The Haunting Page #3

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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.

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