The Haunting

Ring-around-the-rosy

Now, I'm trying to tell you...

that we can't afford toke you here any more.

You already owe two months worth of back rent.

It's mine, and you're not taking it away.

Read the will, Nell. It states, in plain language:

"The executor shall have the right to dispose of...

any and all personal property as he shall see fit."

- He's not even real family. - Yeah, well, may be not.

But clearly, Mother thought Lou would be much better equipped...

to deal with these unpleasant details than you.

" Unpleasant details"?

What have I been dealing with for the past 11 years?

I've cooked, cleaned, mopped up her urine! You call that an "unpleasant detail"?

- Hey, your sister didn't write the will. - We all know what you've done.

- We're trying to help. - Do not help me!

Oh, Ritchie. Just go sit on the couch, okay?

Oh.

Any way, once probate closes,

we can put this apartment on the market,

and we all might be able to make a few bucks.

Also, we know how much you love Mom's car, so we're giving it toyou.

You're taking away my home and giving me a 20-year-old car?

Absolutely. We'll deduct the value from the proceeds of the apartment.

Who are you?

Do you understand that I have nowhere to go?

We've been talking, and Lou and I are very busy.

We could use some one to help us with the cleaning and the cooking,

looking after Ritchie?

Eleanor, help me. I gotta pee.

Get outta my home.

Well, suit your self. We'll let the courts handle it.

Get out ofmy home.

Honey, let go. That's right. Oops. Sorry. Okay.

Here you go, honey. Follow Daddy.

Come live with us, Nell.

You have no idea how hard it is out there.

No,Jane. You have no idea how hard it was in here.

Hello.

Yes, this is Eleanor.

Where?

I see it.

" Research subjects. Nine hundred a week."

Here'show they're organized. The groups have very different personalities.

Scored all over the Kiersey Temperament Sorter,just like you asked for,

and they all score very high on the insomnia charts.

Oh, what a beautiful profile.

A classic dependent personality disorder.

However, we were looking for "suggestible."

Her mother died two months ago.

She really wants to do this.

And what are your feelings, Mary?

Tell me what your intuitions say.

I put my favorites on top.

Mm-hmm. What else have we got here?

"Low self-esteem, high narcissism,

chronic feeling of emptiness,

identity disturbance. "

Good, good. Verygood.

Is this where we're going?

That's Hill House. That's perfect, isn't it?

- The Hill House Project-- - Is absolutely essential to my research, Malcom.

No,just listen. I grant you,

fear and performance is a big, sexy idea.

- But as chairman of this department, I cannot-- - I know you clinical guys...

don't like to ask these questions, but think about it.

What is fear, anyway? It's a series of automatic responses to a given stimulus,

characterized by increased heart rate, respiratory activity and adrenaline function.

The only problem with fear is that it has largely become inappropriate and non adaptive.

Do sweaty palms help to talk to your boss?

Does a racing pulse help some kid's score on an SAT?

And yet we carry with us these primordial fear responses...

that do the opposite of what they were intended to do.

- So why is that? - David, David, no one is saying...

that these aren't provocative questions.

But you can't conduct this research ethically or responsibly.

And on top of that, you're bringing your insomniacs...

to this house under false pretenses.

Because the experiment needs a credible cover story. Calling it an insomnia study...

allows me to create a highly suggestive environment...

to investigate the dynamics offear.

You don't tell the rats they're actually in a maze, Malcom. Come on.

What do you want?

Are-- Are you Mr. Dudley, the caretaker?

Yeah. I'm Mr. Dudley, the caretaker. What are you doing here?

I'm with Dr. Marrow's group.

I'm supposed to see Mrs. Dudley. Is she here?

What do you think?

Why do you need so many chains?

That's a good question.

What is it about fences?

Sometimes the people on either side of the fence see a locked chain,

they feel a little more comfortable.

Why do you suppose that is?

Mrs. Dudley?

Hello?

Mrs. Dudley?

Hello?

Hello? Mrs. Dudley?

Oh, my--

I'm-- I'm, uh-- I'm Eleanor Vance.

- I'm here with the - Dr. Marrow's group.

You're the first.

Yeah, I'd-- I'd heard a sound, and that's--

It's make the dinner or answer the door. Can't do both.

- Are you Mrs. Dudley? - So far.

I'll show you your room.

This way.

The Red Room.

You're going to be the first visitors Hill House has had...

- since Mr. Crain died. - Really?

These are beautiful.

I know. I've seen 'em. It's a lot to dust.

I've never seen this kind of beauty.

You must love working here.

I set dinner on the dining room side boardatsix.

You can serve your selves. Breakfast is ready at nine.

Idon'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.

Why would we?

No one could.

No one lives any nearer than town.

No one will come any nearer than that...

in the night, in the dark.

You'll be staying in the north wing.

Hi. Don't worry. I'm notan obsessive packer.

It's just asking people to help me schlepp this stuffis a cheap...

and exploitative way of making new friends.

- Here. I'm Theo. - Hi.

Eleanor, but everyone calls me Nell.

Well, Everyone Calls Me Nell, don'tyou love it here?

I love it. Sort ofCharles Foster Kane meets the Munsters or something.

- I like your boots. - You do? Aren't they great?

Prada. Milan, not New York. But they're killing me.

Hey, small price to pay for such savage kicks.

Wow. Oh, my God.

Oh, this is so twisted.

Seriously twisted.

I set dinner on the dining room side boardatsix.

Breakfast is at nine.

I don't stay after dinner, not after it begins to get dark.

I leave before dark comes,

so there won't be any one here if you need help.

- We couldn't even hear you. - No one could.

No one lives any nearer than town.

No one will come any nearer than that.

In the night.

- In the dark. In the dark.

My bedroom's right next door to yours.

I thinkwe share the same bathroom.

Oh, don't worry. I probably won't be in here much.

- Light sleeper. - That's why we're here.

- What do you do, Eleanor? - I'm between jobs right now.

The last person I was workin' for, it ended. Over, so-- And you?

Well, that depends.

I'm supposed to be an artist,

but I've been distracted from work by love.

- You know what I mean? - Mmm, not really.

Hey, don't tell me Boston's different from New York.

Oh, you mean you have trouble with commitment.

Well, my boyfriend thinks so, my girlfriend doesn't.

If we could all live together-- But they hate each other.

Hello. The bag.

You know, it's hard when you're the only one at the party.

- You know what I mean? - No.

A blank canvas.

I could paint your portrait directly on you.

Or may be not.

So, what about you?

Husbands? Boyfriends?

Girlfriends, Eleanor?

Where do you live?

Mmm. I don't have anyone.

But I do have a little apartment of my own.

It has a little flower garden.

You can just see the ocean. And when the wind...

comes injust right, you can hear the buoys in the harbor.

Wow. That sounds really nice.

You're lucky. But you know that, right?

Oh, sorry.

Just a little hair.

So, show me the bathroom!

Oh, it's really beautiful.

It is huge.

- Oh, my God! - This is the bathroom.

Look at this bathtub. Can you believe it?

Look at that. Wow!

Look at my bedroom, though.

- Isn't it beautiful? - Yes.

- You'vegot tosee the Great Hall. - Uh-huh.

I mean, there's so much carving. It's everywhere.

- I know. - Oh, look at this one.

- Isn't this one great? - No, that's creepy.

Oh, and this one. This one's weird.

Well, you don't get this from the Martha Stewart catalog.