HORROR FILM TREATMENT

Act One
Deep within the recesses of the Roman streets, excavators
work by torchlight and tunnel into tombs of the dead.
Ancient skulls and bones fill the halls. In one narrow
chamber, three men struggle with an iron staff as they
attempt to heave a marble tombstone slab from the ground.
In the background, behind the marble slab, a man watches
the three; his pickaxe dangles loosely by his side. In
Italian, one of the men calls out to him for help. When he
doesn’t move, the man looks up. He leans in closer. The air
shifts and light from a torch illuminates his face. Dark,
sticky streaks cover the man and his hair is matted against
his scalp. His eyes have a vacant, haunted look. Blood
drips from his pickaxe onto the dirt floor. Simultaneously
the men drop the marble slab. A loud thud, followed by a
thick cloud of dust rises and fills the narrow hall, as the
man with the pickaxe steps towards them.

Nathan Lazzari, early 30’s steps into the waiting area of

the Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport in Rome. He
searches among the drivers who stand with nameplates in
their hands. A small, distinguished man holds a sign that
reads in both Italian and English “Pontifical Commission of
Sacred Archaeology”. A group of men and women wait beside
him. Nathan walks towards the group. The distinguished man
asks for Nathan’s name and searches the list in his hand.
Finding him, he looks up with a smile and points to a cart
where his luggage will go.

Leaving the airport, Nathan is introduced to his fellow

archeology associates, Rebecca, Alan, Jennifer, Roberto and
Maria, a special team of six, formally invited by the
Vatican. Together they will excavate a section of the Roman
catacombs that have been sealed for over a hundred years.
They arrive to their quarters. They settle in and meet
downstairs to take their first tour of the catacombs, under
the guidance of the Priests of the Pontifical Commission.
The group climbs deeper and deeper into the cavern. Nathan
suffers from claustrophobia. He drops to his hands and
knees on the dirt floor in a cold sweat. His teammate,
Maria, stops to help. They fall behind the group. After a
few minutes of deep breathing, Nathan feels better to
rejoin the others. At this time, the lights go out,
including their helmet flashlights. The corridors are pitch
black and eerily silent. After a few moments, the lights
flicker back on. Rebecca stands alone, staring into the
remains of a crypt in the wall of the corridor. Maria calls
out her name, but she doesn’t reply. Nathan touches her arm
 HORROR FILM TREATMENT

and she jumps. While asking what she was doing, in a quick
flash, he sees the figure of a man. He calls out to the
man, Maria turns and asks who he is speaking with.

Act Two
They catch up with the others and leave the catacombs.
Maria is worried about the spirits and expresses her
concern to Nathan. They begin to form a bond. The group
goes to a local bar for dinner and drinks. Soon the stories
turn to the haunted catacombs. Maria begins to tell them
Italian folklore has it that the underground tombs are for
those of fallen saints. Their souls are said to wander the
underground passages, wreaking havoc on those who tamper
with them. Nathan rolls his eyes. Rebecca is eerily quiet.
Early the next morning, Rebecca becomes violently ill and
is sent to the hospital, where she suffers psychosis. She
dies three days later.

The teams are assigned separate sections to excavate.

Nathan, Maria and Alan are assigned as working partners. In
the corridor they are excavating, Alan follows a trail of
bones in the walls that he believes leads to a buried
martyr. His hands trace the wall, feeling for an inner
recess. He turns into another corridor. His flashlight
flickers. In the flicker he spots his sister. He calls out
to her. She giggles at him, and turns and runs away. He
looks behind him at the distant lights of Nathan and Maria,
then back in the direction where his sister ran. He calls
out again. A soft chant ‘you can’t catch me’ is her reply.
She ducks down a rickety ladder and sticks her tongue out
at him. He runs after her and disappears into the tunnel.

At the offices of the Commission, Priest Benigni approaches

his superior. He mentions the strange occurrences at the
catacombs. He feels they should cancel the dig. The high
priest disagrees, says the lights go out all the time and
not to worry. Rebecca is brought up, turns out she had a
similar breakdown years before, must be triggered by
stress.

The team has reassembled at a bar for dinner and drinks.

Once seated, they realize Alan is missing. They question
each other when the last time they saw him was. No one can
recall. Someone points out he probably ditched work early
and is back at the dormitories. Nathan volunteers to run
back and check on whether he is there. By the evening’s
end, they have completely forgotten about Alan. Early in
the morning, at the entrance to the catacombs a man passes.
 HORROR FILM TREATMENT

From within he hears an eerie scream overlain with a little

girl giggle. He hurries away, looking back in fear.

On the weekend, Nathan and Maria decide to explore Rome.

They visit the Protestant Cemetery. While strolling the
vacant lanes the clouds turn dark and it begins to rain.
Maria sees Alan. She calls out to him. He looks at her and
turns into another aisle. She runs after him into a
neglected part of the cemetery. Nathan loses her. Searching
for her, he stumbles over a broken tombstone, and falls to
the ground. Out of nowhere, a figure jumps on top of him.
He wrestles the figure until he realizes it is Maria. She
laughs uncontrollably over how scared he was. She tells him
she lost Alan. They kiss unexpectedly. Returning to the
dorms, there is commotion. Alan hasn’t returned. The other
students are worried. A Priest explains Alan came to him
the day before to request a leave because his little sister
tragically drowned in their family swimming pool. He can
only assume the paperwork was mixed up and word forgot to
get around of his leaving. He plans to look into the matter
more. In the meantime, they have arranged for two more
students to fill the open excavation spots and they will
arrive within the week. Priest Benigni is worried.

The catacombs are opened again for excavation. The team

works through the day. Nathan and Maria are excavating the
remains of an ancient chapel. There are etchings and
writing carved into the limestone walls. Nathan runs his
lamp over the walls. There are gruesome images of
beheadings, tortures, being burned at the stake. Nathan
takes photos of the images. Maria, using charcoal and paper
makes impressions of the etchings. A loud scream is heard.
They run in the direction of the screaming. Rebecca stands
before Alan, who is entombed in the wall with a wooden
plank half sticking out of his gut. An opening behind him
reveals a higher passage. It looks as though he tripped and
was pierced by the beam. Nathan shines his light over the
scene. Below him a marble plaque reads ‘in pace
requiescat’. Nathan shows Maria, she whispers, ‘rest in
peace’. Priest Benigni arrives and looks at the body in
horror. He helps Jennifer up and enlists Maria to lead her
back to the dorms.

Act Three
Maria puts Jennifer to bed. She sits on her bed, rocking
back and forth. She starts talking about how she found a
crypt and was trying to excavate the remains when a little
girl came to her, took her hand and led her to Alan’s body.
 HORROR FILM TREATMENT

The little girl pointed at the place he was embedded deep

in the wall. Jennifer chiseled until his body popped out.
She is given a sedative and soon falls asleep.
Maria leaves to find Nathan and Roberto. She has decided to
quit the project. She turns on the camera and views the
photos. The images are the exact opposite of the ones on
the wall. They are happy images of doves, angels, etc. She
runs to find Nathan to tell him. When she finds him with
Roberto, she convinces them to go back into the catacombs
with her. After some hesitation they agree. It is dusk now.
They venture into the passage where the etchings were. The
images have turned violent again. Loud shrieking sounds,
the lights cut out. A body is snatched, Roberto cries out.
The lights flick back on and Nathan and Maria are left
standing alone. Chaos ensues, as they search frantically
for Roberto. They hear him through the walls. He is
screaming. Jennifer appears before them. Maria calls out to
her. She turns away, moving deeper into the catacombs. The
path becomes narrower and narrower as they are lead into an
unexcavated area.

Back at the dorms, Priest Begnini finds Jennifer’s limp

body hanging from the rafters. Clutched in her hand is one
of the rubbings of the tombs, the images horrifically
violent. Realizing what has happened, he hurries to the
catacomb excavation site. The entrance has been barred. He
struggles to remove the debris, and squeezes through a
small hole. Obstacles work against him as he tries to
enter. Hearing the loud screeching, he runs in the
direction of the sounds. A large wooden beam falls on top
of him, pinning him to the ground. Trapped underneath the
beam, he begins an exorcism. Clutching his cross before
him, he recites incantations against the spirits. The place
is collapsing around him, bones fall out of walls, tombs
burst open, and murky water fills the passages. He clutches
onto the wooden beam trying not to be taken down by the
spirits. The water slowly rises over his head.

Maria and Nathan find Roberto, badly injured, but alive.

They help him up and try to find an exit. The water is
rapidly rising, bones and remains rising with it. Maria
trips and is lost for a moment in the water. She comes up
gasping. The walls are quickly collapsing. The sound of the
priest performing his exorcism echoes through the
catacombs. Finally reaching the exit they escape, moments
before the entire structure collapses on top of itself,
taking the priest with it.