House on Haunted Hill Page #25

Sara's just about cleared her head from the fall -- when her

eyes go wide. Looks down: she's SINKING INTO THE FLOOR.

She cries out -- and suddenly everything beneath her just

lets go. And she's hurtling like a rock down into:

INT. SUBTERRANEAN CHAMBER - CONTINUOUS

SARA lands on her face in some pitch-black space.

When her eyes adjust, she sees she's in a vault-like room

that is filled with stalaqmite-like MOUNDS OF DIRT AND ROCK.

Bizarre geological formations, each one unique in its own

skewed way, it appears for a moment as though Sara has fallen

across time and space and onto the surface of a planet we

don't even have a name for yet.

INT. THE HOUSE - VARIOUS ROOMS - SIMULTANEOUS

The full ANGER of this place is now manifesting:

-- WALLS writhe and twist in fury, forming

-- STAIRWAYS that shake themselves into splinters of frenzy;

-- CARVINGS in the wainscotted paneling that become animate

and turn upon themselves, cannibalizing the writhing,

screaming walls that spawned them.

INT. HALLWAY - SIMULTANEOUS

EDDIE PEERS into the hole in the floor: there is only

darkness that seems to go on forever.

EDDIE:

Sara...? Sara...?

INT. SUBTERRANEAN CHAMBER - SIMULTANEOUS

As Sara tries to pull herself to her feet she sees: DIRT and

ROCK beginning to FALL from the strange FORMATIONS

surrounding her. And then all becomes clear as to where and

who she's with:

Beneath all that effluence are the REMAINS of Vannacutt's

VICTIMS. Some are missing body parts. Some are only body

parts. Some are bound with leather straps as if they were

just dumped there after dying on the electro-shock or

dissection table.

SARA, lets out the SCREAM of her life.

INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS

Eddie hears her and bolts madly down the hall.

EDDIE:

Sara!

He races toward the stairwell leading to the basement.

INT. SUBTERRANEAN CHAMBER - CONTINUOUS

Sara leaps to her feet and tries to reach for the hole in the

ceiling - it's just out of reach.

Then she senses something else in there with her.

Reluctantly, she turns around:

The Shadow Thing appears, festering on the wall. It quickly

splits into parts and disappears into the rotted corpses. AND

THEY START TO MOVE.

Rising to life, foul breath bellowing into them, slowly

starting to come towards her in a dance macabre --

VOICE (O.S.)

(a whisper)

Sara.

Sara looks up to see EDDIE in the opening above.

EDDIE:

Grab my hand.

He bends down to grab for her, but she's just out of reach.

DECAYING HANDS AND ARMS are suddenly grabbing at Sara,

tearing at her clothes, shredding the flesh beneath them

bloody with their long, post-mortem nails.

SARA:

Eddie!!!

Eddie takes his jacket off and lowers it down to Sara. She

grabs hold, and Eddie begins pulling her up.

INT. ATTIC - SIMULTANEOUS

Pritchett finds himself in the cavernous attic, standing

before the massive pulley and counterweight system that's the

upper half of the lockdown mechanism.

Through the grooved channel that one of the iron plates

slides up and down on, Pritchett can look down and see the

Foyer and the plate blocking the front door.

There's a hand crank attached to a series of block-and-

tackles that ultimately connect to the massive counterweight

to the front door's plate.

With all his effort, he turns the crank, but can only manage

a half revolution --

-- creak-crunch -- but something moved down there! You can

hear it! How much, how high, he can't see, but maybe it's

enough.

PRITCHETT:

If there is a God...

He puts his full weight behind him and grabs the crank again

-- pushes down -- and the thing breaks off in his hand.

PRITCHETT:

No-no-no!!!! Why me, why me, you

sonovabitch!

In hysterical frustration, he throws the broken flange of

metal as hard as he can at the wall. He misses the wall

entirely and the crank just pinballs impotently between

cables and counter-weights with a series of mocking CLANKS!

and PINGS!

PRITCHETT:

Whyyyyyyy??????

As he tears at his hair, screeching, suddenly he notices

light on his hands. He turns, and the:

DIM GLOW from a soon-to-rise sun falls on his face. He SEES:

that, somehow, all that caroming that his errant crank did

has caused one of the IRON PLATES to raise slightly. There is

now a THREE FOOT OPENING in the attic dormer window.

PRITCHETT'S EYES glance nervously upward.

PRITCHETT:

Is it too late to take back a

couple of things I said?

INT. DECAYING ROOM - SIMULTANEOUS

Eddie pulls Sara all the way up and out of the subterranean

chamber. They slump back on the fetid floor, exhausted.

EDDIE:

You okay?

SARA:

Yeah. And under other abnormal

circumstances, I think this would be the

time to seriously jump your bones.

EDDIE:

Better put it on hold 'til we find

Pritchett.

SARA:

I don't do groups.

Eddie laughs -- and then his mouth stays open with no sound

coming out. He's staring as:

The area around the hole in the floor begins to turn a

familiar black. And is creeping fast towards Sara's shoe.

SARA:

What?

EDDIE:

Jesus!

She rips her shoes off.

EDDIE:

Pritchett??

They both bolt and head for the basement stairs.

INT. ATTIC - SIMULTANEOUS

Pritchett moves to the window and freedom. He is about to

make it outside when he stops.

PRITCHETT:

Oh, c'mon -- don't grow a conscience

now, f'chrissake!

He continues out the window -- stops again. Looks heavenward,

angry and guilty at the same time. Yells to his deity:

PRITCHETT:

Alright, alright! I won't leave 'em here

to die!

He crabs himself back into the attic, runs over to the

grooved channel that the front door's iron plate slides on.

Shouts down through the slit to the Foyer:

PRITCHETT:

I found the way out!

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