Good evening.
You're sure there's no danger?
I mean, after all that's happened in this house.
That family murdered.
Evil or good lie in our response to it.
Shall we begin?
Concentrate on your child.
Call to him, Mrs. Baxter.
Let him know that you're here.
Ricky.
Ricky, it's Mommy.
Can you hear me?
I can't breathe.
Over here.
Smoke.
Fire.
Help. Help me.
The child has passed over.
The child has passed over in fire.
Now he is at peace.
Mommy, I'm here.
Mommy.
Ricky!
One must... Stay where you are! Keep still!
Melanie, don't.
- Mommy? - Ricky.
I'm here.
Ricky, where are you?
I'm here.
Where?
Look.
Mommy, I'm here.
Shut up!
Who are you people? What the hell do you want?
Reveal Magazine. Congratulations. You just made our next cover, Mr. Caswell.
You have no right. You can't do that!
Can't we? We've got pictures, we've got sound.
And we've got you.
Get out of this house! You're trespassing.
Actually, we've taken care of that.
By the way, John, he's not my husband...
and poor little Ricky.
Sorry it took so long.
And who's this? More trash from your damn scandal sheet?
Mr. Caswell, let me introduce Dr. Elliot West...
of the Institute for Psychic Research, State University, Long Island.
I don't give a damn where he's from. I'm gonna sue the ass off you...
and every son of a bitch connected with you.
This gentleman is Mr. David Cohler of the District Attorney's office.
We took the liberty of telling him our plans and he was kind enough to come.
If you have any questions regarding the law, I suggest you ask him.
Emma! Come on!
You were very convincing, kid. You almost had me fooled.
Thanks.
Elliot, it was a great help. Thanks for the tip. It'll make a very interesting story.
I'm glad to be of service.
Actually, a crude setup like this is pretty easy to spot.
The only thing remotely interesting about it is the house.
If you're not in too much of a hurry, I'd like to look around a bit.
Sure. We could use some pictures of their equipment.
You know, the speakers, the amplifiers, the mysterious balls of light.
You're crazy.
The master control is probably somewhere in the basement.
- After you, Professor. - All right.
I would imagine it's over this way.
Damn!
- It was the fuse box, I guess. - Or worse.
The way the storm's been blowing, it's probably just the lines down.
- That's true. - Yeah.
- Maybe we should... - Leave?
We might as well. We can always come back tomorrow.
Sure. Okay, let's go.
You got the door?
- We all here? - I'm here.
- Come on, John. - Go ahead. You got me.
Come on, you're strong, John.
- Get it! - All right?
Hello?
- Yes? - I'm Sanders.
I'm the man who owns this palace.
How do you do?
Hi. Melanie.
- How do you do? - How are you?
- Pleased to meet you. - Nice meeting you.
How do I tell you? When I rented this place to those people...
I had no idea that the... Look at this!
I mean, when you told me about this on the phone, I was shocked.
I can imagine. Thanks for letting us come over here like this today.
It's no problem.
Look at this box of tricks. That's...
- Help me! Please! - Don't move!
- Don't let me go! - Get him up!
Don't let me go!
We're gonna make it.
- All right. Up you go. - You're okay.
- You all right? - I guess so.
I guess this is what's supposed to be the gateway to hell.
It looks convincing to me.
It's just an old well.
I never knew that was there. I could have been killed.
Don't do that.
This is not for your magazine, is it?
You have some objection?
If it links me up with this, I certainly do have some objection.
According to our information, you are linked up with all of this.
That old man told you that? He's a liar.
Don't do that. Let's go outside. I need some air.
Where does that penny-ante con man get off accusing me?
I don't know about penny ante.
They must've pulled in quite a haul over the last six months.
You can't connect me with it. You have absolutely no proof.
Mr. Baxter, I'm a real estate agent. I do a lot of business in this area...
and I have a reputation to protect.
I mean, if it ever came out that I was connected with whatever this is...
it would finish me.
I bought this house cheap...
because I thought it would be a good investment...
once all the panic had been forgotten.
Well, it hasn't been forgotten.
I mean, I can't even unload the houses on either side of it.
Now look at it. I mean, it's an ordinary, normal house.
It's nice-looking. It's in fairly good condition.
And it's built the way they used to build them.
It's a steal.
Nobody wants it.
What are you asking for it?
It would be affordable, very affordable.
You're serious? You're really gonna buy that house?
If Nancy's lawyers leave me with the price of a roof over my head.
What do you need with a big old house?
Have you seen my apartment?
Yeah, but you haven't even looked around. There's better places.
Can't do much better than this. The guy is practically giving it away.
And why do you think that is?
Because some people are so damn superstitious.
There's lots of fresh air, trees, plenty of room.
The house itself is a real Long Island antique. It's wonderful.
I'll have a place to really work for the first time in my life.
- I know. - Spread my things out.
You need some space. You need some peace and quiet.
- You've got it now. - That's right.
You'll be able to concentrate. Work undisturbed.
Get started on that great American novel.
Come on, Nancy, don't make this any rougher than it has to be.
All right.
Before, the word "divorce" was something abstract. A legal term.
And now it's real.
Look, we both made this decision together because neither one of us were happy.
I have to get out of here. I have to get out of my job. I have to change my life.
All right. Fine. If that's what you have to do, then just do it.
Quit talking about it and do it. Pack your bags, pack your things and leave.
Just leave.
Dad?
- I didn't know you were coming over. - You know now.
- Hi. - Hi.
- Hello, Lisa. - Hi, Mr. Baxter.
Do me a favor, will you? Help me pack this thing up.
- Sure. - Yeah.
I hear you bought yourself a haunted house.
I just bought the house, not the ghosts.
- So when do we get to see this house? - As soon as you like.
There are lots of rooms. Come over and pick one out for yourself.
Great.
Mr. Baxter?
Mr. Baxter? It's Sanders. I'm here.
Mr. Baxter?
Oh, God!
John?
- Hey, what happened? - Sanders.
Had a stroke or a heart attack or something.
It was awful. He died just as I found him.
John, I want to show you something. Look at this.
There's something wrong with your film.
But just these frames? Just these pictures that Sanders is in?
- What do you want me to say, Melanie? - I don't want you to say anything.
All I want you to do is acknowledge to me that something weird is going on here.
Melanie, Sanders was a sick man.
You only had to look at him to see that he was sick.
Yeah, but don't you find that a startling coincidence?
Yes, that's exactly what I think it is. A startling coincidence.
Nothing more.
Melanie, you know what you're doing?
You're acting exactly how superstitious people act.
I mean, that's what they do.
I don't know.
I don't see anything here that would account for it.
And you think the camera was working properly?
It was.
All right. Well, what I can do is send it all down to the main lab.
Pictures, negatives, other samples of this photo paper...
camera equipment, all of it.
If there is a physical explanation, they'll come up with it.
- And if there isn't? - Let's just wait and see.
But just looking at these photos...
and knowing what happened to Mr. Sanders...
Yeah, it seems fantastic, I know.
It seems like a convergence of events that could only be supernatural...
but let me tell you, Melanie, almost every day of the week...
we get something in here, some situation or phenomenon...
that's just as strange as this.
And in 97% of the cases, there turns out to be a perfectly logical explanation.
And the other 3%?
The other 3% is why I'm here.
- Tell me, have you seen any ghosts yet? - Not yet.
They're hiding.
- Did you read the article? - In Reveal? Yeah.
Just for the record, not only haven't I seen a ghost...
but I've never talked to anyone who's claimed to have seen one...
who could last 20 seconds with a lie detector.
- How can you be so sure? - Experience.
Reveal Magazine has had me in more haunted houses...
and séances and psychic confrontations than I can tell you about.
They've all got one thing in common. One unifying theme.
The exploitation of the fear of death.
That's my room.
Don't you think it's natural to fear death? Wonder what's beyond it?
Yes, I think it's the most natural thing in the world...
but I don't think there are any answers.
Rationality doesn't apply. Anything goes.
People like the Caswells use that and they prey on it.
It's a gross form of immorality.
Not that I'm some paragon of virtue.
After all, I work for Reveal Magazine. I'm in there exploiting with the best of them.
I don't think that's the same thing.
That's what I keep trying to tell myself.
Still, I think it's ironic that this monument to paranoia and fear...
should now become home for my new serious life.
- Are you gonna start writing your book? - I'm gonna try.
So, madam, which room is it to be?
Well, I think this room. I like it. It's very interesting.
Sold to Miss Susan Baxter for one enormous hug.
Where are you going? We got an article to layout.
Sorry. I got an appointment with an agent. It's the only time I could arrange.
- Agent? - Yeah. Clifton Sloan.
He's an old friend of mine.
He told me if I was ever interested in doing anything more substantial...
that I ought to come and see him.
The much-heralded book.
Right.
Why don't you come over to my place around 6:00 and we could work there?
Okay.
If I'm not back in time, Dolores will let you in.
Hello?
Dolores?
Is anybody here?
Dolores?
- Dolores? - Yes.
- Who are you? - I'm Melanie.
I'm waiting for Mr. Baxter!
He's not here now!
I know.
- Are you sure you have to go? - Oh, yes.
I don't like to be late getting home. Mr. Baxter will be here very soon.
I hope so.
You better have this. The fuse has been going out all day long...
and the electric man hasn't come.
You do know where the fuse box is?
Yeah, down in the basement.
That's right. Bye.
Dolores!
Stay open.
Are you all right, sir?
It's a miracle I wasn't killed.
- What happened? - I don't know.
It was inspected only last week.
The notice is in the car.
- Do you want to see it? - No.
Let me just catch my breath.
Well, okay, sir.
Some water?
Thank you.
Shit.
Melanie?
- Melanie, what happened? - No!
Don't you touch me!
- What's the matter with you? - Stay away from me!
- Melanie, what... - Just stay away from me. No!
Help me! Help!
- Melanie, for God's sake. - No!
Get away!
Do you want to talk about it now, Melanie?
No.
Look, Melanie, I'm your friend.
We're partners.
This is something that happened in my house.
I have a right to know. What happened?
The lights went out.
It was the fuses or something.
John, it was the most horrible thing that has ever happened to me.
The worst nightmare doesn't even come close.
And I will never go into that house again. Never!
Melanie, when I got there, the lights were fine.
I don't care!
I don't want to hear about it, John.
I don't want another one of your rational explanations!
I know what I experienced and I'm not crazy!
Melanie, that house has its own mystique.
Things happen in there because people expect them to happen.
That was the basis of the whole Caswell operation.
- Don't insult me, John. - I'm not insulting you.
I'm telling you something we both know to be true.
I don't know what's true anymore.
Why don't you just get out of here? I got my work to do.
Supposing I asked you this?
Why do you think whatever it was that happened in there...
only happened to you and didn't happen to me?
I don't know, John.
Maybe the house has other plans for you. What do I know? I don't know!
Oh, for Pete's sake.
All right, that's it. Get her out of there. That's enough. You know what to do, Joyce.
And she's been in there for almost 52 hours.
That's about the limit for sensory deprivation.
Once you deprive the mind of all the usual external stimuli...
it eventually starts to improvise.
So she's been in some kind of limbo?
Yes, right.
There's no sight, no sound, nothing to touch or taste or smell.
Under those conditions, reality has no objective meaning for a person.
Some writer once said...
that reality is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.
Look, Dr. West, I can come back. I don't have to...
No, this is fine. She's all right now. Let's continue.
I don't know what to do.
The thought of my daughter going back in that house terrifies me.
Yes, I know.
Well, all I can say is that there's no evidence whatever...
that anyone has ever been directly harmed...
by the kind of manifestation we're talking about.
I'm sorry, I don't know what that means.
Well, it means that...
whenever there has been an injury or a problem...
it's always been because of some secondary cause.
Like someone running away in a panic and falling down some stairs.
That's not exactly reassuring.
No. I don't imagine it is.
I'm sorry, I just don't have the answers that you want.
You're looking for a yes or a no.
I mean, when we talk about spirits or ghosts...
what do we mean, really?
They may well be things that people carry around with them.
And not things that could possibly hide in a house.
On the other hand...
certain houses obviously do have an affinity for activity.
The Amityville house.
Possibly.
So many awful things have happened there. There must be a reason.
Maybe there is. Maybe there isn't. We just don't know.
What am I supposed to do?
I see.
I'm sorry.
I just don't think we should be here when my father's not home.
Why not? You have your own key and everything.
I'm just dying to check this out.
I know. It just doesn't seem right, though.
Come on, Susan, what are you really afraid of?
I just told you.
Never mind. Come on, I'll show you how stupid you really are.
It's a house.
Yeah.
Do you know you could have sex with a ghost?
- Really? - Yeah, really, I've been reading up on it.
It seems it's happened to a lot of women and they all say that it's fantastic.
- What do you think? - I think you're weird.
Maybe that's why your father bought this house.
He's got some sex-starved ghost up there with boobs up to here.
Well, somehow that doesn't sound like my father.
I've read all of his articles, you know. I know the whole story.
I know exactly where all the murders happened.
Ron De Feo...
murdered his mother and his father...
and his four brothers and sisters in this house.
God.
The master bedroom.
This is where he began.
And then right here.
He fired two more shots.
The sound muffled by the crash of thunder outside.
And then he went upstairs to the children's room.
Ron De Feo possessed by the spirit of the devil in this house.
Lisa, cut it out.
There's evil in this place.
I know, let's go downstairs to the basement.
Your dad wrote that there's a dry well that's supposed to be the entrance to hell.
You really are a lunatic.
This is it.
Yeah, here it is.
Come here, look at this.
It was burst open by some colossal supernatural power...
from the depths of the earth.
This is supposed to have been an ancient Indian burial ground.
Their tortured spirits are still down there...
waiting to rise up and reclaim their land.
Hi.
- Daddy, you scared us. - Not me.
Why aren't you at school?
Teachers' strike.
Again?
Great house, Mr. Baxter.
I'll just put these back.
Try not to fall in.
I'm trying not to be unreasonable, Susan.
Mother, it was no big deal.
Lisa's been bugging me to see the house. She's a fanatic about it, so we went there.
It was broad daylight. There was no danger and Daddy knew nothing about it...
- until he came home. - I'm sure.
- He didn't. - That's not the point.
- It's the place itself. - You haven't even seen it.
I don't have to see it. I know all about it. Everybody does. The place is infamous.
Only a man with your father's colossal ego would even consider living there.
I do not want you going near it. Is that understood?
Is it?
Yes.
I'm afraid, Susan. It's as simple as that.
She'd been working late.
She wasn't coming to the house, she was nowhere near the house.
You don't think it's odd that two people, both connected with that house...
For God's sake! You sound just like...
Like Melanie.
John, it wasn't easy for me to come here today...
but I think it's very important that there be no misunderstanding between the two of us.
My daughter is the most precious thing in the world to me...
and she's not going back in that house. I've forbidden her.
She's my daughter, too, Nancy. You tend to forget that.
I'm not going to argue with you. I told you the way it's going to be.
I'm telling you I have something to say about this.
Fine. Then say it to my lawyer.
- Basketball team? - It was baseball.
Baseball? In basketball there's five.
Do you see the abuse that I take from these people?
I think your father's got a lot of guts living in a haunted house.
It's not haunted.
Come on, all those people killed there?
You don't think there might be one tiny little ghost lurking around?
All right, why don't we change the subject?
What are you bothered about?
Nothing. I'd just like to talk about something else.
Come on, Susan, don't be a drag.
I say we put together a séance.
- Yeah. - I mean, it's the perfect place for it.
- Yeah. - Fantastic.
And your dad's not home today. You already told us.
- Let's do it! - No. Get yourself away from it.
That's what we're doing.
Okay. Now...
the Ouija board only works...
if everybody cooperates and believes.
Now, put your finger on the glass.
Everybody.
Okay, now we have to agree on a question and concentrate really hard...
and the spirits will answer us.
Okay, now I'm gonna ask the first question.
Is there a supernatural presence in this room?
How about that?
You're pushing it.
I am not pushing it. It was moving all by itself.
You could feel it. It was moving. I was not pushing it.
I got a good question.
Can it tell us what color panties Lisa's wearing?
Come on, chap, everybody knows that.
Up yours, darling.
All right. Wait. I got a great question.
- Okay. - This is great.
Is anyone in this room...
gonna be dead before next year?
No.
No, don't ask questions like that.
- She's really scared. - I know.
- Stop it. - Come on, Susan, don't be that way.
You guys, Susan is right. No more stupid questions, okay?
You're ruining everything. Now, you just ask the spirit who it is...
and what it wants.
Is there anyone in this room who is really in danger?
That's not what you said.
All right, one of you is pushing it.
- It wasn't me. - No one's pushing it.
I'm not pushing it at all.
It was you.
- You pushed it. - No, it wasn't.
Susan, what are you doing throwing the glass...
against the wall like that?
- I didn't... - She pushed it.
- Forget it. Let's get out of here. - She pushed it.
Did you see?
Hi, Carla?
Have you heard from Lisa? I think she and Susan may be together.
Well, I asked her to come right home from school.
She said she was going to, but, you know.
Never mind. I think I know where she might be.
I'll call you back later.
Hey, Susan.
Look what's over here. Let's go for a ride.
Hey, check it out. Come on, let's go.
Jeff, what have you got there?
- What kind of boat? - He's untying the boat.
A sporting boat, all right. Let's go for a ride, girls. Come on.
- Will you be careful? - Watch your step.
Be careful.
Let me get this for you. Here you go.
Okay, get on. I'm driving, buddy.
Will you be careful? Make sure you're careful.
Get down!
Susan.
Why are you wet? What happened?
Susan?
I'm talking to you.
What is the matter with you?
Susan, will you answer me?
Susan.
Susan, unlock this door.
Susan, do you hear me?
- Be careful. - I got it.
Susan.
Susan, wake up!
What happened? Did somebody call an ambulance?
Yeah, we called.
Susan. What happened?
The boat.
She fell out. I don't know.
Susan.
Oh, God. No.
Susan, please.
Hurry up.
One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand, four-one thousand.
John, what's happened? What's wrong?
Nancy, Susan...
Susan what? What about Susan?
...three, four.
Get anything?
Are you trying to tell me that that's Susan?
John, that's not Susan. I just left her. She's in the house.
Susan's in the house, John.
- Pulse? - Nothing.
John, stop it. Don't. Let go.
No, you cannot tell me that that's Susan!
That is not Susan. I just left Susan. She's in the house.
And she's changing. She's all wet and she's changing.
You cannot tell me that that is Susan.
One, two...
She's in the house, John.
- Nancy. - She's in the house!
Come on, I'll show you.
...you got anything?
No pulse. Continue CPR.
Susan, I want you to come out of here. Do you hear me?
I want you... Susan?
Susan.
Why are you hiding from me? Susan?
I know you're here.
Susan!
Susan, where are you?
- Susan. - Nancy.
Why are you hiding from me?
- Come out here at once! - Nancy, for God's sake!
- Susan, where are you? - Nancy, will you stop this?
- She's not in here! - I know she's here.
- I saw her! - Will you stop it?
Don't you understand? Why won't you let me be with her?
- She's not here, darling. - I want to be with her.
She's not in here anymore.
- She's gone. - Leave me alone!
You don't care where she is.
I'm going up to her room to wait for her.
Susan!
What happened?
It's Susan. She wants to show us she's here.
This is her favorite blouse.
We got it for her birthday last year. Remember, John?
I think it's the colors.
I was thinking, this year maybe I'd...
get her a cashmere sweater. She needs sweaters.
You have to try to grasp what's happened.
- What you say has happened. - No, Nancy.
You're fantasizing. None of this is real.
- You must come to terms with that. - You're fantasizing.
What I saw in this house with my own eyes, now, that is real.
What you saw is fantasy.
Fantasy is Susan drowned.
Is what you believe more certain and more real than what I believe?
Who's to say?
You?
She wouldn't even go to the funeral.
I don't know what to do.
Nancy needs psychiatric help.
I don't know how to handle it.
She won't see a doctor. She won't even leave the house.
I'm worried sick about her.
I thought maybe you'd...
have a suggestion.
There's always the possibility that she doesn't need any help.
I don't follow you.
Well, what if she really did see something?
Not Susan, perhaps, but something.
What do you mean?
If you'll go along with me, I'd like to try something.
It could be very helpful to you, to me...
and to Nancy.
What have you got in mind, Elliot?
The scientific investigation of the house for psychic phenomenon.
I've got a trained team and all the equipment.
We've investigated houses a lot less qualified than yours.
What would be the point, Elliot?
Well, the chances are we'd come up with nothing.
If we do, that might make it a lot easier for you to reason with Nancy...
given the support of our study.
Possibly, but I doubt it.
And on the other hand...
if we do turn up something...
I mean, if there is some indication, no matter how ephemeral...
that Nancy was right...
then we might be saving her sanity.
I'll tell you something, Elliot.
After everything that's happened...
I don't know what the hell to believe.
Over here.
Bring it right over here.
There's more stuff in my car.
Okay, good. Yeah.
Joyce's job is to make sure that all the input...
coming into the main computer gets properly recorded.
She can also punch up any of these images...
or any computer data that I might need onto the monitors over here.
Just watch those cables as you're coming out.
See, this is where I'll be.
Now, that is an ultrasonic sensor...
which will register sound frequencies undetectable to the human ear.
This image is from a thermal camera.
Dave, could you turn the camera this way, please?
You see?
What it's doing is translating temperature fluctuations...
into a color-coded visual pattern.
Elliot, would you check the ultrasonic graph?
- Something funny is happening. - Oh, yeah.
Thanks, Dave.
Could you punch up the video from the attic onto the big monitor?
You see?
I see the problem here. We just have far too much activity on this graph.
So...
what we want eventually is a straight line for the room tone.
The variable is much too active.
Just roll off some of the highs, please.
- Is this all right? - Very gradually.
Okay. Now, some of the lows.
- Got it. - All right. Just keep doing that tracking...
Over here. Put it up higher.
There we go. Hold it right there.
We've got the entire hall to cover.
What's happening?
You never believed in this house, John.
Joyce, give me the attic down here, please.
- Stand by. - What is it? What's happening?
I'm hearing something. I can't make it out.
Try to move in closer.
Put it on the speakers. Turn it up all the way.
Wow!
- I'm going up there, Elliot. - No, let it happen.
Mother?
Mother. I need you.
Please, Mother.
Come with me. We'll be together.
Susan.
Come with me, Mother.
What is it? What's it doing to her?
There's activity in the basement. Something's happening at the well.
Oh, my God. It's using Susan.
The well. The force from the well.
It killed Susan and now it's using her to get Nancy.
I'm not gonna let that happen.
Look, John, don't. Listen, we've got to save Susan, too.
- We can release her. I think there's a way. - You're crazy, Elliot.
No, listen to me. You've got to believe me.
Just follow them to the well. Don't try to stop them.
Just follow them.
Susan.
Hold her, John. Don't let her get any closer.
- John, that's Susan. Let me go. - We've got to bring out the source.
We got to force it out. I've got to confront it.
Susan!
- Darling, you can't. - No, it's Susan.
Come out.
- Why won't you let me go to her? - You're insane!
Oh, God. Elliot.
Elliot!
Susan, get out! Save yourself!
Susan.
Turn around. We've got to get out of here.
- Where's Dr. West? - Get out! Everybody get out of the house!
Help!
Come on!
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