(CREAKING)
(GENTLE MUSIC STARTS)
(SIGN CREAKS)
(WIND HOWLING)
(CAR DOOR CLOSES)
(MUSIC FADES)
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
- Hi. - The bell's broken.
Come on in.
- Hi, Julia. - Hi.
- You are saving our lives. - We're late.
We're going to a friend's house for dinner but they live out at the beach,
so I don't expect we're gonna be home until 11.00, 11.30.
- Is that OK? - Sure.
Your parents coming to pick you up?
My brother but he's gonna wait till I call him.
- OK. - We're late.
The kids are asleep already. Do you remember where their room is?
- I'll find it. - How do I look?
You look late. Beautiful, but late.
(SHE LAUGHS)
I've left the number where we're going to be on the door of the fridge.
OK. Bye-bye.
And, Julia, thanks again for coming on such short notice. Bye.
Bye.
(LOCK CLICKS)
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
(CAR ENGINE STARTS)
(CAR DOOR CLOSES)
(MUSIC BEGINS AGAIN)
(SIGN CREAKING)
(POP MUSIC PLAYING ON TV)
(PHONE RINGS)
Hello?
I think you have the wrong number.
You do have the wrong number.
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
(CLOCK TICKING)
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
Yes? Who is it?
MAN: Hi.
Um, you don't know me.
My car's broken down
and I was wondering if I could come in and use the phone.
Who do you want to call?
The auto club. I'm a member. They'll send someone out to help me.
It'll only take a minute.
Just to come in and make one call.
I won't bother you again.
I'll call them for you.
I can do it. I don't want to put you through any trouble.
You can trust me.
It's OK.
What do you want me to tell them?
You're gonna need to write this down.
- I'm back. - OK.
My name is Stephen Dane.
Mm-hm.
Card number 245...
38...
142...
0020.
And that expires at the end of August of this year.
OK.
Just tell them the name of the street, a block north of Franklin,
and I may need a tow. The car, it won't start.
Won't they need to know what kind of car it is?
Uh, it's a black Chevy Impala, 1983.
- Licence number NYZ-662. - Uh-huh.
You don't know the number of the auto club, do you?
I think it's 555-6800.
OK. I'll be right back.
(NO DIAL TONE)
(PHONE CLICKS)
(NO DIAL TONE)
Hello?
Did you call them?
Yes. They said they'd be here in about an hour.
An hour?
They always say they'll come within 30 minutes. What's going on?
That's what they told me.
Maybe it's a busy night, or...
Yeah. Maybe.
OK. Thanks. I appreciate it.
(FOOTSTEPS)
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
(PHONE CLICKS)
(NO DIAL TONE)
(SHE SIGHS)
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
Who is it?
They didn't come.
It's me. The auto club hasn't come.
I'm sorry.
Listen, can I just come in and talk to them, give them a call?
No. I'm sorry. I can't do that.
Then would you call them again for me, please?
Sure.
OK. Do you still have all the information I gave you?
Licence plate, card number, all that stuff?
Yes.
Hold on. I'll... I'll go call them again.
(NO DIAL TONE)
Hello, auto club?
Yeah.
We called before, about an hour ago, and you never came.
What's the deal?
Well, we've been waiting here.
I mean why don't you try and get a move on?
Some of us haven't got all night, you know what I mean?
Yes.
The name is blah blah blah.
Black Chevy Impala, blah blah blah blah.
Licence plate, blah blah blah, card number, blah blah blah.
Blah blah blah blah.
And, um, while you're at it...
Why don't you call my brother and tell him to come over?
I could use the company.
Please?
OK, I called them again.
Are you there?
Hello?
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
(HIGH-PITCHED BUZZING)
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
(KNOCKING)
What do you want?
You never called them, did you?
You never called the auto club.
Yes, I did. Of course I did.
I don't believe you.
Why don't you go bother the people next door? Some other house on this block?
I have. They're not home. Nobody else is home on this street.
Just you.
I can't even see your car out the window.
You've been looking out the window?
Yes.
I don't see any car.
It's down the block.
Don't you believe me?
Look.
I've done what I could for you.
Why don't you just go away and leave me alone?
I'm sorry.
Listen, I'm stuck here.
Could you do me one more favour and call my wife,
tell her what's happened and not to worry?
Would you do that, please?
All right.
Give her my card number.
Tell her to call the auto club. Maybe she'll have better luck.
Do you still have the information I gave you written down somewhere?
Yes.
OK.
The number's 555-4370.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(RUSTLING)
(PHONE KEYS CLICK)
(FOOTSTEPS AND RUSTLING)
(EERIE MUSIC)
Did you call her?
Yes.
There was no answer.
Are you sure?
Yes.
Are you OK in there?
Yes.
All right.
Well, thanks. You've done what you could.
I'm sorry to bother you.
(FOOTSTEPS)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(KNOCK AT DOOR)
(KNOCKING)
Go away! Leave me alone! Please!
Listen to me very carefully.
You don't live here, do you?
You're just a babysitter.
Have you been upstairs in the last five minutes?
Why?
I don't think you're alone in this house.
Someone's upstairs.
I've seen them moving around through the windows.
(LOUDER) You should get out of there... now.
(SHE GASPS)
(SHE PANTS)
(MUSIC BUILDS)
(MUSIC STOPS)
Come on out, Julia.
I never told you my name!
Don't stay in there.
- I'm warning you. - Where...?
Where are you? What have you done with them?
I'm hiding.
In the bushes.
JULIA: What?
Why?
He's in there with you.
Look into the living room.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(SHE SOBS)
(SHE SCREAMS)
(CLOCK CHIMING)
(DOG BARKING)
(UNLOCKS DOOR)
(SHE GASPS)
JULIA: Please believe me! I'm telling you the truth!
I've dealt with the police before.
- I know you think I'm depressed... - (PHONE RINGS)
I'm not making this up!
- What's going on? - I don't know.
She keeps talking about something that happened five years ago.
Is there a record on it?
Take a few days to get up here if it exists.
Want me to put in a request?
No.
Call the university. Tell them we have a hysterical co-ed on our hands.
Have them send someone over from the dean or women's office.
- OK. - Oh...
- Anyone but Johnson. - Yeah!
Hey, Johnson.
Thanks for calling. Didn't take me long, did it?
It's OK. She's calmed down quite a bit.
She was badly traumatised five years ago.
What are you? Clairvoyant?
I got files. In there?
Julia, I'm Jill.
I'm director of the women's services here on campus.
How are you doing?
I'm OK.
Now, I was brought in on this a little late
so I don't know what you've already told these gentlemen.
So if you wouldn't mind repeating it for me from the beginning?
How... How far back you want me to go?
Just the recent stuff here at school.
OK.
I came here two years ago, as a freshman in the Liberal Arts programme.
I stopped going home after the first summer.
I got an apartment off campus
and I've been there for about a year and a half.
Almost four months ago...
I can give you an exact date if you want it.
...I noticed that this book of mine, this book of poems, it...
it wasn't on the shelf where I keep it.
Where was it?
Well, it was on the shelf.
It just wasn't in the place where I always keep it.
It had been moved.
Go ahead.
I didn't think much of it at the time.
I mean, I noticed it. I just didn't get... concerned.
Then, about six weeks ago, I was suddenly awakened at 3.00 in the morning.
My alarm clock was going off.
I didn't set that alarm.
This afternoon...
...I came home to my apartment
and I discovered hanging in my closet a shirt that doesn't belong to me.
It's a child's shirt.
I came here.
(SHE SIGHS)
My door is triple-bolted.
I live up on the third storey.
Is that all?
Don't you see?
(SHE LAUGHS)
Somebody has gotten in three times in the last four months.
Someone has been in my apartment
and they have done things, little things,
to let me know that he's there.
Didn't you just say that you keep the front door triple-locked?
And your apartment is three storeys up from the ground?
Yes! Yes.
Yes.
Hell of an effort for someone to move a book.
Julia, would you mind stepping outside for just a minute?
You all heard the same thing I did, right? So what's to talk about?
Does she have a psychiatric record or something? Paranoid delusions?
What about this incident five years ago?
Some sort of harassment thing.
- Did they catch the guy? - Apparently not.
But what do I know?
He's still running around in her mind, that's for sure.
JILL: I believe her.
What?
I believe her.
The incident five years ago was more than a harassment thing.
Two children disappeared and they haven't been found yet, dead or alive.
Yes, she does have a psychiatric record, and a pretty extensive one.
She was responsible for those children and she barely escaped with her own life.
I would be willing to bet that her apartment is pretty bare.
Not cluttered.
You would know if a book had been moved.
You know exactly how many socks you have in a drawer.
How many matches are in the box by the stove.
You don't mistake those things
and the terrifying thing is, apparently...
...he knows you don't.
Julia?
Will you come with me?
- Nice place. - Thank you.
I'm not real comfortable with narrow corridors and small spaces,
nooks and crannies.
Won't you have a seat? I'll make us some tea.
Oh...
Want to call your parents and let them know what's going on?
They're divorced.
I know.
How?
How do you know about me?
I've known about you since the day you set foot on campus.
It's my job.
Julia, when I was a girl...
I went through something very similar to your experience.
I was babysitting in a strange house.
And the children I was responsible for were murdered.
The police caught the man.
It took me a long time to get over it.
Couldn't be alone.
Julia, I don't think that the police are going to get involved.
Not at this stage.
I would like to call in someone to consult.
An old friend of mine.
I haven't seen him in years, but I think he will come down now if I ask him.
And in the meantime,
I want you to know you can stay here with me
until you feel that you're ready to go back to your own apartment.
We will get you through this.
(JULIA SOBS)
Bus 92 now loading at ramp seven.
- Hey! - John!
Julia, come here.
Julia, come on.
- This is John Clifford. This is Julia. - Hi. How are you? Pleasure.
John!
There were two men?
Yes. Two.
One of whom she only heard, never saw.
I saw him once
through the window the first time he came to the door, but it was dark.
JOHN: Which window?
The living room.
There was a window in the living room that the police found open
but only six to eight inches,
and there was never any explanation for it.
Is it possible...
that the man who was talking to you outside the door...
...came into the living room through that window?
No.
No, he was right outside the door.
I'd been listening to him there all night.
And when he said to look into the living room, I looked.
I didn't wait.
I turned to my side and there he was, the other one.
He was right there.
The police never believed that there was a man outside
because the doctor came home just then.
Did they have some other theory?
No.
I guess I didn't lock it when I left.
I was scared and...
I just ran right to the police.
That's OK.
Anything changed?
No.
- Your hanger? - Yeah.
Jill, I can stay here now.
You sure?
Yes.
I mean, the next time could be tomorrow or next month.
It could be five years from now, couldn't it?
I want a life.
(VOICES ON PHONE)
(PHONE RINGS)
Crisis Centre hotline.
Wait a minute. Slow down. (WHISPERS) Pen!
Do you need the police?
(PHONE RINGS)
Crisis Centre.
Hah!
(HE GRUNTS)
Situations do arise where there is no one around to help you
and you have to defend yourself by whatever means necessary.
You cannot say that you don't believe in violence
unless you also say you don't believe in living.
JOHN: They just came up along with these old reports.
It's eerie, isn't it?
Why the five years, John, do you think, between then and now?
Guy could have been doing time for something else.
Could have gone away, could have lost track of her, could have lost interest.
Could have gone off with these children alive.
Mm-hm.
There can be a thousand reasons with a psychopath.
I'm assuming that one of them had training as a locksmith.
It's possible. It's not difficult to open a lock if you know what you're doing.
What about the shirt?
Nothing yet.
No prints on the hanger.
I'm sure he wouldn't have left anything that could be traced back to him.
Why do you keep saying "him"?
I don't believe there were two men.
Why not?
It's a feeling.
You know...
...I kind of wish it is two men this time.
Twice as easy to find?
Not just that.
If it is only one,
then he's got something going for him we haven't even begun to imagine.
(CLOCK CHIMING)
(SIREN IN DISTANCE)
(PHONE RINGS)
Hello?
- Julia, what's the matter? - I thought I saw somebody in the window.
I heard this noise and it woke me up and I looked...
Where exactly in your apartment are you?
I'm on the bed.
Are there any lights on?
Just the lamp beside my bed.
What do you see?
Nothing.
What do you hear now?
Nothing.
Is your window closed?
Yes.
- Locked? - Yes.
And the door?
I can't tell. It must be.
Julia, listen to me. Don't assume anything.
Put the phone down and secure the apartment.
Look into the kitchen, then the bathroom.
Turn on the light.
Look inside.
Then the closet.
Then go to the front door and make sure it's locked.
OK.
And I want you to talk to me the entire time.
Tell me exactly where you are, what you're doing.
All right?
All right.
I'm going into the kitchen now.
There's nothing there.
Now I'm going towards the bathroom.
I'm turning on the light.
Julia?
Julia!
I'm back.
Good.
The door was locked.
All right.
Now I want you to turn off the light.
OK.
And look out the window.
I don't see anything.
Are you sure?
Yeah.
I probably imagined this whole thing.
It's possible.
But please do call me if you're concerned about anything else, any time.
OK.
Thank you.
(SHE DIALS)
John, it's me. It's Jill.
Julia just phoned.
(BIRDSONG)
(WIND WHISTLES)
Julia...
do you own a gun?
Keep it pointing down.
(GUNFIRE)
JULIA: Every night, I go to bed
hoping that tomorrow, somehow, things are gonna be different.
That I'm gonna be somebody else.
With a different life.
Somebody with friends.
A person with a future.
Who isn't alone.
A person who maybe has someone.
And then I wake up.
Julia...
don't let the future close in on you.
Mr Clifford...
Do you think that I'm... I'm doing the right thing?
I mean, I could...
I could run away.
Try and disappear.
Then maybe they wouldn't find me.
I can't make that choice for you. I'm sorry.
(GENTLE MUSIC)
(MUSIC FADES)
(PHONE RINGS)
(VOICES ON PHONE)
(PHONES RINGING)
- Crisis Centre... - Those are my files...
- What's your name? - You go on over there now...
(JILL'S SPEECH INAUDIBLE)
- Isn't she supposed to be here? - Has anyone seen Julia?
(TALKING STOPS)
Not at her apartment.
I just can't believe that she wouldn't call me.
Maybe she's avoiding you.
(CLOCK CHIMES)
Jill...
are you sure she hasn't...
created something that isn't there?
What do you mean?
A book? An open window?
Explanations are getting pretty hard to come by.
John, what is happening to Julia is real.
Then it's too much for her. She's coming apart and I can't blame her.
I don't think she should be made to confront it this way.
What choice does she have? What choice do any of us have?
(SHE SIGHS)
(FAINT FOOTSTEPS)
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
Is she back at her apartment?
Alone?
I made her promise she would stay at my apartment.
The women at the Centre are going to be checking on her.
- Mr Clifford? - Yes.
- Susie Hart. - Jill Johnson.
You must have some pull with the police down here.
I appreciate your cooperation.
Glad to be of help, but just close the door when you're finished.
Thank you.
This is the window.
It was open... six inches.
That made 15 feet.
Fifteen feet. That's an easy distance.
He manipulated his voice so that she believed he was outside.
And he never was, not at the end.
That's why the doctor never saw anyone.
He was inside the house with her.
This is gonna sound crazy, but...
...we're looking for a ventriloquist.
Left the kitchen door open.
(VOICE ON POLICE RADIO)
(SPEECH INAUDIBLE)
It's Julia.
She shot herself.
You can see the bullet entered the skull here just above the right ear,
leaving a number of lead fragments.
There are extensive powder burns at the point of entry,
indicating the close range.
It exited this area here.
What was the weapon?
We already got the forensic report on the slug. They dug it out of the ceiling.
It was from a 9mm registered in her name.
We found it right beside her.
Yeah. It's amazing she's still alive.
Can she talk?
No.
Will she be able to? I mean someday?
Do you believe in God?
I've seen a lot of these cases.
I worked in Miami until three years ago
and people check themselves out all the time.
When did it happen?
The nearest we could figure, about 2.00 in the morning.
JILL: I should have been home with her.
Don't you know?
She was in her own apartment.
(EERIE MUSIC)
Why? Why would she come back here?
John.
This is dated last night.
"It's dark. I can't see. No phone. Jill, where are you?"
I don't think it proves anything.
What do you think, then?
(HE SIGHS)
Instincts will only take you so far.
Then you have to rely on evidence, and there isn't any.
This is evidence. Read it.
I've read it.
Read it again.
"It's dark. No phone." What do you think that means, "no phone"?
It was taken out, like five years ago.
The phone is working.
Today. What about last night at 2.00am?
"It's dark." What do you think that means?
Does it say in there why she went back to her apartment?
Does it?
(SHE SIGHS)
- Jill... - Mmm...
She tried to kill herself.
What if you're wrong?
(HE SIGHS)
There's nothing more I can do.
And even if I'm wrong, he won't be around any more.
He is out there somewhere. He will go after someone else.
I'm sorry. I'm going home.
I don't know why he didn't just finish the job and kill her.
Jill. Jill!
(DIAL TONE)
(DOOR OPENS)
(DOOR CLOSES)
(SOFT FOOTSTEPS)
(DOOR OPENS)
Julia?
It's me. It's Jill.
I'm with you.
And you're getting better.
I know it.
Those stupid doctors, they don't believe it, but...
they don't know you like I know you.
Julia...
We'll get him.
Somehow (SHE SOBS) I promise you...
...I will get him.
(SHE SOBS)
(HE PANTS)
MAN: Hello, Jill.
I said hello, Jill.
(EERIE MUSIC)
(MUSIC FADES)
Hey, Edgar Bergen is dead.
Charlie McCarthy, Mortimer Snerd, nobody wants acts like that any more.
There must be others. Where would I look?
I don't know. Burlesque theatres, bar mitzvahs...
You could try those places around 159th Street.
MAN: Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart.
WOMAN: Wanna go out, honey?
(SLOW JAZZ MUSIC IN DISTANCE)
Jesus is knocking...
(R&B MUSIC PLAYING)
(SPEECH INAUDIBLE)
(MUSIC STOPS ABRUPTLY)
Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for The Great Landis.
(SCATTERED APPLAUSE)
LANDIS: Can you just hold the spot? Don't move it?
(CHARACTER VOICE) How many times have you looked at yourself in the mirror
and asked yourself,
"Who am I going to be today?"
"What face will I show the world?"
It is said that God created man in his own image.
I looked in the mirror this morning.
(HIS OWN VOICE) And this is what I saw.
(LOUD LAUGHTER)
Of course there are other mirrors
besides the one above your bathroom sink, aren't there?
The woman sitting out there knows the truest one,
the mirror that most reflects the person she wants to be,
despite all the make-up she uses, and hairstyles and clothes...
...is in the eyes of the man who loves her.
MEN: Ooh!
(MEN LAUGHING)
(CHARACTER VOICE) And maybe, for the college boys, the truest mirror
is the toilet bowl staring back at them the morning after a toga party.
(HIS OWN VOICE) I don't know.
We live our lives in a land of mirrors, don't we?
Everyone we meet, everything we see and feel,
from the blank ceiling above our heads to the eyes averted on the street
to the close, sweaty smell of rooms like this.
- They tell us who we are... - That's enough!
(CHARACTER VOICE) Without them, you become like me.
Cut it! That's it!
I'm not a reflection of anything. I am not an illusion. I am the truth.
- Tony! - I'm invisible. Unknowable.
You people are the real illusionists.
You people are the real illusionists!
- Yeah! - (LAUGHING)
(MUSIC STARTS)
Whoo!
(CHEERING AND WHISTLING)
What the fuck was that? What? You crazy?
(CHEERING AND WHISTLING)
I'm gonna get you arrested.
- Please. - Fuck you.
Look, I'll do it right. I need the money.
You need money?
You can lick the stinking toilet.
Wait...
There's your goddamn plumber!
Jesus!
Toilet's over here.
Hasn't worked in three days.
(MUSIC STILL PLAYING)
- Yeah! - Legs like that... yes!
Did you see her? Huh?
Yeah, baby! Looking good! Oh, yeah!
Whoo!
(SPEECH INAUDIBLE)
(MEN STILL WHOOPING)
WOMAN: I liked it.
I liked your act.
Nothing's an act.
Just get the hell out of here. Come on! Out! Out!
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
(DISTANT SIREN)
JOHN: Mr Landis?
They told me about your act inside.
I missed it.
Where are you going?
I want to talk to you.
I want to give you a job. I want to hire you.
Wait!
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
(DISTANT SIREN)
(RAIN POURING)
(HOOTING)
(BABY CRYING)
Er...
Can you tell me if Mr Landis lives down there?
William Landis? He's a ventriloquist.
He's gone.
What do you mean?
Moved out.
For good? When?
Poor guy.
Come out here, children that died.
Wanted to find their mother, tell her about it.
Did he find her?
I think so.
Thanks.
(DOOR CLOSES)
(BABY STILL CRYING)
(EERIE MUSIC)
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
(MUSIC FADES)
- Jill? - (SHE GASPS)
Yeah.
You all right?
Yes, I just need a little time to think. I'm fine. Thank you for asking.
You sure?
I'm fine.
(SHE SIGHS)
(MUSIC BEGINS AGAIN)
(DISTANT SIREN)
(LIFT WHIRS)
Operator.
Yes, operator. Can you dial a local number for me, please?
What is the number, please?
555-2348.
Let me try it for you.
Thank you.
(PHONE KEYPAD BEEPS)
(FAST BEEPING)
I'm sorry, sir. There seems to be some problem with that line.
What sort of problem?
I don't know, sir. A crossed line or a temporary disconnect.
I'll make a report of it.
(UNLOCKS DOOR)
(SHE SIGHS)
(RUNS TAP)
(EERIE MUSIC BEGINS)
(CAR PASSES)
(NO DIAL TONE)
(SWITCH CLICKS)
(GUN CLICKS)
(SHE SCREAMS)
(SHE GRUNTS)
- Jill. - (SHE GASPS)
Jill.
How does it feel?
We're all alone now, Jill.
Help me, Jill.
It's dark.
I can't see.
No phone.
Jill, where are you?
- Jill. - I'm here.
I'm here.
Jill.
Where... Where are you?
(LOUDER) I'm here, Jill.
Where are you?
(CREAKING)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(CREAKING)
- (HE YELLS) - (GUNSHOT)
(SHE WHIMPERS)
It's dark, Jill. I can't see!
(HE GRUNTS)
(SHE SCREAMS)
(HE GRUNTS)
Agh! Agh!
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
JOHN: Jill!
(SHE SCREAMS)
Jill!
(SHE GASPS) Where's the gun?
(GUNSHOT)
Thank God.
LANDIS'S VOICE: Jill... Jill...
Jill.
(BEEPING)
JOHN: Jill?
Jill?
(SHE MOANS)
Jill.
(SHE COUGHS)
You're OK?
Is he dead?
He's dead.
Dr Philips, 4721, Dr Philips, 4721...
OK.
They were gonna give you a private room.
I just figured you'd get better faster if you had somebody to talk to.
Hmm.
Julia?
(GENTLE MUSIC)
Mmm?