"Alex." "Ted." "Thank you for taking the time to meet us." "Hey, Alex." "How are you?" "I wouldn't miss this for the world." "Oh, Amy." "You haven't seen Amy since she was a baby." "I don't believe it." "Mommy, what did he say?" "Ask him." "What did you say?" "I said, "Welcome, dear Amy," in Japanese." "Want me to teach you Japanese?" "Sure!" "Come on, let's go." "How do you feel?" "Tired, tired." " Still a bachelor?" " Oh, yeah." " Oh, God." " You got a special lady." "I haven't been able to find one." "You're a lucky man." "You're not as lucky as I am." "This way, baby." "Oh, this way." "Well, it sure is good to see my best friend again." "Alex, did you have any luck finding us a place to live?" "You bet." "Now, listen, Ted, I know you're into Japanese folklore and the like, but you weren't fantasizing when you said you wanted an old Japanese style house?" "Not at all, no, not at all." "That's exactly what we wanted, isn't it, honey?" "Oh, yeah." "Traditional." "When in Japan, live as the Japanese do." "Well, that's exactly what I did." "I found you a dream house." "It's over 200 years old." "It's got a thatched roof." "It sits on the side of a hill." "Oh, that sounds beautiful." "I hate to ask this question, but..." "How much?" "47,000 yen a month." "Sounds expensive." "That's about $250, American." "Heh, that's not bad." "That's not bad at all." "Well, the reason I got the house so cheap is, uh, the house is supposed to be haunted." "Haunted by what?" "Don't worry about it, honey, modern ghosts are friendly ghosts." "Sounds perfect, Alex." "Well, it'll be good for him." "Help you with your research." "There might be an interesting story in it." "Yeah." "See that roof?" "They don't make them like that anymore." "Amy, Amy!" "First lesson in Japan." "You always take your shoes off before you go in the house." "Okay, one second." "Here." "Now you're good." " I think she's excited." " Yeah!" "How would you like a second honeymoon?" "I'd love that." "Hey, come on, you two, you've got plenty of time for that." "Let me show you around the house." "Watch your head, Ted!" "Hello, Alex-san." " Konichiwa." " Konichiwa." "Good afternoon." "The house is clean, top-to-bottom." "Electricity and telephone connected, as you instructed." "Arigato." "Thank you for your courtesy, and my friends thank you, too." " Thank you." " Don't mention it." "Now I say good-bye." " See you again!" "Amy, look." "Honey, look, look at this." "Alex, this is terrific." " Beautiful, well done." " Sweetheart?" "Ta-dah!" " It's western, Laura." " I'm glad about that, Alex." "That's your bedroom on the right." " Amy, yours is straight ahead." " Oh..." "Go ahead, Amy, open the door." " Oh, sweetheart." " Mom!" "This is your bedroom." "There's no bed in my bedroom!" " Oh, yes there is!" " Really?" "There will be a bed in the closet." "Why do they keep the mattress hanging?" "There!" "Because it's Japan." "Then you have a whole room to play in." "I found them very weird." "Okay, I just found my study." "Good." "Is it real?" " It's real." " It's real." "Ah." "Honey, look." "Alex?" " Alex, how can we thank you enough?" " You don't have to thank me." "I'm just glad you like it." " Now, here." "Amy?" "Laura?" " Oh, thank you, Uncle Alex." "What have you done, what have you done?" "What do you think's in here, Mommy?" "Don't you think you've clone enough?" "Now presents as well?" "Just some housewarming gifts." "For my favorite family." "What is this?" " God, I'm thirsty." " Oh!" "Ah..." " Sake." " Sake." "Laura?" "Thank you." "Pal?" "Thank you." "Heh." "Kampai." "You could have said..." " Kampai." " Kampai." "Mmm." "Well, that's nice." "Thank you for taking the time, getting us here, settling us in." "As I said, I wouldn't miss it for the world." "I know you have jet lag, you're tired and..." " You get out of here." " All right." " You've taken enough time." " My pleasure." " I got to get back out there." " Oh!" " I'm sorry, I..." " That's all right." "I'm really not that clumsy." " Let me see." " No, it's all right." "It must be one of those ghosts we were talking about." "Oh, please don't say that." "Come on, let's say good-bye to Uncle Alex." " Come on." " Come on." "Ted!" "Ted!" "Ted!" "What, what?" "The light went off." "Well, why didn't you turn it back on?" "Well, of course I did that." "But it went off again by itself." "I know that." "I did that already." "It's probably just a defective switch, honey, or the plug is loose or something." " Hold me." " It's all right." "It's all right." "What?" "!" "What is it?" "You scared the hell out me." "It was nothing." "I just thought I heard something." "It's nothing." "Oh." "Oh, come here." " You awake?" " Mm-hmm." "Good." "Now, give me a kiss." "Can I do anything for you, Father?" "I am the monk of the Zen temple, which you can see from the road." "I know all about this house, and lately have had disturbing visions about it." "It is a pity you have chosen this house as your home." "If you need me in the future, please come to the temple." "I appreciate you're taking the time to come and warn us, Father, but I'm sure we don't have any problems here that we can't solve ourselves." "Remember this visit, my son." "I'll be waiting." "Good morning." "Hiya." "Guess what I found?" "Just now, in the bedroom." " It's a netsuke." " What's that?" "An ivory carving they used to hang from their belt." "It's special, isn't it?" "It depends." "This one looks pretty old." "You don't like it." "It looks old." "I'm going to keep it." "For us." "Is Amy up?" "No, no." "She's still fast asleep." "Off the bed, on the floor, as usual." "At least, in Japan, she doesn't have as far to fall." "You know, this house, it's really kind of damp inside." "Well, that's no problem." "We'll just open up the shojis, and give it a good airing out today." "I don't think it's been lived in for a long time." "Mmm, maybe not." "Doesn't it seem strange to you that Alex never married?" "Nah..." "Ah...just hard to please." "I don't think I'd find him hard to please." "I'm sorry." "I don't know why I said that." "I really don't." "It was an awful thing to say." "Don't worry about it." "Don't give it a second thought." "No." "No, it was awful." "No." "I'm going to wake Amy up." "Hello." "Hi, Laura." "Oh, hi, Alex." "How are you?" "I'm fine, thank you." " Where's your old man?" " Oh, Ted..." "No, no, he's in Tokyo for the afternoon." "Oh?" "I'm sorry I missed him." "The reason I'm calling, I want to invite the two of you to a consulate reception." "Oh, that would be great." "Ted will be delighted." "Good." "All settled in?" "Well, sort of." "Laura?" "Laura?" "Laura?" "Alex... when are you coming to see us?" "I want to see you." "Soon." "Right now all kinds of congressional brass are coming through." "Well, don't let it be too long." "Uh, no, I won't." "Have Ted call me." "Did you hear me?" "Yes." "I said, don't let it be too long." "Well..." "I'll see you soon." "Sayonara." "Sayonara." "Must you continue to work while we're eating?" "Honey, I got to get this wrapped up, corrected, typed by tomorrow morning." "I don't want to work while we eat." "I gotta work while we eat." "Sorry." " Is it good, sweetheart?" " Mmm, it's good, Mommy." "The eggplant's delicious." "I do appreciate it." " Alex called today." " Yeah?" "He invited us to a consulate reception." "Good." "You want more milk, sweetheart?" "Yes, please, Mommy." "I'll give him a call tomorrow." "Okay, fine." "You can call him..." "But, personally, I'd rather not go." "What do you mean?" "Why don't you want to go?" "Do I have to give a reason?" "I just don't want to go." " Ah!" " Amy, be careful!" " It wasn't me!" " Oh, God." "Ah..." "You ready, baby?" "Is this okay for where we're going?" "The Japanese?" "Well, I don't know about the Japanese, but this American thinks you look fabulous." "Come on." "Oh...dear." "A note for my friend Rita..." "Sorry." "Sorry." "Ted!" "How are you?" "Laura, you look wonderful." "Well, let's have a drink." "Come on." " Champagne?" " Sure." "Thank you." "Ted, right behind you." "See that guy at the table?" "The one with glasses." " He edits four magazines." " Oh, yeah?" "Look, I think he's-- Why don't you go over and say hello?" "It'd be a good outlet for you." "Don't worry about Laura." "We'll have a drink, and we'll dance." "Go on." "You'll be okay?" "Of course, I'll be okay." " Thank you Alex." " Go get him, pal." "Well...would you like to dance?" "Yes, I'd love to." "Well, beautiful blonde lady, what did you mean by that phone call?" "Take me outside." "What?" "I said, take me outside." "Sure." "Why don't you visit me next week in Tokyo, and we'll discuss business, and I will show you the Ginza." "I'm looking forward to it." "He asked us to order." " Beer for me." " Whiskey soda." " Whiskey soda." " Whiskey soda." " What'd you say?" " I asked girls for you." "Welcome." " How do you do?" " How do you do?" " Whose drink?" " Mine." "That's mine." "Oh, big!" "That's kind of big!" " Please?" " Ah, sure." "Sure, please." "Kampai." "Ted?" "You have a nice mustache." "I like your face." "Would you like to dance with me?" " Yeah." " Good." "Stand up." "Ooh!" "Be careful!" " Ooh, I'm sorry." " Always be careful." "This way please." "Who are you?" "What's your name?" "My name is Otami." "Otami..." "Listen, I gotta talk to you about something." "Now, now, listen." "Listen here." "Don't disappear on me again, Otami." "Don't disappear." "Hey..." "Hey, who are you?" "My name is..." "Help, you guys!" "Listen, listen." "I was just dancing with her." "God." "Oh!" "Argh!" "Stop!" "For God's sake!" "Ted!" "Wake up!" "Wake up, please!" "Look at me!" "Look at me!" "Look, I turned the water on." "It doesn't come on." "Then it comes on all by itself, and it covers me!" "Just like the light." "You remember the light?" "It's the same thing!" "Don't you understand?" "Where were you last night?" "You know where I was last night." "I was with the magazine editors." "Oh." "Well, I hope you had a real good time." "As it happens, I had a real bad time." "And it's not getting any better." "Amy!" "We're going out!" "Ted..." "Hmm?" "What?" "You speak English?" "I speak a little English." "You like these Noh masks?" "Very fine." "Yes, I'd like to look." "Noh masks." "From Noh plays?" "Noh plays?" "Noh plays." "You know..." "like theater." "Oh." "Oh, you mean they're masks that actors wear in stage plays?" "Yes." "Stage plays." "A long time ago." "They're very beautiful." "They are all made of wood." "They would look beautiful in our living room, wouldn't they?" "Daddy would be a little bit mad, don't you think?" "Think he would?" "I would like to buy." "I'm glad you came." "I've been expecting you." "Now, let us talk." "The house you are living was the scene of a terrible murder in the middle of the last century." "There was a young girl, named Otami, who tired of her samurai husband, Shugoro, and fell in love with a student of her husband." "His name was Masanori." "Shugoro discovered the two lovers, and killed them both, then committed hara-kiri." "To get power of the reluctant Masanori, the tale tells of the night Otami visited the witch, Omajo." "Hi." "We're back." "Hi, Daddy!" "We've been shopping!" "How's my girl?" "Look at all the neat things we got." "What'd you get?" "What'd you get?" "To go with my new kimono." "Mommy bought them for me." " Well, put 'em on." "Let me see 'em." " Okay." " You okay?" " Yep." " You want a drink?" " You betcha." "What's in the box?" "Why don't you open it." "What do you want to drink?" "Tennessee whiskey, no water, no ice." "They're Noh masks." "Do you know about them?" "Ah, not much, a little bit." "This one's Okina." "No, no, Magojiro." "That's right." "This is Okina." "This is Hannya." "She's a demon." "Can't tell what this is." "Heh." "This is Tengu." "He's a devil." "Heh." "He's not really a Noh mask." "He's a devil god." "And a hill god." "Honey, these are beautifully made." " What did you pay for 'em?" " 50,000 yen." "Did you say fifteen?" "Fifty." "You spent 50,000 yen?" "You paid 50,000 yen for these?" "That's what I said." "50,000 yen, and we can't afford for anything!" ""We can't afford"?" "You spent on something to hang up in the living room?" "Wait a minute, but you can afford to pick up the check every time you take out a bunch of Japanese businessmen who have more money than we've ever seen?" "That's business!" "Oh, that's right." " It's Japanese business!" " Yeah, it's Japanese business." "It's how we live, it's how we make money, it's business!" "I am sorry." "I'm sorry." "You know what?" "What?" "All we seem to do is argue and argue." "That's true." "Let's not do it anymore." "I love you very much." "Me, too." "Hold me." "That is the best story I have come across since we hit Japan." "A little frightening." "I'm glad your work's going well." "Maybe you should write it at the table." "No, honey, the story's going to write itself." "It's going to write itself." "I'm not worried about it at all." "Eat your soup, babe." "What kind is it?" "Beef and vegetable." "The kind you like." "I'm just going to take it easy, now." "Just relax and enjoy dinner with my family." "I got the whole story roughed out." "Now it's only a question of finding the best way to take it into a..." "Ooh, there's an awful face in my soup!" "Come on, eat your soup for Daddy." "No!" "Don't be silly." "Come on, sweetheart." " No." " Let's see." "You see anything in this soup?" "I'd eat it!" "Come on." "There's nothing wrong with this soup." "This is Mommy's good soup." "I'll get you something else." "You don't have to eat it." " Eat your soup!" " I can't!" "Yes, you can!" "When I say, "Eat your soup," you eat your soup!" "Eat it!" "Come on!" "What are you doing?" "Get away from her!" "What's the matter with you?" "Let her go!" "For God's sake, what's the matter?" "Get it away from her!" "Get out, Amy!" "What are you doing?" "Are you crazy?" "Amy, sweetheart!" "It's all right, all right." "Okay, okay." "It's all right, now." "Let's get away." "Oh, please." "Please." "Please." "Come on, sweetheart, please." "Amy?" "Amy?" "Good morning to you." "It's not morning, Mommy." "It's afternoon." "Oh, it is?" "Oh, I'm very sorry." "Did you have a good sleep?" "Well, I had a funny dream last night." "You did?" "What was it about?" "Tell me." "Well, I can't remember." "Oh." "Then, it's best you forget, huh?" "How's my girl?" "She's all right." "She doesn't remember a thing about last night." "Thank God." "Hey." "Come on." "Yeah, I know, I know, I know." "Look, I was thinking it might be a real good idea if you both came with me to Pearl Island." "You'll be back tonight, won't you?" "Yeah, but I'll be back late." "I just thought it'd be better for all of us." "No, we'll be all right." "We'll be okay." "You sure?" "I'm sure." " You're going to meet her parents." " I don't want to meet her parents." "Don't be so silly, that's rude!" " Konichiwa!" " Konichiwa!" " How are you?" " How are you?" "All right." "Okay." "You going to go now?" "Yes, please?" "Thank you." "Have a good time, huh?" "Take care of one another." "Bye." "Be a good girl, please!" "They used to dive topless, but not for many years." "Some of those girls have been underwater two minutes." "Sure." "Don't worry." "We haven't lost a girl yet." "Grab this!" "Quick, quick!" "Grab this!" "Okay, no, no, no." "Thank you, thank you very much!" "Thank you." "Noriko, hey, listen," "I want you to stay here and take care of Amy." " Stay here, please." " Okay." "Thank you." "Amy, Daddy's had an accident, and he's in the hospital." " Is he going to be okay?" " Yeah." "No, he's going to be fine." "But I have to go and see him." "I want you to stay here and take care of one another, okay?" " Okay, be a good girl." "Bye." " Bye!" "Police, Ted, it's the police." "Driver, okay, here, here." "Come on." "What's happened?" "What's happened?" "What's the matter?" " Where's my daughter?" " Honey, calm down." "Where's the babysitter?" "The babysitter?" "Noriko?" "Noriko?" "Noriko?" "Ted, Ted, easy, easy, easy!" " Calm down!" " Stop it, Ted!" "Where's my daughter?" "!" " You can't leave!" " Ted!" "Ted!" "All right, ma'am, a minute, minute!" "What?" "My daughter!" "Please tell me!" "Where's my daughter?" " Take her to hospital!" " Hospital?" " Yes." " Ted!" "Amy's going home first thing tomorrow morning." "My folks will look after her." "You're damn straight." "And they'll look after you, too." " Oh, no, never, Ted." " It'll take me a couple of days to" " No, I'm staying with you." " Listen to me, it's not funny anymore." " I know that." " I'm going to finish this story." "I know that." "My folks will take care of her." " I want you" " I got here as fast as I could." " Are you all right?" " I'm fine." "How's Amy?" "The doctors say she'll be fine." "What happened?" "Silly." "Fell from a tree." "You know how children are." "Are you just going to sit there and watch me type?" "Wait, what?" "Heh." "What else am I supposed to do?" "Do you know what just happened to me?" "No, I don't." "I was sitting, reading my book, when this thing fell off the wall and smashed on the table in front me." "Oh..." "look." "Why don't you just go, you start packing." "Get us all ready." "As soon as I finish this, we'll leave, okay?" "When you're finished." "When you're finished?" "Amy has been gone one week." "You continue to write, and the things still continue to happen." "When are you going to finish?" "You know what?" "I think you care more about your story than you do about any of us." "Whoa, wait a minute." "Come on, honey." "I hate this house!" "I hate the things in it!" "And I hate this goddamn mask!" "Well, I hate this house, too!" "And I hate the things in it, and if you want to see how I feel about the mask, watch this!" "Stop it!" "Oh, please!" "Stop it!" "Oh, baby, baby, baby." "What's a matter?" "Honey?" "What?" "No..." "Please stop." "Please stop." "Stop." "It's all right." " You were hurting me." " I'm not going to hurt you, honey." "I'm not going to hurt you." "Honey, I wasn't anywhere near you." "We're going to see the monk." "Right now." "Okay?" "Better I just sleep." "Let me sleep." "Just sit down." "I'll get you a pillow." "Okay, here you go." "Come on." "Come on." "Gently." "Go." "Go now." "Okay." "I'll be back in 10 minutes, okay?" "Tell me everything." "Omit no details, no matter how small." "Alex Curtis." " Alex." " Laura." " It has to stop." " What?" "You and I. For myself, I mean." "I can't explain." "What are you talking about?" "Why the sudden change?" " I love my husband." " I know you do." "I love him very much." "I'm sorry." "I'm really sorry." "Laura." "Laura." "Laura!" "Demons and ghosts are not confined to your Christian world." "You moved into a house occupied by evil spirits, condemned by their karma, to stay in the place of their crimes." "Your daughter did see a face in the bowl." "When she drank, she swallowed the soul of the kaki." "Why did you not go home?" "I wanted to try to understand what was happening." "The kaki will know when you talk to me, and their revenge will be terrible." "You must go." "All right." "Laura?" "Laura?" "Laura?" "Laura?" "Honey, you scared me." "Everything's going to be fine." "The monk's going to protect us." "Tomorrow, we're going home." "Please." "Please, keep the door open." "Father, this is my wife, Laura." "Everything will be fine." "You don't have to worry." "Thank you." "Haaaaa!" "Let no one in the house." "No one." "I will return in the morning." "Thank you, Father." "We're safe." "We're safe." "No, we're not." " Yes, we are." "Yes, we are." " No, no!" " No, please!" " Honey, honey, honey, honey." "No, no, please, please!" "Please, don't touch me!" "Don't touch me please!" "Please, don't touch me!" "No, no, please!" " No, you can't touch me, you can't!" " Okay, okay, I won't touch you." "It's not okay!" "I've had an affair with Alex!" "I'm sorry." "I'm so sorry." "Laura!" "Ted!" "Ted, it's me, Alex!" "Ted!" "Ted!" "Ted, where's Laura?" "No!" "No, stop it!" " No!" " Get out of my way!" "Ahh!" "No!" "Stop it!" "Stop it, please!" "Stop it, stop it!" "Both of you, stop it!" "Stop!"