd better adjust our streams.
He leads them down the hall to Room 1210.
INT. ROOM 1210 -- NIGHT
The Ghostbusters enter trepidatiously and start taking readings.
SPENGLER (looking at his meters)
Something was definitely here.
VENKMAN
Yeah, I can smell it.
STANTZ
I'm getting high readings near the air vents. It must be using the duct
system to
get around. See, I told you we'd get something.
VENKMAN
So far all we got is a shit smell on the twelfth floor and we almost fried
a
Puerto Rican bellboy.
STANTZ
All right. Let's cool the negative vibes. These things can sense them.
They exit the room.
INT. A CORRIDOR -- NIGHT
Spengler makes his way down the hall reading valences at the door to each
room. He knocks on one of the doors, then passes his sensor over the top
of
the door and down the jambs. Then he gets on his knees to read the crack
at
the bottom of the door. Suddenly the door opens and he looks up to see
a
really stunning woman wrapped in a bath towel with another towel twisted
turban-style around her wet hair.
WOMAN (noting his unusual attire)
Yes?
SPENGLER (stands up)
Were you recently in the bathroom?
WOMAN (sarcastic)
What on earth gave you that idea?
SPENGLER (seriously)
The wet towels, residual moisture on your lower limbs and hair, the redness
in
your cheeks indicating ...
WOMAN (cutting him off)
You're a regular Sherlock Holmes. Now what do you want?
SPENGLER
When you were in the bathroom, did you notice anything that was yellow
and
unusually smelly?
She slams the door in his face. Spengler shrugs and moves on.
INT. ANOTHER CORRIDOR -- SAME TIME
Stantz moves down the hall checking PKE valences.
HIS PKE METER
The needle jumps into the red.
STANTZ
He alerts Spengler through the walkie-talkie headset he wears.
STANTZ (hushed)
Egon! I got something. I'm moving in.
Slowly and cautiously, he turns the corner at the end of the hall. Suddenly,
he
sees the object of their search and freezes.
STANTZ (frightened)
Yaaaaaaaaah!
STANTZ' POV
The vapor is hunched over a room service cart loaded with dirty dishes.
It
hangs there, translucent, foul, yellow, feeding off table scraps and leftover
beverages, knocking dishes off the cart and scattering refuse. It looks
like a
misshapen potato with a pushed-in face and spindly arms.
SPENGLER (over the walkie-talkie)
Ray! Where are you? Are you all right?
STANTZ (amazed)
God, it's ugly!
THE VAPOR
It raises a half-empty bottle of wine to its gaping maw and chugs down
the
liquid. The wine is visible as it pours down his gullet and passes through
his
system, finally spilling through his body onto the floor.
STANTZ
He edges closer.
STANTZ (whispers into his head set)
I'm moving in. I don't think it's seen me yet.
THE VAPOR
It crams some leftovers into its mouth and belches loudly.
STANTZ
He is growing increasingly more disgusted as the initial fear leaves him.
STANTZ
Ugh! What a slob! I'm going to take him. (shouts at the vapor) Freeze,
Potato-Face!
He fires his particle thrower at the vapor.
THE VAPOR
It dodges Stantz' first shot and the ion stream tears away fifty feet of
wallpaper
in a searing ricochet. Then the vapor flies off down the hall, pulling
the room
service cart along in its wake.
STANTZ
He chases it down the hall, shouting into his headset.
STANTZ
He's getting away!
THE VAPOR
It reaches the end of the corridor but instead of turning, it passes right
through
the solid wall. The room service cart crashes into the wall, smashing dishes
and sending the debris flying.
INT. A HOTEL ROOM -- NIGHT
A MAN is just pulling the plastic bag off his recently dry-cleaned white
dinner
jacket when the noxious vapor comes shooting through the wall. It blows
right
over him with a great rush of stinking wind and exits through the air vent.
THE MAN
He looks at the air vent then back at his dinner jacket which has turned
several
shades of sickly yellow and brown.
INT. A CORRIDOR -- NIGHT
Venkman is alone in a long hallway. He leans against the wall, clearly
not
taking any of this seriously. He hauls on a cigarette and mutters to himself.
VENKMAN
This bites it. I actually work for a company called Ghostbusters.
Suddenly from the end of the hallway comes the sound of rattling dishes
and
silverware, accompanied by footsteps. Venkman's PKE meter beeps and a
red light winks on.
VENKMAN (CONT'D) (into the walkie-talkie)
Ray -- Something's here.
STANTZ (O.S.) (crackling over the communicator)
Where are you, Pete?
VENKMAN (backing away)
Third floor. Get down here,
STANTZ
Sit tight. I'm on my way.
VENKMAN
Well, hurry up. (checks his meter) The needle's going wild.
VENKMAN'S POV
A room service cart sails past along a perpendicular hallway and rolls
out of
sight. Then immediately behind it comes a reeking yellow haze. It is the
vapor.
It doesn't follow the cart but instead makes the turn at the end of the
hall and
hovers there, apparently looking at Venkman.
VENKMAN
He's scared now.
VENKMAN (into his head set)
It's here, Ray. It's looking at me.
STANTZ (on the radio)
Don't move. It won't hurt you.
VENKMAN
How do you know?
STANTZ
I don't know. I'm just guessing.
Venkman sees the vapor start down the hall toward him.
VENKMAN (panicking)
Well, I think you guessed wrong. Here he comes!
THE VAPOR
It flies down the hall toward Venkman.
INT. STAIRWELL -- SAME TIME
Stantz runs downstairs taking them three at a time as Venkman is heard
screaming over the radio.
VENKMAN (screaming)
Veeaaaaaahh!
INT. THIRD FLOOR
Stantz comes running around the corner and sees Venkman flat on his back,
flailing his arms and legs frantically, Sickening, yellow-green ectofluid
covers
his head and chest.
VENKMAN
Aagghh -- aaaggghh -- uhh -- uhh -- It slimed me! It slimed me!
Suddenly Spengler's voice crackles over the communicator.
SPENGLER (V.O.)
Ray! It's here! It just went into the Banquet Room on the third floor.
Stantz helps Venkman to his feet and they rush off.
INT. BANQUET ROOM -- NIGHT
The Ghostbusters enter a large dark room with a high, ornately-corniced
ceiling and a crystal chandelier hanging in the center.
STANTZ
Visors down. Full stream.
They flip down their visors and scan the room.
STANTZ
He peruses the room but sees nothing. He looks up and scans the ceiling.
A
form flits behind a carved beam.
STANTZ
There! On the ceiling! (the others look) Come on down here, you slug!
Stantz drops to one knee and fires at the vapor.
THE CEILING
The vapor dodges as the beam blasts a sizable chunk of plaster out of the
ceiling and destroys half the crystal chandelier.
VENKMAN
He fires at it, too, wasting the rest of the chandelier but the vapor dodges
away. They are both ready to start blazing away again when Spengler stops
them.
SPENGLER (urgently)
Wait! Wait! There's something I forgot to tell you.
VENKMAN
What?
SPENGLER (emphatic)
Don't cross the beams.
VENKMAN
Why not?
SPENGLER
Trust me. It will be bad.
VENKMAN
What do you mean "bad?"
SPENGLER
It's hard to explain, but try to imagine all life as you know it stopping
instantaneously and finding yourself confined forever in another dimension.
Venkman considers his own safety and decides to take charge.
VENKMAN (with military authority)
That's it! I'm taking charge. You guys are dangerous.
They yield command to him.
VENKMAN (CONT'D)
Now nobody does anything unless I order you to, okay?
STANTZ AND SPENGLER
They nod obediently and glance nervously at the vapor, still hovering near
the
ceiling.
VENKMAN
Let's do it. This thing's not going to hang around all day waiting for
us. Ray,
give me one stream wide right of it. I'll go wide left. Now!
STANTZ AND VENKMAN
They trigger their throwers and two streams are emitted, shooting off to
either
side of the entity. The entity swirls but stays between the beams.
VENKMAN (talking them through it)
Good ... Good ... Nice and wide ... Move with him ... Easy. Hold steady.
THE VAPOR
It bobs and weaves, trying to slip past the visible lines of light, but
Venkman
and Stantz manage to keep it boxed in.
VENKMAN (speaking clearly)
Now, very slowly, Ray, let's tighten it up. You hold steady. I'm coming
down.
They start closing the distance between their ion streams.
SPENGLER (cautious)
Don't cross them! Watch it!
STANTZ
The vapor is trying to get around his streams, causing him to waver as
Venkman's stream gets closer and closer.
VENKMAN
Spengler! A little help! Cut him off.
THE VAPOR
It slips past Stantz and races for the air vent.
SPENGLER
He fires with such poor marksmanship that he comes only centimeters from
crossing Venkman's stream. Venkman jerks away to avoid crossing
Spengler's erratic bursts and maneuvers. Together they do extensive damage
to the walls.
INT. CORRIDOR -- SAME TIME
The Hotel Manager and the Maintenance Man look nervously at each other
as
they hear the sound of heavy property damage coming from the banquet
room.
INT. BANQUET ROOM - NIGHT
Stantz has the thing cornered to some extent.
STANTZ (to Venkman)
I'll nudge it out of the corner. You cut off the left side.
Stantz moves closer to the wall and Venkman counters to trap the vapor
again.
VENKMAN (encouragingly)
You got it! That's good. Easy now.
They manage to guide the vapor out into the center of the room, all the
time
closing the figurative box around it.
STANTZ
It's working!
SPENGLER
Easy ... Easy ... I'm going to throw in my trap now.
Spengler jerks his leg up, triggering a release on his equipment belt.
A cord
and foot pedal fall to the floor. At the end of the cord there is a long,
flat black
metal box two feet long, four inches wide and two high. He kicks the box
under the apparition and toes the foot pedal into position. The apparition
blasts them with a flatulent gust. They recoil but hold the configuration.
STANTZ
Easy ... Easy ... Open the trap now!!
Spengler stomps on the foot pedal and with a loud electronic snap the long
metal box on the floor sprays up a fixed multidimensional inverted pyramid
of
bright, beaded white light.
Stantz and Venkman herd the vapor to the top of the trap.
VENKMAN
Watch it ... Watch it ... Now!
Spengler stomps the foot pedal again.
Suddenly there is a loud double electronic snap and a blinding flash of
pink
light. Wisps of brown smoke and carbonized particles rise to the ceiling
in a
large residual puff. The Ghostbusters stand there for a long moment not
quite
sure the battle is over.
SPENGLER
He cautiously approaches the trap end looks at the valence indicator on
it.
SPENGLER (confirms it)
He's in here.
STANTZ AND VENKMAN
They whoop in triumph -- and considerable relief.
STANTZ (pulling off his slimy visor)
Well! That wasn't so bad, was it?
Venkman looks askance at him.
VENKMAN
Are you kidding? That was like trying to push smoke into a bottle with
a
baseball bat. Now what do we do with it?
He looks at Stantz.
STANTZ
He looks at Spengler.
SPENGLER
He shrugs.
VENKMAN (CONT'D) (not pleased)
We'll have to work on that. (to Stantz) Grab that, would you, Ray?
They exit, leaving Stantz to deal with the trap.
INT. LOBBY -- NIGHT
The elevator opens and the Ghostbusters emerge. Stantz holds the trap by
it's
foot pedal. He dangles it away from his body as if it is something putrid.
The
Hotel Manager approaches them.
HOTEL MANAGER
What happened? Did you see it? What is it?
Stantz removes his infra visor and wipes some slime off his face. He is
beaming,
STANTZ
We got it!
He holds up the trap.
HOTEL MANAGER
What was it? Will there be any more of them?
STANTZ
Sir, what you had there was what we refer to as a focused, non-terminal
repeating phantasm or a Class Five Full Roaming Vapor ... A real nasty
one,
too.
VENKMAN (starts writing a bill)
That'll be $4,000 for the entrapment plus $1,000 for proton recharge and
storage.
HOTEL MANAGER (shocked)
Five thousand dollars! I won't pay it. I had no idea it would be so much.
VENKMAN
Fine. We'll let it go again. (calls out) Ray! Bring it back.
HOTEL MANAGER
No! All right. Anything.
