House on Haunted Hill Page #19

SARA:

-- where the hell were you?

PRICE:

Upstairs, too. Come with me, I'll show

you another body, a friend of mine named

Schecter --

BLACKBURN:

-- what was he doing here?

PRICE:

Running all the bells and whistles we

set up to scare hell out of everybody --

EDDIE:

-- the stained glass --

PRICE:

-- yeah, we did that --

SARA:

-- the window and door grates --

PRICE:

-- no -- that's when everything went

ragtime -- whoever else is in this house

has been doing everything since -- I

thought it was Evelyn --

BLACKBURN:

-- which is why you killed her.

And now he takes his pistol and c*cks it at Price.

PRICE:

I was upstairs!

SARA:

I never saw you --

BLACKBURN:

-- I did:
down here.

EDDIE:

And I think that's case --

-- likewise producing his gun and chambering a shell.

EDDIE:

-- closed.

PRICE:

Pritchett, you're not joining

this necktie party?

PRITCHETT:

I was upstairs looking for... well,

uh... moral support. I don't know

what's going on down here, but I like

you, and if you say the house didn't

kill your wife --

Pritchett fumbles out his pistol.

PRITCHETT:

-- then I guess then it had to be

you. Sorry.

PRICE:

Thank God -- I was afraid I'd be

lynched without a quorum.

SARA:

If you've got a gun on you, Price,

I'd hand it over now.

PRICE:

Not just yet. Would any of you be

interested in knowing exactly why I

ended up here in the basement?

SARA:

Fascinated.

PRICE:

I was chasing after somebody I saw

in the salon.

BLACKBURN:

Oh, really:
who?

PRICE:

Didn't catch his or her name, just

followed them down here. Somebody all in

white surgical gown.

PRITCHETT:

(suddenly terrified)

Vannacutt!!

PRICE:

Or somebody wanting me to believe that.

SARA:

Well, I don't.

PRICE:

Then just wait -- maybe this whoever's

got you next on the Asylum's equipment-

test list. Maybe a literal mind-blow

inside the "Saturation Chamber."

SARA:

I'll take my chances.

PRICE:

Well, I can't, sweetheart.

And now Price produces his gun.

BLACKBURN:

If there really is someone else in this

house, I think the four of us can handle

the situation.

PRICE:

I think one of you has been part and

parcel of making this situation!

SARA:

The gun, Price; hand it over: now.

Price c*cks his pistol.

PRICE:

Don't test me, I'm real prepared to

use this to stay alive --

SARA:

-- confirming everything we already

know --

PRICE:

-- I'll take the chance, come morning

and cops, I'll be proved right --

-- Sara advances --

EDDIE:

-- you lose either way, Price --

SARA:

-- listen to the man --

PRICE:

-- listen to me, goddamnit --

SARA:

-- no more --

-- she reaches for his gun --

PRICE:

-- no!

And Price pulls the trigger right in her face!

SARA:

NO!!

Only...there's no explosive report, no whine of bullets --

just this CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! from Price's gun.

The room freezes for a moment -- wide-eyed shock all around.

Price looks down at his Glock: the weld on the clip's been

broken.

PRICE:

Who f***ed with my gun??

Freeze broken:
Eddie lunges for him.

EDDIE:

You sonovabitch!!

And he tackles Price to the floor, punching the gun from

Price's grasp and nailing him in the face a few times for

good measure. Price is down for the count.

Pritchett walks towards the stairs. Blackburn looks to Sara:

BLACKBURN:

Now what do we do? We've got to

hold him somewhere 'til the police --

SARA:

-- the "Saturation Chamber." Where

he wanted to put me.

Pritchett stops in his tracks on the stairs, alarmed.

PRITCHETT:

What would drive a madman sane would

drive a sane man mad.

(pauses)

I need a drink. Anyone wants me, I'll

either be upstairs or dismembered.

INT. SATURATION CHAMBER ROOM - JUST AFTER

Price lets out a scream as Eddie SLAMS the door to the

"Saturation Chamber". Price's face appears in the small

porthole.

Sara twists the WHEEL that seals tight the cast-iron, capsule-

shaped device. Asks Blackburn:

SARA:

Pretty old and rusted out -- you sure

this thing'll hold him?

Through the single small window on the side, we can see a

furious, panicked Price slam his full weight against the

inside of the door. It doesn't budge a millimeter.

BLACKBURN:

Don't think it'll be a problem.

SARA:

(to Eddie)

C'mon.

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