The Black Door

Hi, I'm not here right now. Leave a message after the beep, and I'll call you back.

Hi. It's Meg. Are you there?

Hello?

Will you call me as soon as you hear this message?

It's about Steven.

I don't know what happened to him, but he's not doing well.

I know this is going to sound weird, but he says you have to film him.

I don't know. Just call me, okay? Bye.

You have to film this.

Don't miss a thing.

Don't stop filming— it's the proof.

Film it. I saw him.

He was there.

It was dark, but I saw him. I don't know how, but he's there.

Look what he did to me.

I'm not lying, and I'm not crazy. It's all in the footage.

THE BLACK DOOR

STEVEN'S GIRLFRIEND - MEG

I don't know how to tell this.

I don't know where to start.

Steven was hospitalized yesterday.

The police said he had been assaulted.

He went to a house in the suburbs. To look for something for his thesis.

And that's where he was assaulted.

I had told him not to go. But he wouldn't listen to me.

Now he won't speak to me.

Steven studies at Stanford.

That's where we met.

We're getting married next year.

But he didn't explain to me how he ended up in this situation.

It's a thesis on trade relations...

...between the United States and Mexico in the late 1920s.

It's not exactly a dangerous subject.

THE DOCTOR

What is Steven's condition?

He presents the usual symptoms seen in victims of assault.

A severe state of shock, bruising...

These are very common cases.

Except for those scratches he has.

We don't know what attacked him. Judging by the shape, it could be a man.

It could be, but...

These are deep cuts.

Several of them—like the ones on his back— are infected.

I can't picture a man doing that.

His fingernails would break.

Maybe a huge dog or a feline.

The police say it happened inside a house.

But he's no longer in danger.

The cuts are deep, but he's young and healthy; he'll pull through.

-It was a wonderful time. -Yes.

-Dressed as a cowboy. -He always really loved that.

Yes. He must have been about thirteen here.

He was just a little kid. Here, at six months old...

STEVEN'S MOTHER - LUCY H.

I suppose my favorite is the one we have from his graduation.

It was a very happy day.

He is a very talented student.

He earned his bachelor's degree with excellent grades, and then went on to get his master's.

We are so proud of him...

When he came back from San Francisco, he was so immersed in his research...

that we hardly ever saw him.

I've spent more time with the photos than with Steven.

STEVEN'S FATHER - PATRICK H.

Even as a very young child, he was already captivated by history.

He would seek out the old houses in the neighborhood,

imagining who might have lived in them.

It fascinated him.

And what kind of people might frequent them now.

I warned him.

These are the things he's gathered since he started that work.

It's about this man: Antonio Fuentes Balmaseda.

I don't know how he found out about its existence. I really don't know.

But he has always been very interested in Mexican history.

We even thought about going there for our honeymoon.

We might choose somewhere else now.

What captured Steven's interest was the mystery of that story.

Balmaseda set up his business in '24...

and made a lot of money in New York.

In '28, he left it behind and opened a trucking company in Seattle.

And in '32, he vanished—disappeared.

Steven found some records here, in Seattle.

Registration forms for Balmaseda's company.

But Steven believed that Balmaseda had planned to disappear.

Because his business was doing very poorly, and...

Steven said that was why no one was alarmed.

But it never appeared. It's very strange.

And then he found this.

I wish he had never found it.

He changed so much after that.

He didn't want me to see it. He didn't want me to touch it...

I don't understand it. He was obsessed with it.

He changed completely.

What could have made him change like that?

He said it was better if I didn't see it, and that I shouldn't even go near it.

Before, we shared everything.

Why would he do that?

The eight-millimeter film was discovered by Steven H...

during the autumn of 1999.

Upon recovering this document, we hesitated to show it to the public.

But it is a responsibility we must shoulder.

The footage was filmed in April 1932,

around the time of Balmaseda's disappearance.

Its sixteen minutes were intended to document an experiment.

We will follow them with you, step by step.

This must be the first one.

Judging by the angle, the man cutting his hand is behind the camera.

That dark liquid comes from the bucket we saw.

They are preparing a bath.

In these frames, we discover that it consists of human blood.

We do not know if that man was the one cutting his hand.

Nor can we determine how much time has elapsed since the previous image.

Three more men enter.

Balmaseda is the one in the center; he is wearing a white shirt.

Based on the attention paid to Balmaseda, we deduce that he may have been their leader.

They treat him with the utmost respect.

They trace a circle on the ground.

Everyone appears very tense.

They make marks within the circle.

Next to Balmaseda's head, hands, and feet.

Five points in total.

Using the chalk line, the shape of a star...

appears on the floor as the points are connected.

The lines are thickened with paint.

They are using specially crafted tools.

They avoid stepping inside the circle.

This demonstrates the importance of the procedure.

They are drawing a five-pointed star.

The circle of invocation used in black magic.

They are Satan worshippers.

The curtain rises.

Now the experiment begins, or what we should call a ceremony.

We already know that everything had been prepared for Balmaseda.

He is the center of the event.

Balmaseda is about to be bathed in human blood.

My name is Steven.

These are the results of the investigation into...

a Mexican man named Antonio Balmaseda, who disappeared in 1932.

This recording concludes the studies I had recorded on tape.

These are the pieces of evidence I have gathered.

The Seattle Police report from April of '32...

mentioning Balmaseda's disappearance.

I received the ledger from Balmaseda's company.

It was given to me by the daughter of his accountant at the time, Karl Krummel.

I found evidence that he had been giving sums of money to various men...

during the period between 1929 and 1932.

June 15, 1999.

I have received the ledger from Miss Krummel.

There is something strange about the three years prior to his disappearance.

The pages of the ledger indicate that, starting January 30, 1930,

Balmaseda regularly handed over three thousand dollars,

a great deal of money for that era, to three individuals:

Dickson Ward, Anton Milodragovitch, and Carlos Carvalho,

who appear every three months in 1930,

every two months in '31, and every week in early 1932.

These men were neither partners nor clients.

I suspected blackmail. So I investigated them.

None of them are still alive.

THESE IMAGES MAY BE DISTURBING

The brush used to wash Balmaseda is designed...

to prevent others from touching the blood.

Which holds significant symbolic value.

The washing was, without a doubt, a process of purification.

Just like the smoke— most likely incense.

We cannot make out what that man is saying.

It could be a prayer accompanying the purification.

Each of them knows exactly what to do.

They all act in perfect harmony.

But for some reason, Carvalho, the man carrying the chalice,

is not permitted to hand it to Balmaseda.

They begin to pray.

Balmaseda appears very tense.

The prayer concludes with an inverted sign of the cross, and with:

"In Aeternam Infernales Dei Gloriam."

In Latin: "Eternal Glory to the Infernal Deity."

It is the conclusion of an invocation to the Devil.

We do not know what the dark liquid is that Balmaseda has just drunk.

The close-ups of Balmaseda's eyes suggest that it may be...

some kind of drug that induces a sense of lightheadedness.

Balmaseda is under the influence of the drug.

He can barely walk.

The man on our left— Carvalho—asks him something.

Balmaseda nods.

Pay close attention to what is about to happen.

The two men on the sides— Ward and Milodragovitch...

pull out straight razors. Carvalho looks frightened.

Balmaseda's death takes place in the second third of the footage.

What began as a study for my thesis...

has turned into something much more complex.

After seeing the footage,

I cannot go on as before.

I haven't told Meg about it.

I don't know what to do with it.

Should I show it, or not?

I need someone's help.

Even if it's just advice.

THE FINAL THIRD OF THE 8MM FILM.

Let's see what happens in the final stage of the ceremony.

Balmaseda is not dead yet.

The men seem surprised.

Balmaseda tries to scream as blood floods his throat.