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As the film comes back on from commercial break, we are treated to another shot of the Sargeant. This time it is up close, allowing us to better see his blood covered face. It is a reminder of the horrificness that is going on around here.

Counting Corpses:
The untimely death of the Police Sargeant marks the seventh death (Death #7) at the hotel since Elaine has arrived, and marks (Death #15) on the hotel's current count... The hotel only needs to slaughter 16 people in order to complete the ritual, and with the Sargeant's death, they only need one more. The hotel staff is now hellbent on making Elaine the final sacrifice.

Note:
Elaine opens the elevator door, intent on making a break for it. Unfortunately, waiting down the hallway are Mr. Rogas, Creeson and Judith! But where is Elaine? This certainly isn't the service hallway where Letti's desk and the kitchen are located. Letti's desk, and the starting point where Elaine and the Sargeant first entered the elevator, was on the hotel's first floor. This is where the Sargeant told Mr. Rogas to get the staff together, because he wanted to talk to all of them, when he came down. The staff must have anticipated that the Sargeant wasn't going to make it, but Elaine was. They also must have anticipated that Elaine was going to make a break for it. So where is Elaine? She's on the Mezzanine Level - the one just above the first floor service hallway. If Elaine was wanting to make a break for it, she sure wouldn't have gone back down to the service floor. That's in the basement, one floor below the hotel's main entrance. She would have went straight for the floor with the main entrance. She was still expecting the staff to be on the service floor, waiting for her to return. Unfortunately, as they were anticipating Elaine's departure, they seem to be one step ahead of Elaine, and are here waiting for her. The walls are an antique white with dark brown chair rail, running down the length of the walls. The door frame, a four foot wide cased opening, is also trimmed out with dark brown moulding. The small hallway the opening leads into, possess beige colored chair rail, dado mouldings, and baseboard. There is an electric wall sconce directly across from the opening. To the left of the light lies a potted plant. The image of Mr. Rogas to the left of Judith, and Creeson, the doorman, behind these two, in front of the greenery and the wall lighting present a charming picture. It becomes a nightmare, as, as soon as Elaine opens the door and begins to peer out, they spot her and become charging towards the elevator opening.

Musical Note:
As Elaine opens the elevator door, the music creeps in. As Elaine looks down the hallway, the music crescendos in. When we spot the three staff members, and they angrily start charging Elaine, the music also charges at us with rythmatically heart thumping beats. The pulsating bounciness of the music helps induce and intense feeling that perfectly compliments what NOTTFO refers to as:

THE EPIC CHASE SEQUENCE


Elaine is lucky that they were so far down the hallway. This gives her the extra second she needs to get away. She frantically closes the metal gate, and the large, primary door begins to sweep shut, just as the trio reach the elevator. Mr. Rogas flails trying to keep the door from shutting, but it luckily shuts before they can charge in upon Elaine.

Anachronistically Speaking:
Elaine is indeed lucky. Newer elevators have safety sensors that keep the elevator doors from shutting, if the slightest obsticle or intrusion get in their way. This means, had Mr. Rogas been able to get a hand in the door's path, as the door was shutting, the door would have immediately stopped shutting, and would have opened back up, instantly, meaning Elaine would have been a goner. Luckily this older door continues to shut, regardless of how badly Mr. Rogas and the rest of the staff are wanting it to reopen.

Elaine rushes to the control panel and frantically presses the number "6" button, four times, until it finally lights up.

Oh! Is this slow, antique elevtor even rising!?

Elaine: C'mon!

Elaine bangs on the corner of the control panel, anxiously wanting to ensure that the elevator is moving.

Elaine: C'mon, c'mon!

Note:
We see a flash of light in between seconds of darkness. This implies that Elaine has traversed at least one floor higher. Elaine wants to make sure. She quickly hits the 6th Floor button five more times. She wants to get away, and this ancient elevator just won't ascend quick enough.

Elaine looks around. She finally senses she is moving. She's not going to relax, though, but knowing she's escaping the trio downstairs definitely helps to relieve a little bit of Elaine's fears.

We see a shot of the shaft framework, conduits and piping that composes the systems needed to operate the elevator, and make it function correctly. The elevator is indeed rising.

In time with the music, the floor number indicator above the elevator door lights up 5, then goes out, and then the number 6 appears. Elaine looks to the panel, sensing the stop. She immediately reaches for the retractable metal gate.

The camera is now outside of the elevator, facing towards it. Elaine opens the gate very cautiously. Note that the Sargeant is still viewable in the background.

Elaine cautiously steps out of the elevator. Right hand on the elevator frame, she stares cautiously down the small service hallway. There are no staff members waiting at the end of this one.

Elaine is going to her room, located here on the 6th Floor. She is hoping she can call for help, now that the Sargeant, the only person that could help her is now laying dead on top of the service elevator.

Use the provided floor plans to help track Elaine's movement throughout this epic chase sequence.

6TH FLOOR OF THE WESSEX HOTEL







































Note:
Holding her purse in her left hand, Elaine is also holding her room key. She must have dug it out while she was waiting for the elevator to ascend. She is assuring that as soon as she reaches her room, she can open the door, without any wasted time. In fact, she doesn't have any time to spare. She will have several close calls throughout the chase, so one less headache is more than welcome.

Elaine comes straight out of the hallway, makes a left in front of the staircase, and heads through the open door, directly across from the staircase. This set leads down to the 5th Floor. If you go around this set to the opposite end, there is another set that leads upward to the hotel's 7th Floor. Directly to the left of the entrance to the service hallway lay two passenger elevators. The staircase contains decorate mesh that was designed to prevent falling over the edge as well as rounded brown polished wooden railings.

Note:
The camera now shows Elaine, at the opposite end of one of the long, crimson carpeted corridors. Half-round table number five can be seen at the end of the hallway, to the right of the cased opening, adjacent to the wall scone, with a bouquet of flowers atop. There is a door to the right of the table, and a little farther down we see a door to the left, to the left of a brown rimmed framed picture. This door appears to be directly across from a window. The window appears to have sunlight shining through, and is cloaked with white silk. A gold colored curtain and valance seem to surround the sunlit luminescene. About eight to ten feet to the right of the window, also on the right side of the hallway is another door.

Errors in Continuity:
How can there be a window on this wall and room doors? The doors would lead into rooms that would protrude farther away from the wall with the doors, thus meaning that the windows would lead more into a corridor running between the room walls. We know, however, that all windows are indeed on the outside walls themselves, so there would be no way a window could exist within a wall of doors... There are several windows like this during the chase, and each one is in a spatially impossible location. The set designers were looking more towards creating pleasing ambiance throughout the chase, rather than spending time spatially correcting window placements.

Elaine comes running down the hallway, trying to get to her room as fast as she can.

Note:
Elaine must have ran all the way down this corridor, and now is entering another small area where a door opens inward to the left. The door is proped open and is sitting adjacent to a gold, metal, half-round table. This is table number six. Half-round table number seven is a wooden table with a bouquet of flowers atop it, just to the left inside of the door to the previous hallway. There is a set of stairs to the left of the doorway, leading upward. We can possibly assuming a matching flight leading downward lay to the left of these, just off camera. This area with the staircase is spatially impossible in conjunction with the floor plans for other floors, and the extra hallways and rooms Elaine runs through to reach her room are simply meant to disorientate the viewer and create a labyrinthe type sense of spatial awareness. Her room is actually right down the hall from the service elevator.

Note:
A German tilt of another corridor symbolizes the franticness of the situation, as Elaine desperately seeks security and shelter. At the end of the corridor appear to be a lamp and a small chair. There is a gold rimmed picture hanging on the wall to the left. The picture rests to the left of two more doors, the closest to the artwork, being open, and casting a light bluish hue. There appears to be a door across from this one. Half-round table number eight is at the end of the hallway, to the right of the opening. It is also a wooden table with a bouquet of flowers atop it. The top of a bouquet of flowers, seen in the lower left foreground, mark table number nine, placed to compliment the table down the hallway. Elaine runs down another hallway. There is a framed picture on left, a white panel box built into the wall, a little further down on the left, and a gold rimmed mirror shaped like an elongated octagon hangs on the wall above half-round table number 10. This table also possesses a bouquet of flowers. The Wessex loved their bouquets - they definitely helped to create a more elegant and personalized touch.

Elaine passes by two more sets of doors, one on either side of the hallway. She goes through a set of protruded load bearing columns, passes a silver framed picture on the wall to the left of the columns, and she finally reaches her room, the very next door on the left. It's Room #696, and she immediately takes the key that she was already holding, inserts it into the lock, unlocks the door, and with a little force pushes the door open.

Elaine runs in, take a right, runs through the little hallway, and turns left into the small living room. She tosses her purse on the small green couch on the adjacent wall, the same couch that she was sitting on earlier, working on her laptop.

Note:
When Elaine goes to leave, she never regrabs her purse, choosing to leave it sit. She will either leave it for good, or come back for it later, when the coast is clear and she is under the escort of several uniformed law enforcement officers. But for now it's unclear what's going to wind up happening to Elaine's purse. It would wind up in the incinerator, if anything would happen to Elaine, but for now the viewer is hoping she is going to escape...

Elaine runs over to the telephone, on the small table under the window. The phone is next to the a small antique table lamp. In front of the table is a decorative wooden chair and through the open spot of the right arch on the chair we can see a small notepad on the desk. This was the notepad Judith straightened earlier, with flair and precision. Elaine couldn't care about the Wessex Hotel's elegance and charm now. Now she just wants to get out of here. She grabs the receiver with her left hand, reflexively holding it up to her left ear. Her right hand dials five buttons, possibly 9-#-9-1-1. (9-# being to dial an outside line, typical in places like this, and 9-1-1, hoping to reach the Los Angeles Police Department. She dials the number and then pulls the phone base slightly closer to her.

Note:
This body language is suggestive that Elaine is clutching the phone for security, wanting to be closer to the police department she is trying to reach.

On Closer Inspection...:
We see an older style telephone switchboard. There are colored strips in between rows of holes in which telephone adapter wires can be plugged in to transfer calls to anywhere. Each hole on the unit more than likely represents a different room. From top left we see a yellow strip. Below this are 9 holes. Under each hole is a small LED light will light up when a call is being made. Under this lies a strip that is both green and blue. Six holes are under the green strip and three holes are under the blue end of the strip. Below this is a blue strip under which lie slightly larger holes. These holes are under the LED light, rather than above. To the right of this half lie a yellow strip atop at least three holes (this is all that can be seen by the camera). Below this are a green strip above three more holes atop a blue strip with at least three more holes. These last holes are larger, and look like the first set. Below the switchboard lie a row of adapter ends. These are used to plug into the various holes on the switchboard. The plug ends are colored either grey or red, and which one is used likely determines to whom you will end up speaking to. From the left we see eight red ended adapters, eight grey ended adapters, one red adapater and one grey one.

On the bottom left half of adapter holes, the fourth LED light from the right starts flashing an orange light. The lights more than likely light up different colors, depending upon who the patron is trying to reach. The second grey adapter from the left is picked up and finesfully inserted into the hole under the flashing orange light. The slender left hand, with gold wedding ring on, secures the cord, making sure it is plugged in securely, and then gracefully slides it a few inches down the length of the cable. It is a standard telephone operator.

Operator: 9-1-1. Emergency.

Elaine is ecstatic and a bit relieved.

Elaine: Oh, thank God. A murder. There's been a murder.
   It's a policeman. His name is Sargeant Madden. He's in the
   elevator shaft.

Elaine, having said the prior in one breath, takes a small breath, and then continues, gesturizing with her right hand.

Elaine: You've gotta get somebody over here right away.
   They're coming for me next.

Operator: Calm down, ma'am.

Elaine looks as if she is trying to relax.

Operator: I can't understand you.

Can't understand!? Elaine begins to raise her voice:

Elaine: What don't you understand? There's been a murder!
   Do you understand murder!?

The operator, with giant, triangular shaped glasses with a thin brown rim, curly, almost shoulder length brown but mostly greying hair, and small, clear rounded "L" shaped tube with a small silver microphone, coming from behind her ear, and turning to end so that the microphone part is approximately one inch away from the right side of her lips. The operator speaks with her standard, disaplined professionalism.

Operator: Yes. I understand there's been a murder...

The operator nows seems concerned:

Operator: Are you all right?

Note:
The operator, we will learn, works in the hotel, for the hotel. In fact, she's in on their scheme; her contributions being the abilities to monitor telephone calls and inform higher authority when somebody starts mentioning something suspicious or incriminating about the hotel. The higher authority then puts an end to the intrusions immediately. Her concern isn't out of genuine concern, but it temporarily stunts Elaine, and temporarily gets her to relax her way of thinking:

She still answers in a rushed tone. After all, her heart's racing a million miles a minute. There's still a dead police Sargeant in the elevator, and the hotel is still after her.

Elaine: Yes I'm fine, I'm fine!

Operator: Now listen to me.

Elaine relaxes slightly, and looks to be intent on taking in the operator's advice.

Operator: You stay in your room, you bolt the door.

Elaine, listening, starts shaking her head up and down in approval and with full comprehension.

Operator: We'll send somebody over there, right away.

Elaine shakes her head again. She can do that. Thank you, kind operator.

Elaine: Okay, but please, please hurry, because I ...

Something dawns on Elaine, like a ton of bricks. Older 9-1-1 services didn't have the ability to accurately pinpoint a caller's location, with the speed, efficiency, and accuracy that it does today.

Elaine: How do you know where I am!?

Elaine pulls the phone away from her ear, and looks down at it in disgust.

Musical Note:
The music comes in slow and casual.

The operator, also disgusted, yanks the plug from out of the hole it was just plugged in to.

The operator, with a gold bracelet on her left arm, and a white sweater jacket with the sleeves rolled up atop a black themed blouse, sits behind a desk in front of the switchboard, which is actually twice as big as the small portion that we saw earlier. There is a small hallway behind her, with brown veneered tables, and brown mouldings. Four squared flourescent lighting grids suspend four inches down from the ceiling, encased in black metal. Behind the operator is a wall with nine pieces of paper, lined up in three rows, three per row. There is a clipboard hanging on the small area of wall to the left of the small hallway, to the right of the switchboards.

A black shadow comes over the left of the screen.

The screen pans to show who is making the shadow. Putting his left arm to rest on the top corner of the switchboard in front of the operator, and standing in front of a wall with more organized rows of pieces of paper, containing telephone codes and whatnot, is Abraham, who is usually manning the hotel's front desk. He stares at the operator, curiously.

Operator: She's in her room. I'm afraid she knows.

The operator looks disappointed. Abraham instead, smiles deviously, protraying the wicked happiness in his voice:

Abraham: It really doesn't matter now...

He is implying that Elaine's time on Earth is about to come to an end. She is to be the final sacrifice. The hotel will guarantee that, no matter how long it takes. And it isn't going to take long. The hotel staff is anxious finish the ritual, as quick as possible.

Elaine doesn't know what to think. She just simply travelled her to write an article on the hotel's grandeureousness, and now she's running for her life. She can't trust anybody it doesn't seem. She doesn't necessarily suspect all of the staff members, but she has every reason to. But she will soon learn that they are all in on it. She has no friends to help her out. She is alone.

Elaine opens the door, very cautiously.

Musical Note:
As soon as the door is opened, and Elaine begins to peer out, the casualness of the music is overpowered by the heart thumping chase music as it kicks back in.

Multiplicity:
Elaine is going to try and make a break for the service elevator. She left the door open, so it should still be there waiting on her. While she is preparing to make her escape, Abraham has already left the operator's office and is on his way to try and catch Elaine in her room. The office isn't down by the service floors, as we would expect, however. We'll see evidence of this in a second.

There is nobody in the hallway, so Elaine goes to make a break for it. Notice she carefully makes sure to shut her door before walking away. After walking a couple of steps, she begins to walk faster.

We hear the passenger elevator as it makes its signature "Ding", announcing its arrival onto the current floor. The double doors on the elevator slide open and we see Abraham, standing in the middle of the elevator.

Version Differences:
Due to the soundtrack overdub, the elevator's "Ding" isn't heard in the international versions of the film.

On Closer Inspection...:
There appears to be a man wearing a blue shirt, khaki pants and white sneakers crouched down on his knees, on the left side of the elevator where the control panel should be. He appears to be trying to hide out of the camera's view, and his purpose is unknown. Perhaps Abraham knocked out a patron already on the elevator, who was suspicious of Abraham's extreme need to use the elevator, and left his body in the position seen here. Either that or it could be a crew member. Either way, his presence seems out of place.

Note:
The operator and the hotel's telephone switchboard system aren't on one of the lower service floors. It must be located on a floor higher than the hotel's 6th. We know this because as Abraham is stepping off of the elevator, we can clearly see that the elevators DOWN arrow is lit up (orange, whereas the other one, not being used, is still white).

On Closer Inspection...:
The small commons area is quite eloquent. Chrome surrounds, wrapping the three predominant sides of both passenger elevators, provide a mirrored effect, creating more eloquence and grandeureousness. There is an ornate and antique square end table next to a side wall in front of the elevator that contains a bouquet of white and yellow flowers, as well as a bouquet of pink flowers. Cream colored chair rail, base boards and dado mouldings provide an air of antiquity when used against the antique white paint, crimson colored carpeting and shiny golden sign to the right of the elevator reading "6TH FLOOR".

Abraham steps off of the elevator, and walks in a perfectly straight line, turning next to the staircase, to where he has positioned himself perfectly center of the hallway. This puts him perfectly in line with the doorway, thus putting him perfectly in line with Elaine's line of sight.

On Closer Inspection...:
As the camera pans to the right of the passenger elevators, following the desk clerk, we notice the entrance to the service hallway in the upper left corner. There is a single load bearing column in the center, trimmed with moulding to match the walls. There appears to be a door on the wall behind, but it is partially blocked by the column. On the back wall, to the right of this door there is also a bushy potted tree in a large white pot, sitting next to a two antique yellow sitting chairs each on one side or the other, of a decorative and ornate 4½' tall lamp.

The desk clerk looks like mindless zombie whose only purpose is to take down the young writer. As soon as Elaine notices the desk clerk, who has purposelessly made an effort to assure he was directly in Elaine's path, she stops running as quick as she can, grabbing the wall with her left hand to help her lose acquired momentum. She turns and starts running back in the direction she had just come from. So much for using the service elevator!

Errors in Continuity:
We see the panel box from earlier as we are right down from Elaine's room, but this time is seems that Elaine's room and the panel box are almost right near the entrance to where the elevators and staircases are located, whereas earlier Elaine had to run through three hallways and a room with a stairwell, to get to this point. This was what was meant about disorientating the viewer. Either way, Abraham is right behind her, and he's not stopping.

Note:
At first Elaine doesn't move and spends an extra second trying to figure out why the desk clerk is chasing her. There is a simple explanation as to why Elaine hasn't moved yet: as of this point she wasn't entirely 100% sure that the desk clerk was in on it. She had suspected a little bit of wrongdoing when she spoke to him about Mrs. Beecher - that's because of the twisted grin on his face when he claims that she had checked out. ...And she suspected a little bit more wrongdoing when he claimed that nobody came to see her yesterday, even though she knows Gail Myers would have stopped by the check-in desk first... But even then, there was still no solid, definitive proof that he was in on it. Now there is. And it comes in the form of him rushing toward her, with a rather deviously sadistic smile on his face. He is still wearing his standard Wessex Hotel "uniform" - white collared, button-up shirt, black suit jacket, black slacks and black dress shoes with black tie, complimentary gold name tag and signature Wessex "W" and has always been the model of efficiency but now he is coming toward Elaine with a look anthrotomorphic of his evil subdemeanor. The fact that Abraham is indeed truly in on it finally dawns on Elaine, and that's when she knows something is really wrong. She starts to panic, and begins running down the hallway, seeking anybody that might be able to help her escape the lunacy of the staff.

On Closer Inspection...:
The chair rail coming down the length of both walls stop at the wall with the cased opening, meaning that they bump into the wall, rather than turning the moulding so that it would bump into the door casing. The reason for stopping the chair rail rather than turning it to run onto the smaller walls is unknown, as at the opposite end of the hallway, the chair rail does turn onto the smaller walls, bumping into the door frame. This means that the symmetry of the hallway would be slightly skewed, but the carpenters would have had to have had a reason for not making the two ends match, but for now, that reason is unknown.

Elaine finally knows the desk clerk is in on it, and turns to run.

She comes across the first door on the right, and quickly yells and knocks, at the same time:

Elaine: Someone!

knock knock knock.

Version Differences:
Due to the soundtrack overdub, Elaine's knocking can barely be heard in the international versions of the film.

Not wanting to stop, Elaine keeps running. She looks very charming the way her dress flaps as she runs through the corridors.

Elaine: Open up, please!

We see a picture of the elongated thick, gold rimmed octogon shaped mirror, hanging on the wall above a table possessing a bouquet of pink and yellow flowers. We can see a large framed picture being reflected off of the wall behind the mirror. Still looking into the mirror, we can see Elaine run by, as she passes in front of the mirror screaming - it's a reflected version of her as she runs past our view of the mirror.

Elaine: Open up! Please help me!

knock knock

We hear Elaine knocking, but we don't see her. After the camera pans away from the mirror, it focuses its gaze upon the open doorway. Here comes Abraham, coming through another doorway just behind this one. He is about to come through this doorway. Note that the mouldings on these walls stop against the smaller walls, also. To the left we see a door, adjacent to the cased opening. Left of the door we see the picture, that was being reflected in the mirror just seconds before.

Multiplicity:
As Abraham is chasing Elaine down this corridor, he is, in essence, leading her right into Letti and Mr. Rogas' clutches. Letti and Mr. Rogas are now on the 5th Floor, and are making their way toward the 6th Floor stairwell.

Note:
The camera is now back on Elaine. She runs through a pair of load bearing columns. There is a framed picture on the left wall directly across from a room door on the right wall. Another panel box down from this door is directly across from a room door on the left wall. Underneath the panel box is a bouquet of flowers sitting on half-round table number 11. There are two more doors at the end of the hallway, one on each wall, directly across from each other.

Elaine runs to the door on the right, knowing Abraham is right on her tail.

Elaine: Someone help me!!

knock knock

Elaine runs through the opening, which leads to another set of staircases. She needs to get out of here, so she's going to try and escape Abraham by running down to the 5th Floor.

Note:
Elaine tries to run down to the 5th Floor.

Through this opening is an area similar to the first. There is a set of staircases as well as two passenger elevators. There is a small hallway (although it is unknown to where this leads), a small potted tree, and a small 1½' tall red velvet covered sitting bench.

Right hand on the railing, Elaine begins a rapid descent down the staircase.

Elaine gets 9 or 10 steps down this flight of stairs when all of a sudden she comes to a screeching stop. Almost out of nowhere, Mr. Rogas and Letti come marching on screen. They were more than likely coming up the staircase, and thus had to come around to the other side, where they run into Elaine.

Elaine: No!

The two smile devilishly knowing Elaine has nowhere to go.

On Closer Inspection...:
Behind the manager and service manager rests a small, three foot wide hallway. The mouldings on adjacent walls stop at the corners where the hallway starts while the carpet continues running down the tiny corridor. A sign reading "EXIT" rests on the wall to the right of the hallway opening, implying that perhaps this corridor will lead to an "EXIT", somewhere.

The look on the pair's faces imply that they want to do bad things to Elaine. Elaine immediately turns and begins running back in the opposite direction.

Letti and Mr. Rogas have reached the foot of this staircase and begin to ascend, following Elaine. The staff are intent on trapping Elaine, and as long as they all block all of the entrances and exits, Elaine will have nowhere to go... Easy, right? The pair's faces are almost shadowed out by the positioning of the mesh gridwork versus the light. It creates as ominous view that almost covers the devilish looks possessed on their faces.

Elaine is back to the top of the staircase. She instintually turns, runs to the opposite end, and begins running up the flight of the stairs leading to the 7th Floor. There is a door on the side wall in the corner at the base of the stairs.

As Elaine rounds the corner she yells in a genuinely worried manner.

Elaine: No!

Multiplicity:
As Letti and Mr. Rogas are chasing Elaine up the 6th Floor stairwell, Judith and the Porter are on the 5th Floor, making their way up to the 6th.

Note:
Elaine runs up to the 7th Floor.

As Elaine approaches the top of the staircase, the camera is now looking down at Elaine as she is running. The camera is looking through the circular mesh grating that encompasses the tall retainer wall, preventing patrons from falling over the edge.

Anachronistically Speaking:
Looking through the circular mesh grating we can see another structural oddity. There is a standard, iron wrought, picketed railing system with a rounded polished wood top rail identical to the other handrails, just behind the mesh grating. It's location makes it unusuable, so it's purpose it strictly anachronistic. It also makes it's positioning easy to explain. Originally, the circular mesh grating didn't exist. Instead there was just the regular handrail system that connected to and matched the rest of the hand railing leading into it. Due to the excessive amount of death that was committed elsewhere in the hotel, and perhaps because people may have fallen to their deaths by falling over this railing that was a standard at the time, a new system was devised. During the great renovation of 1901, the circular mesh grating was added for not only decorative flair and appeal but also for safety reasons. And rather than removing the existing railing, it was left as an anachronistic reminder of a time when alternate railing systems weren't a necessity.

7TH FLOOR OF THE WESSEX HOTEL












Elaine makes it to the 7th Floor. There is a passenger elevator across from the stairwell. She is hoping that if the elevator comes quickly enough, she can make it into the elevator, where she can make a quick escape to the Mezzanine Level.

On Closer Inspection...:
Similiar to the last room, the 7th Floor contains similiar ammenities. There is a small potted tree and a red velvet topped sitting bench, and half-round table number 12 can be seen sitting to the left of the elevator door. The table, a dark cherry wood color, contains an giant bouquet of very colorful flowers. The elevator is cased with the same chrome casing as used on the elevators on the hotel's opposite end and contains a sheet of paper sized golden sign with the words "7th FLOOR" etched into it It is trimmed with a 1¼" wide black moulding and sits approximately 8 inches above the elevator's UP and DOWN buttons. The elevator's chrome casing reflects the circular mesh grating, providing a lush and luxirious feel against the antique white walls and dark beige colored trim. There is a door on the end of the wall between the bench and the potted tree, and to the right of the elevator is another hallway. As the double doors on the elevator start to open we see that the DOWN light is illuminated, as Elaine is wanting to go down. That's where the exit to this nightmare is at and the staff keep pushing her upstairs, closer and closer to the hotel's mysterious 13th Floor...

The elevator opens to reveal the hotel's elevator operator.

Anachronistically Speaking:
An elevator operator is a person that is specifically employed by the hotel to operate the elevator. While elevator operators were crutial in the past, due to the fact that elevators during those times had to be operated manually. With push button operation taking widespread control over the manual elevator industry, the need for elevator operators are widely becoming a thing of the past. Only select places, for instance, the elaborate Wessex Hotel which offers the utmost in finery, still use elevator operators as an amenity to guests.

The elevator operator that operates this elevator is a relative stout man dressed in a uniform virtually identical to Creeson the doormans. He has obviously been informed not to let Elaine use the elevator, and as soon as the door opens and he sees it is Elaine wanting to use the elevator, he lunges forward, trying to grab ahold of her.

Elevator Operator: Come on!

Elaine: No!

Note:
Elaine barely makes it out of the reach of the elevator operator. Luckily for her he doesn't leave his station, and doesn't pursue her on the chase.

There is a hallway to the left (to the right of the elevator) but Elaine chooses to take the hallway on the side wall (which would be the hallway directly above the one she ran down on the 6th Floor.

Note:
There is a door on the right, just inside the hallway past the opening. There is more than likely a door on the left as well. There is a picture on the left wall a little further down, just to the left of another door. Directly across from this door lies another one. Just after the door on the right hand wall lies half-round table number 13. Load-bearing columns protrude from either side and just beyond that we can see two more doors, one on either side, a framed picture on the right hand wall, and half-round table number 14 against the left wall. Both tables contain bouquets of flowers.

The camera is now down the hallway, facing Elaine as she is running. We see the framed picture (now on the left wall), the door on the right and can now better see half-round table number 14 with its bouquet of yellow, orange and purple flowers sitting in a decorative rectangular vase.

Elaine: Someone help me please!

We see a door on the left (which is now to the left of the picture) and a door on the right to the left of another framed picture.

Note:
There is another window. It is on the left wall, across from the framed picture on the right. The orangish curtains and valance look similar to the window treatment seen on the 6th Floor. Through the white silk veil covering the window, it appears the sun is going down a little as a paler greyish light comes flooding through.

On Closer Inspection...:
Through another set of protruding columns Elaine reaches another section. There is a door on the left hand wall across from a door on the right hand wall. Holding an arrangement of purple and red flowers is a white vase atop half-round table number 15. It is to the left of the left hand door and has another elongated octogon shaped mirror hanging above it. There is a framed picture on the right hand wall, just before a cased opening leading to another stairwell.

Note:
Elaine enters this area and begins tredging down the staircase. There is another gold sign on the wall to the left of the stairs reading "7th FLOOR". On the side of the staircase, in front of the first of a series of giant load bearing columns lies a giant metal bin that is more than likely used for mail pickup. Or it was supposed to have been. Seeing Abraham at the City Agencies Office using their mail drop box definitely makes you wonder, though.

Elaine only makes it halfway down the staircase before she notices that Judith and the Porter are making their way up the stairs, as well. They might have been able to gain on Elaine, but the bottom stairwell has a right angle on it, and they are having to make their way around the smaller section first, thus buying Elaine a few more valuable seconds.

Note:
Elaine is devastated! Judith and the Porter are in on it!? Elaine feels especially hurt that the lovely concierge wants to see her dead. Throughout the entire movie, Judith has always been there for Elaine. It doesn't matter what problem Elaine has brought to Judith, Judith has been there with open arms and a level of understanding and compassion that defined her as a friend. ...And here she is wanting to hurt Elaine. Elaine would have never suspected that someone she was starting to regard as a friend could possibly be in on such a heineous crime.

Elaine knows that she can't trust trust anybody.

Note:
Throughout the course of the movie, Elaine has been learning which staff members are good and which ones are bad. And so far, she's learned that she can't trust Abraham, the telephone operator, the elevator operator, the porter, Letti, Judith or Mr. Rogas... The cook, the ice sculptor and the flower arrangers can probably be eliminated from the suspects list, so in essense that only leaves the doorman and the doctor. The doorman doesn't act as if he would be in on it, so he's probably not the killer, and the doctor has a crush on her so it can't be him, so that only leaves the possibility of an unknown killer... This frightens Elaine even more.

Elaine runs back up the way she came, but this time turns left to continue over to where the stairs go up one more floor. Elaine, clinging to the handrail with her left arm as she ascends, rounds the right angle corner used on this flight of stairs, before continuing straight up the main flight.

Rounding the ascending staircases in record time, Elaine reaches the top and quickly looks back in order to assure herself that she has gained some speed on the offending staff members.

8TH FLOOR OF THE WESSEX HOTEL














Note:
Elaine runs up to the 8th Floor.

Note:
Without missing a beat, Elaine exits the staircase and then runs into the center of the commons area. She looks to the left, down a corridor where we can see half-round table number 16 holding a bouquet of dark colored flowers at the far right end of the hall, just to the right of the a door leading into another small sitting area. She then looks to the right.

Since there is a window on the far wall of the anteroom beyond the doorway to Elaine's left, we can make the logical assumption that that is a dead end. Because of this, Elaine consciously make the decision to run to her right.

She runs through the doorway. From the small wall, there is a door to the left followed by a giant framed picture, appearing to be almost foor feet tall by four feet wide.

The camera cuts to the porter and the concierge. The porter is leading the way as they charge rapidly down the hallway. It is assumed they are rushing down the 7th Floor hallway, making their way to the opposite staircase, where they hope to cut off Elaine. Their earlier smiles have turned into looks of blind rage and fury as they "hunt" Elaine down. The porter is wearing his standard uniform while Judith is wearing a dark blue blazer atop a white pleated blouse. She wears her nametag, a matching dark blue suit skirt and complimentary heels. And she sure can run in them. She doesn't miss a beat, and even speeds up as the chase intensifies.

Note:
Elaine continues running down the hallway. She runs by two doors on the left wall, separated by a panel box. Behind these lie a protruded set of load bearing columns, another door, and half-round table number 17. As Elaine goes to round the corner into the small commons area we see a door on the right wall, across from the last one seen on the left wall. To the left of this door is half-round table number 18. Both tables 17 and 18 contain bouquets of flowers.

Elaine speedily runs through the opening, makes a left without missing a step, and immediately begins to climb down the crimson covered staircase leading to the 6th Floor. Elaine keeps wanting to run down but the staff keep blocking her progress. Maybe she will make it down this time.

Elaine is ¾ of the way down this flight of stairs, 14 steps closer to freedom, when all of a sudden, like before, Mr. Rogas and Letti come charging out of nowhere.

Elaine immediately goes to turn but can hardly make it out the way quick enough.

Mr. Rogas, the hotel's manager has always seemed overly concerned when it came to patron concerns or losing his job, but to learn he was the leader of a cult sending victims to their deaths in order to forfill a ritual, completely took the viewer off guard. And it definitely takes Elaine off guard as the manager lunges forward to try and grab Elaine.

Through the decorative circular safety grating we can see Mr. Rogas. He grabs Elaine's ankle, causing her to fall forward. She reaches forward, catching herself on the stairs above.

Elaine: No! No!

Letti is ecstatic. She's in arm's reach! We got her now! Don't let her get away!

Letti: Get her.

She pulls away and starts to continue running but Mr. Rogas is able to grab onto her ankle once more.

Elaine: No!

Elaine struggles to pull her ankle away, frantically kicking her feet.

Elaine: No!

Elaine kicks Mr. Rogas' hand. The shock and sudden pain make the manager reflexively release his hold on Elaine.

Mr. Rogas: Oh! My hand!

Mr. Rogas drops down, trying to conform his throbbing hand. This gives Elaine a chance to be able to run to the top of the staircase. Letti thrusts her hands out, trying to push the manager forward, almost as if she is saying don't be a wimp.

Letti: Go... on. Go... on

Elaine reaches the top, looks down for a split second, and then with no second thought, turns to the left, and then turns left to run around the safety wall in front of the stairs. She runs to the opposite end, where the stairs continue to ascend to the hotel's 9th Floor.

9TH FLOOR OF THE WESSEX HOTEL
































Note:
Elaine runs up to the 9th Floor.

Elaine leaves a room possessing a small potted tree and a red velvet topped sitting bench - typical decorum in the West wing commons areas - and runs upstairs to the 9th Floor commons area. There is a sitting bench similiar to the former underneath a framed picture showing a peaceful scene. It appears to be looking out over a tranquil beach. A palm tree in the foreground adds quaint serenity. It's a sad reminder of how tranquil and serene the Wessex Hotel could have been had it not have been for the staff... Of course a movie about a tranquil and serene hotel probably would have been quite boring. Unless it was a comedy... We certainly couldn't have been able to make this cherished cult classic.

Elaine runs into the hallway in front of the top of the staircase.

Note:
As Elaine runs East down the corridor she passes a door against the right hand wall. She quickly glances over at it, probably reading the room number. To the right of the door, beneath another panel box, lies half-round table number 19. On it lies a retangular white vase possessing a colorful array of orange, purple, white, red and yellow flowers.

Elaine runs by another door that is to the left of the table and again quickly glances over at it. She then runs through another pair of load bearing columns, protroding from either side of the wall. Elaine runs a little farther, stopping in front of the next door to her left. She doesn't glance over. She just sighs, catching her breath. She looks worried.

Note:
The camera pans down the hallway, showing it from Elaine's perspective. Through an opening on the far wall we see Porter and Judith. They have spotted Elaine and are coming straight for them.

On Closer Inspection...:
On the left side of the screen we see another framed painting, a set of load bearing columns, a room door, a panel box, another framed picture and another door. On the right side we see a door and half-round table number 20 which has another bouquet of flowers on it and an elongated, octogonal mirror above it. It is unknown if there is another door at the far end of the hallway as the angle of the camera prevents us from being able to tell for sure.

Elaine looks mortified as she watches the couple march towards her.

Elaine spins around. She has a small charm adorning the center of her hair in the back, indignant of a graceful happiness. She didn't know that after her date with the doctor - during which she had a seemingly good time - she was going to have to come back and end up having to run for her life. But Mr. Rogas and Letti step into the doorway.

So far Elaine is trapped. The Porter and Judith are already charging their way down the hallway to Elaine's right and Mr. Rogas and Letti stand in the doorway to Elaine's left. They also start charging towards Elaine.

On Closer Inspection...:
Elaine is standing in front of Room #970.

Elaine turns around, looking. There's nowhere to go. She turns to face the door she is standing in front of. Maybe she can jimmy it open really quick. Elaine tries turning the door knob a couple of times, and then puts her left shoulder into pushing against the door. Surprisingly (and luckily!) it opens.

The camera is now inside of the room, watching Elaine. She locks the door and then reaches for a wooden chair with red fabric bottom and back, and pulls it closer towards the door. She is going to set the chair against the door, creating a prop that will make the door slightly harder to open when pushed against.

Note:
Note the subliminal use of carpet colors as a plot metaphor. Elaine has been running along atop the crimson colored carpeting, making it appear as if she is running through a pool of blood. This personifies the evil that awaits her. When she enters the room, however, the carpet is blue. The blue carpet represents a safe zone. Neutral grounds. Elaine is temporarily safe and can temporarily start planning her escape. When she leaves the final blue carpetted room, and reenters atop the blood red carpet in the hallway, however, the chase is back on.

On Closer Inspection...:
Elaine examines her surroundings, after securing the chair in front of the door. There's a small framed picture hanging on the side wall just to the left of the door, there's a floral on white comforter on the bed to the right. On the wall next to the picture lies a door leading into a small coat closet while just to the left of this, slightly offscreen, is a door connecting this room to the room adjacent. At least this might help her to escape. Maybe the staff will be busy searching the room, and not think about checking the door to the connecting room.

Note:
Connecting rooms are defined as hotel rooms that share walls with adjoining rooms, connected by private doors. Their purposes are more than merely extra ways to escape in the event of a fire, they also exist in case a party of people come in that are rather close, or perhaps don't want to stay by themselves. Rather than piling all of the guests into the same room, the hotel will give the guests rooms that connect, giving them the ability to traverse back and forth between the rooms of eachother, without the need to be seen using the main corridor.

Letti and Mr. Rogas are the first to arrive in front of the door to room number 970 - the room that Elaine has locked herself inside of.

Mr. Rogas shoves his left shoulder up against the door while at the same time using his right hand to try and turn the door knob. He is trying to knock the door in, but he didn't have any luck. He tries again. With a giant shove he tries yet again to push the massive brown wooden door open. And yet again, it doesn't budge. Letti looks annoyed, possibly showing that the hotel manager - in essence, the leader of this group - doesn't even have the power to bust the door open. Letti notices that the hotel's doorman has now joined the chase, and is coming down the hallway behind Judith and the Porter. She calls him, flagging him over.

Letti: Creeson!

Note:
This is the first and only time during the movie that the doorman's first name is used. It isn't a slap in the manager's face, having to have one of his minions do his dirty work. In fact, the manager is probably relieved that he doesn't have to hurt his shoulder trying to push the door open. Abraham, the hotel's desk clerk could have easily ran down to the registration desk, got the room's key, and then ran back up to unlock the door. Unfortunately they are in a hurry and don't want to waste the time. The hotel obviously feels that replacing the door and its frame would be easier than spending the time to acquire the room key.

By now Elaine has realized that the room possesses a connecting door - connecting it to the room next door.

Elaine slips through the connecting door. The camera is now inside of the connecting room and is facing Elaine as she shuts and locks the connecting door behind her. She is now inside of a small hallway (created by the small coat closets that are built into the walls around it) and in front of the connecting room's small hallway leading to the other room rests another door that Elaine can lock.

Judith is next to the window and Porter is to her left. Creeson comes from in between the pair, with Abraham coming up behind him. Creeson runs up the door, possibly unsure of what is being asked of him. Judith comes around Creeson's backside, stopping to the right of the doorframe. Porter stays to Judith's left and Abraham stands behind the pair. Mr. Rogas gestures towards the door and Creeson's purpose becomes clear. Creeson steps back a few feet, prepares himself, and then goes to shove the door open. It doesn't budge. Creeson straightens the hat on his head, as it was slightly disturbed. He then steps back again, and once again shoves himself against the door.

Creeson: Yeeeaaah!

The door busts open.

Spotlight On...:

Creeson


Creeson - The origin of the doorman's first name is unknown. It could perhaps be an Americanized spelling of the Dutch "Cruyssen" (or Crusan). It could perhaps come from the Old French "creste" meaning peak of a hill and indicated that the original bearer probably lived at or near such a place. Or perhaps the name Gaelic for "heart".... Creeson did reside on a hill. Or at least at the top of the staircase waiting to greet guests upon their arrival at the hotel. And for the most part, he did have heart. He wen't out of his way to answer Elaine's questions.

Creeson shoves the door so hard, that upon opening, his hat comes flying off his head. It lands in front of the door to the coat closet.

Note:
Creeson will never pick up his hat, and will go the rest of the movie without it. He must be planning to come back and get it later. Perhaps when the hotel goes to repair the door that Creeson just destroyed.

Not only does Creeson's hat come flying off, the chair Elaine had set up, to prop the door shut, comes flying foward, away from the door. Its two front legs got broken off in the process, and when Creeson goes to rotate the chair out of the way, the legs fall out from under it, causing the chair to topple forward, falling to where it comes to rest upon its front base.

On Closer Inspection...:
Elaine has probably never had to prop a chair under a doorknob in her entire life. Unless she had brothers and sisters she was trying to keep out of her room when she was younger. But she's probably never had any enemies chasing her, to where she had to prop a chair under the doorknob.

The image at far left is the normal, standard way to prop a chair under a doorknob. The image to its right is a representation of how Elaine places the chair. While the latter's strength axis runs from the doorknob through the back of the chair, through the base, and then the through the front legs, the former's strength axis runs almost perfectly in a straight line, from the doorknob, through the back of the chair and then straight through the back legs. The former provides a much stronger force to pry against.

The other male staff members want to feel like they are a part of the action, and so the porter is the first to run over to the door connecting Room #970 to Room #969. He jiggles the handle. Nothing. Abraham runs up and trys to shove the door open like Creeson did the room door. Nothing. Again. Nothing.

Elaine hasn't been wasting any time. She has already ran through Rooms #968 and 967. She shuts and locks the door to Room #967, and then runs through the small hallway leading into Room #966.

She shuts and locks the door to the small hallway. She's hoping to buy her some serious time, hoping the staff hasn't been able to get into Room #970.

The first door was just to get Creeson started. He runs over to this door, and without missing a beat, busts his way through the door and into the small hallway.

He is followed by Porter and Abraham. Hmm. The next door opens inward. That's going to be a little hard to bust through.

On Closer Inspection...:
As the porter and the desk clerk run into the hallway we can see a antique white dresser to the left of the door. The 3½' tall wooden dresser possesses a style similar to the look of the doors used within the room. There are two large 2" thick books sitting atop it. The book on the right contains a smaller orangish/brown colored book. To the right of the books rest a decorative golden lamp with a tall white lamp shade. The light is on, providing ambiance to it future painting. A framed picture above the dresser contains a 1" frame, 5" of matte finish on the top and bottom and 3" on either side, followed by a smaller ½" wide frame.

Room #966 is appears almost to be a symmetrically opposite version of Room #970. The primary difference is that just to the left of the door lies a wall sconce. Larger than the typical wall sconces used in the hotel corridors, this one looks almost like a lamp. In fact it even has a small lamp shade, rather than a glass globe. The light fixture base itself is in essence a 2" square wooden cream colored block whose sides are outlined with a ¼" dark brown trim atop three cylindrical oval cutouts which rests atop a block identical to the top. Below this rests a small wooden globe that creates the bottom adornment. The top and bottom blocks lead into wooden crosspieces that create the supports that not only support the lamp but also help to conceal the electrical wires that provide power to the lamp. The horizontal crosspieces, connected in the back by a verticle crosspiece, protrude from the wall atop a large, elongated octogonal base with beveled edges. The lamp is on, again awaiting patrons that have yet to arrive, and also validating earlier discussions of the hotel's massive electric usage.

Elaine doesn't care about intricacies anymore. She just wants out of this nightmare.

Elaine passes in front of the scone, in front of the coat closet for this room, and makes it over to the door to this room.

On Closer Inspection...:
Just before Elaine opens the door, and for a second as she is opening it, we can clearly see the number 966 written in black, atop a small gold plaquard, horizontally centered of the large brown wooden door.

Location, Location, Location:
The Ambassador Hotel, the hotel used for filming the interior shots of the Wessex only possessed seven primary above ground floors. Therefore, none of its floors possess a number higher than "7". To accomodate for the hotel's lack of higher floors, when the chase scene predominately occurs on Floors 6-9, the hotel used its lower floors for filming, but the filming crews changed all real-life floor number signs (as well as door number signs that are used on screen, like Rooms #871, #970 and #966) to numbers needed to make each scenes realistic, believable, and true to the real-life standards set forth within the movie. This, along with the hotel's incredible gift of uniformity, help to explain the similiar looks possessed by each and every floor utilized.

On Closer Inspection...:
As Elaine opens the door, we can see room decorum. Against the back wall, opposite the doorway lies a window, draped with silky white curtains. In front of the window sits an orange chair, just to the right of a round wooden table, supported by one single leg in its center, and holding a decorative lamp atop. The lamp shade is a long cylindrical shape, with sides that run parallel, rather than taper. About a foot above this there is another lamp shade. This one is smaller and tapered, and it is unknown whether this is another part of the lamp sitting on the table, or the shade over a non-functioning wall sconce.

Elaine opens the door wide. Right hand holding the inside of the right hand of the door frame, Elaine steps out, and stares down the hallway.

While Creeson, Porter and Abraham are busy trying to bust through every connector doors they come across, Letti, Judith and Mr. Rogas have stayed behind, still standing in front of the entrance to the room down the hall.

Letti, Judith and Mr. Rogas catch a glimpse of her through their peripheral vision. Is that Elaine!?

The trio turn their heads. Sure enough, it is Elaine. Their eyes get wide. The looks on their faces are a cross between anger, betrayal and disgust. They seems to say "No she didn't!". It appears that they feel Elaine is trying to mock them, perhaps by saying she knows more about the hotel than they do, as Elaine appears to smile at her superiority. They didn't anticipate Elaine being at the other end of the hallway, and there she is. It is almost as if the staff feels as if they have been tricked. But they're not going to let Elaine have the final laugh. They know more about this hotel than she ever will, and even though she's gotten away, she won't be able to fool them again. Heck, if they knew Elaine was just going to come out down the hall, they could have just waited on her, and saved themselves the hassle of knowing they are going to have to repair quite a few broken doors. But with this, the chase is back on.

On Closer Inspection...:
There sure is a lot going on on the left wall. Within 20 feet, Elaine passes a panel box, a wall sconce, a framed picture and a room door.

Judith, followed by Letti, followed by Mr. Rogas, are now running down the corridor, following Elaine. They pass a room door and a framed picture.

Elaine runs through a doorway into another small commons area. This one possesses a staircase, which is on the side closest to the foreground. The camera is pointed at an open spot in between the ballusters on the railing facing the doorway. There is a load bearing column just to the right of the upward bound staircase, directly across from a room door. Elaine runs behind the column, in front of a room door, by a wall sconce that in essence is doing nothing to provide real luminescence to the area, and through another door.

The staff is on Elaine's tail. They run through the doorway, and by a door going staircase. First comes Judith, followed by Letti, Mr. Rogas, Abraham and Creeson. Creeson and Abraham have joined the chase, but we won't see any more of the porter. It's likely he went back to man the hotel. Someone has to run the place, right? Unless they closed down knowing that today would be the day the ritual would be completed...

Note:
As Elaine runs through the doorway we can see half-round table number 21 in the back right corner. It's to the right of the door to the corridor, on the right wall. It is to the right of a room door and there is a bouquet of white flowers atop it. To it's right is a wall sconce, followed by another room door and another panel box.

The camera is now facing an oval mirror with an ornate brown frame. Through its reflextion we see Judith, just before she runs in front of it. Following the concierge, we see Letti and Mr. Rogas.

























Elaine runs through another corridor. This one is a little darker, due to it's placement. Elaine is frantic, trying to get away from the staff that want her dead.

The camera is now on the opposite side of the circular mesh grating used on the stairwell near the service hall. We see a gold rimmed laundry cart adjacent to the stairwell. Elaine runs through the doorway, crossing in front of the staircase.

Elaine makes her way in front of the two passenger elevators, throws her hands up, and uses them to catch the door frame as she runs straight for the door. She might have ran into the door frame if she hadn't have caught herself.

There is a decorative lamp atop a round table sitting to the right of the entrance to the service hall. Elaine doesn't care. She just needs to catch her breath. She probably noticed all the finery when she was wanting to gain resource material for the article she was originally writing. Now she is running by all of it

Anachronistically Speaking:
The camera cuts back to the service hallway entrance and we see out into the commons area Elaine had just come through. Just beyond the doorway there is a tall standup lamp whose light stops just under the wall sconce on the left wall. There is also a door directly across from this cased opening with an elongated golden tag. The writing is illegible but only takes up approximately of the door's golden plaquard. There also appears to be a light switch on the wall to the right. The switch, which came later as electricity became a standard in hotels, may have originally housed a dimmer switch that controlled the flow of gas to the hotel's original gaslight sconces. Either that or it was added over time. However, if it wasn't for lamps and the future addition of ceiling lights, certain areas in the Wessex would have stayed completely darkened, as we have seen in certain corridors and commons areas.

Judith comes running through the doorway first, followed by Letti.

Elaine sees them. She instantly turns and runs down this hallway. There is a small hallway to the left, a doorway on the right wall to the right of a wall sconce and a small potted palm tree in a decorative white planter.

Elaine instinctively runs down the hallway to the left. The brown trim provides an eye-catching contrast to the white walls.

There is an orange chair at the end of the hallway and a giant electrical box with conduit exiting its bottom, built into the wall next to the elevator. The elevator is ready and waiting as Elaine runs inside to take shelter from her captors.

Errors in Continuity:
The elevator, unless controlled by other forces, stays on the floor that the person who has gotten off of it is on, provided that they left the door open. ...And Elaine did leave the door open, expecting to make a mad dash back to the elevator - but that was back when she was on the 6th Floor. Right before she made it to her room, right before the epic chase pursued in which the staff kept making her go up. She never got a chance to go back down to it. But yet here it is, ready on waiting... on the hotel's 9th Floor. Clearly an error, but clearly Elaine's only escape. Thank goodness it was there!

Elaine steps into the elevator, and steps over against the side wall, closest to the control panel. She looks up to a shot of the Sargeant. His bloody head is still looking down into the elevator, greeting all of it's patrons. It's a gruesome sight and Elaine, almost as if she forgot that he was in the elevator, looks saddened, disappointed and disgusted.

Elaine: oh.

Note:
The bleeding coming from the Sargeant's head is likely a result of a brain hemmorage suffered due to the effects of the trauma of falling versus a pressurized buildup of air within the shaft. Denser air became pressurized during the Sargeant's rapid descent, causing the scalp's veins to leak blood into the scalp, where it exited out of his pores in a horrifically gruesome manner. The poor out of shape detective had been running for his life, which initially got his blood pumping. Mix that with his already extremely fast beating heart and his blood pressure was skyrocketing. The descent of the fall, the pressurized air, and his heart - rapidly pushing blood through and away - caused each vein to rupture, forcing it out of each pore in his head at an alarming rate. His heart continued pumping out blood until it finally wore out. If the Sargeant was lucky he was dead before he hit the top of the elevator.

Elaine is in shock and catching her breath. She must be under the assumption that the door is going to close by itself, but it doesn't. The couple of seconds that she has just wasted were a couple of seconds that the staff were allowed to gain on her.

Judith runs on screen followed by Letti. She is holding her hands out rying to stop the elevator.

As soon as Judith steps into view, Elaine snaps out of her delerium. She's wasted a lot of time, but she slides the retractable gate closed, causing the elevator's primary door to shut just in the nick of time.

Errors in Continuity:
Right before the door closes, it appears that Letti is directly to Judith's left. However, after the door closes we see Judith, who relaxes her clenched fists and begin to rest against the elevator door. She starts to yell at Elaine. It is at this point that we will see Letti come on screen.

Judith: Elaine. It's no use.

Letti comes to Judith's side and begins knocking on the elevator door. Abraham and Creeson step into the room, and fall behind Judith.

Letti: Elaine, open the door sweetie. No need to drag this out.

Elaine hasn't gone anywhere yet. She's still just standing there. Unless the elevator is temporarily inoperable, she should have had more than enough time to make it to one of the lower floors. But she's still in awe that the staff that "were expecting" her, and wanted a good write up, could be chasing her and wanting to murder her in a sacrificial offering.

Elaine stands, watching the door, listening to Letti. Breathing heavily, she looks up at the Sargeant's bloody head, before looking back to the door. Elaine looks a bit annoyed at Letti's comment. Elaine doesn't plan on letting anything happen to herself. She still has to go home to Stanley!.

Elaine hasn't made a choice yet, but she won't have to. One is about to be made for her.

The black robed hand, protruding from under a frilled, white, executioner styled garment that is beneath the robe, reaches for the circuit breaker styled switch lever that we saw being used to control the elevator earlier to keep the Sargeant from being able to access the elevator - his way to freedom. The switch is in the down position, but the hand grabs ahold of it, and lifts it upward, forcing in into it full upright position.

Musical Note:
As the hand comes into view, the music fades out, blending into the roar of the elevator's motor. The rest of the elevator ride is in silence.

The elevator roars to life and a shot of the gigantic pulley shows the pulley going clockwise, implying that it is pulling upward.

Elaine: No.

Elaine can feel that the elevator is moving. She also knows right where she is going, and it scares the crap out of her. She runs to the control panel, eagerly pressing the button for the hotel's main floor. The elevator completely ignores all of Elaine's button presses. As long as the switch upstairs is triggered, the elevator's control panel is rendered useless.

Elaine: No!

The camera cuts to a shot inside of the elevator shaft, facing downward. We can see the elevator ascending. We can also see the Sargeant's lifeless body, still on top of the elevator, being raised and lowered like a rag doll, each time the elevator is used.

We see the giant pulley spool that helps to feed the cables to the central pulley. There are 11 runs of cable on the left side of the pulley, three empty runs in the middle, the two cables feeding to the upper pulley, that is currently operating the elevator, followed by 17 runs of cable on the right side of the pulley. The spool is rotating counterclockwise, wrapping the cable around itself, which is what is helping the elevator to ascend.

Elaine: Oh my God... Oh no.

Still clutching the elevator control panel with her left hand, Elaine is breathing heavily.

There is a shot of the elevator number indicator.

11 - Click

The number 11 disappears as the elevator continues upward.

12 - Click

The number 12 disappears as the elevator continues upward. This is scary for the audience, because they too know where Elaine is going. We know that there aren't going to be any other numbers to light up. We are scared for Elaine because it seems there isn't a way out of this nightmare.

There is another shot from inside of the shaft. This time a German tilt is used as the elevator ascends.

Following the clicking made by the elevator's arrival upon floors, and using it as a metronome to keep rhythm, the elevator stops at precisely the same moment that there should have been (and used to be) a "Click". This is it. The elevator stops on the 13th Floor.


CONTINUE TO PAGE #32