LOGLINE – A family experiences ghostly attacks in their new home.
To me, the rule of thumb regarding remakes is: If you can’t improve upon the original, leave it alone. Unfortunately, the writers chose to disregard my rule. Not only does this script falls woefully short of the original, it doesn’t even come close to the terrible sequels that film spawned.
We’re in a brand new neighborhood. A designed community. The HAYES family lives here.
MELANIE HAYES – designer/matriarch
BRYNN – 15 – teenager with all the angst that accompanies that age.
CASE – 9 – kid that sits around playing videogames because he doesn’t really have any friends
SOPHIE – 6 – precocious
It’s late at night. Melanie goes to check on her children. She’s startled to find Sophie’s bed empty. Sophie is downstairs playing with invisible friends. The television is on.
Melanie puts Sophie to bed, not giving this incident another thought.
GREG HAYES – businessman/patriarch – comes home from a business trip
That night, Melanie is awakened by the television downstairs. Greg investigates and finds Sophie playing a hide and seek game with the “TV people.” The home security alarm goes off. For just a second, Greg thinks he sees a figure hiding under the dining table.
Next night, Melanie wakes up. There’s a figure on her bed, pushing her down. Greg has fallen asleep downstairs. He runs upstairs to check on her. Panicked, Melanie states someone’s in the house. Greg goes to check on the children. SOPHIE IS MISSING.
The police are called in. An Amber Alert is posted. That’s when they hear Sophie’s voice. They realize it’s coming from the wall. They tear the wall down but there’s nothing there.
That’s when Case shows them the Chat-Cam. They can see a faint image of Sophie right here in the house. They also see shadowy figures. But only on the television.
CUT TO: 32HRS AFTER DISAPPEARANCE
With no other choice, Greg goes to see DR. PATRICIA VANDERHILL – parapsychologist. She brings her two associates ANTON and RUIZ.
The parapsychologists set up camp inside the house. Greg has recorded the chat-cam. They watch the playback and see the faint images of Sophie as well as several figures.
The parapsychologists huddle – Anton fears this is Fairfield,Ohio all over again. That’s a past incident which involved malevolent forces.
That night, a hovering light appears downstairs. Crystalline formations grow on every glass surface. Then all the lights in the house blow out.
Dr. Vanderhill theorizes that there are other dimensions and somehow Sophie has slipped through. She states they can find Sophie, they just have to find the way in.
Anton inspects Sophie’s closet – finds a hole in the wall. Anton places a marble on the floor. Everyone watches as the marble slowly rolls towards the wall and then gets sucked into the hole, disappearing from sight.
Anton starts to get sick.
The family dog, OTTO, then gets sucked into the hole in the closet.
Anton looks in the mirror and finds tufts of hair coming out of his head. He sees his fingernail has turned black and is peeling off.
We then see a TALL STONE behind the house.
The Police come in – they don’t trust the parapsychologists at all. The police are about to take everyone in for questioning when Sophie’s voice calls out and the marble that disappeared into the hole falls out of the ceiling. They realize they’ve just found the exit to the other dimension.
Otto the dog then falls out of the ceiling.
The dark figures then come out of the wall and grab Case. Greg pulls Case away and the figures disappear into the hole in the closet.
Anton and Ruiz examine the tall stone. Realize it’s Indian. And it’s ancient.
The police find a similar case that occurred in Kansas City six years ago. 14-year old Tracy Drexel simply disappeared in her bathroom. Five days later, she reappeared in the basement.
Ruiz and Anton solve the mystery of the tall stone. Earth has veins of magnetic currents called “ley lines.” They’re positive and negative ley lines. Indians used to mark the intersection of negative ley lines with tall stones. They realize the stone is a warning to stay away.
Anton is very sick now. Pale skin. Red eyes. An ambulance comes and takes him away. Ruiz goes with him. There goes the help.
The police bring Tracy Drexel to the house. She states they have to unplug everything — anything with an electrical frequency pisses the figures off.
Melanie and Greg send Case and Brynn to stay with a friend.
Okay, now we gear up for the final act. By god, they are going into the hole and they are bringing their little girl back.
Tracy Drexel states Melanie has to go into the hole.
Melanie walks into the closet and disappears into the hole. Finds herself in a mirror dimension. It’s an exact replica of their house yet everything is decaying.
She realizes that the figures are this dimension’s version of Greg, Dr. Vanderhill, etc.
Melanie finds a female figure holding onto Sophie. Melanie grabs Sophie and runs off. They find the exit and —
—fall through the ceiling of their house. They’ve made it!
Greg, Melanie and Sophie go to a motel to spend the night. Sophie has been eerily quiet. Now, in the motel room, Sophie begins to shake. And her skin cracks away. She’s actually a child from the otherworld.
Melanie wraps the child up in a blanket and drives back to their house. She goes to the closet with the otherworld child in tow.
Greg chases after them. Goes into the hole himself.
Melanie finds the female figure. She switches children.
Greg, Melanie and the real Sophie now try to exit the dimension. The dark figures attack. The female figure stops the dark figures from attacking.
Greg, Melanie and Sophie make it back into our world safely. They rush outside and the entire house implodes.
Tracy Drexel is there. She states she has to go back now. Her skin flakes away and we realize she’s from the other dimension. She disappears along with the house.
THE END
Oh boy. Where do I start? The script is unsatisfying on so many levels.
Why are the figures attacking? Since they seem to be the villains in the plot, what is their goal? Don’t ask me, I have no idea.
The story is stillborn. The writing is bad. Little things like Brynn’s homosexuality, the homogenization of the neighborhoods and American life, the complete reliance upon modern technology, being able to pick up the ghosts on a webcam, marital strife – Greg’s always away on business (all interesting subplots) are brought up and then discarded – adding nothing whatsoever to the plot.
The poltergeists in the original had a purpose. Their bodies are buried underneath the newly built tract homes – they are not at peace. In this version, they’re from another dimension and they’re pissed at us for some reason. Maybe it’s because Tracy Drexel is here in our world but if that’s the case, why didn’t they attack Tracy Drexel’s house???
The script has maddening questions like this that go unanswered.
Note: Due to the production status of this film, the screenplay is currently unavailable here.