Reptilian Encounter: Short Film Script

Apollo 19 was collecting geologic samples from a lunar cave when they encountered an unknown lifeform.  

Opening scene:  Astronauts Brandon and Andrew are standing at the entrance of a creepy lunar cave in their bulky bright-white spacesuits.  The ominous cave entrance looks like an actual mouth, with jagged moon-boulders for teeth.  Both of the astronauts have an expression of concern on their handsome faces as they stare into the darkness, oblivious to the danger they are now in.  “We’re… we’re..going in…in there?”  One of them skittishly asks.

0902 hours on February 5, 1973- The Apollo 19 Astronauts are talking to each other and with Mission Control in Houston, via the radios built into their space helmets.  

Apollo 19:  “Houston, Apollo 19.”

Mission Control: “Go ahead with your traffic Brandon.”

Apollo 19:  “We’re at the lunar cave.  Making entry to collect geologic samples.”

Mission Control: “Roger that.  Be safe gentlemen.  Mission Control Out.”

0912 hours

Brandon: “It’s darker in here than I expected, even with our lights”

(Subtle swishing sounds made by their white nylon spacesuits as the astronauts move; oxygen quietly hissing through their air hoses as they breathe)

Andrew: “Yea, the darkness almost seems to absorb our light.  Luckily our suits are bright-white so we can easily see each other.”

(Mild Static)

Brandon: “Haha, yea, the white is pretty vibrant down here in the dark.  Too bad they're so bulky and clumsy.”

Andrew:  “We have to be extremely careful.  These jagged cave walls are razor sharp…  One wrong move and they will slice right through our suits and air hoses.”

(Static)

Brandon: “Definitely.  This cave gives me the creeps for some reason.”

Andrew: (laughing) “Yes, me too.  There’s definitely something eerie about it.  I wonder how far it goes?”

Brandon:  “I don’t know.  Let’s take our samples here.  I think we’ve gone far enough (skittish tone).”

Andrew:  “Roger that.  Houston, Apollo 19.”

Mission Control: (static, unclear voices)

Andrew:  “Houston, you are coming in broken and unreadable.”

Mission Control: (static, buzzing sounds, unclear voices)

Brandon: “Must be these cave walls causing radio interference.  Houston, if you copy, we are taking core samples.”

(Static)

0915 hours

(Tool sounds, laborious breathing, spacesuit sounds)

Andrew: “I never thought we’d be taking rock samples from a cave (heavy breathing) on the           moon together when we were getting our geology degrees (move heavy breathing).”

(Static, faint clicking sounds on radio)

Brandon: “Me neither (heavy breathing).  I wonder what formed this cave?  No water (breathing)....No erosion.  So what forces produced this cave?”

(Tool sounds, pause in conversation)

Andrew:  “I don’t know.  It’s a mystery for sure, but these samples should tell us.”

(Static, clicking sounds)

0919 hours

(Clicking sounds become louder, more frequent as static subsides)

Brandon: “What’s producing these clicking sounds??”

Andrew: “Must be our radio waves bouncing off the cave walls and reverberating back through our receivers.”

Brandon: “Sounds like the clicks that dolphins make for echolocation.”

Andrew: “Why would we be hearing that over the radio?”

Brandon: “No clue.”

(Clicks, breathing)

Andrew: “Houston, Apollo 19.  If you copy, we are hearing strange clicking sounds…are you picking any of this up?”

Mission Control: (Indiscernible voices)

(Clicks are very clear and seems to be a form of communication)

Brandon: (Gasps) “What the…”

(Two different pitches of clicks heard on radio)

Andrew: (breathing heavy)  “I don’t like these clicks.”

Brandon: “Me neither; I swear they sound like echolocation.”

Andrew: “I almost feel crazy agreeing with you.”

(Breathing)

Brandon: “Don’t.  I have a bad feeling about staying in this cave, especially since we don’t have clear communications with Houston.”

Andrew: “I agree, something’s not right.  Houston, if you copy, we are aborting this EVA.” 

(Static)

(Spacesuit noises, breathing noises inside space helmet, oxygen hissing)

Brandon: “Our lights are playing tricks on me with these rugged rocks hanging down from the cave ceiling.”

Andrew: “What do you mean?”

Brandon:  “I thought I saw something on the ceiling (breathing), but when I looked again it was gone.”

Andrew:  “Just stay close and we’ll be out of here soon (nervous tone).”

0922 hours

Andrew: “(Deep frightened gasp) Did you see that?”

Brandon: “See what? (nervous breathing)”

(Clicking sounds)

Andrew: “I swear I just saw movement ahead of us… in the shadows over there (frightened tone).”

Brandon: “Probably just your helmet lights casting a weird shadow off a rock? (nervous tone).”

Andrew:  “No, it..it was gray and it looked like a reptile or someth…OH MY GOD- THERE!”

(Loud clicks)

Brandon: “W..WH..WHAT IS THAT THING? OH F**K IT’S FAST!” (heavy inhale sound)

Andrew: “IT’S COMING FOR US, RUN!”

Mission Control: (indiscernible panicked voices)

(Heavy breathing, spacesuit noises, hysterical panicked voices)

Brandon: “THERE’S ANOTHER ONE! (heavy breathing) OH S**T! AHHHHHHHHH IT’S GOT ME!  HELP ME!  NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOO! AHHHHHHHHH!”

(Violent smashing and ripping sounds, horrific screams, gasping for air, gurgling sound)

Andrew: “BRANDON NOOOOOO! SOMEBODY HELP US!  (extreme panic, heavy breathing)  NO BRANDON! (crying).”

Brandon: (Faint indiscernible sounds).

-End of telemetry from Brandon-

Andrew: “MAYDAY HOUSTON MAYDAY…WE’RE BEING ATTACKED…SOMEBODY HELP US! (extreme panic, rapid breathing)

Mission Control: (static, indiscernible voices)

(Heavy breathing, spacesuit noises, clicking)

Andrew:  “HOUSTON PLEASE!  SOMEBODY!! HELP! (hysterical crying, panic)

(Loud clicks)

Andrew: “OH MY GOD NOOOOOO!  AHHHHH NOOO!!  OH S**T HELP! (rapid heavy breathing/hyperventilation)  IT’S GOT ME AHHHHHHH PLEASE NO AHHHHHHHHHH!!”

Mission Control: (indiscernible panic)

Andrew: SOMEBODY HELP ME! AHHHHHHHHHHH!  

(Blood-curdling screams, violent smashing sounds, gasping for air)

-End of telemetry from Andrew-

Astronauts Brandon and Andrew never returned from the moon.

Description of Astronaut Brandon being attacked, as an example of how I want the scene to look:

Unlike the astronauts who stand out vibrantly in their gleaming-white spacesuits, the dark-gray aliens blend in perfectly with the shadows and jagged cavern walls.  Their advanced physiology makes them impervious to the oxygneless-vacuum of space and allows them to move surreptitiously through the rugged cave with ease.  

Encumbered by his bulky suit, Brandon’s movements are clumsy and sloth-like as he desperately tries to escape from the alien ambush.  He screams for help, with tears of terror streaming down his handsome face, “MAYDAY HOUSTON MAYDAY!  WE’RE BEING ATTACKED!”  The low-gravity causes him to float in between steps, slowing him down even more, and his heart is beating so fast that it feels like it will explode.  To make matters worse, his space helmet blocks his peripheral field of view and he doesn’t see the alien flanking him from the left.

Brandon screams in terror as he feels one of the creatures grab onto his suit in the darkness, “SOMEBODY HELP ME!”  The alien’s movements are swift and seamless, like a praying mantis snatching up a beautiful butterfly.  Astronaut Brandon squirms and struggles, desperately trying to free himself from the alien’s grasp, but his puffy spacesuit provides the creature with an excellent grip.  The soft white fabric wrinkles around the alien’s hands as he effortlessly lifts the screaming spaceman off the ground.  Brandon helplessly kicks his feet in the air as the alien carries him off into the darkness.  All he can do is scream.