( woman screaming )
( pained moaning )
( woman screaming )
( man laughing maniacally over screams )
( creaking door )
( rattling chains and heavy foot steps )
The ghosts are moving tonight - restless, hungry.
May I introduce myself?
I'm Watson Pritchard.
In just a minute I'll show you the only really haunted house in the world.
Since it was built a century ago,
seven people, including my brother,
have been murdered in it.
Since then, I've owned the house.
I've only spent one night there.
And when they found me in the morning I...
I was almost dead!
( pained moaning )
♪ ( jarring musical note, swelling ) ♪
I'm Frederick Loren.
And I've rented the house on Haunted Hill tonight
so that my wife can give a party.
A haunted house party. (chuckles)
She's so amusing.
There will be food and drink and... ghosts.
And perhaps even a few murders.
You're all invited.
If any of you will spend the next twelve hours in this house,
I'll give you each $10,000 -
- or your next of kin, in case you don't survive.
Ah, but here come our other guests.
(Frederick) It was my wife's idea to have our guests come in funeral cars.
She's so amusing.
Her sense of humor is, shall we say, original.
I dreamed up the hearse.
It's empty now, but -
- after a night in the house on Haunted Hill -
- who knows?
This is Lance Schroeder, a test pilot.
So, no doubt a brave man.
But don't you think you can be much braver if you're paid for it?
And I happen to know that Lance
needs the ten thousand I'll give him,
if he's brave enough to stay all night.
This is Ruth Bridgers.
You've no doubt read her column in the newspapers.
She says her reason for coming to the party
is to write a feature article on ghosts.
She's also desperate for money. Gambles.
You've already met Watson Pritchard,
a man living in mortal fear of a house,
and yet he's risking his life to spend another night here.
I wonder why.
He says "for money".
This is Dr. David Trent, a psychiatrist.
He claims that my ghosts will help his work on hysteria.
But don't you see a little touch of greed there
around the mouth and eyes?
This is Nora Manning.
I picked her from the thousands of people who work for me
because she needed the ten thousand most.
Supports her whole family.
Isn't she pretty?
The party's starting now.
And you have until midnight to find The House on Haunted Hill.
♪ ( title music plays ) ♪
Lance: Well, where is everybody?
Nora: It isn't a very warm welcome, is it?
Watson: Only the ghosts in this house are glad we're here.
Ruth: Are we all strangers to each other?
Don't you two know each other?
Lance: I'm afraid I don't even know your name.
- I'm Nora Manning. - Lance Schroeder.
Ruth: Is Fredrick Loren a friend of yours?
Lance: I've heard of him, but I've never met him.
Nora: I work for one of his companies.
But I've never seen him.
Ruth: I've never met the man either. Just a phone call.
Do you know him?
David: No.
(Ruth) Then you're the only one of us who does.
Watson: I don't know him.
All the details about running the house were done by mail.
David: He's quite wealthy, isn't he?
Ruth: Millions.
- David: And five wives, I believe. - Ruth: Four, I think so far.
David: A $50,000 party for only five people is a little steep.
(David) Even for a millionaire.
Lance: Well, if I were going to haunt anybody,
this would certainly be the house I'd do it in.
( door creaks and slams shut )
(chandelier tinkles)
Nora: Who closed the door?
♪ ( ominous music ) ♪
Lance: This thing's made of solid steel.
( chandelier crashes )
♪ ( ominous music plays ) ♪
Fredrick: Annabelle?
Our guests are here and unfortunately still alive.
Is your face on yet?
Annabelle: Dust and dirt everywhere.
And the water barely trickles.
Couldn't you've had the place cleaned?
Fredrick: Atmosphere, darling. You know how ghosts are.
They never tidy up.
That's a very fetching outfit,
but hardly suitable for a party.
Annabelle: I'm not going to the party.
Fredrick: This 'spend the night ghost party' was your idea. Remember?
Since it's going to cost me $50,000,
I want you to have fun!
Annabelle: The party was my idea,
until you invited all the guests.
Why all the strangers? Why none of our friends?
Fredrick: Friends? Do we have any friends?
Annabelle: No. Your jealousy took care of that.
Fredrick: I had a reason for inviting each guest.
I wanted a cross section.
From psychiatrist to typist.
And from drunk to jet pilot.
They share one thing. They all need money.
Now, let's see if they're brave enough to earn it.
Annabelle: And you call this a party?
Fredrick: Could be.
Annabelle: Why do you always do that?
It spoils the champagne.
Fredrick: It might explode. - (Annabelle) It never does.
Fredrick: Will you guarantee that?
Annabelle: That isn't funny, Fredrick.
Fredrick: It'd make a good headline.
"Playboy kills wife with champagne cork".
- Will you join me? - Annabelle: No, thank you.
Fredrick: Just a sip might improve your humor.
Annabelle: My humor is fine, thanks.
And I haven't poisoned it.
Fredrick: It's always good to know that.
Fredrick: Have some. You'll enjoy the party more.
Go on.
Annabelle: Your trust is so touching.
And I'm not going to the party.
Fredrick: Of all my wives, you're the least agreeable.
Annabelle: But, still alive.
Fredrick: Would you go away, for a million dollars, tax-free?
You want it all, don't you?
Annabelle: I deserve it all.
Your jealousy isn't tax-free.
And your possessiveness is maddening.
Fredrick: If ever a man had grounds for divorce...
- Annabelle: But can't prove them. - Fredrick: The time will come.
Fredrick: You'll slip up one of these days.
- Annabelle: You think so? - Fredrick: If I live long enough.
Fredrick: Do you remember the fun we had when you poisoned me?
Annabelle: Something you ate, the doctor said.
Fredrick: Yes. Arsenic on the rocks.
You'd do it again if you thought you could get away with it, wouldn't you!?
Annabelle: Darling, what makes you think that?
Fredrick: Something about you.
I hear that hanging is very uncomfortable, in case you get any more ideas.
(Fredrick) Don't let the ghosts and the ghouls disturb you, darling.
Annabelle: Darling, the only ghoul in the house is you.
Fredrick: Don't sit up all night, thinking of ways to get rid of me.
It makes wrinkles.
Watson: This is what she used on my brother and her sister.
Hacked 'em to pieces.
We found parts of the bodies all over the house.
In places you wouldn't think.
A funny thing is, the heads have never been found.
Hands and feet and things like that.
But no heads.
David: The wife, probably in a rage, threatened her husband with the knife
and then, carried away by hysteria, took a swing at him,
and simply went on from there.
Lance: She certainly went on. How many people did she kill, Mr. Pritchard?
Watson: Only two.
Her husband and her sister. No one else was here.
Lance: So there are two loose heads just floating around here somewhere?
Watson: You can hear them at night.
They whisper to each other. And then cry.
( Lance laughs )
Ruth: Since our host isn't here, would anyone care to mix me a drink?
David: Certainly. What will you have?
( door opens )
Fredrick: Good evening.
I'm your host, Fredrick Loren.
Since we're all strangers to each other, let's get acquainted with a drink.
Watson: Mr. Loren, I advise you to call this party off now.
The ghosts are already moving and that's a bad sign.
Fredrick: Let me apologize for my wife. She'll join us later.
- What will you have? - Ruth: Scotch and.
- Doctor? - David: I'll have the same.
Fredrick: Now, before the party begins, let's go over the details.
The caretakers will leave at midnight,
locking us in here, until they come back in the morning.
Once the door is locked, there's no way out.
The windows have bars that a jail would be proud of.
And the only door to the outside locks like a vault.
There's no electricity. No phone. No one within miles.
So, no way to call for help.
Watson: Like a coffin.
Fredrick: So, if any of you decide to not stay for the party,
you must let me know before midnight.
Of course, if you leave, I shan't be able to pay you anything.
David: I'm interested in your reasons for this "party".
Aside from present company.
Fredrick: Ghosts, Doctor!
I think everyone wonders what they would do
(Fredrick) if they saw a ghost.
Fredrick: And now my wife has given us the opportunity to find out.
David: Hm. Amusing.
David: Ghosts, etcetera, being only creations of hysteria,
your party should be a success!
Fredrick: Pritchard here promises us genuine ghosts.
Watson: Seven, now. Maybe more before morning.
Fredrick: That's cheerful.
Watson: Four men have been murdered in this house.
And three women.
David: You've planned your party very well, Mr. Loren.
Four of us are men. Three are women.
A ghost for everybody.
Fredrick: Pritchard, why don't you take us on a tour through the house?
Let's see what happens?
Watson: See that stain? Blood.
Watson: A young girl was killed here.
And whatever got her, wasn't human.
- Don't stand there! - Ruth: What do you mean? Where?
Watson: It's too late. They've marked you.
David: Ridiculous. The roof probably leaks.
Ruth: That must be what it is. Who'd want to haunt me?
Fredrick: I'd say any self-respecting male ghost.
Watson: I hope it doesn't come back.
David: Well, Mr. Pritchard, you're the life of the party.
Fredrick: He hasn't even started yet.
Wasn't there a man who threw his wife into a wine vat or something?
Watson: That was in the cellar.
There's been a murder almost every place in this house.
Watson: All this belonged to a Mr. Norton, who didn't die here.
He was electrocuted later.
Watson: Mr. Norton did a good deal of experimenting with wines.
But his wife didn't think it was any good.
So he filled a vat with acid and threw her in.
(Watson) She was supposed to stay down,
but the bones came up.
Watson: It's a funny thing.
None of the murders here were just ordinary.
Just shooting. Or stabbing.
They've all been sort of wild. Violent. Different.
Lance: Look out!
Watson: Thank God she didn't fall in.
Nora: You mean there's still acid in there?
( violent bubbling )
Watson: Destroys everything with hair and flesh.
Just leaves the bones.
Watson: My, it's dry and dusty down here.
Fredrick: Well there's... a cure... for that... upstairs.
Lance: How'd you get invited to this party?
Lance: I mean, what'd he tell you?
Nora: Mr. Loren said everybody would get $10,000.
Lance: But he didn't say anything about being locked in.
Nora: No.
Lance: He just made the deal with me on the phone.
But nothing about having to stay.
Nora: Aren't you going to stay?
Lance: If I don't, I lose $10,000.
Nora: I'm going to stay, too. $10, 000...
Lance: Yes... Do you believe in ghosts?
Nora: I don't know.
Lance: Well, I agree with what that doc says.
You can spook yourself.
I've done it in planes. Seen things that weren't really there.
Or, were they? ( laughing )
Lance: What are you going to do with your $10,000?
If we get it.
Nora: What do you mean "if we get it"?
Won't he pay us if we stay?
Lance: Sure he will. $10,000 is no more to him,
than a nickle is to us.
Nora: We were in an automobile accident.
Now I'm the only one in the family who can make any money.
Lance: Boy, I've never seen so many doors.
Lance: Bottles!
Nora: Does it go anywhere?
( door creaks and slams )
Nora: Lance!
Lance!
♪ ( dramatic music ) ♪
Nora: Help me! Please!
Lance is gone and there's a ghost!
- David: A ghost? - Watson: See what I mean?
- Nora: Please! Come on! - Ruth: Did she say Lance is gone?
Ruth: Gone where?
Nora: We'll have to break it down. It's locked!
David: Locked?
Fredrick: You all right?
Lance: Nothing that money won't cure.
I must have - I must have bumped my head.
David: The only way you could bump your head in here -
- is to run head-on into the wall.
David: You didn't do that, did you?
Let's get a bandage on that.
Watson: I wonder why they didn't kill him.
Ruth: Who?
Watson: He didn't bump his head.
They hit him.
Ruth: They?
♪ ( eerie music ) ♪
Fredrick: Nora, you said something about a ghost.
Nora: There was something.
Fredrick: What did it look like?
Nora: It was wearing a black thing that went all the way to the floor.
David: Weren't you a little frightened at the time?
Nora: Well, yes.
David: That, Mr. Loren, is hysteria.
Fredrick: Well, then, Doctor, how do you explain what happened to Lance?
Was that hysteria, too?
David: You'd better get that checked in a day or so.
Lance: Thanks, Doc.
Lance (whispering): Wait for me in the hall.
Watson: The ghosts are coming closer, Mr. Loren.
Fredrick: You really believe in your pet ghosts, don't you Pritchard?
Watson: Before the night's over, you will, too.
Fredrick: Would you like a drink, Lance?
Lance: No thanks. - Ruth: I'd like one. Scotch and.
Ruth: Mr. Loren, are you really going to pay anyone who stays all night?
Fredrick: Certainly. $10,000.
Ruth: Will there be much red-tape or delay?
Fredrick: In a hurry, dear?
Ruth: Frankly, yes. (muttering) Or 'frantically'.
Fredrick: There you are, my dear.
( clock ticking )
Lance: Someone or some thing was in here when I came in.
But where?
If the door was locked, how did it get out?
What you saw might have been a ghost,
but what was in here was no ghost.
Nora: I don't know. I was so scared.
( solid knocking )
( knocking with echoes )
Lance: Does that sound different to you? - Nora: Yes!
( knocking with echoes )
Lance: 3... 6... 9... 12.
Lance: 12 feet.
Lance: 3... 6.
Lance: I'm going to knock on the other wall.
When you hear me, you knock on this wall.
( knocking with echoes from first room )
( Nora knocks )
(Lance) Tap lower down!
( knocking with echoes )
( Nora screams in terror )
( sobbing )
Nora: Oh Lance! I saw it again!
Lance: Where'd it come from?
Nora: From in here!
Lance: Well if it'd ran out of here - I'd have seen it.
Nora: Lance, it doesn't run, it just floats!
Lance: But why didn't I see it?
Nora: You don't believe me!
Lance (laughing): How can I?
Annabelle: I'm Annabelle Loren.
You must be Miss Manning.
I realize this is a very unusual and, I'm afraid, very dull party.
Wouldn't you like to freshen up?
Annabelle: This is your room.
Depressing, isn't it?
Nora: I doubt if I'll spend much time here.
Annabelle: It's going to rain. Perfect atmosphere for my husbands party.
Why did you come here?
Nora: He said he'd give me $10,000.
Annabelle: Why did he pick you?
Nora: I don't know. My supervisor just said I'd been invited.
Annabelle: How long have you known my husband?
Nora: I just met him tonight.
Annabelle: So... why you?
What were you doing wandering around by yourself?
Nora: I was in the cellar with Lance - Mr. Schroeder - I just left, that's all.
Annabelle: Don't do it again.
(Annabelle) Don't go anywhere in this house by yourself.
Now fix your face and I'll come by for you in a few minutes.
Nora: But I - - Annabelle: You're in danger.
We all are.
Nora: But who?
Annabelle: I hope, for your sake, you never find out.
Annabelle: I'm Annabelle Loren. Were you looking for something?
Lance: Not exactly.
Annabelle: Are you the doctor?
Lance: No. I'm Lance Schroeder. - Annabelle: The pilot.
You've hurt yourself.
Lance: Oh, it's just a bump on the head.
Which is my room?
Annabelle: I believe this is it.
Lance: Thank you, Mrs. Loren.
Annabelle: Annabelle, Lance.
Annabelle: You were with the young girl in the cellar.
Why was she so upset?
Lance: Was she?
Annabelle: And you don't look like the type to go around bumping his head.
What really happened, Lance?
Lance: Nora thought she saw a ghost, but I didn't see anything.
Annabelle: She was just frightened, then?
Lance: And mad at me, I think. I kidded her about it.
Annabelle: I wouldn't joke about anything else that happens here tonight.
Lance: Now, don't tell me you're taking all of this seriously?
Annabelle: Aren't you?
Lance: Well, I'd like to find out what hit me.
Annabelle: Lance...
If I need help, may I count on you?
Lance: Yes, sure. I guess so.
Look - what's going on here, anyway?
What's with this party business?
Annabelle: This is no party, he's planning something.
Lance: Your husband?
Annabelle: I wish I knew what it was.
Lance: It must be pretty big, if he's going to lay out $50,000.
Annabelle: Money doesn't mean anything.
He has a reason for getting us all up here to this dreadful old house.
Lance: Well, what for? He doesn't even know us.
Annabelle: Maybe that's exactly why you're here?
Lance (scoffs): What can he get away with?
Annabelle: Oh, he thinks that big money like his can get away with anything.
You know, of course, that I'm his fourth wife.
The first simply disappeared...
The other two died.
Lance, I don't want to join them.
Lance: You mean, he, uh -
Annabelle: Oh, his doctors said they died of heart attacks.
Two girls, in their twenties.
Lance: Well, what can he do?
Annabelle: My husband is sometimes insane with jealousy.
Nothing matters to him then. Please be careful.
Lance: Would he hurt you?
Annabelle: He would kill me if he could.
Fredrick: Annabelle, you're missing all the fun.
Nora Manning was almost killed by a falling chandelier.
The pilot bashed his head in.
Annabelle: Is he badly hurt?
Fredrick: The saturnine psychiatrist bandaged him up.
Don't you want to go and console him?
As you do, most men, in your fashion.
Annabelle: You're so clever, Fredrick.
Fredrick: I lie awake nights, wondering why I married you.
It was rather a mistake.
Annabelle: You didn't marry me, dear. I married you.
Unpleasant, but no mistake.
Fredrick: Hurry up!
Annabelle: Fredrick, for the last time, I'm not going to your party.
Fredrick: And, for the last time, it's not my party -
- but yours.
And you are going.
Annabelle: I am not.
Fredrick: Are you ready? - Annabelle: ... no ...
Fredrick (forceful): Are you ready, dear? - Annabelle: ... Yes, damn you!
Fredrick: Would you adore me as much, if I were poor?
(laughs) Or do you want to be as a lovely widow?
It's almost time to lock up the house.
And then your party will really begin.
I wonder how it will end.
( knocking )
Fredrick: It's close to midnight, Lance.
Lance: Ok. I'll be down in a minute.
( knocks )
(Nora) Who is it?
Fredrick: Your host, my dear.
Fredrick: It's almost midnight, Nora.
We're all going to get together down in the living room.
Nora: All right, Mr. Loren. I'll be right down.
( recoils in disgust )
( gasping )
Jonas: Come with us.
Come with us, before he kills you!
( screams )
Lance: Where's Nora? Miss Manning?
Nora: I don't want to stay here!
Fredrick: Nora, what happened?
( creaking )
Fredrick: That's Jonas Slydes and his wife.
They've been caretakers here for years.
She's blind, you know.
Nora: I'm not going to stay here!
Fredrick: Doctor, it looks like we have a real case of hysteria on our hands.
David: I think she's just a little upset, not hysterical.
( door opening )
Annabelle: Good evening.
Fredrick: Hello, my dear.
This is my wife. These are our guests...
(Fredrick) Ruth Bridgers,
(Fredrick) Doctor Trent,
(Fredrick) You know Watson Pritchard, of course,
(Fredrick) Nora Manning,
(Fredrick) and this is Lance Schroeder.
Nora (whispering): Get me out of here!
Lance (whispering): What about the $10,000?
Nora (whispering): I don't care! He wants to kill me!
Lance (whispering): Who wants to kill you?
Nora (whispering): Mister Loren.
Fredrick: May I have your attention, please?
Fredrick: I think you all remember
(Fredrick) the bargain we made about staying all night?
Fredrick: $10,000 a piece.
If any of you don't survive, $50,000 will be divided amongst the rest of you.
Fredrick: If I should die...
Fredrick: ...you will be paid by my estate.
Fredrick: When the door is locked from the outside by the caretakers,
we'll all be forced to stay in this house until morning.
If any of you decide not to stay, you must leave with the caretakers now.
Fredrick: You won't have a chance to change your minds later.
Because there'll be no way to get out.
- Nora: I don't want to stay! - Lance: Wait!
( wind whistles, chandelier clatters )
( loud bang )
Fredrick: It isn't midnight, yet! Who told them they could leave?
Watson: They never leave before midnight.
Fredrick: They've gone, now.
Fredrick: I was going to ask you whether you wanted to stay or not,
but it seems the caretakers have made the decision for you.
Fredrick: We're all locked in, now.
Nora: But I don't want to stay!
Fredrick: I'm sorry, my dear. But it's too late, now.
Annabelle: Darling, haven't you had enough of this silly game?
Get some cars up here for these people, and let them go home.
Annabelle: But pay them, first.
Fredrick: This is your party, remember?
Fredrick: In spite of my wife's faith in my ability to do the impossible,
we will all have to stay in this house until eight o'clock in the morning.
Fredrick: But, we have some party favors for you...
In these little coffins.
(Fredrick) This is my wife's idea.
(Fredrick) I must say, I think it's rather dangerous.
Fredrick: I suppose you all know how to use one of these things.
Fredrick: In case you don't,
you just press down on this lever with your thumb...
And then pull the trigger.
( bang )
Fredrick: You see? They're loaded.
Watson: These are no good against the dead -
- only the living.
Fredrick: Doctor?
Fredrick: Lance?
Fredrick: Nora?
Lance: Go ahead. Take it.
Fredrick: Miss Bridgers?
Fredrick: And here's yours, dear.
Annabelle: I don't need it.
Fredrick: It was your idea.
Who knows, you may want to use it on me before this night is over.
Watson: Throw these guns away. They won't do you any good.
David: I agree with Pritchard, although not for the same reason.
Annabelle: Dr. Trent, don't you approve of our little party favors?
David: Suppose Nora had a gun,
when she mistook the blind woman for a ghost?
Ruth: I don't think anyone else is going to walk around in total darkness.
Annabelle: Oh I'm sure we're not going to go running around the house
shooting each other, aren't you?
David: Who knows? Fear makes people do amazing things.
Nora: Mister Pritchard...
Nora: You said your sister-in-law killed a man and a woman here and cut them up?
You said they found hands and feet, but they never found any heads?!
Would you like to see one of those heads?!
Nora: Would you all like to see one of those heads?!
Just follow me!
Annabelle: Darling, I really don't need this.
Nora: Just, go look in my suitcase. Go look!
Nora: But it was in there!
(Nora) A woman's head!
David: Nora, I think you're a little upset.
Would you care for a sedative?
Nora: Get out!
Get out, all of you!
All of you, get out of here and leave me alone!
Just get out of here!
( crying )
Fredrick: Do you think it's all right to leave her by herself, Doctor?
David: I wish she'd taken the sedative.
Ruth: What do you suppose she thought she saw?
Watson: They're closing in on her.
Lance: Look, Doc, I think somebody ought to stay with her.
Watson: There could be a million people around her -
- if they wanted her, they'd get her.
Annabelle: What if he's right?
Fredrick: He's too drunk to know what he's talking about.
Annabelle: I wonder...
Annabelle: I'll join you in a minute.
Lance: Do you think it would do any good if you went in and talked to her?
Ruth: Do you think there really was a head in her suitcase?
Lance: I don't know...
Ruth: A thing like that would put me right over the edge.
Lance: Would you, sort of, stay up here? In case she needs help?
Ruth: All right. I'll be in my room.
Lance: Thanks.
David: Are you sure there are only seven people in this house?
Fredrick: Positive... Except for the ghosts.
David: I don't believe in ghosts.
Nor in frightening women.
In Nora's case, it's gone far enough. Perhaps, too far.
Fredrick: What do you suggest we do about it, doctor?
David (stern): Don't frighten her any more.
♪ ( eerie music ) ♪
Lance: Nora... Nora?
Lance: Nora?
( creaking )
Lance: Nora! Nora!
Lance: What do you know about this?
Watson: They've taken her!
In a little while, she'll be one of them.
Lance: Where's Nora- !
Where is she?
Watson: It's too late. It's too late.
You'll never find her again.
Lance: Pritchard, if you know where she is
you'd better tell me, now! - Watson: She's gone!
Watson: She's gone with them and there's nothing you can do about it.
( woman screams )
♪ ( eerie music ) ♪
Lance: ... Nora ...
David: Let her down.
Fredrick: Nora?
David: She's dead, Mr. Loren. Your wife hanged herself.
Fredrick: Suicide...
Nora (whispering): Lance!
Lance: Nora!
Nora: Lance, hide me! Please hide me!
Lance: What's the matter?
Nora: Hide me!
Nora: He tried to kill me.
He grabbed me and choked me and put me in that room.
And then he went away and left me.
Lance: Who?
Nora: He thought I was dead.
Lance: Who?!
Nora: Mister Loren.
Lance: Are you sure about this?
Nora: I don't know. It was dark but it must've been him.
Lance: Has anybody seen you since he left you?
Nora: I heard some people in that room but I went by and nobody saw me.
Lance: Mrs. Loren is dead.
Nora: But how?
Lance: Loren said she committed suicide.
(Lance) But I think somebody killed her.
Nora: Him?
( door locking )
( knocking at door )
David: I'm sure you've come to the same conclusion I have.
Lance: Yeah, I think so.
David: Let's all have a meeting to discuss what to do.
The living room?
Lance: Ok. In a minute.
Lance: I've got to go downstairs.
Now, you lock yourself in here and don't let anybody know you're here.
If he thinks you're dead, he won't come here.
I'll get back as soon as I can.
You'll be all right.
Lance: If you have to, you use it.
Fredrick: So beautiful.
So greedy.
(Fredrick) So cold.
Fredrick: What are you doing in here?
Watson: Wait! Don't! Wait!
Fredrick: What do you mean, coming in here?
Watson: I didn't want them to take her away.
Fredrick: You're drunk!
Watson: They will if you don't watch her!
Fredrick: All right, out with it, Pritchard -
- why did you come into this room?
Watson: I'm the only one who understands!
Fredrick: Understands what?
Watson: Your wife isn't there any more.
She's already joined them!
Fredrick: I've had enough of your spook talk.
Get out, you sot, and don't come back into this room again!
Watson: Where's whats-her-name? Nora?
David: I didn't disturb her, since I didn't think this concerns her.
Fredrick: You're right.
David: Mr. Loren, isn't there some way we can get out of this house now?
Watson: No... none at all.
Lance: We could try breaking out.
(Watson) The only door to the outside is made of steel.
Watson: The bars of the windows are set in solid stone.
We gotta stay.
David: I'm not afraid of your ghosts, Pritchard.
David: But I am afraid.
David: When we came here a few hours ago,
the only thing we had in common was the $10,000 we'd get.
David: Now, however, we share something else -
- the death of Mrs. Loren.
David: So far, tonight, one of us was almost killed by a falling chandelier.
David: One of us was mysteriously slugged.
(David) One of us has been driven to the brink of absolute hysteria.
(David) And one of us is dead.
David: Were these accidents? Suicide?
David: And we must stay here for six more hours!
Watson: Six hours? Six of us... Time enough.
David: Who'll be next?
(David) How will it happen?
Fredrick: Let me as you a question, Doctor.
Fredrick: You were the first one to see my wife there.
(Fredrick) Did you also see anything that she could've climbed up on,
(Fredrick) and then jumped?
David: No.
Fredrick: Did any of you?
Fredrick: There was nothing.
How, then, did she get up there, so high?
David: Exactly, Mr. Loren. How?
She couldn't have pulled herself up there.
She couldn't have dropped from the ceiling.
Do you think your wife killed herself?
Fredrick: No. She was murdered.
By one of you.
David: Or, you, Mr. Loren.
David: To deliberately kill someone, you must have a reason.
Lance: We were all strangers to your wife.
(Lance) Only you had a motive for murder.
Fredrick: What husband hasn't, at some time, wanted to kill his wife?
What husband hasn't had a thousand opportunities
to do it in such a way
that he'd never be suspected?
I'm not such a fool to hang my wife from the ceiling by a rope.
David: The fact remains that you, or one of us,
murdered Mrs. Loren.
And that's a matter for the police.
Lance: So how do we get the police.
David: That's my point. We can't until morning.
David: What began as a silly party, given by an eccentric,
has now involved us all in murder.
Lance: For once, Pritchard may be right.
If another murder's in the works, let's stop it now.
Ruth: Another murder?
Lance: Why not. Maybe one of us saw too much.
David: Why should, a millionaire want to give each of us $10,000
to spend one night in a gloomy old house?
To see some ghosts? To have a party?
David: No!
Fredrick: Have you finished trying me, Doctor?
And is the verdict "guilty of murder"?
Lance: This isn't getting us anywhere.
Somebody killed Mrs. Loren, we know that.
One of us is guilty, and the rest of us are innocent.
Lance: Now, what we have to do for the next six hours
is protect ourselves. From each other.
Ruth: You really think - Lance: I don't think anything.
I just know that I'm going to my room.
And if anybody comes in, I'll shoot him. Or her.
David: And if we all stay in our rooms, we'll be safe.
Because the innocent will have no reason to leave his room.
And the guilty will admit his guilt if he or she does.
Lance: And we all have guns.
Fredrick: We're all agreed?
Ruth: I wish this night were over.
Watson: Rooms. Guns. I tell you, it doesn't make any difference.
They aren't through with us yet.
Watson: What's the use of saying "good night"?
( door shuts and locks )
Ruth: Good night.
( door shuts and locks )
Fredrick: Good night, Doctor.
( door shuts and locks )
( glass breaks )
( gun cocking )
( doorknob lightly rattles )
♪ ( jarring musical notes ) ♪
( Ruth stammering )
( knocking )
(Lance) Nora, it's me, Lance.
Lance: Are you okay?
They've all gone to their rooms and locked themselves in.
Nora: Lance, I've been thinking.
It was so dark down there, maybe it wasn't Mr. Loren.
Lance: It was him, all right.
He tried to kill you, and he did kill his wife.
( thunder )
Nora: How can you be so sure?
Lance: She tried to warn me.
Asked me to help her.
The Doc thinks he's going to try to kill one of us.
( thunder )
Lance: Now, there must be a way out of this place.
I'm going to find it and get the police, before he does.
Nora: I'm going with you.
Lance: If he finds out you're alive...
No, Nora. You're safer here than any place else.
Now, just lock yourself in and keep quiet.
( thunder )
Lance: If I find a way out, I'll come back and get you.
( thunder )
♪ ( piercing notes ) ♪
( Lance knocking )
( thunder )
♪ ( descending tones ) ♪
( thunder )
♪ ( discordant piano ) ♪
( rolling thunder )
( Nora gasps )
Nora: No!
( rolling thunder )
♪ ( eerie ethereal notes ) ♪
Nora: No! No!
( rolling thunder )
Nora: No!
♪ ( sudden musical stab ) ♪
( Nora screams )
( gasping )
Nora: Lance...
( Nora breathes shallowly )
♪ ( organ playing ) ♪
( Nora screams )
( thunder rolling )
( knocking )
Fredrick: An admission of guilt, Doctor?
David: Certainly not.
There's either somebody else in this house,
or one of us has left his room.
Did you hear anything?
Fredrick: Organ music?
David: That, and someone walking.
Fredrick: You got yours?
Fredrick: Ready?
David: You look downstairs, and I'll look up here.
Fredrick: Why not together?
David: There may be only minutes, seconds, left of someones life.
Why waste time?
♪ ( eerie music ) ♪
( door locking )
David: It's almost over, darling.
(David) Every detail was perfect.
Annabelle: What's happening?
David: We've done it.
The perfect crime. Beautiful.
Annabelle: Has she killed him?
David: Not yet.
But she will.
Annabelle: Get me out of this hanging harness.
Annabelle: What's taking that girl so long?
What time is it?
David: At first, I couldn't get Nora to want to protect herself with a gun.
After you appeared at the window,
everything began to work just as we had planned.
David: You were wonderful!
Just the touch the finally drove her
into complete hysteria!
Annabelle: It'll be worth all of our planning, darling.
Where's Nora now? What's happening?
David: On her way to the cellar.
So scared, she'll shoot the first thing that moves.
Annabelle: And Fredrick?
David: On his way to the cellar, too.
Annabelle: David, are you sure none of them will suspect us?
David: Of what?
A hysterical girl accidentally shoots somebody?
Who would suspect that we planned it that way?
That we drove her to it?
Annabelle: What about my suicide?
David: Just a ghost-party gag.
We'll claim it was a dummy, since I'm the only one that touched you.
Annabelle: And the caretakers?
David: Well, they had no idea what they were really doing.
Annabelle: What about Nora? She's not stupid, you know.
David: Darling, believe me.
Everything we planned is working perfectly.
Nora is sure Fredrick murdered you.
She thinks Fredrick attacked her in the cellar - not me.
Now Nora's almost out of her mind with fear.
The heads, the music, your hanging -
I tell you, when Fredrick walks in there, she'll shoot him.
Annabelle: It's taking too long.
David, you ought to be there.
David: When you hear the shot, come down to the cellar.
♪ ( tense music ) ♪
♪ ( sudden musical stab ) ♪
Fredrick: No! No!
( gunfire )
( Nora screams )
( chain rattles )
( muffled grunt )
( splash of acid pool )
( violent bubbling )
Annabelle: David? ... David?
( hinge squeaking )
( hinge squeaking as door shuts )
♪ ( tense music ) ♪
( bubbling )
♪ ( music rises in intensity ) ♪
♪ ( tense music ) ♪
(Fredrick) At last, you've got it all.
(Fredrick) Everything I have.
(Fredrick) Even my life.
(Fredrick) But you're not going to live to enjoy it.
(Fredrick) Come with me, murderess! Come with me!
( Annabelle screams )
♪ ( tense music ) ♪
( Annabelle screams )
♪ ( music rises in intensity ) ♪
( Annabelle screams )
( splash with bubbling )
♪ ( flourishing eerie music ) ♪
Fredrick: Good night, Doctor.
Good night, Annabelle.
The crime you two planned was indeed perfect.
Only, the victim is alive and the murderers are not.
It's a pity you didn't know, when you started your game of murder,
that I was playing, too.
( splash with bubbling )
Nora: There must be some way to get in here!
Watson: It's right along here somewhere -
Nora: Lance!
Nora: I've shot Mr. Loren! He's down in the wine cellar.
Lance: Alive?
Nora: I don't think so!
Nora: It's him! He's alive!
Fredrick: You didn't shoot anyone, my dear.
(Fredrick) I loaded your gun with blanks.
Fredrick: I can tell you all, now.
Trent and my wife were planning to kill me.
They failed.
Trent tried to throw me in the vat.
My wife stumbled and fell.
I'm ready for justice to decide if I'm innocent...
...or guilty.
♪ ( music plays softly ) ♪
Watson: Now there are nine.
There'll be more. Many more.
( footsteps, creaks, chains rattling )
They're coming for me, now!
And then, they'll come for you!
( maniacal laughter )
( door squeaks as it closes )
♪ ( end title music plays ) ♪