Original subtitles

[sinister music]

♪ ♪

- [screams]

The house was huge.

It used to be a convent in the 1950s.

No big deal.

Just a date on a wall.

At least that's what I thought.

MAN (ON TAPE): Sister, what happened next?

NUN (ON TAPE): We performed an exorcism.

It all started when I found that tape.

[screams]

July 12th.

Everywhere I looked, I found it.

CHILD: Mom.

There are some things we can't unsee.

Some things we can't unhear.

I wanted to know what happened in that house.

[creaking]

Sam?

Oh!

Can I sleep in here tonight?

Can I sleep in here tonight? Don't scare me like that.

Don't scare me like that.

SAM: Sorry.

What's wrong?

I don't like this house.

All right, you can stay here this once, OK?

After my divorce was finalized, my son Sam and I,

we moved back to my hometown and to my mom's old house.

She'd moved to Phoenix the year before

She'd moved to Phoenix the year before and she gave me the house.

and she gave me the house.

I could understand why Sam didn't like the house.

It was huge, way more space than we needed,

It was huge, way more space than we needed, but it was definitely unique.

but it was definitely unique.

It used to be a convent in the 1950s.

Where do you want this chess set, Sam?

When's Dad going to come over?

He's not.

This is our house, you and me.

Whatever.

LANIE (VOICEOVER): Sam was really close to his dad,

so he was having a hard time adjusting.

so he was having a hard time adjusting. I got where he was coming from.

I got where he was coming from.

I was nervous too.

But this was our life now and I knew we would eventually

get used to it.

My mom was a packrat.

She kept everything, even the stuff

the nuns who used to live there left behind.

So little by little I was going through it, trying to get rid

of the trash.

And that was when I saw the box.

It was one of those old reel to reel audiotapes.

It said "Sister Corrine exit INT."

I wasn't sure what that meant.

I guess I was just lonely and bored.

It was like finding an old photo album.

I couldn't just throw it away without finding out

I couldn't just throw it away without finding out what was on it.

what was on it.

I bought an old reel to reel player at a thrift store.

MAN (ON TAPE): October 2nd, 1956.

Exit interview for Sister Corrine McDonnelly.

LANIE (VOICEOVER): Exit interview.

That must have been what the letters on the box stood for.

MAN (ON TAPE): Sister Corrine, you've been with the order

MAN (ON TAPE): Sister Corrine, you've been with the order for how many years now?

for how many years now?

CORRINE (ON TAPE): 47.

MAN (ON TAPE): And you've now decided it's time

MAN (ON TAPE): And you've now decided it's time to leave us, correct?

to leave us, correct?

to leave us, correct? CORRINE (ON TAPE): Yes.

CORRINE (ON TAPE): Yes.

MAN (ON TAPE): And why is that?

MAN (ON TAPE): And why is that? CORRINE (ON TAPE): I cannot stay,

CORRINE (ON TAPE): I cannot stay,

not after seeing what I've seen, doing what I've done.

It would be sacrilege.

It would be sacrilege. MAN (ON TAPE): I see.

MAN (ON TAPE): I see.

You understand it's our duty to record your recollection

of the events, including your reasons for leaving?

So why don't you start at the beginning.

Tell me when you first heard the calling.

LANIE (VOICEOVER): The first 15 minutes

was this old woman, Sister Corrine,

talking about how she always wanted to be a nun

talking about how she always wanted to be a nun and taking her vows.

and taking her vows.

CORRINE (ON TAPE): Nights at the convent

were quiet, lonely at first, but I was young and naive.

My faith in the Lord was strong.

Life was peaceful and productive.

And then one night there was a knock at the door.

[knocking]

MAN (ON TAPE): And what happened next?

LANIE (VOICEOVER): Finally it got interesting.

MAN (ON TAPE): Sister?

CORRINE (ON TAPE): He said his name was Leonard.

He was tall with longish hair and dark eyes, almost black.

It was winter and quite cold the night he arrived.

There are rules, as you know, about men entering

our quarters, but it was snowing out.

It had been four days.

If we'd refused him entry, he would have died for sure.

And where would the charity be in that, Father?

So, although we were hesitant, we let him in.

We knew it was the right thing to do.

SAM: Mom!

Mom!

Mom?

What's wrong, honey?

What's wrong, honey? There's a man in my room.

There's a man in my room.

What?

Look, I'm sure it's nothing, OK?

I'm going to go upstairs and check.

I'm going to go upstairs and check. I'm sure it was just a bad dream.

I'm sure it was just a bad dream.

Stay right here.

But I--

Sam, did you close your door?

Mom?

Sam was already scared to sleep alone in the new house,

and now he was terrified.

I thought a nightlight could help him.

[creaking]

Sam, honey, I love you but you have got to sleep in your own--

[screams]

LANIE (VOICEOVER): It was a horrible disfigured face

with black eyes.

I was so tired that night and I was so

stressed because of the divorce, somehow I convinced myself

I dreamed it.

So how's young Samuel doing?

So how's young Samuel doing? He's adjusting.

He's adjusting.

It's a bit of a process.

Divorce has no winners, as you know.

Father Mallory had been the priest at our church

since I was a kid.

I was alone and scared and I needed to talk to somebody

that I could really trust.

How about you?

How are you adjusting?

I'm fine.

I, I actually wanted to talk to you

about this recording I found.

LANIE (VOICEOVER): I told him about Sister Corrine, a woman

who had been so happy to be a nun

and how she'd experienced something that

had made her leave the convent.

Well, a sister abandoning her vows

would take a real trauma, something that would really

shake her faith.

Did she say why?

I have to be honest, I haven't had a chance to finish it yet.

I have to be honest, I haven't had a chance to finish it yet. Take my advice, don't.

Take my advice, don't.

There's some things you can't unsee,

some things you can't unhear.

You understand what I'm saying?

Yeah, I think so.

LANIE (VOICEOVER): I came close to telling him

about the man I saw on my bed.

I don't know why I didn't.

I guess I was scared that he would think I was crazy.

Here you go.

How's unpacking your room going?

Sam.

Earth to Sam.

What are you looking at?

What?

What are you-- what are you pointing at?

What do you see?

That man.

What man?

What man? The man over there.

The man over there.

The man over there. Sam, I don't see anything.

Sam, I don't see anything.

He has long hair.

LANIE (VOICEOVER): When he said long hair,

I instantly thought of a man I'd seen in my bed.

OK go in that room right now.

Don't you dare come out until I tell you.

OPERATOR (ON PHONE): 911, what's your emergency?

Yes, hi, I think there's somebody in my house.

OPERATOR (ON PHONE): Are you alone in the house?

OPERATOR (ON PHONE): Are you alone in the house? I'm here alone with my son.

I'm here alone with my son.

OPERATOR (ON PHONE): Did you see the intruder?

My son saw him.

OPERATOR (ON PHONE): OK, stay on the line.

OK, yeah, I'll stay on the line.

OPERATOR (ON PHONE): Officers are on their way.

I waited for what felt like forever,

and that was when I started to question myself again.

A grown woman calling the cops because her nine-year-old

A grown woman calling the cops because her nine-year-old had seen someone in the house.

had seen someone in the house.

[knocking]

OFFICER: Police!

The police officer checked the entire house.

There was no one there.

I'm really sorry.

It's all right.

LANIE (VOICEOVER): Between what happened

that night and the night before in my bed,

I wasn't sure what to think anymore.

Sam.

But then I stopped and wondered,

if I was imagining it all, how was Sam seeing the same man

that I was?

Something was happening in our house.

But why now?

I'd known that house my entire life and nothing strange

had ever happened there.

Then I remembered the tape.

It all started when I found that tape.

I should have listened to Father Mallory,

but I needed to listen to the rest of the tape.

I wanted to know if what we were seeing

was the same thing Sister Corrine saw.

CORRINE (ON TAPE): The man was a drifter,

but he was cold and sick, and it's the duty of our order

to comfort those in need.

MAN (ON TAPE): What occurred when you allowed this man

into the residence?

CORRINE (ON TAPE): We fed him and gave him dry clothes,

but then he began to suffer fits and speak in unholy ways.

He said horrible things.

He spoke other languages and in other voices,

like dead people lived inside him.

MAN (ON TAPE): And what did you do then?

CORRINE (ON TAPE): Sister Eustace

said he was possessed by the devil

and that God delivered him to us,

and he was our responsibility to,

and he was our responsibility to, to save from the fires of hell.

to save from the fires of hell.

MAN (ON TAPE): What did you do, Sister?

CORRINE (ON TAPE): I walked to the rectory

to get Father Dwyer, but he wasn't there.

The deacon told me to return to the convent and wait,

The deacon told me to return to the convent and wait, but we couldn't wait.

but we couldn't wait.

They didn't understand it.

MAN (ON TAPE): Sister, what did you do?

CORRINE (ON TAPE): We performed an exorcism.

MAN (ON TAPE): And the outcome of this forbidden act?

CORRINE (ON TAPE): The man's fits worsened.

He screamed like I've never heard before.

Such misery.

God forgive us.

He passed in the night.

He passed in the night. MAN (ON TAPE): And?

MAN (ON TAPE): And?

What became of him?

CORRINE (ON TAPE): We, we hid the body.

MAN (ON TAPE): You, you hid--

CORRINE (ON TAPE): If it came to be known we'd

CORRINE (ON TAPE): If it came to be known we'd had a man in the convent--

had a man in the convent--

Sam?

CORRINE (ON TAPE): --and we'd performed an exorcism, who

knows what would have become of us?

Sam?

MAN (ON TAPE): Where's the body?

Sam, answer me!

Sam, answer me! MAN (ON TAPE): Sister.

MAN (ON TAPE): Sister.

CORRINE (ON TAPE): I don't know.

Sister Eustace and the others buried it.

MAN (ON TAPE): So was that the end of it?

CORRINE (ON TAPE): No.

It was only the beginning.

The convent was large and had many twists and turns

on the bottom floor, but it was in Sister Eustace's room

on the bottom floor, but it was in Sister Eustace's room upstairs that we felt in the most.

upstairs that we felt in the most.

MAN (ON TAPE): Felt what exactly?

CORRINE (ON TAPE): This violence, this anger, this--

I don't know how to explain it.

But I knew we all felt that after that night.

Sam?

MAN (ON TAPE): After the exorcism?

MAN (ON TAPE): After the exorcism? CORRINE (ON TAPE): Yes.

CORRINE (ON TAPE): Yes.

Sam?

MAN (ON TAPE): What did you see in that room, Sister Corrine?

CORRINE (ON TAPE): What lives in there has caused

CORRINE (ON TAPE): What lives in there has caused me to lose the faith.

me to lose the faith.

[gasping]

[gasping] MAN (ON TAPE): Sister Corrine?

MAN (ON TAPE): Sister Corrine?

Sam?

Sam?

Who's there?

MAN (ON TAPE): Sister?

Sister!

Sister!

[gasping]

Sister, can you hear me?

Help!

Sam?

MAN (ON TAPE): Open your eyes.

MAN (ON TAPE): Open your eyes. Look at me.

Look at me.

Look at me. Sister, can you hear me?

Sister, can you hear me?

[groaning]

Sister?

Sam?

MAN (ON TAPE): Can anybody hear me?

Please help me!

[screams]

Sam!

LANIE (VOICEOVER): As soon as I grabbed him--

Sam!

LANIE (VOICEOVER): --his eyes turned back to normal.

LANIE (VOICEOVER): --his eyes turned back to normal. I can't explain what I saw.

I can't explain what I saw.

I felt like we just had to get the hell out of there.

I felt like we just had to get the hell out of there. I didn't stop for anything.

I didn't stop for anything.

I didn't stop for anything. I just grabbed him and ran.

I just grabbed him and ran.

I just grabbed him and ran. MAN (ON TAPE): Look at me, Sister!

MAN (ON TAPE): Look at me, Sister!

Help me!

Can anybody help me?

Can anybody help me? Please, please, help me!

Please, please, help me!

LANIE (VOICEOVER): Sister Corrine died the night

of that interview.

Nobody knows exactly what she saw inside that room.

Nobody knows exactly what she saw inside that room. I don't think I want to know.

I don't think I want to know.

I saw what happened to my son.

That wasn't Sam.

That was something else.

I wish I'd never found that tape.

There are some things we can't unsee.

Some things we can't unhear.

So this is the one I really wanted you guys to see.

I like it.

It's cute, right?

Yeah.

Yeah. Eight years ago, my husband Connor

Eight years ago, my husband Connor

and I had just moved across the country for his new job.

and I had just moved across the country for his new job. We'd been staying at a hotel and searching for a new house

We'd been staying at a hotel and searching for a new house

for about three weeks.

Then our realtor showed us the house

that was literally twice the size of anything we had seen.

that was literally twice the size of anything we had seen. It appraised two years ago at 450.

It appraised two years ago at 450.

Now it's listed at 299.

Wow, why?

Well, there was an incident there,

Well, there was an incident there, you know, a couple of months--

you know, a couple of months--

you guys didn't hear about this?

It was all over the news.

No.

I mean, I could tell you if it matters.

I mean, I could tell you if it matters. It's a bit gruesome.

It's a bit gruesome.

You know what, doesn't matter.

I don't want to know anymore.

You're not interested?

Nope, not a bit.

Nope, not a bit. OK, in the house or the news?

OK, in the house or the news?

The news.

Oh, OK, good.

Oh, OK, good. I love the house.

I love the house.

GAIL (VOICEOVER): I knew the house was too good of a deal

to pass up. - You want to see?

Yeah.

OK, let's go.

GAIL (VOICEOVER): And since it didn't seem to bother Connor,

I tried really hard not to let it bother me.

I wasn't working at the time, so I started

doing some little projects around the house

while Connor was at work.

It said July 12th.

I thought maybe it was someone's birthday or something.

No big deal, just a date on a wall.

At least that's what I thought.

I came home from work early one day

to help Gail around the house.

And as soon as I got out of the car,

I noticed there was something weird on the gate.

I figured it was just some neighborhood kids that did it.

I figured it was just some neighborhood kids that did it. GAIL: What are you doing?

GAIL: What are you doing?

Says July 12th.

Says July 12th. I was just peeling back the wallpaper in the guest bedroom.

I was just peeling back the wallpaper in the guest bedroom.

Yeah?

Yeah? It's written there too.

It's written there too.

Huh.

I didn't think much of the date

I didn't think much of the date when I saw it behind the wallpaper.

when I saw it behind the wallpaper.

It looks like I'm going have to change his board out.

But now it was in two different places in the house.

Connor was working a lot of late hours at that time.

One night I was unpacking and moving some boxes

into the garage.

I thought maybe Connor had come home early from work,

but I didn't hear him pull up in the car.

Connor?

Connor?

GAIL (VOICEOVER): It looked like a drop of blood

just floating in the water.

Connor?

GAIL (VOICEOVER): When I looked back down at the tub,

GAIL (VOICEOVER): When I looked back down at the tub, the blood was gone.

the blood was gone.

When I woke up the next morning, Connor

When I woke up the next morning, Connor had already left for work.

had already left for work.

There was a shard of glass in the bed,

There was a shard of glass in the bed, but I had no idea how it got there.

but I had no idea how it got there.

I thought maybe somehow it found its way

into the box with our sheets during the move.

So after I washed the blood off my arm,

I decided to make the bed, make sure there was no more

glass in there.

The glass was gone.

And so was the scratch.

And so was the scratch. I couldn't explain it.

I couldn't explain it.

I had just finished painting a wall in the kitchen

and I was standing there admiring my work

for a second, when the calendar just fell off the wall.

July 12th again, marked with what looked

July 12th again, marked with what looked like another drop of blood.

like another drop of blood.

That's the moment I was sure that in 17 days

something was going to happen.

[gasps]

I'm sorry.

I just wanted to tell you we were finishing up out.

Let me help.

GAIL (VOICEOVER): I was so distracted

I had forgotten the plumber was even in the house.

July 12th.

I had to find out what that date meant.

[phone ringing]

Hello, this is Brenda.

GAIL (ON PHONE): Hey, Brenda.

It's Gail.

Hey.

I called Brenda, our realtor, to find out

if that date was related to whatever happened in our house.

July 12th?

No, your guess is as good as mine.

GAIL (ON PHONE): Like I said, I don't want to know the details,

but could this be the date when whatever happened happened?

No.

That was February 14th, Valentine's Day.

That was February 14th, Valentine's Day. I remember.

I remember.

I have to admit, that's the answer I was hoping for.

GAIL (ON PHONE): OK, thanks.

Sure.

GAIL (VOICEOVER): But now I was back to square one.

Not again.

You're not curious?

You're not curious? It's all over the house.

It's all over the house.

It's all over the house. Not in the least.

Not in the least.

How about we take one little break away from it?

How about we take one little break away from it? Please just let me do this.

Please just let me do this.

GAIL (VOICEOVER): The next day, I waited until after Connor

left for work.

I can't explain it now, but it was like the date was somehow

calling to me, begging me to find it again.

I could just feel it.

And I had this nagging thought in my head

that if I could find all its hiding spots,

maybe I could figure out what it meant.

There it was again.

There it was again. Everywhere I looked, I found it.

Everywhere I looked, I found it.

It's July 12th.

It's coming up.

It's in two weeks.

Well, July 19th is coming up in three weeks.

You and this date.

You've got to let it go.

Well, the date means something to somebody.

Well, the date means something to somebody. It doesn't mean anything to us.

It doesn't mean anything to us.

GAIL (VOICEOVER): The next night, Connor was working late.

I decided to take a bath, try to calm down

I decided to take a bath, try to calm down and take my mind off everything.

and take my mind off everything.

[screams]

I had to get myself to a hospital.

It was gone.

Had I imagined the whole thing?

At that point, I started thinking Connor was right.

Maybe I had gotten so fixated on this date that, I don't know,

it was affecting me in some way.

I couldn't calm down after that, so I just started unpacking.

[phone ringing]

Connor was calling to tell me he would be picking up

dinner on his way home.

I really wanted to tell him about my arm,

I really wanted to tell him about my arm, but I didn't even know how to begin explaining it in person,

but I didn't even know how to begin explaining it in person,

let alone over the phone.

[music playing]

Yeah.

OK, yeah, right.

Bye.

[screams]

There's a man outside her window.

She wasn't making any sense.

There was no one there.

You all right?

OK?

I was tired.

I just didn't want to play into it.

Let's go inside.

Connor didn't believe me, but now that he was home,

I decided to go back inside.

I couldn't pretend that everything was fine anymore

I wanted to know what happened in that house.

It was late at night, but I called our realtor,

and she told me one of the most horrible stories I've ever

heard.

The couple who lived there before us was engaged.

Their wedding date was supposed to be July 12th.

I'm sure that's why the date was written all over the house.

But then, things changed.

He traveled a lot for business and came back from a work trip

early to surprise her for Valentine's Day.

[giggling]

The guy she was having the affair with escaped,

but she didn't.

After he killed her, he killed himself in the bathtub.

When their bodies were discovered,

he had carved July 12th into both their arms.

I told Connor to pack up the car.

At that point I didn't care if he thought I was crazy.

After hearing that story, I didn't want to be in the house

another second, especially when July 12th was

another second, especially when July 12th was only a few minutes away.

only a few minutes away.

Gail, what's the matter?

Gail, what's the matter? What's happening?

What's happening?

I went in the bathroom and there's writing on the mirror,

and then it broke and there's somebody in the house.

Go, go!

I saw him standing right there in front of me.

No question about it.

[sirens]

The police couldn't find anything.

No lipstick on the mirror, no shattered glass.

They thought we made it all up.

There was no way I was ever stepping foot back

There was no way I was ever stepping foot back inside that house.

inside that house.

We hired professional movers to come pack everything up

and we moved out that weekend.