Summary
Highlights
The movie begins with George, his wife Catherine, and daughter Franny moving into a large 19th-century farmhouse in Upstate New York after George gets a teaching job. Catherine, a successful art restorer, sacrifices her dream job for the move. Soon after, strange occurrences begin in the house, including odd smells and moving objects, affecting Catherine and Franny.
Catherine discovers an old bible revealing the house's previous owners, the Smits family, with some names marked 'Damned.' She also finds an antique ring that makes her sense a spirit. Meanwhile, George begins an affair with a college girl named Willis. Catherine learns about the Smits' tragic history through a neighbor: the father, Calvin, murdered his family by carbon monoxide poisoning in the garage beneath their bedroom.
Catherine holds a seance with Floyd, a colleague of George's interested in spirits, where both Ella's spirit and a male spirit (presumably Calvin) manifest. Catherine later discovers George's affair with Willis after finding an overdue library book in his car. George's academic fraud is also exposed when his former advisor, Dr. Warren, reveals George forged recommendation letters, leading Floyd to decide to fire him. Catherine also learns that George plagiarized his late cousin Henry's artwork.
George, influenced by the malevolent spirit, drives Justine, his colleague, off the road, putting her in a coma. Floyd, who confronted George about his forgery, is found dead in the Hudson River. George is offered Floyd's position temporarily. Catherine plans to leave George, but he drugs her. With Ella's spirit's help, Catherine tries to find Franny but passes out. The male spirit possesses George, leading him to murder Catherine with an axe.
George frames Catherine's death as an accident, and due to a lack of evidence, he is released. Catherine and Ella's spirits awaken Justine from her coma, who then calls George, expressing that she remembers everything. Calvin's spirit encourages George to flee. George attempts to escape on his cousin's boat, but a storm, orchestrated by Ella and Catherine's spirits, opens a portal to hell. George, unable to turn back, is consumed by flames, and an inverted cross appears, signifying his damnation.