Hello, darling.
Have you finished practising like your violin teacher told you to?
Yes, mummy.
Good. You can play now.
One day you'll become a great musician.
Just like your father.
Give me more echo on the guitars and on Kate's voice.
Let's see if it'll make it better.
Stop it, Nick. This song is worthless.
What a complete waste of time.
That's enough, Kate. Come see me.
Did you hear the sound of her voice? You stay put, I'm going to deal with her.
You don't like this one either, huh?
It's the same old stuff. There's nothing, and I mean nothing, original about it!
I bet it's the violin you don't like, but it's essential to the song!
No, it's not the violin!
It's the whole song that doesn't work at all!
It's trite and it doesn't stand a chance of success! I can tell a hit from a failure!
Oh, really? Is that one of your peculiarities?
I've always had it. And so did you, Kate.
You lost it, though, just like you lost your creativity.
You got nothing left.
I can't give you a million copies hit every time, you hear me?
I hear you, but these new songs of yours wouldn't even sell a thousand copies!
They're dull and anonymous, I won't allow you to record them!
You know I have thousands of fans waiting for my new album, Lavinia!
You can't give them these songs. It would be a total disaster.
You should focus on a single, like the ones that made you a star.
A number one hit tune, that's what people are looking from you right now!
I can't give it to them, I'm not as inspired as I used to be!
Then find someone who'll do it for you!
Someone who'll do what you can't do by yourself anymore!
You better do it soon, because your fans are tired of waiting!
I'm not finished, Lavinia, and I'm gonna show you!
That's it for today. Sorry, everyone.
The recording session is postponed.
You can erase this tape.
- Wait here, I'll be right back. - All right.
Mr. Pickett?
Daniel?
I'm here. Come.
Hello, Mr. Pickett.
Couldn't we have met somewhere a little less run down?
No, Daniel. This place is just perfect.
We have a very peculiar transaction to make, you know.
Did you bring the money in the denominations I asked for?
Yes.
Here it is.
Very well.
You see...
Your briefcase is very light because it contains only one thing.
But this one thing could mean much to the person who owns it.
Am I right, Daniel?
Check its content, if you like. The combination is 6-6-6.
Numbers I particularly fancy.
Use this combination on both locks.
Come on, Daniel.
Go ahead. Open it.
See? Isn't it what you wanted?
An original score with the personal seal of the musician.
And here's the new song for Kate.
So, you like it?
Yes. It's beautiful. We could make a hit out of that.
- Am I right, Kate? - That's exactly what I was looking for!
How did you find it?
It's a strange story. I got it from an ancient score that hides a secret.
What secret?
This music was written by Niccolò Paganini. The score I got was his.
- Paganini? The famous violinist of the 19th century? - Yes!
This piece might be public domain, but it's probably well-known. Kate can't use it.
You’re wrong, Lavinia. This piece isn't well-known at all.
Is it unpublished?
That's right. He wrote this music 200 years ago.
I'm sure he used it in one of his evil rituals.
He wanted to summon the Devil.
- Do you know about it? - No.
They say he sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for fame.
Daniel has bought the secret score that Paganini used to summon Satan!
We could title it Paganini Horror and rearrange it in a cool modern way!
People will go crazy over it!
We'll sell millions of copies!
It's going to be like when Michael Jackson used the myth of zombies for Thriller!
And we'll use the Devil!
Yeah. It's a great idea.
We'll hire the best horror director in the business to shoot the music video!
You really mean it?
Yes. I'll hire the best there is.
And I'll make him shoot it in some old spooky house.
The kind that scares you just by looking at it!
I know just the place! The House of Sol!
It's abandoned now, but it was famous in the past, even Paganini lived there!
You're right. I know it, too.
And I know who bought it, a woman called Sylvia.
A smart woman who can be reasoned with.
That's going to be our place, guys!
The place where we'll shot Kate's video with the help of Paganini and Satan!
Where am I?
Why am I here?
Where did I get this dress?
Who put me in this dress?
This is Paganini's music.
The one bought by Daniel.
Who's playing it?
Who stole the score?
Kate...
Come to me, Kate.
"Today, in this house, this contract's been stipulated between Paganini and Satan."
"The musician is granted eternal fame in exchange...
...of the life of the woman he loves."
Satan."
No!
Keep stabbing her!
Yeah! Keep going!
Stab her, come on!
According to the legend, it was here in this Venetian house...
...that Paganini stipulated his contract with Satan.
He then killed Antonia, his wife.
He also used her intestines to make the strings of the golden violin...
...he always carried with him after the murder.
That violin had a unique sound when Paganini played it.
Probably due to the fact that the strings held the desperate soul of that poor woman.
It's such a horrible story.
Just one of the many stories about Paganini.
But, of course, they're just tales.
Yeah, I've never believed this kind of fairy tales.
Good, you can stop now. I've got everything I need.
It's about time. I can't breathe with this mask on.
You've been fantastic, Kate.
- Really? - Yes! - Thank you.
The scene went great!
The bit with the coffin was insane!
Hope they won't censor it.
Well, this is just a music video, not one of your horror movies!
Don't you worry.
I know what to do, believe me.
You all go change, now. We shoot the song next.
You hear that, girls? Here comes the fun part!
Mark, come here a second.
I want you to meet Sylvia, the owner of this house.
Pleased to meet you.
Do you know that your last film kept me awake for nights?
Really?
Glad to hear it, that's my job as a director... To scare people!
And my job is to pay, pay and pay.
Let's say goodbye to all the money Daniel gave me.
Goodbye.
Goodbye, little bills.
Goodbye, goodbye.
Fly with the wind.
Fly like the little demons you are.
Little demons! Little demons!
Little demons, little demons, little demons...
Yes, many little demons flying away so the real ones can take their place.
And, like it already happened with Paganini...
...the real price for fame will be paid in full this time as well.
Stop! That's good.
An awesome performance, girls.
Thanks, Mark!
All right!
That's done too, Lavinia.
- I've almost finished shooting. - Excellent.
- You did a great job. - Thanks, I'm flattered.
Okay, girls, it's time to hit the makeup room. Hurry up!
She doesn't give you a moment of peace, huh?
Time's money to her!
- We're used to it! - Yeah!
I don't think I can finish today.
You must. Otherwise I'll have to pay Sylvia an extra day of rent.
- I'm already over budget. - Yeah, I understand.
You hear that, Sylvia? Can you help me out?
I'd love to, but we had already agreed to some specific terms.
I hope that Mark'll do that shot he was telling us before.
- I want to see how he does it. - He's a whiz.
Yeah, nobody is as creative and skilled as he is.
Is he gonna make us real pretty, right?
- Lavinia pays him for that. - I admire him.
I'm nuts for all of his films, they're incredible.
I love them. They're so scary.
- You ready, Elena? - I am. Let's go back downstairs.
- Don't be long, Rita. - I'll finish my makeup.
- Okay. - Yep.
- I got a strange vibe out of it. - Of what? Mark and his concept of cinema?
No, the fact that we're shooting in a place where Paganini lived.
And where his spirit still resides, perhaps.
Come on, give me a break.
Daniel? I thought you had finished for today.
You can take off the costume.
I'm not Daniel.
No...
No!
Now you're going to pay in the only way I'll accept.
No!
- I can't find her anywhere. - It's a real mystery.
I don't get it.
Lavinia, Rita's not in the makeup room and not in the dressing room. She disappeared.
That idiot put us in serious shit.
She had to leave without telling anyone, and now we're fucked!
And you, Mark, come up with some idea to fix this!
What idea?
I'm supposed to tell you, with all the money I'm paying you?
Come up with something that'll allow us to finish the video without Rita!
We cannot stop now, even if she disappeared all of a sudden.
My lawyers will deal with her tomorrow.
In the meantime, it's imperative we finish shooting this video!
We can't finish it with just two of the girls! I can't make it work!
Then it's up to you, Daniel. You're taking Rita's place.
Sure. I'll put some lipstick and a cute wig on.
Come on, Lavinia, don't be silly!
I'm serious, Daniel!
I won't stay here a minute longer than I have to!
You know that I'm under contract with another label.
I'm playing Paganini's ghost since I'm wearing a mask and I look like a dummy.
But there's no way that I'll appear in person.
Wait a minute! You said dummy?
Yeah. Why?
Because that'll be our solution!
- A dummy? - Yes.
What are you talking about?
You'll be singing accompanied by Elena and a full orchestra, Kate.
An orchestra made of dummies! Dummies!
There are so many here, and I saw even more in the other room.
He's right, I saw them too!
So, you with the dummies...
Yes! They'll allow me to make the video even weirder!
A dummy orchestra playing for Kate, all surrounded in smoke!
Will you please let us use them, Sylvia?
Of course, no problem at all.
Everything solved. I'll go get them, you keep rehearsing.
Yeah.
You had a really good idea, Mark.
Our problem is solved.
And maybe the final result will be even better.
Don't you recognise me, Daniel?
Rita!
Rita?
Rita!
Come.
Rita?
Where are you?
Rita?
Where has she gone?
No!
Rita!
Daniel!
Rita!
Where are you?
Rita!
Daniel!
Where the hell are they?
Daniel!
It's useless to keep looking, Kate! They left us!
Yeah, you're right!
Let's go back inside, it's cold out here.
I wonder what happened to them!
They can't have vanished into thin air!
There must be some explanation, but let's go back inside now!
Let's try once more, first!
She's right.
Daniel!
Rita!
It's useless. Let's go back inside.
I'd have never expected something like this from Daniel! It's inexplicable!
You're getting too worried now.
But he's always so serious!
- Here's Lavinia. - Have you found them?
- Nothing. It's like they... - ...Vanished. - Really?
We looked everywhere.
- What about you? - I've searched the whole place. Nothing.
They must be here somewhere!
I'm ruined!
I think those two are together, maybe they're making love somewhere.
Come on, Elena, don't be foolish!
What happened to them, then?
Come here, quick!
I need to show you something.
What is it?
I was looking for Rita and Daniel and I found something.
Let's go, you need to see it!
- It's here. - What a strange light.
It's coming from here.
It's so strange. Right, Sylvia?
Yes, I can't explain it.
Now I'll show you what I found in this room.
Here. You see?
These ashes have a human shape.
Daniel's!
They're still warm.
And this is his ring.
- Don't you recognise it? - You're right.
Now I get it, Daniel is playing a prank on us!
- Am I right, Kate? - Yes.
He likes playing pranks, right?
Of course! A man could never turn into ashes in a few minutes!
Not even if the Devil jumped out of Hell and...
Watch out! Stay back!
Stay back!
The floor must be rotten!
- You're right! - We gotta help Kate!
- We gotta save her! - I'll try to reach her!
Kate!
- Where are you? - I'm here!
Kate! I can't see you!
I got her!
- Help me! - I got her!
Help me pull her up!
Don't let go, Kate!
My hand!
This sound is driving me crazy!
My head is splitting!
I can't resist, I can't!
I can't take it anymore!
We'll die if we stay in this house! Let's get out of here, quick!
- Let's get out of here! - Hurry! Hurry!
- We gotta save Kate first! - We'll die if we stay here!
- Hurry! - Stay with me, Mark!
- Take the wheel, I can't drive with this hand! - Hurry, Mark!
Quick!
Easy!
Wait! Wait for us!
We must get away from the car! Quick!
- Mark! - You can't help him, he's dead!
- We must save him! - There's nothing we can do!
- Mark is dead! - He's dead!
No!
Mark!
How did it happen?
What made it explode?
I don't know!
There was a... a wall.
- An invisible wall! - A wall?
It can't be, you're crazy.
There was a wall, I swear! An energy wall!
Help!
It's Kate! She's still inside the house!
Let's go, hurry!
Help!
- Help! - Let's get to her.
Help!
- The screams are coming from there. - That's where the floor opened.
Let's go see.
Careful.
Stay back.
Kate?
Kate!
It's too dark, I can't see anything.
- I'll go get a flashlight. - Hurry!
Sylvia...
- Too many strange things have happened. - Yes.
- Things that can't be explained. - Yes.
- Has it ever happened in the past? - No.
I've never experienced anything like this.
Even though...
This house has always had the reputation of being haunted.
- Haunted? - Yes, since the times of Paganini.
This place has been cursed by a terrible legend.
It's just rock down there.
No traces of that strange smoke, that light or Kate.
I wonder where she could be.
Wait a second. I see something.
Yes, it looks like a small tunnel.
Kate must be in there.
I'm going down to find her.
Are you crazy? It could be dangerous down there.
We can't stay here without even trying to find her!
You stay here. Don't leave, no matter what happens.
I'll start screaming in case anything happens to me. Got it?
Please, be careful.
I will.
I can't see the end of the tunnel. I'm going in.
Don't get too far.
Don't worry, I'll be fine.
It's getting wider.
I'm going on!
Be careful, Lavinia!
Kate!
- That's Kate's voice! - She's screaming!
But her voice came from upstairs, not from the tunnel!
You stay here and don't move!
I'll go see.
What's this thing on my arm?
Kate!
Kate?
Are you there?
Kate?
Kate...
Where are you?
Daniel?
Daniel!
Wait for me! Daniel!
Daniel!
Help!
You...
- Kate... - Who are you?
- Sylvia. I'm Sylvia. - Who?
Sylvia!
Sylvia, I feel so confused...
- What happened to you? - I...
Why are you here?
Please, tell me.
I don't know.
I was with you in that room and I fainted!
I found myself in that sinkhole and then I woke up here!
- Where are we? - In the pool. The pool by the house.
The house?
Sylvia this house is haunted! ,
We gotta get away from here, right now!
This house has got a terrible secret!
- You're right. It's like a curse. - Let's get away from here!
- Let's get away from here now, please! - All right.
Let's get the others first.
That's the room I've started out from!
It can't be possible.
I've always walked straight ahead.
I've never turned back.
Elena!
Sylvia!
Elena!
Sylvia!
Where are you?
Elena!
Sylvia!
Answer me!
What's happening in this house?
- What... - Lavinia!
Kate!
- Thank goodness you're safe! - I thought I was going to die!
- I was so scared. - Elena? Where is she?
- Isn't she in the other room? - There's nobody there.
- I left her there, waiting for us! - That room is empty!
Go see for yourself if you don't believe me!
She's vanished, too.
Something insane is happening in this house! Something monstrous!
Time and space follow their own rules here!
Look! Look there!
What is that?
It's blood!
Blood mixed with some other thing!
It's disgusting.
It's horrible, but we gotta see where it's coming from.
The trail goes on.
It goes to that room.
It looks like someone with a nasty wound crawled all this way to get in there.
Yes. Let's go see.
It's our makeup room!
Do you hear it?
Someone's moaning.
It could be a trap. I'm scared.
There's someone there, waiting for us.
Elena!
No!
Elena!
Elena...
Elena!
Elena is dead.
What on earth could have turned her into that?
I... I just don't understand.
Maybe I know what.
I've seen this type of mold before.
Where?
It's a special fungus that only existed during the eighteenth century.
It only grew on the wood of trees floating in some Northern European rivers.
That wood was used to make the most precious violins.
Guarneris, Stradivarii...
Yes, you're right.
That's what gave those violins their unique sound.
But I don't think that...
What has this got to do with what killed Elena? Tell us, Lavinia!
I don't know.
I know it might sound crazy...
...but this is the same fungus, believe me!
I saw it enlarged in some TV documentaries.
There's no way a wood fungus could infect and destroy someone in a few minutes!
She was fine when I left her.
So was this place when we first arrived, the day before yesterday!
It was perfectly fine!
And now there's this evil, monstrous curse that's killing us!
Killing us one by one. The curse comes from the music! From the violin!
- And from Paganini! - Exactly.
How can we stop something that's not part of our world?
I know how.
What did you say, Kate?
What are you thinking about?
I know it might sound crazy, but...
...everything has been insane tonight, after all.
Let's get rid of this curse with the same way we evoked it.
By playing the music of Paganini that Daniel gave us.
Paganini's secret melody is the key to everything.
I don't know.
- What do you think, Sylvia? - It could work.
Maybe that piece of music really hides a secret.
I'm sure there's a mathematical meaning hiding in that score Daniel gave us!
A formula that grants access to an unknown world.
A world inhabited by the invisible force that's stalking us!
Mathematics is just like music, Kate.
Music is created with five lines and seven circles.
You use these elements to create every kind of melody.
From Bach to Paganini. Your song, too, Kate.
Old philosophers said that the whole universe was founded on music.
They called this structure the harmony of the spheres.
And now, modern scientists with their radio telescopes...
...have found out that maybe those old philosophers were right all along.
Stars in their revolutions can create sound that can be transcribed in music form.
There must be another, more specific explanation!
This can't have happened because someone sold Daniel a piece of cursed music!
You can't believe he sold his soul to the Devil like Paganini did!
I don't, because Daniel's been killed.
What's the secret of this house, then?
We'll find it by playing that music again.
And how? The power is down!
Lavinia, you forget we have a violin here.
Let's go.
Come on, where's the violin? I don't see it!
- It's over there, Kate. - Good. - Yeah, there.
- Where's the bow? - Here.
Here, take it.
- I'll play the melody! - Let's hope for the best, Sylvia.
You evil spirits, go back where you came from!
Go away!
One, two.
One, two, three.
Now we'll see if it worked.
Nothing's happening.
It's just the same as before.
We must get out of here.
That's the only way we'll know if it worked.
Yeah, you're right. We have to get out of here.
The energy wall has probably disappeared.
That will mean that the curse of Paganini is over.
Very well. Let's go see, then.
Yeah. Let's go.
What do you think?
Things seem to have gone back to normal.
We have to get to the car.
Are you ready?
Yes. We have to do it.
Yeah.
Let's go.
Maybe you're right, Kate.
The music broke the curse.
I hope so.
- Come on. - Let's be careful.
Mark's remains.
Mark...
This is where the car hit the energy wall, right?
It's disappeared.
We're free!
I don't feel anything here.
The energy barrier's gone.
Lavinia, it's over.
Calm down! Please, calm down!
No!
Why?
This horrible curse!
Why can't we leave this place? Why?
I'm still sure that the key to destroy the curse is in that music.
Why didn't the curse stop when I played the music using that violin?
Of course.
Of course!
Why didn't I get it before?
- I'm such an idiot! - Get what?
That's it, the music unleashed this force the first time we played it.
If we play it backwards we'll cancel its effects!
- Backwards? - Exactly! Exactly! Backwards!
I'm such an idiot for not understanding it before!
- Do you see it, Lavinia? - What are you saying?
Only if we play Paganini's music backwards we'll cancel the curse!
- You can make it! - Of course I can!
We can finally end this horrible nightmare!
- Let's not waste time, then! - I must play! - Let's do it!
Hurry, Lavinia!
- The violin! - Where is it?
- Over here! - Can you play it backwards? - I'll try!
- Kate! - Pass me the ancient score!
It's tuned.
- Here, it's backwards! - Come on! - I must play it backwards!
Okay.
Lavinia!
No!
My hand!
What is it, Lavinia?
I'm trapped inside the energy field!
Lavinia! No!
No!
Evil spirit, I loathe you!
Get away from me!
I don't want to die! Get away from me!
Disappear! Get away!
Let me out of here!
I'm burning!
Mercy!
I'm burning!
Sylvia?
You?
I thought you were dead.
I just don't...
- I just don't... - ...Understand?
It isn't difficult.
You weren't able to play the music backwards.
- No... - We're in an infinite loop, like a circle.
You're trapped in it!
Hello, my darling Kate!
We meet, at last.
- Who are you? - Daniel knew me as Mr. Pickett.
- Pickett? - Yes, but I don't have a name.
Or, better, I have a thousand names.
- Don't you get it, Kate? - No, I don't.
Let's say I'm the personal organiser of your friend Sylvia's little private Hell.
- Isn't that right? - Private Hell?
Sylvia! What is he talking about? I don't understand!
It's quite simple, Kate.
I killed my mother in this house, many years ago.
I did it by throwing her hairdryer into the bath in a moment of madness.
The night you've just lived was the night he...
The night he punished me for that horrible sin.
This is my terrible punishment, to relive this experience over and over again.
Relive it for all eternity.
Every time with new people who must be punished for something.
You mean that this house is Hell?
The people who come here have already been condemned.
Here's the new tenants.
We've been waiting for them.
They can't see us.
They live in another moment of time.
Things are about to start again.
Nice family there, don't you think?
It's supposed to be quite a respectable family...
...but the only innocent soul among those snakes is the little girl.
Maybe she'll come out of it alive.
Mr. Pickett, if it's all starting again with these new people...
...I don't have anything to fear, right?
I'm free.
I'm free to go.
Yes, except for one last detail you don't know about.
You see, my dear Kate, I really dislike people like you.
Always ready to sell your soul...
...in exchange for wealth and fame.
Goodbye...
...my little sinner.
Let's get back to work, now.
Come on, Sylvia, join the new people.
Don't make them wait.
Hello!
I'm sorry I kept you waiting. I'm Sylvia, the house is mine.
It's called the House of Sol, not because of the Spanish word...
...but because of Niccolò Paganini's beloved note.
The great musician lived here for many years.
Follow me, I'll show you around the house. I'm sure you'll love it.
I promise you're going to have a wonderful time here.
A real wonderful time.
A real wonderful time...
Subtitled by Francesco Massaccesi