Original subtitles

(tense chiming)

(eerie music)

(traffic humming lightly)

(recorder beeps)

Today is Wednesday the seventh of November.

Time now is 11:03.

This is an interview with Karen Mitchell.

Am I, like, under arrest or something?

As we discussed earlier, you're here voluntarily.

We just wanna know what happened.

Can I have some water?

Yeah, of course.

Yeah.

So, where do you want me to start?

Well, why don't we start from the beginning?

The who, what, when and where?

You were on a, a school trip overseas, is that right?

Thank you.

Yeah, the college put this trip together

as part of our comparative religions class.

We started in Rome, then Greece, Turkey,

Georgia, and Armenia.

(gentle music)

That's when things started to get weird.

So, towards the end of the trip?

So who else was on this trip?

It was me, Vicki, Rick, Cameron,

Houston, and his girlfriend, Sarah,

Kevin, who's deaf, and his cousin Laney to translate,

and Professor Miller.

Okay, so you crossed the border from Georgia into Armenia.

Then what happened?

Well, nothing, at first.

As usual, every time we got into a new country,

Professor Miller would just dump all this knowledge on us

to get us excited about learning.

All right, kids, welcome to the Republic of Armenia,

formerly known as the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,

when it was part of the Soviet Union back in 1991.

Oh, all right, guys, uh, quick quiz.

What is, uh, what is the dominant religion in Armenia?

Cameron.

Christianity.

[Paul] Uh, yeah, Christianity, that's it, seriously?

[Cameron] I'm just messing with you, Professor,

it's obviously Armenian Orthodox.

Very good, very good.

And what was the first country to take on Christianity

as its official religion?

Go ahead, Kevin.

Armenia.

All right, now, who can tell me what date that was?

Come on, Vicki.

Uh, 313 AD?

[Paul] Close, close,

that's when Rome adopted Christianity.

All right, Karen, go ahead, good.

301.

[Paul] Right as rain.

[Karen] At one point we stopped at this gas station,

like, openair market,

like with produce and chickens and goats.

We have to take some photos.

(upbeat music)

(all chattering)

[Karen] The place had like,

almost a carnivallike atmosphere.

Yeah? Yeah.

[Houston] Heyhey!

[Vicki] Can you take a photo of them?

[Karen] Our driver, Hamlet,

was asking the locals for directions

to this monastery that Professor Miller wanted to show us,

just off of the beaten path.

As usual, Rick was being super rowdy.

(people speak in foreign language)

[Karen] And right when we were about to leave,

we were on the bus, and...

(tense music)

What? What?

[Vicki] Sit back and look.

Look at that one.

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music intensifies)

(person screams)

(tense music)

[Karen] This man appears outside my window,

and then just as quickly, he disappeared.

Who was he?

I don't know.

I don't know if he even had anything to do

with what happened later,

but I just remembered it because it really freaked me out.

(both speak in foreign language)

So then what happened?

[Karen] So then we went to this monastery

from the fourth century.

Sarah, come here, come check this out.

Seriously, come on, it's beautiful, look.

No, Houston, come here, you know I'm scared of heights.

[Houston] All right.

Come on, you two.

[Houston] Not as beautiful as you, anyways.

We're going to see several fine ancient churches

just like this one.

Take it in, guys, look at the crossstone.

[Karen] It was really cool.

We stayed there for a while and explored,

and learned about the early Christianity in Armenia.

[Paul] Any questions?

[Karen] Yeah, Professor Miller,

why are the windows so narrow?

I noticed there's no glass in them.

And then you're on the road again

and everyone was just really exhausted.

And we were literally in the middle of nowhere

in the Armenian countryside.

Hey, buddy, are we lost?

[Driver] Everything okay.

Yeah, you sure?

Yeah, yeah, everything okay.

Okay.

Oh boy, um, where was I? Where did, where'd I leave off?

Oh right, the adoption of Christianity.

The ancient mythology

Hey dude, let me borrow your phone.

No, I need it.

Dude, you're sleeping,

just let me borrow your phone real quick.

Nobody's gonna text you anyway.

(Cameron tuts and sighs)

Stupid.

[Paul] Rick, Cameron, care to continue my thought?

Uh...

[Paul] Do you have any idea what I was talking about?

About religion.

All right, I guess we can pick this up later, guys.

Do your thing, I understand.

And I just had this feeling.

(suspenseful music)

(indistinct creepy whispering)

Like I knew something bad was gonna happen.

(engine revs)

(tires screech)

(students screaming)

What the hell?!

You guys all right?

I'm okay, I'm okay.

Are you okay? Guys?

[Paul] Hamlet, you okay, what happened?

A man, hehe run.

Oh my god, look! What?

Look. What?

[Vicki] The guy.

[Houston] Who is that?

[Sarah] Is he dead?

Guys, everyone stay here, I'll, I'll check it out.

(suspenseful music)

Oh, my god. Oh, my God.

Hamlet, he's still alive, come here.

We need to get an ambulance.

Guys, check your phones, I don't have signal.

Oh, yeah.

No bars at all. Same here.

[Houston] Yeah, same.

Dude, seriously, how does this even happen?

We're literally in the middle of nowhere.

(man gasps) (tense music)

What's he saying?

Tan, Tanrim.

(man sputters)

(man whispers in foreign language)

So, who was this guy?

And where did he come from?

At this point we don't know.

We don't have any idea who he is.

We just knew he needed help.

He needed serious medical attention.

(dramatic music)

Oh, you guys, look, over there.

And we see this village in the distance,

he's kind of pointing to it,

so we figure that's where he came from.

What we found out later is that this guy

was a guard in the village who'd gotten spooked by something

and then deserted his post.

(creature growling)

(guards speaking in foreign language)

(creature growls)

(suspenseful music)

(they continue speaking foreign language)

(suspenseful music continues)

(tense music)

(fire crackling)

(prisoner speaks in foreign language)

(guard screams)

(dramatic music)

(guards speak in foreign language)

(both grunt)

(dramatic music continues)

(students screaming)

[Student] Oh, my god!

Any luck?

Guys, we're gonna have to take this guy to the village

and get him some help.

Are you gonna stay here?

Huh?

[Paul] You staying here?

I still here.

But help.

All right, when we get to the village we'll send help.

All right, kids, we're gonna have to get our backpacks,

head to the village.

We might have to stay out there overnight.

Cameron, I need your help with this.

[Cameron] All right, let's do it.

(gentle eerie music)

(Paul speaks faintly)

[Paul] Don't forget our backpacks.

[Vicki] Grab his backpack.

[Rick] I got it.

(gentle eerie music continues)

(Paul grunts)

[Paul] Come on, a little bit further, we can do this.

I don't think Hamlet wanted to come

because he's worried about getting in trouble

and losing his license.

I don't even think he was looking at the road.

Yeah, I don't know, it all happened so fast.

He probably just didn't have time to react.

[Vicki] Oh, come on, Karen.

You can't seriously think this guy was waiting

and hiding at the side of the road

for the only van that's ever driven down that street.

I don't know.

So, what's the plan, Professor?

First we gotta get this guy some help,

gotta find a doctor.

Second, I gotta get in touch with the school

and let them know what's happening.

[Houston] Professor, this is just crazy, man.

[Paul] Yeah, I'd say so.

Okay, so next, you all arrive at this village?

Tanrim.

Right. So it's dark by the time we get to the iron gate.

(foreboding music)

Rick. I got him, go.

Thank you.

(Paul pants)

Guys, just, just stay here for a second.

Hey, anybody here?

And there's this old gatekeeper guy.

Oh, hey. Hey, we just had an accident.

We're trying to get this guy some medical attention.

We need a doctor.

Do you speak English?

Guys, bring him over so he can see, bring him over.

We're trying to help him.

Hey, where you going?

What are you? Professor, what is this?

I mean, what are we supposed to do with him?

He's getting heavy.

I don't know, guys.

Just hold him for another second.

Maybe, maybe we should put him down, I don't, I don't know.

[Karen] Professor, look!

Oh, thank you, thank you, God.

[Cameron] Dude, what is this place?

[Paul] Come on, guys.

(chains rattle)

You guys got it?

[Cameron] Yeah.

(gate creaks)

(Cameron pants)

(men shout in foreign language)

[Paul] Whoa, whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy, easy, easy.

Easy, easy, guys.

Easy.

Who are you?

You speak English.

Listen, we have an injured man.

He needs medical attention, please help us.

[Rick] Look, we're just here to help this guy

You, come.

So weird.

(guard shouts in foreign language)

Yo, dude, chill.

No one touch. No, no.

We should not do this. This is not good, we need to leave.

(guard speaks in foreign language)

Follow me, all.

Guys, I don't think we really have a choice here.

We gotta do what they say.

Are you crazy? This is a joke.

(guards speak in foreign language)

[Vicki] Really?

And it was the weirdest thing

because he wouldn't even help his own guy.

He was clearly injured,

but they just kept threatening us with spears.

Spears?

Yeah, like, these oldfashioned, pointed spears.

(foreboding music)

And it's almost like they were treating us

like we were contaminated.

(foreboding music continues)

(fire crackling)

(tense music)

(eerie music)

(dramatic music)

(gate creaks)

[Guard] In here.

So then they force us deep into the village,

into this jail cell,

still without helping this guy who's clearly hurt.

Lay him down.

I remember looking up at the moonlight coming in

from this opening in the ceiling and...

(suspenseful music)

(Sarah screams)

(man screams)

That's when I got this really bad premonition.

This is not getting better.

(guard speaks in foreign language)

Hey. Hey, what is this?

[Cameron] Hey, you can't close the door.

[Rick] You don't even wanna help out your own guy?

[Paul] Yo, you gonna explain what's going on?

[Rick] Hey, come here.

[Paul] We're trying to help this guy out.

[Rick] Come on!

[Paul] Hey, where you going?

(dramatic music)

(guards speak in foreign language)

(fire crackling)

(dramatic music continues)

Guys, this is nuts!

They can't just leave us locked up in here!

Come on, man, what are you doing?

Let's not make it worse.

(Demir speaks in foreign language)

Please, forgive us for our treatment.

There was some misunderstanding.

My name is Sanasar, she's Demir.

I guess we gotta accept your apology.

I'm Paul Miller, I'm a professor, these are my students.

We were in an accident up the road

and we're trying to get this man medical attention.

And we need a phone.

I understand, Mr. Miller.

So we take care of the injured man.

It is too late to call anyone at this time,

but you have to stay here in Tanrim for the night.

We don't have a hotel, but we have someplace for you to stay

and we will bring something for you to eat.

And in the morning, we will get you to your way.

Some food sounds pretty good.

Cameron, come on.

What?

All right, Sanasar, I don't think we really have a choice.

We accept your offer.

Please.

[Paul] Let's go, guys.

(gentle eerie music)

(fire crackling)

(they speak in foreign language)

(dramatic music)

(Levon groans)

[Cameron] Wow, this place seems pretty normal.

[Rick] Yeah, we're in the hood now.

[Paul] Rick, why did you even come on this trip, man?

You know it was a religious and historical trip.

[Cameron] We were just in a dungeon.

This is the canteen, you can eat here later.

[Vicki] Uh, Canteen?

Yeah, you can have some food and drinks here.

Is that what I think it means?

I could use a little bit of a buzz, how about you?

Yeah.

What else do you do in this dump?

(foreboding music)

[Vicki] Oh, no.

This was a stable at one time,

but we've used it to house people before.

Professor, please tell me this is a joke.

Look, guys, we've stayed in worse places.

This, we can survive one night, all right?

We have mattresses so I hope you'll be comfortable.

Great, thank you.

Miss Demir, it's your name, yes?

Uh, do you guys have a phone?

We have people waiting for us in Yerevan.

The phone is with Baron Sanasar.

I will take you to him momentarily.

In the meantime, please settle in

and I hope you'll be comfortable.

I'll send somebody to collect you.

All right, guys, pick your rooms.

Great! I got this one.

I want the one with the goat and the load of stray dogs.

Oh, really?

Oh!

Ugh!

Incredible, just lovely.

And I complain about a threestar hotel in Georgia.

Look, we'll just be here one night

and then we're out of here.

Something's telling me we're not getting out of here

anytime soon.

What makes you say that?

Did you see how them freaks were looking at us?

Oh, no, I'm sure you're just paranoid.

[Vicki] Hey, did you burn yourself?

Oh, no, I...

It's this mark I've had since, since I was a kid.

[Vicki] Oh.

(Cameron coughs)

Dude, if I knew he was gonna take us to this creepy dump

I'd have stayed in Michigan.

(Cameron chuckles)

I don't know, I don't think it's gonna be that bad.

Yeah, well, it smells almost as bad as your dorm room.

(Cameron laughs and coughs)

It's not that bad.

(Cameron continues coughing)

Dude, are you okay, are you gonna die on us tonight?

Shut up, dude, it's 'cause of this dust. (coughs)

Oh, my god.

(inhaler sprays)

[Paul] All right guys, I need to talk to you,

come out of your rooms.

Come on, gather up. (claps)

Come on, guys.

[Houston] What's up, doc?

Um, guys, first, I, I have to apologize.

I know this trip really hasn't started out the way we,

you know, expected or intended,

but I think we might be back on track.

I'm about to go speak to Sanasar and he has a phone,

and hopefully I'll be able to call someone

for them to come pick us up.

They're gonna have Miss Demir take you guys

to go get some food.

And drink.

She said it.

Man, just please, not a, not a repeat of Istanbul, bro.

Come on, it's like, just with everything that's going on,

just behave yourself, Rick.

Oh, come on Professor, Rick's an angel,

hanging with the locals.

Oh, boy!

This goes for all of you, seriously.

We're in a different country in a strange village.

On my honor, doc.

Oh, boy, all right, anyway.

Hopefully by this time tomorrow, we'll be in Yerevan,

but I don't think we're gonna make it

to the Tatev Monastery.

No!

We'll be fine, Professor.

All right.

Just hold tight, I'll be back.

All right, goody two shoes.

You really don't like that guy, do you?

(tense music)

(eerie music)

(fire roars)

(upbeat music)

Geez, a little smoky in here.

Wifi?

[Melek] No.

Rick, no.

Hi.

[Vicki] Hi.

(students chatter faintly)

[Karen] Oh, we can't.

Hey, um, so we, we were told that we could like, um,

get like some food or drink from here?

[Melek] Yeah. [Cameron] Yeah?

You can get food.

Oh, great, great.

Um, do you have like a menu, like a menu?

Sit, I will bring you food.

What about drinks, you have any beer?

No beer now.

Do you have like, um, anything else?

Only oghi. What's that?

Uh, huh?

Tutovka.

[Cameron] WWhat's that?

It's strong drink from mulberry.

Sounds like moonshine.

Perfect, we'll have a round of that, thank you!

Thank you.

This place is popping.

[Laney] Well, I don't think we have much of a choice.

Honestly, I'm so hungry I'll eat anything.

I'm so hungry I can eat the table.

I'd rather watch you eat the table

than listen to the Professor speak for another second.

Rick, why are you even here?

[Rick] What do you mean?

Well, it's not like you care about culture or religion.

Oh, come on, I like meeting people from other cultures.

[Vicki] No, you like women that don't speak English

so that you can

Hey, babe, don't be sexist.

Foreign women are people too, right?

[Vicki] Oh, please.

That's right.

Geez, what's his problem?

Oh, uh, yeah, I think he's still pretty mad

about Istanbul.

What are you talking about?

He doesn't know anything about that.

[Cameron] Dude, everybody knows about it.

Sh!

Well, she came on to me, so it's not my fault.

I understand, but

(clears throat) I'm starving.

It's good. [Vicki] Mm!

In the canteen, it was really the first time in hours

since we hit the guy on the road

that we could finally just relax.

(mellow music)

All right, kids, cheers to our first day in our new home.

(glasses clinking)

[Karen] Cheers.

[Vicki] Cheers, guys.

(all gasping)

That is what I'm talking about, thank you!

[Vicki] Oh, yeah.

No, no, I can't.

Bon appetit!

Mm, this is better than I expected.

Dude, is it me or is this place one big sausage fest?

What are you talking about?

There are no girls here.

[Cameron] Dude, the bartender's a lady.

(Rick sputters)

If you can call her that.

She's not that bad.

Dude, you've been in the middle of nowhere far too long.

If you like her so much,

go ask her for some more of this moonshine.

Are you... (chuckles)

Okay.

Anyone else?

No.

Hey, um, ccould I get some more of this drink stuff

for my friend?

Just one.

Okay.

[Cameron] Thanks.

And what about you? Don't you drink too?

Oh, um, I'm still working on mine.

I'm Cameron.

Melek.

Smooth!

(tense music)

(eerie music)

So, while we're in this canteen place,

Professor Miller is talking to Sanasar,

the leader of the village,

and he's trying to get a phone so we can leave this place,

but I guess at this time of night, there's just no way out,

so we just went with it.

Have a seat.

Once again, sorry for before.

You scared us, but I think we'll be all right.

This food is really good.

Was it grown here in the village?

No, it isn't, some is delivered by truck.

Truck, when's the next truck coming?

Maybe we can get a

No, no.

Next delivery will be in five days.

The road you were on is dead end.

Nobody really come here.

(both speak in foreign language)

Let me explain.

We're on a tour of religious sites

from Rome to South Caucasus,

and we're really just trying to get to the Anonim Chapel.

It's too far from here,

but this land is rich for historical places

and they all have some unique mission.

Just like Tanrim.

Its really interesting, I've never heard of this place.

[Sanasar] As it should be.

Why's that?

No cars, no wifi, no connection to the outside world.

We have a phone but it's not working most of the time.

And we don't need it.

(ominous music)

There is nothing so unusual in this part of the world.

I cannot wait to go home.

I mean, this is not what I signed up for.

Yeah, quite the weird adventure.

This sucks and it's pissing me off.

And this weird place.

You need to relax, have another drink.

Actually, I'm thinking maybe it's time to go to bed.

You coming? Okay.

[Vicki] Yeah, I'm gonna go too.

Karen, you coming?

[Karen] Uh, yeah, sure.

[Vicki] Okay.

What are you two chatting about?

That you're a really cool guy

and you should probably get some rest.

Are you guys coming?

Two minutes.

Okay, don't do anything stupid.

Two minutes, mom.

Yeah, we wanna go to bed.

Noureg will take you back to your quarters.

Noureg.

[Vicki] Okay.

Good night, thank you.

Here it is.

I know you, Mr. Miller.

That's crazy, you have my book.

Oof, terrible title.

I can't believe it made its way all the way out here.

Reading about this subject is my lifelong time interests.

An interesting book.

You take religion to be manmade

to help us understand evils in the world.

I suppose my work could be interpreted that way.

I do believe that one should challenge one's beliefs.

I also do believe that people have to navigate the world

with a certain amount of healthy skepticism.

Healthy skepticism, interesting.

The question of the writings of man, it's very important.

We all went back to the stable

where we were gonna spend the night.

Except Cameron and Rick.

Right.

None of us saw either of them until the next day.

So you and Rick, you stayed at this canteen place?

Yeah, but just for a few more minutes.

How come?

Well, Rick, he, uh, he wanted to get another drink,

but we, uh, finally decided to leave and go get some rest.

(Rick belches)

Dude, hang on, like we're, we're supposed to wait

for that guy to take us back.

Are you scared?

Come on, we can make our way back on ourselves.

We're big boys, let's go.

Just hold on, okay?

I think it's this way anyways.

It's one big pig sty surrounded by a wall.

We'll find a way home, Cam, let's go.

(Rick belches)

And?

Well, we left, but we didn't know where to go.

You see, the village, it's like full of these tiny streets

and alleyways and it was really dark.

I should've never let Rick go.

(tense music)

(dramatic music)

Your skepticism is what got you out of the church, yes?

Yeah, pretty much.

Tanrim has existed for a long time.

A very long time.

In short, this is a community of people

who answered to a calling.

Hm, I know that a lot of people in this part of the world

do answer that call.

My entire trip here with my students

is to see the various faiths,

the similarities and the differences.

(suspenseful music)

(Cameron coughs)

This place is a goddamn maze.

Are we going the right way?

I think so.

It smells.

Whoa, what is this?

(suspenseful music continues)

What is he doing?

Oh, my god.

[Cameron] Dude!

(suspenseful music intensifies)

(fire roars)

[Rick And Cameron] Whoa!

(guard speaks in foreign language)

[Rick] Run!

(suspenseful music continues)

I think we lost it.

Dude, what is this place?

(fire crackling)

Run, run!

(dramatic music)

(singer vocalizes)

Damn it!

Rick, Rick! Shh!

You knocked this guy out?

It was an accident, we just ran into him.

Okay, so these people are still chasing you?

Yeah, exactly, and we didn't know what to do.

All right, keep going.

Then Rick and I, we picked up that guy and he,

he saw this door so we brought him inside.

Inside what?

I mean, what was this place?

I didn't know.

Well I, I didn't know then, but it was like this, um,

it was like a prison or like a dungeon.

Dude, they're coming, pick him up!

[Cameron] They're gonna kill us, man.

Let's go, let's go.

(dramatic music continues) (singer vocalizing)

Get the door.

Get the door!

[Cameron] Let's go.

Just put him down.

He just passed out.

[Cameron] Do you think so?

Yes.

[Prisoner] Help!

What was that?

[Prisoner] Help me, please.

So we hear this moaning and this pleading

and it's in English, which is so weird.

Oh, my God.

There's somebody in there.

Oh, my God.

[Prisoner] Get me out.

He's speaking English.

Yeah, I just heard that too.

[Prisoner] Please, help me.

Oh, my God.

[Prisoner] I, I, know

secret way.

And inside the pit, this, this cage,

is the oldest looking man I've ever seen.

And, uh, why Rick did what he did next I'll never know,

but he wanted to get a closer look

so he used the light on his phone.

Rick, Rick, Rick, stop, Rick, stop!

And then...

(dramatic music)

[Rick] Let me go!

Let me go, please, come on, let me go!

Let him go! Dude, help me.

[Cameron] Let him go!

Let me go, please. Dude, help me!

(indistinct creepy whispering)

(dramatic music)

[Narrator] Next time on "Evil Touch."

Please understand, this, this was an accident.

This is just a really big mistake, okay?

One of your students,

he came in contact with something very bad, like a disease.

[Paul] What else do you want from us?

It is very dangerous.

Your student, Richard, we have to find him immediately.

This isn't right, something is wrong.

What is up with you? I just

[Karen] I mean, I know you don't like him.

It's not that. Then what?

You just don't want me to be with him?

Are you guys gonna come?

I don't think so, I'm too scared.

Karen, be careful.

Just stay here and do not trust anyone.

Don't worry. Don't touch anyone.

It'll be okay, I'll keep you safe.

(Karen screams)

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music intensifies)

(person screams)

(dramatic music softens)