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THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE
By
David Self
Revisions by
Michael Tolkin
Based on the Novel
by Shirley Jackson
11/10/98
Initial Shooting Script
NOTE: THE HARD COPY OF THIS SCRIPT CONTAINED SCENE NUMBERS.
THEY HAVE BEEN REMOVED FOR THIS SOFT COPY.
BEGIN MAIN TITLE SEQUENCE.
At the very edge of hearing, the tone of human VOICES.
Unintelligible, babbling, eerie. Then a loud FLAPPING SOUND.
It shifts from one side of the theater to the other, like
something moving among the wall hangings.
As the TITLE appears, the noise mounts, drowning out the
VOICES, agitated, becoming violent, banging... inhuman.
FADE IN:
EXT. HOUSING PROJECT, CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS - DAY
ON a housing project in the industrial outskirts of Boston.
The BANGING seems to flutter away, leading us along,
searching... to a tiny balcony, one of dozens, ten stories
up. And there, the source of the sound --
-- A SHEET, snapping in the wind. The umbrella-like clothes
line on which it hangs bangs against a dirty glass door as if
trying to get in.
THROUGH THE GLASS DOOR a woman paces inside, agitated. The
VOICES rise over the banging, becoming intelligible --
INT. LIVING ROOM, NELL'S APARTMENT - DAY
-- becoming a fight. JANE, 30s, dark-haired, furious, wheels
across a diminutive, neat, but poor living room.
JANE
It'll take a month to probate the will,
Nell! A month! Even if Mother left you
something, you won't get it in time to
pay the rent. So instead of complaining,
you should be thanking Lou for getting
you these two weeks to get Mother's
things packed.
At first we can't even see who she's yelling at. At first we
don't even notice her. Then we do...
Holding herself, in a dim corner away from the light, small,
plain, like a part of the faded room is ELEANOR VANCE, 20's
-- Nell. She stares at the door. The clothes line raps at
the begrimed glass.
JANE (cont'd)
Nell?
The wind dies, the banging stops. Nell seems to hear Jane
and peers over at her, then across the room to Jane's bored
husband, LOU. He's turning a Franklin Mint commemorative
coin set in his hands, studying it.
LOU
You're still going to have to settle with
your mother's landlord on the back rent.
Nell watches Jane's little boy, RICHIE. Unpacified by the
cartoons on the TV, he plows a plastic tank across a shelf
through neat rows of delicate PORCELAIN DOLLS.
NELL
I'm not going to stay. I'll get a job.
I'll get my own apartment.
Richie knocks a porcelain DOLL off, and it breaks all over
the carpet. His parents don't notice. But Nell feels it in
the soul. Richie stops. A long beat. He looks at her,
insolent, then plows on with his tank.
JANE
Nell. A job? Two months and where is
this job? You have no degree, you've
never worked --
Nell explodes in outraged fury, startling us.
NELL
-- I've never worked? --
JANE
-- You have no experience in the
world... the regular world. What would
you put on a resume?
(beat, softening)
Now we all appreciate what you did for
Mother. Isn't that right, Lou?
LOU
Eleven years. Long time.
JANE
That's why we've been talking. With me
getting more time in Accessories, and Lou
at the shop all day, we need somebody to
take care of Richie, do a little cleaning
and cooking. And in return you can have
the extra room.
She goes to Lou, puts a hand on his shoulder, proud of her
generosity. All Nell can do is stare.
And then: KNOCK KNOCK. Like a shot Nell is out of the chair
and turning for a set of FRENCH DOORS across the room. It's
all reflex. Nell catches herself.
KNOCK KNOCK. Richie, lying on the couch like he's sick, raps
on the wall with a wooden CANE and squeals:
RICHIE
Eleanor, help me! I've got to pee!
Nell REACTS, but rather than being amused or annoyed, a wave
of TRAUMA flickers over her face. The reaction is so strong
we instantly know something is very wrong.
LOU
Richie, knock it off before I beat the
crap out of you!
Nell turns away, sick, breathing hard.
Jane picks up a JEWELRY BOX from a dresser.
JANE
You're sure this is all of Mother's
jewelry? The lawyer said to make sure we
took it to him...
(beat)
He said there might be some antique
pieces. Have you seen anything? Some of
it might be valuable.
Nell knows what is going to happen to that jewelry. Jane no
longer can bear the weight of Nell's stare, checks her watch.
She nods at Lou. Lou rises, pocketing the coin set. Richie
follows him out.
JANE (cont'd)
Think about our offer, Nell. You don't
know how hard it is out there.
INT. NELL'S KITCHEN - DAY
Nell rams through the door into the small kitchen, spotless,
empty. And then bursts into tears. Shaking, she digs in her
back pocket and pulls out a FINE FILIGREE NECKLACE. Her
mother's. It's from an age gone by.
Clutching the necklace, she goes back out the door.
INT. LIVING ROOM, NELL'S APARTMENT - DAY
Nell crosses the living room straight for the closed French
doors, the glass obscured by gauze curtains. She throws them
open and enters --
INT. SICK ROOM - DAY (CONTINUOUS)
-- what once was a dining room. Transformed into a sick
room. Drawn shades. Dim. The first traces of dust.
Nell lingers in the doorway a beat, daunted.
A perfectly made bed. The PILLOW, however retains the
IMPRESSION of a head. Lodged between the bed and a
nightstand, a CANE. On the opposite side of the bed is a
plastic toilet. I.V. stand. Shrouded white shapes.
On the wall above the bed, a framed needlepoint counsels: A
PLACE FOR EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE. A bit of
wisdom. A way to live a life.
A way Nell has lived for too long. Seeing it galvanizes her
into movement. She goes to an old armoire, a medicine chest,
opens it, removes a BOTTLE OF TYLENOL WITH CODEINE and
marches out.
INT. LIVING ROOM, NELL'S APARTMENT - DAY
Nell closes the doors on the chamber of horrors, exhales.
She has been holding her breath.
INT. NELL'S KITCHEN - DAY
Nell sits at her tiny kitchen table, water glass and Tylenol
in front of her. The necklace dangles from her fingers. She
stares, mesmerized by it. Then she undoes the hasp. The
clothes line outside BATTERS louder --
-- and, defiant, Nell puts the necklace on. She closes her
eyes.
Silence. The battering has stopped. A BEAT. And then the
PHONE RINGS. Nell opens her eyes. The phone RINGS. Keeps
ringing. Nell, feeling the drug, finds her way to the phone
and picks up.
NELL
Hello? Yes, this is Eleanor. -- Where?
Yes, it's right here.
Nell listens for a long moment. She picks up the
classifieds, flips through. And there it is:
TROUBLE SLEEPING?
WANTED - RESEARCH SUBJECTS. $900.00/.WEEK + RM.&BD. @
BEAUTIFUL OLD HOUSE IN BERKSHIRES. PSYCHOLOGY STUDY.
END MAIN TITLE SEQUENCE
INT. PSYCH OBSERVATION LAB - DAY
The lab feels more like the video center of a security office
than a psychologist's laboratory. Two banks of black and
white monitors give us images of men and women, different
ages, different races, wired to electrodes. They are taking
psychological tests, although we never see the Testers. The
subjects are working through variations on object
manipulation and pattern recognition tests. There are subtle
differences between the two banks of monitors. On the left,
the subjects are all twitching at exactly the same time, on
the right, the subjects are also twitching, but in no
discernible sequence. The subjects on the left are better
able to concentrate on their tasks. The subjects on the right
keep stopping, and going over what they have done.
Two men, MALCOLM KEOGH, in his 50's, is a graying professor,
the head of the department; someone we trust.
He faces PROFESSOR JAMES MARROW. He is a man whose confidence
rests uneasily on his ambition, and in the tension between
the two is the power that makes him the teacher students
love. Right now, though, he is defending himself before a
Department Review. This is not a court martial with judges
behind a desk, it's more free form.
The men are having a fight, and they are watched by OTHER
PROFESSORS.
MALCOLM
It's still an electric shock!
MARROW
Come on Malcolm, it's only seven ohms,
it's nothing, it's like a joy buzzer! And
it's not about the pain, it's about the
interference with concentration...
Malcolm looks at the monitor. This is Marrow's chance to
explain it again.
MARROW (cont'd)
Look, look at what it does! The subjects
on the left, because they anticipate the
shocks, make the adjustment, and lose
nothing on their scores. The subjects on
the right, because the shocks are random,
can't anticipate, and the distraction
throws them off.
MALCOLM
Stop defending your science after the
fact, Jim. The department protocol for
research is very clear about this, and
you violated the rules. I know, I know, I
know that "Fear and Performance" is a big
sexy idea, but as long as I'm chairman
here you will need this department's
endorsement to publish it, and right now
I can't do that.
At this moment, MARY LAMBRETTA, late 20's, Marrow's pretty
T.A., opens the door with an armload of files. Whatever else
she's wearing, she wears glasses. Marrow, seeing her, motions
for her to go away. He doesn't break eye contact with
Malcolm. Mary hesitates...
MARROW
Malcolm, this is essential work I'm
doing. Just think what my research can do
for education. Elementary school
classrooms near train tracks or airports,
where loud noise is random; this helps to
prove the need for sound insulation if
the children are ever going to learn to
read.
MALCOLM
And that will be a good place to end this
study.
MARROW
No, Malcolm! Individual performance is
only part of it. I know why baseball
players choke for no reason, I know why
violinists throw up with fear before
every concert, and need to, to give a
great performance, but what I want to
know is, how fear works in a group...
MALCOLM
Not the way you've constructed your
group, it's just not ethical!
MARROW
But if the group knows it's being studied
as a group, you contaminate the results.
The deception is minor.
Malcolm sees Mary Lambretta.
MALCOLM
Are you working with her?
MARROW
Mary, I'll meet you outside.
She understands, and she closes the door.
MALCOLM
Why are you working with her? Mary
Lambretta was thrown out of the
department for trying to get a Ph.D. in
psychic studies.
MARROW
And after she was thrown out, she needed
a job.
MALCOLM
You don't believe in the paranormal.
MARROW
No, but she does, and that's all that
matters.
MALCOLM
Does she know that's why you're using
her?
MARROW
No.
MALCOLM
I, I just can't...
MARROW
She needed a job, Malcolm. And she's
smart. And she helps me.
MALCOLM
I have a bad feeling about what you're
doing.
MARROW
This is the last chapter. Please, please
give me clearance. It's for science.
Marrow waits.
MALCOLM
I'm gonna hate myself for this.
But he nods. Permission granted.
MARROW
Thank you.
INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE LAB - DAY
They open the door. They walk out. Mary is there. She closes
her eyes, and does a gypsy voice.
MARY
I see a hostile man... he's (she
describes him). The hostile man does not
believe in Madame Velka.
This relieves the pressure. Malcolm is not listening anymore
and storms off.
MARY
You know what he's really upset about?
MARROW
What?
MARY
You're going to publish, he's going to
perish.... And why did you hire me for
this?
Marrow has a sly smile. They go into his office through
another door in the lab.
INT. MARROW'S OFFICE - DAY
Long, narrow, badly lit, it's filled with filing cabinets,
stacks of unread textbooks still in publisher's plastic, a
desk with computer. As soon as they enter, Mary looks at the
phone.
MARY
It's for you.
And then the phone rings. He doesn't pick it right up, he
lets it ring.
MARROW
You hear the vibrations in the wire.
There's a magnetic pulse in the wires,
you feel it. I could test it.
MARY
Test it.
The phone still rings. Marrow answers.
MARROW
Yes, this is Doctor Marrow.
MARY
How'd I know it was for you?
MARROW
(quickly)
Because it's my phone.
(back to the phone)
Yes... Mrs. Dudley, just leave the boxes
inside, thank you. See you soon. Thank
you.
He hangs up.
Marrow is trying to read the first file as he goes to his
desk. Mary shows him a huge CORKBOARD covered with photos,
articles, and various items.
MARY
Here's how they're organized. Groups of
five, very different personalities:
scored all over the Kiersey Temperament
Sorter just like you asked for. And they
all score high on the insomnia charts.
MARROW
Good.
A PHOTO OF NELL falls on the floor. Marrow scoops it up. He
holds the photo of Nell up to Mary, and look at the written
notes and studies the graphs that go with it.
MARROW (cont'd)
This is correct?
MARY
Her mother died two months ago. She says
she really wants to do this. I didn't
know if it'd be taking advantage...
Marrow considers the lonely image for a long moment and then
looks at the graph of her test scores.
MARROW
(meaning the graph, not the
face)
What a beautiful profile. How do you feel
about her? What does your intuition say?
Mary balks at his teasing.
MARY
I put my favorites on the top.
Marrow continues to study the files.
MARROW (OC)
Okay... this one's good... Extrovert
Feeler... Okay... This one I like, too...
We don't pay as much attention now to the cork board as to
other images on the wall. We find clinical-looking shots from
Stanley Milgram's experiments: subjects appearing to scream
in response to electrical shock.
Rows of weeping prisoners in the Stanford prison experiment.
Photos of victims crushed under the stands of a soccer
stadium, the aftermath of a riot. A picture of the Fuhrer
before his mesmerized masses. Mary opens a large envelope.
She takes out a photograph that we can't see.
MARY
What's this?
(has to get his attention)
What's this... this picture?
MARROW
That? That's Hill House.
MARY
This is where we're going?
MARROW
Yes. It's perfect, isn't it?
Mary studies the picture, and she can't answer him. In her
glasses, we get the thinnest reflection of the photograph, a
glimpse of dark brick and high chimneys.
INT. NELL'S CAR - DAY
Nell, in a rust-wormed old Buick, glances from the road to
computer-drawn DIRECTIONS TO HILL HOUSE. She HUMS A TUNE,
soft, lonely, like a lullaby but eerie, off-key.
EXT. ROUTE 39 - DAY
The car speeds down the country road, past old stone walls,
out into rolling meadow, its winding route taking it across
the western Berkshires, farther and farther into the glorious
hills.
INT. NELL'S CAR - DAY
Countryside speeds by. She passes an antique store in a
barn. A handpainted sign warns MELBY'S APPLE FARM 100 YARDS.
Nell grabs for the window handle, letting in air.
She snorts, smelling, breathing like it was the first time in
her life... sounding like a pig. And it makes her burst out
in embarrassing, animal laughter.
EXT. HILLSDALE - DAY (ESTABLISHING)
The white-steepled church, five stores and gas station of
Hillsdale lie in a forgotten notch in the hills.
EXT. GAS STATION - DAY
Nell is pumping gas at a country station. She is alone at the
pump. As she finishes, she hears a BABY CRYING. She looks up.
She is immediately drawn by the sound.
She moves to a car at another pump. The car is empty. The
windows are rolled up. She peers into the car, through the
window, and sees a toddler in a car seat. The child is
crying. Nell looks around, no one is there. She makes faces
at the baby, coos to it.
NELL
Hello Baby...
She does a peek-a-boo game, and the baby stops crying, the
baby even starts to giggle.
A VOICE from behind.
MOTHER (O.S.)
What's going on, what happened?
Nell turns. The Mother is a busy country mom, arms filled
with stuff from the gas station's market.
NELL
She's okay. She woke up and she saw she
was alone.
The mother has the car open and the baby is smiling now.
MOTHER
Say thank you, Spencer.
(too much of an explanation)
I was getting her something to drink.
She's been crying all day...
NELL
That's all right.
MOTHER
Of course you know, how many children do
you have?
NELL
None.
MOM
Then you're a teacher. Nursery school.
NELL
No.
MOM
You just... you seem like someone who
takes care of children, lots of children.
NELL
Maybe... maybe someday. I'd like that.
The woman smiles in something like sympathy, and gets in her
car. When she does, we see a friendly GAS STATION ATTENDANT
appear behind Nell.
NELL (cont'd)
Umm, I'm a little lost.
GAS STATION ATTENDANT
Where you going?
Nell takes out her computer drawn directions and an old map.
NELL
They sent me directions and I've got a
map, but it's kind of confusing. Here...
it's a place called Hill House?
His helpful attitude changes dramatically.
GAS STATION ATTENDANT
Hill House.
He takes the map book and tears out the page and crumples it
up.
NELL
What are you doing?
GAS STATION ATTENDANT
You don't want to go there.
He turns abruptly and walks away.
NELL
Did I say something wrong to you?
Nell slams the Buick door, and breathing hard, starts the
engine. She gets control, and puts the car in gear. She's
shaken. Badly.
EXT. COUNTRY LANE - DAY
Nell's Buick bounces over a country road. The car works its
way up into the steep, switchbacking hills.
INT. NELL'S CAR - DAY
Nell looks out at the forest, feels a chill. The road is more
like a tunnel through the forest than a road.
EXT. HILLS - DAY
Nell's car speeds through the trees, climbing the hills,
higher and higher into the awesome solitude.
INT. NELL'S CAR - DAY
Nell takes a final switchback, and something off to the right
catches her eye, then is gone in the trees. She watches
again for it. There. A glimpse of a gray stone property
wall set back twenty yards from the road.
There it is again. Moss-greened, twenty feet high, a wicked
array of iron spikes and glass mortared atop it.
And then out of the tangled forest in front of her looms a
pair of immense stone pillars. Between them, a steel GATE as
high as the wall, chained and padlocked.
EXT. HILL HOUSE GATE - DAY
The gate stands immense. Silent. Forbidding. Beyond them a
gravel drive curves away through the trees. Nell kills her
car, gets out, instructions in hand. No one in sight. A
long beat. She reaches in and blows the HORN.
The HORN shatters the air, rackets off the trees beyond the
gate, echoing. Silence.
Nell blows the HORN a sustained staccato in annoyance. The
echo replies in a terrible, deafening battering of sound.
Nell covers her ears. Silence once again.
In a fit of agitation she goes to the padlock and rattles it.
It's locked good. She turns --
-- and there is a man right behind her. It is MR. DUDLEY,
his hair tied back like an ex-hippie. He stands between Nell
and her open car door, weed spear in hand. He smiles at her
-- rough, dirty, massive.
MR. DUDLEY
What do you want?
NELL
Oh! You scared me.
MR. DUDLEY
Me? No. What are you doing here?
NELL
Are you Mister Dudley, the caretaker?
MR. DUDLEY
Yeah, I'm Mister Dudley, the caretaker.
What are you doing here?
NELL
I'm with Dr. Marrow's group. I'm
supposed to check in with Mrs. Dudley up
at the house. Is she here?
She hands him the directions. He glances at them. She uses
the distraction to get into her car.
MR. DUDLEY
Maybe she is...
INT. NELL'S CAR - DAY
Nell looks at the gate, some part of her aware it's a point
of no-return. Mr. Dudley eases over to her window. Mr.
Dudley gives her one last look and goes to the gate. He
produces a keyring and undoes the padlock.
NELL
Why do you need a chain like that?
MR. DUDLEY
That's a good question. What is it about
fences? Sometimes a locked chain makes
people on both sides of the fence just a
little more comfortable. Why would that
be?
He unwinds the enormous chain, heavy turn after heavy turn.
The gates swing in, revealing HILL HOUSE.
NELL
Is there something about the house?
MR. DUDLEY
Mrs. Dudley'll be waiting for you.
Grinning, Dudley steps aside and Nell rolls through. And at
that he just grins wider. Nell pulls away. Disturbed, she
watches him in the rearview mirror. She turns and in front of
her sprawls Hill House. At center, the features of the oldest
part of the House dwarf all others: towering, eye-like
windows and the jaws of a Grand Entry with carved ebony
doors.
EXT. HILL HOUSE DRIVEWAY - DAY
The car rumbles up the drive toward the carport.
INT. NELL'S CAR - DAY
Nell stops the car in front of the entrance, right inside the
carport. In the silence all we can hear is her breathing.
EXT. HILL HOUSE - DAY
Her car sits in front of the house, tiny, alone. Its brake
lights go off.
The finger-like pillars of the car port seem like a hand
pinning the car in place under the House's gaze.
Nell gets out of the car.
Nell stares, daunted... yet there is something about the
House. A romance in its lilac heavy Gothic decay. Nell
feels it, is drawn to it.
EXT. GRAND ENTRY - DAY
Nell, suitcase in hand, climbs the steps to the front doors.
On closer inspection, the snaking shapes of the carved doors
depict a Garden of Eden. At center on the knockers, a
tarnished silver Adam takes the forbidden fruit from his
counterpart Eve.
Nell lifts Adam and knocks heavily. There is no answer.
Nell looks around for some sign of life.
Off to one side is a LADDER and PAINT CANS. Somebody must've
been touching up the window trim.
When she looks back the door is AJAR a fraction of an inch.
NELL
Hello? Hello? Mrs. Dudley? Mrs. Dudley,
are you here? Anybody?
Tentative, she pushes it open into -
INT. GRAND ENTRY - DAY (CONTINUOUS)
- a vast entry towering away to a ceiling lost in shadow far
above. Rays of light filter through floor-to-ceiling
curtains. Doors lead off in a half dozen directions.
Every piece of woodwork or plaster in the house is carved,
filigreed, painted or ornamented in wild, ornate fashion. It
overwhelms the eye.
NELL
Wow...
She turns around, sets her suitcase on the marble floor. A
short hallway straight ahead seems to let onto some vast
space, dimly lit.
And then Nell hears a SOUND. Carrying through the empty
halls from some distant place: a low, plaintive MOAN.
Nell freezes. The MOANING stops. Nell strains her ears. And
then the MOAN again. It comes from the short hallway ahead.
Nell starts for it. The Moan stops.
INT. HALL FROM ENTRY TO GREAT HALL - DAY
Nell moves down the hall. It's dim, stale, lined with pier
tables, candelabra.
NELL
Hello? Hello? Mrs. Dudley?
Her voice echoes from the room beyond. She follows her own
voice into --
INT. GREAT HALL - DAY (CONTINUOUS)
-- A long, oval great hall. Passages and doors lead off in
all directions to God-knows-where. A double-grand staircase
at the far end ascends to a landing shrouded in darkness
before turning up the next floor. Magnificent ANIMAL HEADS
carved on the newel posts glare at her.
Nell makes her way past clusters of furniture, stops at the
center. Silence. An ENORMOUS FIREPLACE dominates one wall.
Large enough to stand in. An iron mesh SCREEN hangs in its
mouth. Mantle and chimney rise in dark, baroque masonry,
becoming lost in the shadows above.
The MOANING sound. Nell spins away from the fireplace. The
sound rises from the door at the very back of the hall. Nell
takes a step toward it.
NELL
Mrs. Dudley?
She moves up to the door, puts a hand out to it. The MOANING
rises. Nell pushes through --
INT. 1ST FLOOR HALLWAY TOWARDS KITCHEN - DAY (CONTINUOUS)
-- into a much narrower, curving hallway. Doors all along
it. The sound comes from the door right there across from
the one Nell just came through. She flings it open --
INT. KITCHEN - DAY (CONTINUOUS)
-- and comes through into a vast kitchen. A woman in black
with her back to Nell stands at a counter. The moaning comes
from a disreputable old CAN OPENER.
Nell breaths, feels stupid. The woman senses her, turns from
her cans of potatoes. She is MRS. DUDLEY, sallow,
unsmiling.
MRS. DUDLEY
It's make the soup or answer the door.
Can't do both.
NELL
Mrs. Dudley.
MRS. DUDLEY
So far.
Mrs. Dudley wipes her hands, regards Nell, nods.
NELL
I'm Eleanor Vance, I'm with--
MRS. DUDLEY
--Dr. Marrow's group. You're the first.
Mrs. Dudley just stares with her sunken face. It unsettles
Nell.
MRS. DUDLEY (cont'd)
I'll show you your room.
INT. GRAND STAIRWAY/MEZZANINE - DAY
Mrs. Dudley glides up the stairs. Nell follows, hoisting her
suitcase after her. It appears the mezzanine ahead leads to
a hallway. But as we draw closer what we thought was a
hallway is an ENORMOUS OIL PAINTING. In it stands a man, his
features lost in the shadows above, only his body visible.
The nameplate reads HUGH CRAIN.
NELL
Hugh Crain.
Nell looks up: Mrs. Dudley waits coldly at the top of the
stairs.
INT. 2ND FLOOR HALLWAY, NORTH WING - DAY
Mrs. Dudley leads Nell down a curved hallway, over aged
Persian carpets and turns to a door on her left. She throws
it open, stands back. Nell enters.
INT. NELL'S ROOM - DAY
Nell lowers her suitcase.
MRS. DUDLEY
The Purple Room. You're going to be the
first visitors that Hill House has had
since Mister Crain died.
The room is spacious, in a rococo gothic style with low-
relief woodwork on the walls rising to a dark, coffered,
ceiling of carved ivory. A king-size bed, furniture, all in
blue purple. An open door gives a glimpse of a bathroom.
A large fireplace dominates one wall. Its mantle is carved
with the faces of children, happy, at play, alive. Nell
touches the wood, loving.
NELL
They're so beautiful. Aren't they?
MRS. DUDLEY
I've seen 'em. Lot to dust.
NELL
Well, I've never lived with beauty. You
must love working here.
Mrs. Dudley peers at her. A beat. And then, cryptic:
MRS. DUDLEY
It's a job. I keep banker's hours. I set
dinner on the dining room sideboard at
six. You can serve yourselves.
Breakfast is ready at nine. I don't wait
on people. I don't stay after dinner.
Not after it begins to get dark. I leave
before dark comes. We live in town.
Nine miles. So there won't be anyone
around if you need help. We couldn't
even hear you, in the night.
NELL
Why would we --
MRS. DUDLEY
-- no one could. No one lives any nearer
than town. No one will come any nearer
than that. In the night. In the dark.
And with that Mrs. Dudley grins, rictus-like. She turns and
closes the door after her.
Nell stands there a long moment, the room silent, heavy, old.
She goes to the windows, peers out. Nothing but forest for
miles. The sun is setting.
Nell removes her windbreaker, opens her suitcase, takes out a
blouse and skirt. Decent enough clothes, but cheap, the tags
still on them.
INT. 2ND FLOOR HALLWAY, NORTH WING - DAY
Nell emerges from her room in her new clothes. The hallway
curves away into the distance, lined with massive, ornate
doorframes like the one to her room.
Trying to get a better look, Nell searches the walls for a
light switch, but can't find one. She follows the chair rail
back to --
INT. MEZZANINE - SUNSET (CONTINUOUS)
-- the mezzanine at the top of the stairs. She searches in
vain for a light switch there. Finally she spots a set of
curtains and slings them open.
The light, late-day though it is, makes her wince. The
window looks down on the driveway. Outside a BEIGE CAR
crunches over the gravel. Somebody else has arrived.
Nell watches the car move past, trying to get a glimpse of
the driver, but from up here, all she can see is roof.
NELL
Finally.
She backs away from the window, spins around --
-- and out of the darkness, powerful, mad, looms the visage
of Hugh Crain. It is the painting. It is only from up here
on the second floor with this curtain open that the FACE is
visible in the late-day sunlight.
Despite the artist's discretion, the lines in the man's skin,
his eyes, his posture, cry of unspeakable sickness.
Unconsciously, Nell takes a step back. In the far b.g., near
the end of one of the halls, a DOOR stands open, the second
or third set of doors in the Gothic Hallway left of the
painting. Just as it starts to come into view, and we're
starting to see it, it swings silently shut.
But Nell has caught the movement out of the corner of her
eye.
INT. 2ND FLOOR HALLWAY, NORTH WING - DAY
Nell stares down the long hallway. Which door was it?
NELL
Hello?
No response. She starts down the hall, slow at first, then
faster.
She passes door after door, shadow after shadow, and as she
nears the end of the hall... there is no door here. Not
within 20 feet of where we thought we just saw it.
A WHISPER. VOICES. Nell backs away. And then LAUGHTER.
Behind her. It's coming from another stairwell. Very
real... and very human.
INT. BACK STAIRWAY - DAY
Nell looks down from the top of the stairs. Below Mrs.
Dudley and THEO, 20s, exotic, sophisticated, in Vera Wang
leather, wrestle with a pile of designer luggage. Theo peers
up. She's dark, sexy in an amused, worldly way: someone who
has seen and done it all.
THEO
You may think I have a sickness about
packing, but asking people to help me
shlep the stuff I take with me everywhere
is a cheap and exploitative way of making
new friends. My name's Theo.
Theo foists a very heavy bag off on Mrs. Dudley who looks
like she's been handed a snake. That makes Nell smile. She
comes running down to help with the bags.
NELL
I'm Eleanor but everyone calls me Nell.
Eleanor Vance. Nell. I'm really glad
you're here. Really.
Theo is a little thrown by Nell's gushing.
NELL (cont'd)
What a beautiful jacket.
Theo looks her over... and understands. Nell is desperate to
be liked.
THEO
And what you're wearing, that's great,
too.
NELL
This? It's from a thrift shop.
THEO
What did it cost?
NELL
Fifteen dollars.
THEO
That'd be seventy in New York. You stole
it!
NELL
(embarrassed by the simple
truth)
It's all I could afford.
THEO
Wait. You're not wearing that ironically?
This is really you?
NELL
I don't know what you mean.
Mrs. Dudley, walking ahead, looks back at them. Then
continues up. Theo makes a face at Mrs. Dudley's back. Nell
smiles, a little.
THEO
A week. You and I? We're going to have
fun.
INT. THEO'S ROOM - DAY
Mrs. Dudley opens the door, letting Theo and Nell into a
large bedroom, a mirror-image twin of Nell's room, except
it's decorated in rich red-orange velvets.
THEO
This is so twisted.
She dumps her stuff on the floor, grabs a banister on the
four-poster bed, swings cat-like onto its high mattress.
MRS. DUDLEY
I set dinner on the dining room sideboard
at six.
Mrs. Dudley lays Theo's suitcase on a luggage stand.
MRS. DUDLEY
Breakfast is at nine. I don't stay after
dinner. Not after it begins to get dark.
Theo, back to Mrs. Dudley, rolls her eyes at Nell.
MRS. DUDLEY (cont'd)
I leave, before dark. So there won't be
anyone around if you need help.
NELL
We couldn't even hear you.
Mrs. Dudley looks up at Nell who mimics her scary smile.
MRS. DUDLEY
No one could. No one lives any nearer
than town.
NELL
No one will come any nearer than that.
Mrs. Dudley smiles at Nell, but it's softer than before.
MRS. DUDLEY
In the night. In the dark.
Theo leans on the bed, musing at the exchange. And then Mrs.
Dudley backs out of the room, shuts the door.
NELL (cont'd)
My room is right next door. I think we
share a bathroom.
Theo has an interesting eye on Nell, she's studying her.
THEO
Don't worry, I probably won't be in here
much. Light sleeper.
NELL
That's why we're here.
THEO
What do you do?
NELL
I'm between jobs right now. My last
job... it... the person I was working
for... the job ended. Over. So... And
you?
THEO
That depends.
Theo pops a dress bag on the bed, unzips it. Theo takes off
her coat, and is only wearing a black bra underneath. Nell
reacts, turns away. Back to the camera, Theo flicks off her
bra, stretches.
THEO (cont'd)
I'm supposed to be an artist, but I've
been really distracted from work by love.
Do you know what I mean?
NELL
Not really.
THEO
Don't tell me Boston is different from
New York.
NELL
(she knows this from magazines)
Ohh, sure, you have trouble with
commitment.
THEO
My boyfriend thinks so, my girlfriend
doesn't. If we could all live together..
but... they hate each other. It's hard to
be Miss Perversity when you're the only
one at the party. D'you know what I mean?
NELL
No.
THEO
(delighted)
A blank canvas! I could paint your
portrait, directly on you. Or maybe not.
So, you? Husbands? Boyfriends?
Girlfriends? Where do you live?
NELL
I don't have anyone.
(beat, lying)
But I do have a little apartment of my
own. It has a little flower garden. You
can just see the ocean. At night, when
the wind comes in just right, you can
hear the buoys in the harbor.
Nell peeks, sees Theo is decent, turns around.
THEO
That sounds really nice. You're lucky.
But you know that.
Theo comes over, straightens Nell's seams; this is an
intimate, forward gesture.
THEO (cont'd)
(with meaning)
Come on, we've seen enough of the
bedroom for now.
INT. 2ND FLOOR HALLWAY - DUSK
The long hall is lost in shadow, its long rows of doors
waiting in the deadening silence. A lamp on a pier table
casts a small pool of light. The walls glow in rich tones,
the low-relief carvings a worm's-wood of shadow.
Nell runs her hand over a wall panel as Theo peeks into a
neighboring room.
NELL
So much carving. It's everywhere. On
everything.
Theo starts down the hall. Nell follows.
INT. RED PARLOR - DUSK
Nell and Theo enter a room just off the landing, a lavish
parlor with the omnipresent panelled walls, lush red carpet,
velvet curtains sweeping floor to ceiling, heavy pieces of
furniture. Nell watches Theo explore. As Theo moves through
the room, Nell's eye lands on another painting of Hugh Crain.
Inside it's ornate golden framework, distinctive little
cherubs are embedded. Cherubs of Death... She runs her
fingers over it.
THEO
Maybe you shouldn't touch --
Theo twirls out of the room, Nell, anxious, behind her.
INT. MEZZANINE - DUSK
As they come out of Crain's study Theo stops at the top of
the stairs, Nell behind her.
THEO
Jeez.
NELL
I know.
They stare out at Hugh Crain, the cracking and shadowing of
the swirls of oil that compose his face. The figure is
daunting, but dead. Just a painting. Four different hallways
lead into the mezzanine, all dark and endless in the stray
light.
NELL (cont'd)
Maybe we should wait for them here.
Theo walks out, swings around.
THEO
Which one? Pick any.
Nell looks from one to another. She doesn't want to. But
she forces a smile and points to one on the left. They both
disappear into the dark gothic hallway.
INT. SMALL PARLOR (CONFUSING ROOMS) - DUSK
Theo breezes into a small parlor with heavy green velvet
curtains, panelled walls, rich settees. Other doors lead off
the room. Nell follows.
THEO
This is a serious question, but do you
think the Dudleys ever make love in this
room? They're alone in the house, no one
watching. No one... no one watching. You
can do what you want.
Theo goes running for another door and is out.
Nell, realizing she's being left behind, springs after her
into another mysterious hallway --
INT. STATUARY HALL - DUSK (CONTINUOUS)
-- into a wide hall lined with niches and classical statuary.
Theo strides down it pointing left and right, bending over,
straddling the pieces, provocative:
THEO
Here. Here. Here.
(under a leering gargoyle)
Oh yes! Oh yes oh YES! Here!
Nell laughs - appalled and loving every minute of it.
THEO (cont'd)
Can't you just see it?
NELL
Theo!
INT. HALL OF MIRRORS - DUSK (CONTINUOUS)
Through a narrow passageway, and large double doors they
suddenly stand at the threshold of a fantastic ballroom lined
with mirrors and chandeliers. Rows of mirror-coated
octagonal pillars rise to a vaulted, mirrored ceiling far
above. With the door opening, there's a CLICK, and a
mechanism of some sort is activated. The FLOOR begins to
MOVE like a slow turntable.
Theo comes right up, looks over Nell's shoulder. Nell steps
out.
She traipses out across the room, her million reflections
waltzing with her into infinity. Theo dances after her. They
dance, not quite together. Nell stops and pronounces:
NELL
I love this house. I really love this
house.
THEO
(gently, recognizes that Nell
is different)
You're okay.
Nell blushes... and they burst out laughing. They take off
running, their reflections with them, stampeding for an
archway on the far side of the room and out --
INT. 1ST FLOOR HALLS (VARIOUS) - DUSK (CONTINUOUS)
-- into yet another hallway. They race down the hall, turn
into another hall, then another, all dimly lit by the very
last rays of day, all furnished in the House's dark,
impossibly complicated, impossibly ornate fashion. As they
go, the mood is growing darker, the women unaware that they
are getting lost.
THEO
(having fun)
Rats! We're rats in a maze! That's what
this experiment is going to be!
They open a door to --
INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE LOCKED ROOM - DUSK (CONTINUOUS)
They stand at the end of a long hallway to one of the House's
forgotten outlying wings. It is dark. Too dark. Nell and
Theo regard the darkness.
At the far end of the hall stand a pair of MAHOGANY DOORS,
closed, almost black, oily-looking. Surrounding them, an
enormously complex geometrical frieze.
The doors themselves are plain. In their simplicity there is
something about them enormously disturbing. It is as if the
doors are looking back at them. Nell goes cold. Theo holds
herself.
NELL
We should go back.
Theo nods. They turn around, Theo opening what she thinks
was the door they came through.
INT. NARROW STAIRCASE - DUSK
They hurry down a narrow staircase, Theo first, Nell right
behind.
NELL
Theo, I'm scared --
They fly down a set of steps, Theo flings open a final door --
and SCREAMS!
INT. GRAND ENTRY - NIGHT
The Grand Entry, where they bump into LUKE SANDERSON, 20's,
charming and cynical.
LUKE
Hi, Luke Sanderson, bad sleeper, I'm your
basic tosser-turner, and you are...
NELL
Uh... Nell Vance...
LUKE
And what kind of sleeper?
NELL
Well, I... uh...
LUKE
Obsessive worrier. Join the club.
(to Theo)
And you? I'd guess...
THEO
You'll never guess.
She won't answer.
Marrow comes in the front door. He looks at the house like
MacArthur studying a beachhead.
MARROW
There we are. You're Eleanor, you're
Luke, you're Theo.
ALL
Hi... hello... Dr. Marrow...
MARROW
And this is Todd, he just came up.
TODD comes in.
TODD
Hi. I'm Todd Aubochon.
LUKE
(1950's alien spaceman)
Greetings fellow insomniac.
TODD
(playing)
Greetings fellow sheep counter.
MARROW
And this is my assistant, Mary Lambretta.
LUKE
Greetings.
And Mary enters. Crossing the threshold, she catches her
breath, and when she comes into the hall and sees everyone,
she also sees the house in its detail. And she has a bad
feeling.
Marrow is still putting everyone at ease.
MARROW
Eleanor, how was the drive?
NELL
You can call me Nell, Dr. Marrow.
MARROW
Nell. Good enough. And I'm Jim.
NELL
I'm really... honored to be part of this
study, Jim.
MARROW
Well... we're glad to have you.
His smile is devastating. Nell reddens, instantly taken by
Marrow's warmth, observant sensitivity. Theo notices.
MARROW
Have either of you seen David Watts?
THEO
No, but Nell's been here longer than I
have.
NELL
I only saw Theo drive up.
LUKE
Who's Watts?
MARROW
The man who completes the group.
For a long moment they stand there, silent, looking at each
other -- polite smiles, but awkward, even Marrow. One by one
they all look to him for a cue.
MARROW (cont'd)
Well, why don't we get some dinner while
we're waiting for him?
(beat, backing through the
doors to the Great Hall)
Welcome to Hill House, everyone.
INT. GREAT HALL - NIGHT
Marrow leads the way across the hall. The others check out
the furnishings as they pass.
TODD
These old Victorian houses are great,
aren't they?
LUKE
(points to details; ADJUST FOR
SET)
It's not Victorian, everyone thinks that
the whole nineteenth century was
Victorian. This is gothic, this is
English Craftsman, this is Romanesque.
This is.. insane. Who lives here?
MARROW
Nobody. A local mill owner, Hugh Crain,
built it in 1830. He had no heirs, but he
put the house in trust, and the farmland
around it, with the stipulation that it
never be altered or sold. Crain's
executors made good investments and for
the last hundred and twenty years, Hill
House has taken care of itself.
Mary is shaken by the house, but she's honoring Marrow's
request. Everywhere she looks, she feels the presence of
something.
TODD
So what's this study all about anyway?
Mary described the kind of tests we'll be
doing, but didn't fill us in on the big
picture. She said you needed bad
sleepers, but this wasn't about curing
the problem.
MARY
I can tell you what this is about.
MARROW
Eat first, questions later, Mary, please.
They exit the hall, Mary and Nell last, and as they do, Nell
sees Mary's strange look. She stops.
NELL
Is something wrong?
MARY
No. Just... when I saw your picture I
had a feeling about you, and now that I
meet you, I know I was right.
NELL
What?
MARY
Eat first, questions later.
And suddenly awkward, Mary exits after the others.
INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT
A chandelier hangs unlit over a long dining table. LAUGHTER.
At the end Nell and the others sprawl over the remains of a
dinner which has been going on for hours. Luke is opening
another bottle of jug wine.
LUKE
You know what I love about wine that
comes in bottles like this?
TODD
What?
LUKE
Every year is a good year.
MARROW
Theo? It's your turn.
Theo twirls her wine glass, licks the dregs inside the rim,
thinking.
THEO
The rest of you may hate your insomnia,
but I find it the best time of the day
for me. I'm alone. Nobody's talking to me
but myself. My mind is racing with ideas,
and I can think.
LUKE
Nah, you're going crazy with doubt, all
of your mistakes are coming back up the
pipes, and it's worse than a nightmare. --
Nell isn't used to people being so direct and at the same
time, playful. She glances at Marrow's LEFT HAND: NO WEDDING
RING.
THEO (cont'd)
Excuse me.
LUKE
Don't give me that look, it's everybody's
problem, we just have different
variations, I for example. I fall asleep
easily. But I wake up around two or three
in the morning, every morning. It's that
time of night that Fitzgerald called the
deep dark night of the soul. I stare
into... the abyss. Every night.
(breaks his own somber mood)
It's the price I pay for being such a
jolly fellow.
(to Mary)
Y usted?
MARY
I think I'd fall asleep easily, but just
as I start to feel comfortable, I see
things in the dark.
Nell hears this, Nell is tuned into Mary.
MARY
I feel the presence of something watching
me. It's not... scary... not by itself
but... I don't want to go sleep because
I'm worried about the thing attacking me.
So when I finally do fall asleep, I'm
like a soldier who's fallen asleep at her
post. I feel like I've betrayed myself.
Nell?
Nell wishes she could hide under her plate.
NELL
All of you have such interesting
problems.
There's laughter.
NELL (cont'd)
No... Please, I know how that sounds
but... You're all so articulate. You know
how to talk. I feel like I'm here under
false pretenses. It's silly, it's not
like... well, all of you have trouble
sleeping because you live in the world,
and the world is complicated and scary,
but nothing's ever happened to me. So I
don't have a reason to sleep badly.
MARROW
You wrote that you had trouble sleeping.
NELL
Yes, because someone was always keeping
me awake. Ever since I was little. That
was my job. I took care of my mother and
I had to be there for her all night long,
and she woke up all the time. And after
she died, well, it's been a few months,
but I still, I still wake up, it's... a
habit.
(beat)
I know we've only known each other a
couple of hours, but I'm really glad to
be with people who let me talk about
this. I'm really happy to be here with
you.
Silence. The others are embarrassed by her sincerity. She's
right, Nell is not of their world.
MARROW
We're glad you're here.
He says this with enough sympathy for Theo to see his
interest in the girl in the thrift shop dress.
MARROW (cont'd)
Why don't we move to another room?
INT. RED PARLOR - NIGHT
The HARP sings out, lively, expertly played by Mary. Theo,
Luke, Todd and Nell are impressed with her skill.
MARY
It's an Erard. Late 1870s.
She plays, and as she does, she's aware of the room, and the
house, and she sees something in a curtain or the fireplace,
or a window, something at the edge of perception. She
suddenly stops.
NELL
What's wrong?
MARY
The harp is out of tune.
She finds a key and begins TIGHTENING the strings -- as
Marrow bangs open the door, briefcase in one hand, CELL PHONE
in the other. He can't conceal his irritation. Marrow removes
folders from his briefcase, passes them around while she
plays. Nell again studies the Cherub of Death on the spine of
the leather bound books.
MARROW
I'll have to count David Watts as a no-
show. So let's start. Thank you, Mary.
That was a little abrupt, she feels it. Everybody finds a
chair or spot on the sofa. Mary remains on the stool by the
harp. Marrow sits in a large winged-back chair.
MARROW (cont'd)
All right? So, to answer your earlier
question, Todd, why are we here? What do
we all need in life, what are the basics?
We need food, we need water, we need
sleep. Sleep. All of you resist it? Why?
What does that mean? Why do we resist
sleep? My field of study is the
individual's psychology of emotion and
performance.
LUKE
So why did you need the Addam's Family
mansion for a scientific test?
MARROW
I thought it best to be isolated, to be
in a location with a definite sense of
history, and I wanted to make sure that
it wasn't so pleasant you'd all sleep too
easily. You'll be taking a variety of
tests, none of them harmful, and you've
got the house, the grounds, and each
other to keep you company.
THEO
When do we take the tests?
MARROW
Every day. Basically we'll be hanging out
together like we have so far this
evening.
Nell and Theo are looking through their folders: sheets of
paper, bizarre geometric puzzles.
MARROW
Also, there is no phone service to the
House and no TV. I have the cell phone
for emergencies. We'll begin the tests
after breakfast tomorrow.
The others shuffle through papers, Nell and Todd intent on
them, Theo interested but not overly so, Luke, bored.
MARY
Dr. Marrow, what is this house?
When she says this, we should be seeing her from an odd
perspective, the house's POV.
MARROW (cont'd)
There was once a king who built a palace.
The King's name was Hugh Crain. A hundred
and thirty years ago, when the Merrimack
Valley was the center of American
industry, Hugh Crain made two hundred
million dollars. That's forty-three
billion dollars in today's money. He
could have anything he wanted. And what
he wanted, was Rene, his banker's
beautiful daughter. Rene, and a house
filled with children.
NELL
All the carvings.
MARROW
But there's a sad catch to the story.
MARY
What happened?
MARROW
There were no children. Rene died, and
then Hugh Crain built all of this, and
then he died. His heart was broken.
Nell shifts, looks at the house with a strange feeling.
NELL
That's so sad.
This has been tense between them, a gunfight. POP! A LOG in
the fireplace makes everyone jump. Theo relishes it, but
Nell shudders.
MARY
I think there's more to the story. This
house has its own music, Doctor Marrow, I
can play it for you, I can hear it.
Mary plays, channeling unholy music from the house, from the
walls, from the curtain, from the air. Her fingers fly down
the harp to the THICKEST WIRE and --
-- TANG! Like a steel whip the wire SNAPS.
Mary SCREAMS in pain.
MARY
My eye... oh... my eye... my eye... oh...
No...
The others leap up in shock. Blood lines the wall behind
her. She clutches at her eye, more blood spilling out from
between her fingers.
TODD
Oh Jesus.
Marrow and Theo rush over to her as she shrieks in pain.
Todd is frozen, pale, like he's about to be sick. Nell turns
the OTHER WAY, but not because she's scared - she's searching
for a shot glass on a side table.
Marrow wraps Mary in his arms. Her shrieking becomes a
terrified but quieter wail.
MARROW
Mary, let me see your eye.
Nell appears by his side with the glass. Marrow pries Mary's
hand from her face.
Blood flows freely from the eyelid, but her eye is intact.
NELL
Here, cover it. Don't let her touch it.
EXT. HILL HOUSE DRIVEWAY - NIGHT
Marrow slams the door on the passenger side of Todd's car.
Mary sits there, moaning, glass covering her eye, blood
spilling out around the edges. Luke is on her side of the
car.
LUKE
Keep your head back, that's it.
Todd opens his door. Marrow hands him a key.
MARROW
Here's my key to the gate. Call me the
second you know anything.
Todd takes it, jumps in. The two men watch the car drive
away.
LUKE
That could have been worse.
MARROW
Yeah.
As they turn back, Marrow taps Luke.
MARROW
Luke, can I talk to you?
LUKE
Sure.
MARROW
Because... well, I know I can trust you.
LUKE
Why?
MARROW
I've read your tests.
That was half a joke, and both men smile. Now they're bonded.
MARROW (cont'd)
There's something... I... I didn't tell
you everything about the house, and about
Hugh Crain... but I'm asking you not to
repeat it.
LUKE
I can keep a secret.
They go in. The house is outlined by the sky and clouds and
the moon.
INT. MEZZANINE - NIGHT
Luke catches up with Nell and Theo as he reaches the
mezzanine. The painting of Hugh Crain, barely visible in the
shadows, looms right behind.
LUKE
He said that Hugh Crain... Hugh Crain was
a monster. He said that he was a brutal,
horrible man. He told me that Crain drove
his workers to early deaths. Crain had
children chained to the looms in his
mill. And listen to this: his beautiful
Rene killed herself.
THEO
And why didn't Marrow tell us? Doesn't he
trust women? That fuck.
NELL
(she's thinking about the
story, not Marrow)
A monster? But he built this for the
woman he loved, like the Taj Mahal.
THEO
The Taj Mahal wasn't a palace, it was a
tomb. Why didn't he tell us?
LUKE
He's trying to protect the experiment.
Personally, I don't think he's got a
large enough sample for valid results,
but as long as the money's good, and the
food is good, I'm in.
He heads off. Theo turns to find Nell staring at the animal
heads on the stairs. Theo touches her. She starts.
THEO
Nell, it was an accident.
INT. MARROW'S BEDROOM (PART OF CONFUSING ROOMS) - NIGHT
Marrow, sitting at a desk, speaks into a digital voice
recorder. His voice is cold, analytical.
MARROW
Icebreaker exercise conducted over
dinner. Observed initial bonding among
subjects and experimenter. After dinner
first bland history of House relayed.
Nell appears most susceptible to
suggestive history. Luke, who tested at
the bottom of the Levy-Mogel Confidence
Reliability Scale was given the second
part of the story. We should see some
results tomorrow. Accident with harp,
while unfortunate... complements the
experimental fiction.
He turns off the machine, and then he says, ruefully:
MARROW (cont'd)
Publish or perish.
He turns off the light. The shadows in the room are too much
for him. He turns the light on, and then pulls the blanket
over his head.
INT. NELL'S ROOM - NIGHT
Nell finishes putting things away in drawers. Theo watches,
leaning in the doorway. Nell looks around at the room: and
this is her new family's new home. Theo smiles sweetly at
her, comes over. An awkward moment, as the seriousness
drains away.
THEO
Ever try putting your hair up in a French
twist?
Theo reaches for Nell's hair. Nell pulls away. Theo pauses.
Nell realizes she shouldn't have pulled back.
NELL
Sorry. I'm not used to being touched.
She moves closer to let Theo examine her hair. Theo takes
Nell's hair, holds it up in a French twist.
THEO
You've been out of the world for a long
time, haven't you?
NELL
Yes. I've missed it.
THEO
No. The world has missed you.
Cautiously, Nell peers in a mirror at herself... and likes
what she sees. Theo lets Nell's hair drop. Theo moves for
the door.
NELL
Good night, Theo.
THEO
You, too. Happy tossing and turning.
INT. NELL'S ROOM - NIGHT
As Nell steps OUT OF FRAME and starts undressing, the CAMERA
finds the carved mantle, the densely-packed scene of children
at play, their faces frozen in dark wooden smiles, their eyes
blind but staring OC where we sense Nell changing.
Now in a long tee-shirt, Nell crawls up onto the high bed.
Its headboard is heavy, dark, engraved with fan-like shapes,
maybe plants.
She draws the covers about her and peers up at the ornate
headboard.
Something about it bothers Nell, but she can't put her finger
on it. She twists over on her side and turns out the light
on the nightstand. For a moment, all there is in the
darkness is her breathing --
INT. GREAT HALL - NIGHT
-- then almost silence. We pull back from the CHILDREN'S
FACES on the doors of the Great Hall to reveal the vast room
standing in darkness. Covens of strange shapes consort in
the shadows, things that in the day would be lamps, the stuff
of life. But now, at the very deepest limit of human
hearing, it is as if SOMETHING EXHALES.
INT. GRAND STAIRWAY - NIGHT
It is black at the top of the stairs. The carved animal
heads on the balusters are all turned UP THE STAIRWAY, eyes
starting in fear. Waiting for something to walk down out of
that blackness.
INT. HALL OUTSIDE LOCKED ROOM - NIGHT
Eyes. Eyes of all the mythological figures. STARING down
the long, black hallway. Awaiting something. Afraid.
At the end of the hallway, where all eyes are staring, the
double doors, the ones that scared Nell and Theo stand shut.
That something gathering at the edge of our hearing RISES.
Rises as if the House itself is breathing.
INT. NELL'S ROOM - NIGHT
BUMP. The sound thuds the stillness of the House. Bump.
Bump. Bump. Deep, hollow, distant like a dream. Nell sits
up, still asleep, body moving by reflex.
NELL
Coming, Mother!
WHUMP. The noise jars her consciousness, lighting up her
mind, VERY REAL. Nell remembers where she is.
Bump bang. It's coming from somewhere far off in the House.
Nell listens in cold dread.
THEO (OC)
Nell!
Nell spins to the bathroom door, goes through --
INT. NELL'S BATHROOM - NIGHT (CONTINUOUS)
-- the unlit bathroom, slamming the door to her room behind
her, across and out the other door --
INT. THEO'S ROOM - NIGHT (CONTINUOUS)
-- into Theo's room. THUMP BUMP BUMP. Nell finds Theo right
in front of her, hair wet, kneeling in the bed, clutching her
covers to herself.
THEO
What is it!?
The sound grows nearer. Out in the hall. Like something
searching. Coming toward them.
Nell lunges at the door. Theo grabs to stop her, and Nell
sees the door is DEADBOLTED. There's a RUSHING sound on the
other side of the tall door. Right there. Nell freezes.
BUMP! BUMP!
THEO (cont'd)
Nell!
Nell recoils to Theo's side, drags Theo out of bed to the
corner of the room.
Nell and Theo stare out AT US in terror. BUMP. BUMP. BUMP.
BUMP.
Nell and Theo's eyes travel over the walls, following
whatever it is which now seems to be moving out here in the
theater.
The SOUND moves along the wall to the right, reaching its
loudest as it crosses the back of the theater, then seems to
come down the left side.
Theo shivers. Nell clutches her close. Nell writhes, unable
to stand it any longer. She jumps up.
THEO (cont'd)
Nell!
Nell charges the door, screaming:
NELL
No!
SILENCE. The bumping goes dead. Nell blinks, looks back at
Theo. But Theo is looking at her hands.
THEO (cont'd)
Cold. Oh, God. Feel it.
She looks up in horror at Nell. Their breath FOGS in the
air. Nell holds her hand up in front of her, and as we watch
HER HAIR PRICKLES UP, GOOSEBUMPS WITH THEM.
Her eyes turn up to the door, and: BAMBABAMBAM BABBA BAM!
The DOOR JARS in its frame, leaping from the blows of
whatever's on the other side.
Nell backpedals but slips on the rug, falls there on the
floor right in front of the door. Theo SCREAMS.
Silence. The BANGING stops. With a RUSH, whatever is
outside the door is no longer there.
Nell looks at Theo.
Then Theo looks at the bathroom.
Nell starts for it, grabs Theo's door, but it's designed to
be locked from the BATHROOM SIDE. Nell looks up --
INT. NELL'S BATHROOM - NIGHT (CONTINUOUS)
-- and takes a step into the pitch-dark bathroom. Theo
appears in the doorway behind her. Across the bathroom the
door to Nell's room is closed. Nell dashes for it --
-- but A SUDDEN SCUTTLING SOUND stops her dead. On the other
side of the door. Rasping over wood. Like a thing without
hands trying to turn --
-- THE DOORKNOB. A long beat. The metal creaks as something
takes hold of it on the other side.
Nell, mouth open in cold horror, sees the deadbolt. It's
open. She's in no-man's land: too far from the door to lock
it, too close to run.
The doorknob TURNS, but just as the door starts to open NELL
FLAILS FORWARD AND SHOOTS THE DEADBOLT HOME.
The door jams against it. Nell jumps back. Theo grabs her
back into --
INT. THEO'S ROOM - NIGHT (CONTINUOUS)
-- her bedroom and slams the door. A long, deadly silent
moment.
NELL (cont'd)
It's in my room.
But their BREATH no longer fogs. Theo seems to notice the
fact just as Nell starts for her room and... KNOCK KNOCK
KNOCK. Behind them. At the door to the hall.
LUKE (OC)
Hey! I heard screaming...
THEO
Luke.
She grabs for the door and lets Luke in.
INT. NELL'S ROOM - NIGHT
Nell's room stands silent, dark. The door to the bathroom is
shut. The lock slides open. The door swings in. Luke
stands there, the two women behind him.
Luke turns on the lights. The room is perfectly ordinary, no
sign that anything has been in here. The door to the hall is
shut. Nell reacts.
INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
Nell and Theo, wrapped in blankets, sit over mugs of tea at
the kitchen table. Marrow, across from them, clicks off his
digital recorder. Luke paces behind the women.
NELL
You really didn't hear anything?
Marrow takes his glasses off. Luke looks at him, then goes
to the kitchen sink. He turns both faucets on full blast and
leans up against the sink, arms folded. Theo and Nell turn
to look at him. A beat. And then:
BUMP. Bump bump. It's the sound. Luke goes over to the
door, pushes it open.
LUKE
Oh, look! There he goes, ol' Hugh Crain!
INT. GROUND FLOOR HALLWAY - NIGHT
VARIOUS SHOTS as the bumping seems to travel down the
hallway. A rushing sound with it. They're the same sounds,
from the scene before, but somehow have none of the impact,
none of the presence as they did in Theo's bedroom.
INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
Luke lets the door shut, turns off the faucet. The sounds of
the plumbing die away.
LUKE
Do you need me anymore? Cause I'm going
to bed. They can stay up talking another
45 minutes if they want, but I gotta try
to get some sleep.
MARROW
Go ahead.
Luke leaves the kitchen. Theo and Nell watch him go.
THEO
If this was some sort of joke, I'm going
to kill him.
NELL
You know it wasn't a joke, Theo.
Marrow watches the exchange closely.
MARROW
The cold sensation. Who felt it first?
NELL
Theo I think. You've asked us that three
times, Doctor Marrow. What's going on?
MARROW
How do you feel about Luke's suggestion
that it was just the old plumbing? Water
hammer, something like that?
Theo and Nell look at each other in frustration. But Theo
tries to get her mind around the question.
THEO
I did just take a bath. I don't know.
INT. THEO'S ROOM - NIGHT
The room is a lot less frightening now, especially with the
lights on. Nell sits on Theo's bed. Theo looks at the
walls, silent, normal.
THEO
I did just take a bath.
When Nell doesn't respond for a moment, Theo turns to her,
sees her wrestling with herself.
NELL
Mother always banged on the wall when she
needed me. The night she died... I heard
her, but I pretended I didn't. I was just
so sick of it all. And then the banging
stopped. And in the morning... she was
dead. This is the first I've ever said
this to anyone. That was the job I had,
Theo, it's the only job I've ever known,
and I failed. I'm actually a bad person,
Theo. The world doesn't need me.
Theo shakes her head, brushes at her eyes. The confession, on
the top of the fright, has moved her deeply.
THEO
Oh, Nell. Eleven years. With all due
respect to your mother who I'm sure was a
saint, I'd have called Doctor Kevorkian,
if not for her, for me.
It's such a horrible thought it makes Nell smile, and they
share a tearful laugh.
INT. NELL'S BATHROOM - NIGHT
Nell stands in the door to her room.
NELL
Good night, Theo.
Nell shuts the door. Theo is about to close her door, but
hesitates. She puts on the light and goes to the tub. She
turns it on, waits. Just the sound of the water. And no
bumping.
INT. NELL'S ROOM - NIGHT
Nell lies asleep under her sheet, the blankets off the end of
the bed. HOVERING OVER HER, on the headboard, the carved
faces of children, peering DOWN.
FLAP. FLAP flap. The fan-light at the top of the window
right next to the bed is OPEN a crack. The sheer curtains
flap listlessly in a gentle breeze. The flapping grows
louder, and with a sudden gust the curtain BILLOWS OUT. In
its flowing form, we sense the SHAPE OF A GIRL'S FACE,
fleeting, so insubstantial we know we just saw her, but maybe
our eyes are playing tricks on us.
The CURTAIN blows straight out, touching the bedposts at the
foot of the bed, and there the wind catches the fabric
hanging from them. The Wind seem to sneak under the bedcover
and the shape follows...
Nell sleeps, oblivious, the WIND filling the room, stirring
the tinkling crystal beads on the candelabra. The shape of
the little girl's face now travels underneath the bedsheets
toward the pillows, toward Nell.
Nell turns, restless, the AIR catches the edge of the
pillowcase, and travels towards Nell's face. And for a split
second there is a lifelike IMPRESSION OF A SMALL GIRL'S FACE.
Nell almost awakens. The crystal beads stir, and in their
tinkling, in the sigh of wind, we hear:
GIRL VOICE
Find us, find us Eleanor.
Nell's eyes open. And like that, the pillowcase deflates,
the air rushes up the curtain to the window, and is gone.
Nell sits up, looks about her. Everything seems normal. Just
her sheets, just the curtains, but on the headboard remain
the carved faces. Benevolent. Nell settles back down on her
pillow with a sense of peace.
INT. DINING ROOM - DAY
Morning sun filters in through heavy drapes, falling on
Marrow at the dining table. Nell squeezes behind him and the
sideboard behind him to get at the coffee. Nell wears MAKE
UP, badly applied, and her HAIR IS UP in a French twist.
NELL
Sorry.
MARROW
For an American you do a good imitation
of the British at their most apologetic.
(Veddy British)
Pardon me. Excuse me, sorry, sorry...
Nell smiles. Theo walks in the door, sees Nell and Marrow,
Nell squeezed in behind him.
NELL
Am I that bad?
Theo is aware of Marrow's curiosity and fascination with
Nell. There's a jealousy brewing.
THEO
Well this is a cozy breakfast.
MARROW
Good morning, Theo. Luke.
Luke comes in behind Theo, tired-looking also. He goes to
the sideboard, starts helping himself to breakfast.
LUKE
After I went to bed, the second time,
after the... noise... I had the best
night's sleep of my life. Anybody?
Marrow slept badly, we can see it in his eyes.
NELL
Yes. I feel realy rested, too. Theo?
THEO
I guess. Oh, your hair! It looks good.
But she means exactly the opposite. Marrow looks over Nell's
hair, but she can't stand it. Luke comes over to the table,
drops into a chair next to Nell, digs into breakfast. Theo's
face turns into an artificial smile.
THEO (cont'd)
Your makeup too.
Nell sits there flustered. Marrow senses the jealousy, isn't
quite sure what to make of it, and intervenes.
MARROW
Eat your breakfast, Theo, then we'll get
started on the tests.
INT. GREAT HALL - DAY
CLOSE ON the complex PUZZLE of a field-cognition test. Nell
scratches solutions, erases, and finally looks up in
frustration. She sits alone, tiny, in the murk of the vast
vaulted Great Hall. The enormous chimney occupies half the
wall on one side of the room.
Clusters of furniture - overwrought chairs with animal heads,
splay-footed coffee tables, limbed lamps - huddle in strange,
silent covens throughout. Nell, in a plush chair, lays the
work on a table beside her. The CLATTER of stone on stone
makes Nell look up.
The fireplace looms just beyond her cluster of chairs, large
enough for a man to stand in. A piece of mortar must have
come loose. Nell stares at the chimney. And a VOICE lets
out a loud groan.
Nell JUMPS. She pops out of the chair. It came from another
circle of furniture in the shadows. A figure stands and
comes over. It's Luke, stretching.
LUKE (cont'd)
I've been thinking about these carvings.
Kids. Lots of kids. Fat little angel
kids. Wild kids. Kids with furry
animals.
NELL
The children. The children Hugh Crain
built the house for. The children he
never had.
LUKE
Come on. These are the typically
sentimental gestures of a depraved
industrialist.
He puts his hand on a CHAIR, the back of which is heavily
carved in the motif he just described.
Nell turns him an appalled look.
LUKE (cont'd)
Theo was working in the dining room.
She's probably done by now. You finish?
NELL
Couldn't get the last ones. You?
LUKE
I did okay.
Nell looks at the test, tries to digest this.
LUKE (cont'd)
We could do this stuff anywhere. I don't
know what he's up to yet. But like I
said, that's the fun. It has something to
do with this environment.
Luke just smiles, rises. We'll see.
He walks off, his footsteps echoing in the vast room. The
door shuts after him.
Nell sags in her chair. Then something catches her eye. On
a table opposite, a SET OF KEYS. Nell goes, picks them up.
Car keys, house keys. Must be Luke's. She pockets them,
thoughtful, but just as she does --
-- something MOVES in the fireplace. So fleeting Nell can
barely see it, and we only catch a frame of it. But the iron
MESH CURTAIN hanging in front of the hearth is STILL SWAYING.
Nell stands there FROZEN. The massive fireplace LOOMS before
her, like a monstrous mouth, black as pitch beyond the black
metal curtains.
The swaying metal scrapes over brick floor. Its eerie,
repetitive screep cutting to the nerve.
Nell sits paralyzed, rooted to the chair. SCREEP. SCREEP.
SCREEP.
A SINGLE STRAND of NELL'S HAIR stirs toward the fireplace,
and --
-- SOMETHING INSIDE THE FIREPLACE MOVES BEHIND THE MESH!
Nell CRASHES back over her chair, knocking over a lamp and
table, tripping, stumbling out of the furniture.
Holy shit. Whatever moved in there was real. Big, dark,
like something's head. It goes out of focus and we can't see
it as we follow --
-- NELL flying away, across the room in headlong terror.
INT. FOYER - DAY
Nell slams out of the room, skidding as the door slams behind
her. She sways up off the floor to run --
-- right into Marrow and Theo's legs. Nell aborts a scream,
realizing who it is. Theo stands there in surprise, holding
papers in her hand.
NELL
There's someone in there! There's
someone in there in the fireplace!
INT. GREAT HALL - DAY
Nell and Theo stand behind Marrow and Luke across from the
fireplace. Theo glances at Nell. Nell is shaken.
Marrow nods to Luke, and they start forward together, Marrow
among the furniture to the left, Luke down the right side.
The iron screens hang silent in the fireplace, black,
impenetrable. Marrow and Luke come up on either side, Luke
ducking this way and that trying to get a glimpse through the
mesh.
They stop before it, neither breathing, both listening.
Marrow steps forward and pulls one screen aside far enough to
look in. DARKNESS.
Nell and Theo watch, apprehensive.
NELL
Jim...
Marrow sticks his head into the fireplace. For a long
moment, nothing happens.
IN THE FIREPLACE: pitch darkness. Marrow feels up the
chimney.
AND THEN SOMETHING SWINGS DOWN RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS FACE!
Marrow doesn't flinch.
He FLINGS back the screen, revealing the only things in the
fireplace: two massive andirons, and the still-swinging
FLUE. It's cast-iron, forged in the shape of a LION'S HEAD.
Luke throws back the other screen. Theo comes over. Nell
follows. There's nothing else in the fireplace.
Luke and Theo stare at Nell. Marrow squats to study the
hearth. The large iron ASH-DROP is coated in soot.
Not a mark on it. He opens it. Inside, a glimpse of ASHES
and CHARRED WOOD. Marrow stands, looks at Nell.
NELL (cont'd)
Somebody was in here. I saw him.
Marrow looks at her, not sure what to believe. Nell turns to
Luke and Theo for help. Not from that corner. Then Nell
remembers, reaches into her pocket and produces the KEYS.
She holds them up to Luke.
NELL (cont'd)
Are these yours? I found them right over
there.
LUKE
Who drives a Toyota?
Theo shakes her head. They aren't Marrow's. Marrow takes
the keys from Nell, turns them over.
THEO
Maybe they're Mary's.
MARROW
Mary came with me.
NELL
When I first got here I saw a gray car
pull up. I thought it was one of us.
EXT. HILL HOUSE - DAY
They stand on the front steps. Nell's car is right there
under the car port.
NELL
This is my car.
Theo gestures to a sports car on the circular drive. Two
other cars are with it. They walk out into the driveway.
MARROW
And those are Luke's and mine.
LUKE
There's a carriage house around back.
EXT. CARRIAGE HOUSE - DAY
Together they approach a stable/carriage house off to one
side of the main House. It looks old, unused. They enter
through a small door.
INT. CARRIAGE HOUSE - DAY
Light filters in through gaps in the wood. Luke opens one of
the main doors with a loud SQUEAK, the sun revealing a TARP-
COVERED SHAPE, a carriage. Unused in a hundred years. A row
of tarp-covered carriages fill the stalls into the distance.
LUKE
Well, this lot is full!
THEO
He must have left. Didn't like the looks
of the place or something.
NELL
How could he have left without his keys?
THEO
Two sets. I don't know. Maybe they're
not even his.
LUKE
Then he's got to be in the house...
As they leave, the CAMERA LINGERS on a covered shape in one
of the stalls, SMALLER than the other carriages, it could be
a car. A broken wagon wheel leaning against it.
INT. STATUARY HALL AND SHORT MONTAGE THROUGH HOUSE - DAY
Marrow, Theo and Luke move down the hall, opening doors left
and right as Nell stands at the center of it all.
MARROW
Watts!
No answer. The statuary peers down on Nell. Dead faces on
busts. Blind marble eyes.
INT. VARIOUS ROOMS AND HALLS - DAY
Luke calls out.
LUKE
Watts! Oh Watts! Here Wattsy...
INT. VARIOUS ROOMS AND HALLS - DAY
Marrow is looking for him, too.
MARROW
Watts! Can you hear us?
INT. VARIOUS ROOMS AND HALLS - DAY
Nell and Theo, walking into rooms.
THEO
Watts?
NELL
What's his first name?
THEO
David.
NELL
David? David Watts? Can you hear us?
David! Daviiiiid!
INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Marrow comes through the kitchen. Mrs. Dudley, chopping
carrots, stands by the counter. Only the slightest pause in
the rhythm of her chopping says she's noticed him.
MARROW
Do you know who these keys belong to?
MRS. DUDLEY
No.
MARROW
I was expecting another guest yesterday.
A man, David Watts. Did you see him?
MRS. DUDLEY
No.
MARROW
Is your husband around? I'd like to --
MRS. DUDLEY
-- Haven't seen him.
MARROW
Thank you.
Frustrated, he continues on.
INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE LOCKED ROOM - DAY
Nell and Theo walk down the long hallway behind, opening
doors, checking rooms.
NELL
David?
THEO
Maybe he never came in. If he'd come in,
he would have left his bags at the door,
right? Or maybe he got here early, and
went for a walk, and fell. Maybe he's
outside.
Nell closes a door on the right, and then stops dead.
Staring.
The shut, dark, door, the one that scared Nell and Theo
earlier, awaits them at the end. Ominous.
Nell approaches. Closer and closer. The door nears.
Nell wraps her arms tightly about herself and try's to open
the door. It's locked. Her BREATH FOGS THE AIR. She doesn't
notice it. But then she suddenly GAGS. With a look of horror
she recoils from the door, choking, covering her face.
Then Theo smells it. The women are both sick from the smell.
THEO (cont'd)
Oh my God, what is it? Oh, the smell...
ohhh.
Marrow comes into the hallway. He sees them from a distance.
ON the two women.
THEO
(looks to Nell for an answer)
Is it over?
NELL
No, it's getting worse.
MARROW
Nell! What's wrong?
NELL
That smell... oh, God.
Theo blanches, looks at Nell. She smells it too, and in
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