[narrator] Ladies and gentlemen,
the motion picture you are about to see contains an evil spell,
as used by practitioners of witchcraft for centuries.
Even today in many parts of the world people practice black magic and witchcraft.
Charms, amulets, voodoo candles, grave dirt, and locks of hair
are believed to ward off evil spirits and spells.
You may doubt the effectiveness of these spells,
but through every civilization people have believed in witches.
Could they all be wrong?
I don't think so.
For I have seen its power proved too many times.
I am now about to dispel all evil spirits
that may radiate from the screen during this performance.
Oh, creator of Hecate, Damkina, Marduk's messenger,
Tem, Khepera, Ra, Khnemu,
Beelzebub in the netherworld,
Satan in Gehenna,
controller of the seven thousand
and seven curses and talismans,
and who is known to obedient disciples as Gangida,
hold all your powers and those of your do-bidders,
and their familiars,
and cast a protecting shield above those gathered here present.
Pull back from airy bodies those vested with evil.
Grant, oh, magnificent one, no harm from the spells about to be witnessed.
Direct them not. This faithful servant begs for thy favor.
[speaking foreign language]
And now, with a free mind and a protected soul,
we ask you to enjoy Burn, Witch, Burn.
[Norman] I do not believe.
I do not believe.
So, to recap. Four words necessary to destroy the forces
of the supernatural witchcraft.
Superstition, the psychic, etcetera, etcetera.
And these quote are, "A morbid desire to escape from reality."
Unquote. And can only exist in an atmosphere of belief.
Belief is vital.
Deprived of that acceptance, it reveals itself as another
futile attempt to control one's environment and the forces of nature.
Each day, science...
Do you include domestic superstitions like,
walking under ladders, or the third match,
or people who wear good luck charms?
Well, they're all based on primitive beliefs.
While actually denying any belief,
people guard themselves by saying there may be something in it.
And so they wear protections.
I think it depends on how personal the belief is.
A friend of mine in the Air Force used to carry a lock of his wife's hair
under his flying helmet for good luck.
Did it work?
No, he was killed.
So, each day, science, founded on years of research and truth,
emerges with feats which put our old-fashioned magicians to shame.
Aladdin rubbed a lamp and a genie appeared.
Today we can press a button and the whole of mankind is obliterated.
[school bell ringing]
Well, there's magic for you.
The disappearance of another hour.
Miss Abbott. Will you collect the test papers for me?
Yes, Professor Taylor.
[Norman] Mr. Jennings!
No paper?
No paper.
Try pressing a button. Maybe one will appear.
I might press the button that removes you from the class.
See that you read and outline chapter six
and chapter seven over the weekend.
And chapter seven goes for the rest of you.
Thank you, Margaret. Have a nice weekend.
I shall be busy with chapter seven.
It's a very short chapter, Miss Abbott. And a very long weekend.
Well, you certainly made a fool of yourself.
You didn't do so badly, either.
Sitting there, mooning at Taylor all through the lecture.
It just so happens that I admire him.
Anything wrong with that?
Not at all.
But there's a very thin line between admiration and infatuation.
Oh, don't be so stupid.
-Have a nice weekend. -Thank you, sir. Good night.
Norman!
Mmm-hmm?
Are we still for bridge at your house tonight?
Of course. It's Friday. I'd forgotten. Sure, why not?
Oh, Evelyn thought Tansy might still be under the weather.
No, no, no. She's fine. Came back from the cottage last night.
Good, good. Well, I don't know.
Friday night never seems the same without a game of bridge.
-[Norman] Hi, Evelyn! -Come on, Harvey.
Right. Well, about 8:00 then?
Fine.
Bridge is on.
It infuriates me to think that
Taylor might be selected for promotion before you.
The scholastic average of his students
is better than that of any other professor.
Including your husband?
I didn't make any exceptions, Evelyn.
Well, he's made very rapid strides here.
The fact is, Norman and Tansy are newcomers.
We play bridge with them, we work together,
but we still don't accept them.
Well, I could never accept a woman like Tansy.
She doesn't seem to be interested in anything.
She spends most of her time at that cottage of theirs.
It's a logical excuse to avoid getting involved with us
and our committee teas.
-I wish I had one. -Oh, rubbish!
We've contributed more to this college in 15 years
than Taylor could give in a lifetime.
Just because he manages to charm better grades out of his idiot students,
you and Lindsay stand to be pushed aside.
Nobody's being pushed aside, Evelyn.
Taylor hasn't been appointed yet.
Darling!
[cat meowing]
It's you.
Tansy!
[Tansy] Coming!
Hi.
Hey, you're supposed to act interested.
Wasn't I?
One day I shall burn all your stuffy old books.
They invade every corner of our lives.
You know what?
You need rest. Or some excitement.
I'm not quite sure which.
I'll settle for dinner.
Oh, how I hate these Friday nights.
It won't be that bad.
I am sorry, darling, I can't help it, but these women make me nervous.
Oh, they're all right.
You know, Norman, I can cope with many things,
but not with petty scholars and their jealous, bickering wives.
It's all a question of adjusting.
Well, I try. So help me I try.
But when you have a middle-aged Medusa like Evelyn Sawtelle
hissing away at the thought of your gaining a chair in sociology.
I wish I was as certain as you are.
Oh, you'll get it.
Evelyn knows it, Harvey knows it and Sister Flora knows it.
And those three make a solid majority.
And what about Hilda Gunnison?
Stuck with her devoted Harold and resenting the fact that he openly admires you.
Harold does?
It's true, Norman. Quite true.
-You know what I wish? -Hmm?
I wish we were three thousand miles
and two years away from this place.
Jamaica. A field trip.
We could breathe.
Jamaica also had its malaria and its poverty.
You're an incurable romantic.
You're pining for that old warlock, Carubius
and his phony black magic.
Don't scoff, Norman.
A male witch.
That's what's wrong with you.
He's cast his spell over you.
You're enchanted.
And you are.
-Harvey.-[Harvey] Yes, dear?
You've trumped my ace.
Off with his head.
It would be off with mine, Lindsay, if I'd done it to you.
Next time, Evelyn, try some of your hypnosis on Harvey.
Plant the suggestion to play only the right cards.
How is the hypnosis, Evelyn?
Planning to put the entire board under
and make them give Harvey the chair?
Lindsay, just play.
[softly] Did I say something?
Yes, dear, you said something.
Go on, Lindsay.
Yes, quite. The rest are mine.
Oh, I knew it.
I think we ought to take up hypnotism, darling.
We might get a rubber occasionally.
You can't have everything. Not even by hypnosis.
You can hypnotize the bad, but you can't hypnotize the cards.
[Lindsay] It's simply a question of remembering
how the last hand was played.
How the packs got together.
How the shuffle habits of the dealer disarranges the factors
according to the bids.
[laughing] And, well, there you are!
And where exactly is that?
Where I always suspected. Lindsay has put a jinx on the cards.
Lindsay, what have you been keeping from me?
[laughing]
I always suspected Lindsay was a dark horse.
[laughing]
Well, I think it's time for a snack.
Oh, that's a bewitching thought!
We are not through, yet.
Oh, don't hurry. I have to put the coffee on.
We'll help you.
Twelve hundred it is.
Does that mean us, too?
You've forgotten the cups.
When do they decide about the chair, Norman?
Early next week, I think.
Do you think you'll beat out my brother-in-law?
Lindsay, just eat.
I think I will, they look delicious.
You don't really deserve it, you know.
-Oh? -You've got too much already.
A beautiful wife, this lovely house and that cottage by the sea.
Your excellent thesis and your ability to interest the students.
Now what's the answer to it all, eh?
Have you sold your soul to the devil?
-[clattering] -Careful, Tansy!
-Well? -Heart and soul. Here she is. My good luck charm.
[Lindsay] You certainly seem to lead a charmed life, I must say.
Old Lindsay can have his theory. I'll stick to hypnotism.
Good heavens, look at the time.
I've got a lot of work to catch up on in the morning.
Have you lost something? Tansy?
What?
I said, have you lost something?
Oh, yes. A shopping list.
Make another.
Well, there was a phone number on it.
A dressmaker that I wanted.
It hasn't jumped in there, has it?
No.
You'll find it in the morning.
Well, I'm off.
I'll be up in a moment, darling.
Tansy!
What?
Where are my pajamas?
They're in the wash. Get a clean pair.
What are you doing?
Where did this come from?
What is that doing on the bed, Norman?
Well, mine got stuck, so I had to move yours.
What about this?
It's a souvenir.
Of what, for heaven's sake?
Of our stay in Jamaica.
It was a gift from Carubius.
Something to remember him by?
He wanted me to have it.
It certainly looks like him. Is that the only reason why you'd keep it?
Do I need a better one?
It's supposed to mean something, isn't it?
Of course, darling.
It's a good luck charm. That's why you're so successful.
Come on, dearie, time to go to bed. After all, three is a crowd.
Did you find your list?
No. I'll make another.
[doorbell ringing]
-Cleaners. -Oh, good morning.
Thank you.
Okay, thanks.
Oh, wait a minute, will you?
[gasps]
Next Thursday afternoon will be all right, sir?
-Yeah, sure. Thanks. -Good day.
Well?
Well, what, darling?
-I have to put these away. -In a moment.
-I want to get lunch, Norman. -In a moment.
[laughing nervously]
-You look so grim. -What's the meaning of all this?
I simply must put these away, Norman.
All right, what do you want?
The truth.
I told you. They're souvenirs.
The truth!
All right. I was trying to use conjure magic.
Trying to work spells! Trying to change the future!
That's what you really want to hear, isn't it, Norman?
That's exactly what I don't want to hear.
Then believe what I told you last night.
About one dried up spider, yes, but not all that rubbish!
Graveyard dirt, things from...
What do you want to believe?
I want some kind of explanation.
Well, isn't it obvious?
I'm a witch.
I'm not finding this very amusing.
Norman, I only have so many answers. Take your choice.
What do you mean?
Are you trying to tell me that you've been attempting witchcraft?
I can't believe it. Why?
How did you ever begin?
Does it matter, Norman?
Yes! And knowing what you do about its background?
Well, when you say it like that, of course it sounds ridiculous.
Ridiculous? It's stupid!
But, Norman, when you want things to happen or not to happen
to someone you love.
Oh, Norman, the things I did. They seem to work.
What things?
At least, most of the time.
Don't you see the very exceptions
prove the things you were doing didn't work?
There were other evil forces working against us!
I can't believe it!
A woman of your intelligence.
Is this the way you've been spending your time at the cottage?
And I thought that you were...
I'm sorry. You must've been very bored.
Darling...
Now look at all that.
You can't be serious about it.
From the moment we arrived here we've been faced
-with such hostility from the faculty. -Hostility?
Yes! Their hatred and their petty jealousy.
-I was afraid they would destroy us. -Tansy.
You're imagining these things. What's got into you?
Is this some kind of a joke?
Norman, I feel very strongly about this.
Well, when did this all start? And why?
Two years ago in Jamaica.
When you almost died in that terrible accident.
You were dying, Norman.
The doctors had given you up.
I was frantic, desperate.
I kept saying to myself over and over,
"Let me die in his place. Oh, dear Lord, let me die in his place."
And then, suddenly, I thought of Carubius.
And of the time we watched him bring a young girl back to life.
Whom the entire village thought dead.
[Norman] That girl was in a trance.
No, Norman!
A catatonic trance!
She was ice cold, Norman. Dead.
And then...
Remember we saw... We saw the girl's mother and Carubius stand over her.
And her mother cried out,
"Take me, I am old. She is young, let her live."
And Carubius worked his spell,
and the old woman died.
And when she died, the girl opened up her eyes.
She began to breathe again.
I thought of that moment, Norman.
I was willing to die to save you.
But you're here and very much alive.
I know, but you regained consciousness. I didn't have to use it.
But I know, Norman, without a shadow of a doubt that it would've worked.
And I was so desperate. I was ready to try it!
I'm sure you're convinced I'm quite insane.
I'm not convinced about anything.
And if we were to investigate all the strange rituals
performed by women based on their so called intuition,
half the female population would be in asylums.
I don't know what to think.
All right.
It may have worked then, but there's certainly no need to use it now.
-Yes, there is, Norman...-Give it up!
-No! No, Norman! -You understand? Completely!
Norman, I will not be responsible for what happens to us
if you make me give up my protection!
Tansy, for God's sake! Protections for what?
Oh, so everything you've got out of life is just the result of your ability, is it?
Last night I was your good luck charm...
Look, I'm not arguing with you!
And you think everyone loves you here at Hempnell, don't you?
Well, let me tell you something.
That faculty would've seen you dead a long time ago if they could've managed it!
Now stop it! You're being hysterical!
-No, I'm not! I'm telling the truth! -Just because you're...
Insane?
Oh, Norman.
[crying] Oh, Norman, I love you so much.
I know. I know.
Oh, Norman. What should I do?
Are you sure that's everything?
You've had me tear up the whole house, haven't you?
[gasps] Norman, your picture! Norman!
No, no, not your picture!
Tansy! Tansy!
No, Norman, not your picture! Norman! No!
Norman, not your picture! No!
Oh, no!
[mouthing] No.
Don't you sense something, Norman?
[screeching]
[phone ringing]
Hello. Hello.
[woman breathing heavily]
Hello, who's there?
[woman] Don't you know who this is?
Haven't you been waiting?
Look, who is this?
Oh, it's been such torture waiting for this moment,
knowing that soon... Soon I'd hear your voice again.
And I'd hear you whisper, "I love you."
What?
Come to me and take me in your arms.
Oh, Norman. Norman...
I need you.
Norman, don't you know who this is?
No, I do not!
After all you've done to me.
After you've undressed me with your eyes a hundred...
[dramatic music playing]
Who was that?
Nobody. It was the wrong number.
Did you burn everything?
Yes. Everything.
Wake up, you bloody fool!
This is a restricted area. You're not supposed to be doing 60!
I wasn't doin' no 60, neither!
-Yes, you were! -I shan't stop for you next time.
[Flora] Norman!
Are you all right?
Oh, yes, I'm all right.
I could've sworn nothing was coming.
Fool. He might've killed you.
How's Tansy?
She's fine.
She seemed a bit under Friday night.
She's probably worried about her no trump bid.
She needn't be. I think she plays extremely well.
[woman on PA] Attention, please! Will Mrs. Carr come to her office immediately?
Will Mrs. Carr come to her office immediately?
Sounds like trouble.
-Thank you. -Not a very good start for a new week.
No. Must hurry. I'm late.
I think it's about time we got a few things straightened out, Taylor.
I agree.
You can start by apologizing for your behavior on Friday.
Start by apologizing?
Look here, I know what you're trying to do to me.
Why you recommended I be removed from your course?
Why you continually fail all my test papers?
I fail your test papers when you submit them
because they're simply not good enough.
And I recommended transferring you
because I thought your antagonism towards me, conscious or otherwise,
has prevented you from doing any serious work.
-Hello. Lab please. -Well, that's one way out of it.
-If it helps salve your conscience. -Now watch it!
You deliberately base your tests on lectures I've missed!
Attending lectures is your responsibility.
I can only teach, I can't absorb the knowledge for you.
Hello, Bates.
Will you get me those two slides for this afternoon's lecture?
All right, thanks.
You've discriminated against me from the moment
-I began dating Margaret Abbott. -I've what?
You've influenced the other professors against me.
Anything to have me thrown out of college
so that you could have Margaret to yourself!
Do you realize the seriousness of such a disgusting accusation?
-It is disgusting! -Get out!
At first I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt,
but on Saturday night, when I told her how much I loved her...
-Saturday night? -She suddenly pushed me aside.
Started whimpering your name!
She was crying! And then I knew.
She laughed at me.
Taunted me with all the sordid details of your nasty, little affair.
Get out.
You better reconsider, Taylor, and fast.
I want those passing grades I deserve.
Perhaps the dean would be interested in my story.
Come in, Harold.
Did you hear any of that?
What you mean, you and Jennings?
Hmm.
No. Another matter, and quite serious.
It concerns you and Margaret Abbott.
Margaret? She's certainly in the limelight this morning.
This can't be treated lightly, Norman.
She's in Flora Carr's office at this moment.
In a dangerously hysterical state.
She claims you've violated her.
I've what? Harold...
-She must be mad. -Possibly.
But we've got to handle this carefully.
Remember, she's Flora's ward.
You better come with me.
Do you realize the enormity of this accusation against
Professor Taylor, Margaret?
I thought a great deal before coming to you
but I had to tell the truth. I'm frightened.
Harold's told you everything?
Margaret...
Look at me, Margaret.
When was all this supposed to have happened?
[Margaret] Saturday night.
On Saturday night I was at home with my wife.
And I suppose she'll share your lie to help save your precious reputation.
Is this the way you repay kindness and attention?
Kindness! Attention! They're just words to hide the truth.
And I've always respected you.
Kindness and attention from a teacher to a student, and nothing more.
You were with Bill Jennings on Saturday night, weren't you?
-That's a lie! -He was making love to you.
That's right.
Try to pretend I'm the kind of girl who gives her favors to everyone.
He's just told me you were with him.
All right. I was with him.
But we weren't making love.
Don't you remember what you told me?
No one else must touch me.
No one else must touch me!
Control yourself!
[phone ringing]
Professor Carr here.
Well, can't it wait?
Very well.
The dean.
Better come with me, Norman.
I'm staying here.
It's imperative. It's about this matter.
[Flora] We shan't be a moment.
I'm telling the truth!
-Coming? -I won't be long.
The dean wants us now, Norman.
I won't be long!
It's no good going on with it now.
You could see the state Miss Abbott is in.
-You phoned me on Saturday night, didn't you? -It's a lie!
You made a disgusting proposition.
And when I was about to hang up, you used vile language.
Vile and filthy!
And this from someone that I sincerely admired.
Well, I didn't know what I was doing! I didn't know.
I didn't know.
Something came over me, I...
[crying] I had to call you. I had to.
Margaret.
I hate you.
[wind howling]
I've spoken to the dean about you.
Bill...
And he agrees that...
That you were treated unfairly.
What about Margaret?
Was she treated unfairly?
Margaret's confessed that the whole thing was a lie.
A lie?
Everything's a lie to you, isn't it, Taylor?
You're very familiar with lies.
That's all you really know how to do, is teach lies.
You like teaching girls, don't you?
I've watched you, we've all watched you.
You're very successful at teaching people how to lie.
[crying]
Mr. Gunnison...
Harold, get over here quickly, will you?
I've got Jennings here. Yes, he's just tried to threaten me with a gun.
No, no one's hurt.
Yeah.
You think you'll get away with it, don't you?
I'll spread the truth about you. I'll see that it gets out!
You won't get away with what you did to Margaret.
You won't be able to lie your way out of it this time, Mr. Taylor.
[Tansy] I tell you, Norman,
I will not be responsible for what happens to us
if you make me give up my protections.
[thunder clapping]
-Norman? -Oh, hi.
Something's happened.
Happened?
Something has happened.
No, nothing's happened.
What is that?
I don't know.
Oh!
It's a recording of a lecture I gave in Manchester last month.
I want you to hear this.
Who sent it?
I don't know. The dean, I suppose.
There's no signature on it.
It's on official notepaper, isn't it?
Don't play it, Norman.
Now, don't start again.
Norman, please. For my sake!
Tansy, I'm playing it for your sake.
Norman, please!
[Norman] You find in certain neurosis there is a danger of temporary relief.
Neurosis based on rejection, frustration, lack of love,
loneliness makes the subject pursue strange occupations which are inexplicable
to the adjusted mind.
Well, to begin with, superstition.
A working definition might be misguided, unobjective science.
More simply, the morbid desire to escape from reality.
It is a science devoid of all empirical values.
A science completely based on a priori evaluation.
Upon investigation into the origins of most superstitions,
it is found that in the main they're derived from
beliefs in primitive states of culture.
-They've ceased to be part of ritual practice... -[clattering]
...and have merely become irrational beliefs, exercising no useful function...
The superstition that spilling salt brings bad luck
-dates from the time when it was believed that... -[shrill tone ringing]
...partaking of salt was considered protection against
evil spirits, witchcraft and other evil influences.
And the fact that there are a number of superstitions connected with mirrors
is derived from the belief that a man's soul is visible...
What are you doing?
What's the matter with you?
Oh, I have a headache. I guess I better get an aspirin.
There's something I want you to hear.
-No. -I'll keep it down low...
-Norman, no. -Why not?
Oh, you're so blind. So blind!
What does it take to convince you?
Come over here, Tansy, I want to talk to you.
Why? So you can give me the benefit of your brilliant logic?
[ringing]
Don't answer it.
Hello?
Hang up!
Hello?
[shrill tone ringing]
Hang up, Norman!
Control yourself!
[groaning]
Oh, no.
[thudding]
Norman, don't open the door!
Norman, please!
[Tansy] The phone. Where's the phone?
[Norman] Oh, blast!
Norman, don't open the door!
[wind howling]
[thunder clapping]
I'm not going to say that I think there was something out there, Norman.
I know that's what you expect me to say, isn't it?
Yes. Yes. I mean, it was just a coincidence.
The tape and the phone call just got on my nerves. That's all.
And the storm just happened to blow out the lights.
You see, I'm not so bad, am I?
I think we could do with a drink, don't you?
Let me die in his place.
Hear me? Let me die in his place.
What? Did you say something, darling?
Oh! How about a drink, darling?
You don't think I've drunk enough, do you?
-No. -I'm nearly falling asleep.
No, one more won't hurt. Here.
What about you?
I'll share yours.
Here's to you.
To us, Norman.
Here. Have some more.
A little more. A little more.
There. A little more.
What are you trying to do? Make me drunk? Huh?
Pretty sneaky, we women. Drink up, darling. Here.
That's enough.
[coughing]
Hey, hey, hey, easy does it.
Now we're joined in spirit, Norman.
A very special spirit.
Very special.
[Tansy echoing] Norman! Norman!
Norman, all that is mine is yours, Norman.
And all that is yours is mine.
Everything you have is mine.
You'll give it to me without hindrance
and of your own free choice.
All that you have is mine, Norman.
Say it. Say it.
All I have
is yours.
All that you have is mine.
[Norman groaning]
[gasps]
Oh, no.
Uh, mmm...
Tansy.
[Tansy on tape] This is goodbye, my darling.
It's really the only way for me.
Loving you as deeply as I do.
It's the only way to defeat the horror that attempted to destroy you last night.
Yes, I shall die in your place.
You have so much to offer this world.
I've gone away so that this terrible curse can no longer touch you.
And by midnight it will be finished.
Over.
There is nothing you can do, Norman. Nothing.
Oh, I do love you.
I love you.
[recording ends]
There is nothing you can do, Norman. Nothing.
Oh, I do love you.
I love you.
[car approaching]
-Tan... -Are you all right?
-Hilda. -I've been trying to phone you all the morning
but your phone's out of order.
We've got a meeting in the dean's office.
That's why I'm here. I said I'd let you know.
Hilda, have you seen Tansy?
There is something wrong.
Harold saw Tansy this morning getting onto the coach.
He thought she was going to the cottage.
-The cottage? -Said she seemed upset.
It's that dreadful Abbott girl.
I'm surprised Tansy believed any of it.
She ought to be put in a rest home.
The Abbott girl, that is.
[Tansy] I tell you, Norman, I will not be responsible for what happens to us
if you make me give up my protections.
I shall die in your place, my darling.
I shall die in your place.
By midnight it will be finished.
Over.
There is nothing you can do. Nothing.
[honking horn]
Tansy!
[continues honking horn]
Tansy!
Hi there. Are you okay?
Yes, I'm all right.
Come on, chump.
Me and my mate here, we seen you okay.
We thought you was passing. Plenty of time to pass.
[groaning] I was trying to signal my wife.
She was on that bus.
You were lucky all the way, mister.
Anyhow, the damage don't seem too bad.
The suspension's gone though.
I must get going.
Mister, the only place you got to get going is the doctor.
I'm all right.
Look, you may be all right outside,
but maybe you got internal injuries.
Yes. Do you know where I can get a hired car?
Give me a lift in your truck.
Look, mister, the first thing you gotta do is make us some papers, huh?
All right, say the whole thing's my fault.
Company rule, mister. It ain't going to take long.
Tansy!
[echoing] Tansy!
Tansy!
Oh...
[panting]
"In the house of the dead in the place of the dead."
[owl hooting]
[grunts]
[door creaking]
[bell tolling]
[Norman sobbing]
Oh, darling...
Your wife's certainly in a very bad state of shock. Not reacting at all.
What really happened?
We had an accident.
[doctor] As long as you hold back information from me,
I'm afraid there isn't much...
I told you, we had an accident.
All right, you had an accident. It may be true.
I'm not a psychiatrist, but I've been dealing with people for a long time,
and I can usually tell when they're trying to hide something.
And you're trying to hide something from me. What is it?
Why has your wife been in the sea since the accident?
She's so clammy. Clothes damp, smell of the sea on them.
I don't want to interfere with your job,
but your wife may be in a very serious condition.
The very thing you're withholding could be the key to her recovery.
All right. I don't know how to explain this.
[Tansy] No.
Tansy. What is it?
Tell nothing.
Tansy, I don't understand.
Take me home!
Your wife's in no condition to go anywhere except to a hospital.
Take me home!
I'll call for an ambulance.
No, I'm going to take her home.
The decision's yours to make, of course.
But I must remind you her condition may be worse than we both think.
By not telling the truth and authorizing immediate confinement,
you could be taking away her one chance of recovery.
I hope you know what you're doing.
[operator] Number, please.
Operator? Connect me with the General Hospital.
No!
Tansy, what are you doing out of bed?
Norman, I'm all right. Really, I am.
Oh, darling, you look awful. You must've had a terrible time.
You don't remember? Anything?
It was like a nightmare.
A terrible nightmare.
I remember being pulled out into the water.
Deeper and deeper.
I kept calling out for help.
I kept crying out for help, Norman. No one heard me.
Oh, I'm so tired.
Yes. Come on up. Come on, I'm going to take you back to bed.
Come on.
[dramatic music playing]
Is this what you're looking for?
[chuckling] Oh, why, Norman...
I thought you were a burglar.
What have you there?
Oh, it's a candid snap I took last week.
Now, it's ruined.
Never mind, I have the negative. I'll make another...
Or was it this?
What is it?
A rather unique recording.
What sort of recording?
Let's hear it. Shall we?
[Norman] You find in certain neurosis there is a danger of temporary release.
Neurosis based on rejection, frustration, lack of love,
loneliness, it makes the subject pursue strange occupations
which are inexplicable to the adjusted mind.
Well, to begin with, superstition.
Working definition might be, misguided, unobjective science.
More simply, the morbid desire to escape from reality.
-It is a science... -[shrill tone ringing]
What's the matter, Flora? Does it bother you?
No. It simply began to get on my nerves.
That's all.
And what about my nerves? And Tansy's?
-Why, whatever are you talking about, Norman? -Why did you hypnotize her?
Why did you try to drive her out of her mind?
[laughing]
Am I amusing you?
Yes, you are, Norman.
I knew you were naive,
but I didn't know you were as naive as all that.
After all that's happened.
You mean to tell me that you still put it down to natural causes?
There's nothing unnatural or supernatural about hypnosis.
You're behaving like a frightened schoolboy, Norman.
Frightened of being wrong.
And you... You are wrong.
I did not hypnotize Tansy.
She attempted to kill me tonight, under your influence.
Isn't that a bit absurd?
Why should I do such a thing?
Why should I want to kill you?
Yes, why? I know you've resented us from the beginning.
Resented everything we stood for,
and that resentment's turned into hatred, hasn't it?
A hatred which has made you lose all reason. Yes, I can see that.
Or was it because of your precious Margaret?
Do you believe that I raped her?
Fear. Fear of losing your position here.
Fear of someone younger taking your place.
And you knew Tansy was emotionally upset and you used it.
It wasn't difficult to work on her imagination. On her weakness.
Knowing that if my wife was proved insane I was finished here!
But a logical mind like yours would be strong enough to prevent any interference!
No, Norman! You protest too much!
Why does it upset you so much to think that there's such a thing
in this world as witchcraft?
It's one of the oldest religions in the world.
It just depends on what you believe in.
There's an explanation for everything in science.
[laughing] Oh, really. Such tenacity.
Any theory, however improbable, wild, and coincidental,
so long as it fits into your tidy view of things.
What're you doing?
What about the accident with the truck, Norman?
What truck?
Yes, isn't it odd that I should know about it?
How does your Aristotelian mind account for that?
Don't be ridiculous. The papers could've got hold of it.
They didn't.
[Norman] What are you doing?
Preparing to prove something.
Preparing to prove, my dear Norman,
that you really do believe in magic.
These, as you can see, are tarot cards.
You know their significance, of course. They represent your home.
And this, of course, will represent Tansy.
There...
Now!
You stupid woman!
Do you honestly think that I believe any of that rubbish?
Yes, it does seem like nonsense, doesn't it?
Just a silly woman setting fire to some cards.
[screeching]
Stop it!
But why? You don't really believe in this, Norman.
You couldn't be concerned over a few bits of burning paper.
Just a woman's eccentricity.
It's too late to help Tansy.
Or is it all in your mind, Norman?
Are you imagining things?
Do you really believe your home is burning?
Will you ever know, Norman?
Will you ever be sure?
Is your house on fire?
Is Tansy dying?
You're raving mad.
[laughing]
[grunts]
Burn, witch, burn.
[Norman chattering on tape]
[Norman] On investigation into the origins of most superstitions,
it is found that in the main they're derived from beliefs
in primitive states of culture.
They've ceased to be part of ritual practice,
and have merely become irrational beliefs...
exercising no useful function...
[shrill tone ringing]
Norman!
[squawking]
[screaming]
[squawking]
[coughing]
Norman!
[Norman chattering on tape]
And then they are no longer really taken seriously.
[shrill tone ringing]
[eagle squawking]
[screaming]
[rattling]
What's going on around here?
I've just seen Norman tearing across the college grounds like a man possessed.
What are you doing with this?
Oh, just running Norman's speech, that's all.
Do you realize you've got it switched through onto the public address system?
It's booming out all over the grounds.
Really? How silly of me.
-I never could work... -No, no...
[Norman chattering loudly]
[shrill tone ringing]
[silence]
Flora, what are you doing?
[tape recorder stops]
I'm sorry, Lindsay.
I imagine I've been working too hard.
I've been trying to tell you that for a long time.
I knew, dear. Quite right.
Perhaps we'll take a trip.
Why are you looking at me like that, Lindsay?
Is something wrong?
No, I don't believe so.
You're rather pale and your hands are trembling.
What are you troubled about, Flora?
Nothing.
I'm merely exhausted, that's all.
Let's go, shall we?
Oh, by the way, Gunnison tells me
they've decided who to give the chair to.
Oh? Harvey, I suppose.
No. I thought it would be Harvey,
but the dean changed his mind.
It's going to Norman Taylor.
I doubt that.
What do you mean?
Nothing. Except that the dean will probably change his mind again.
Wait a minute, you're not goin' in there!
My wife's in there!
Norman! Norman!
Norman!
-Darling! -Thank God.
-Are you all right? -Yes, yes.
What happened?
The fireman said it was the oil stove.
[Lindsay] Norman may be a bit young,
but he's a good man, don't you agree?
Oh, yes. A very good man indeed.
Who the deuce has left the door open at this time of night?
Come away, Lindsay. Don't go in there.
Let the caretaker worry about that.
Well, there's no excuse for this sort of thing and I shall report it.
Lindsay!
[screaming]
Flora! Flora!
Flora!