Die Präsenz (2015)

[bunniefuu]

THE PRESENCE

Police Record
Brehner, Schell

File Number 23KB11/02

Video recording found
at the crime scene Hohnau Castle

Why won't you tell me where we're going?

Be patient. You'll know soon enough.

But I don't want to be patient!

-What are we doing here?
-You'll see.

Do you have room for one more?

What's going on?

You didn't think
you two were going alone, did you?

First part of the surprise,
Lukas is coming.

-Thanks for telling me now!
-Pass me the camera.

Let me capture the joy in your face.

Couldn't you tell me he was coming?

It's all part of my master plan.

Don't look at me like that.

So critical.

Well, you could have told me.

-Give me a kiss. Come on.
-No.

Aren't you happy to see our genius spend
some time away from his computer?

The genius and the madman,
what an odd couple.

Madman? Me?

Did you tell Rebecca anything
about where we're going?

-No.
-Nothing?

So you're completely clueless?

Rebecca is really into this.

She just loves surprises.

If you had to guess,
where would you think we're going?

Well, I don't know.

Try using your imagination.

We're going to a little house.

Watch out!

What the hell was that?

Shut up!

That guy just swerved!

That was close!

Somebody needs to learn how to drive.

Looks like our resourceful Lukas
has come through again.

I got us a little place.

No one's allowed inside.

-But the caretaker's a friend of mine.
-You mean we're breaking in?

Technically speaking it's not a break-in.

But it's against the law, right?

Where's your spirit of adventure?

Here's the key to 10 days
in a medieval castle,

just the three of us.

-So what do you say?
-I say, what castle?

Wait and see.

Why did you bring that big camera?

Never heard of documenting your
vacation? It's the latest thing.

Super funny!

Say goodbye to civilisation, Rebecca.

Toto, I've a feeling
we're not in Kansas any more.

We have to take
that gravel road over there.

Are you sure this is right?

I haven't seen a road for half an hour.

-Wow!
-This actually is a castle!

Did you think I was lying?

Fantastic!

I can't believe nobody lives here.

The place has been vacant
for two years now.

-Are we staying here?
-Yes!

What are we going to do here?

We're making an initial inspection
of Rebecca's domain.

Funny.

-Look, the dungeon!
-How do you know that?

Take the camera.

-Have you ever busted a door open?
-We're not busting open anything!

We're letting Rebecca in on our
little secret, the whole, ugly truth.

"During the fourth night of Advent
the police precinct of Wernien

"received a distress call.

"A d*sfigured body had been found
near Hohnau Castle.

"It was a 6-year-old boy covered in blood
lying in the snow in front of the castle.

"To this day there's
no rational explanation

"for the events at Hohnau Castle.

"The nights were turned into nightmares
by strange voices,

"the sound of footsteps,
and objects moving by themselves.

"They claimed that a spirit
was living inside the castle,

"a supernatural being
trying to harm them."

Tell her about the construction workers.

"Construction workers claimed
to have heard voices

"and that their tools kept disappearing
and turning up in unexpected places."

Rebecca doesn't seem too enthusiastic.

You know I'm scared
of those sorts of things.

Scared of what?

Come on, honey.

I don't know what all that psychokinetic
mumbo-jumbo means,

but I'd like to know
why you dragged me here.

-Could get interesting, don't you think?
-Hardly.

But there's more.

According to the records,
Count Marian married his own daughter...

Which probably means, r*ped her.

When she gave birth to a disabled child,

the Count walled in the two of them alive
in the dungeon.

-In our dungeon.
-In our dungeon right over there.

Just imagine if we were able
to film something unexplainable.

We would be the first people
to have proof on film.

And so I'm writing a paper about it.

You're writing a paper about what exactly?

About haunted places and paranormal
phenomena in European popular culture.

And you're allowed to do that?

Sure, if you study anthropology.

Welcome to Reality Castle.

My boyfriend took his best friend and me
to a castle, and he thinks it's romantic.

If Becky says she doesn't like something,
it actually means she does.

She just has a problem expressing herself.

Admit it, you liked that.

Yeah, truly a great experience.

Are you warm enough?

Yes, I'm okay.

Good night, John Boy.

Good night, Mary Ann.

Good night, dorks.

My name's Rebecca Winter,
I was born October 21, 1989,

and my phone number is 017963769...

What's going on?

I had a nightmare.

I have to pee.

Yes.

Markus, I have to pee,
can you please go with me?

-Seriously?
-Yes, seriously!

February 9, 2014 / Day 2

Cold cuts, please!

My name's Rebecca Winter,
I was born October 21, 1989,

and my phone number is 017963769...

-You want some too, Markus?
-Yes.

What are you doing there?

Don't you know that trick?
When you've had a nightmare,

you say your address and phone number,
and it helps you come back to reality.

Never heard of it?

No. Does it help?

Oh, that's so cute.

All right, I'm going to read.

What about the sandwiches?

How do you like that Gothic ceiling?
Rebecca?

It's a dream come true.

A fireplace for archaic festivities.

That's the original medieval structure.

Do you think we can just walk
into any room we please?

Of course, we're the lords of the castle.

-Where do these stairs lead to?
-To the attic and the spire of the tower.

To the virgin's chamber
and the leather room.

Let's hope they have
a padded cell for you.

The woman who k*lled her children
later hanged herself up here.

That's comforting to know.

Here, those people look like
the former occupants.

Isn't that better than
hiking in the mountains?

The spire, another historic location.

Here she k*lled her children.

Just because the cuties wanted
to burn down the castle with matches.

She hurled the youngest one
out the window.

I'd prefer if you didn't
tell me these things.

-I have to get out of here.
-What?

Becky, relax!

So are we sh**ting here or what?

Do you have phone reception up here?

No, you?

No.

"Poltergeist phenomena
usually start out subtly

"and are divided into four stages.

"Stage 1, the feeling of being watched,

"occurrence of strange noises.

"Stage 2, a cool draught in closed rooms,

"doors open by themselves.

"Stage 3,
lights and appliances turn off and on.

"Stage 4, fires ignite spontaneously,

"dangerous objects fly at people.

"The poltergeist spreads
terror and violence."

I think I like stage 4.

Even though to this day
poltergeist phenomena

have not been proven scientifically,

people are scared of them.

In the past, people were scared of

magnetism and hypnosis.

They saw them as witchcraft.

As far as our castle is concerned,

people are so scared,

there isn't a single house
within 30 miles of this place.

Not a single person lives around here.

I really don't mind spending our
vacation in the middle of nowhere,

but what's the plan here?

What are pigeons doing in the cellar?

Well, a poltergeist makes noises
or moves objects...

Do you think I'm stupid?

I don't buy that you believe in ghosts.

Oh, how nice, a pigeon cemetery.

Here's another one.

All I know is that there have been
very strange incidents.

And there must be a reason for it.

The woman k*lled her husband
right here in the cellar,

and the children in the tower.

A woman without any history of violence.

You think it has something to do
with a ghost living here?

Yes, perhaps.

What was that bang?

-Markus...
-Look at this.

God, that's gross!

-It just crashed into the door.
-What?

That's the point of impact.

February 10, 2014 / Day 3

Take a look at this!

Yuck, what is that?

Here the fruit, too.

How's that possible?

That's messed up.

And when I woke up this morning,
the fridge was open.

-Are you trying to scare me?
-No, but isn't that weird?

Quiet!

Why?

That sound, don't you hear that?

There. What is that?

Where's it coming from?

It's coming from inside the wall.

What sound?

Don't you hear that?

And now it's gone! Did you hear that?

That must be the refrigerator.

There's this really interesting
story of Esther Cox.

"The poltergeist activity started in 1878.

"At first, soft rustling was heard
in Esther's room, like a mouse.

"Later, a box from under her bed
moved about on its own.

"The next night she heard a great noise
that seemed to come from outside."

An explanation could really only be

that these activities were manifestations
of Esther's subconscious.

I'm asking myself if there might be
someone among the three of us

who attracts these kinds
of phenomena as well.

Lukas, did you take your Ritalin?

I forgot it at home.

Boring!

Cut it out!

Sorry, but this is stupid.

-Hey, wait!
-Are you coming, Markus?

Don't be such party poopers.

I'm just tired of it.

We've been here long enough now.

When I agreed to come,

I expected something different.

I thought that it would be
just the two of us,

not us and Lukas.

Is it really so terrible
that he's with us?

Well, I'm not excited about it.

He's your friend, not mine.

Why can't you focus on the good things?

Like what?

Us spending time together
in a magical place.

Listen, the dork has finally stopped.

Hide and seek, huh?

Do you want to play hide and seek?

Okay, fun's over!

It's not fun any more!

Where were you?

Just wait!

How do you lose a ball in here?

No idea.

It just disappeared?

Are you making fun of us?

Do I look like I'm making fun?

Maybe it rolled into the kitchen.

You're such an as*h*le.

Did you hear that?

Wait.

Now it's quiet.

What are you doing?

Take a seat. Do you hear anything, honey?

No wind. No sound. Nothing, right?

Now listen to this.

Echo.

sh*t.

sh*t.

What on earth was that?

What was that, Markus?

No idea.

I'm here, it's all right.

Let's not go up to the attic, please!

Markus, wait. Wait.

Hey! Is somebody here?

There's something wrong here.
Please, let's go back downstairs.

Do you want to tell us anything?

Markus, please.

-Is there anybody here other than us?
-Markus, what are you doing?

There, it's very soft...

-Markus, let's go back, please.
-Wait.

-There.
-What?

-Markus, come!
-What is it?

I have to get the camera.

I know what I heard!

Do you hear that?

It's coming from the dungeon.

Calm down.

-Markus, come, let's go.
-Calm down. It just wants to scare us.

There's something here.

Do you hear that?

Markus, I'm so scared.

Becky, it's just noises.

I've had such terrible nightmares

about horrible things happening here.

Nothing will happen to us.

I don't want to stay here any more.

Can't we just leave?

You're exaggerating!

It's trying to communicate with us.

I have to know more about it.

No, it wants to harm us. I know it.

Give me a couple more days, okay?

There's a spirit living in this castle,
and it wants to talk to us.

Don't step in this.

We're laying out traps so no one
can claim it was rats making the noise.

Let the hunt begin.

Any chance you're putting on a show?

What do you mean?

It just seems pretty strange to me.

Strange.

It's exactly like the stuff in your book.

What are you trying to say?

Could it be that you're staging
all this to get material for your paper,

at the expense of Rebecca and me?

Scaring my own girlfriend to death, right?

I don't know, you tell me.

Why don't you come over here
and look at yesterday's footage?

Now what?

Wait and see.

Watch.

There.

You can't be serious.

I sure am. That's exactly
what happened yesterday night.

Here, one more time.

It must be the first time anyone has
ever recorded something like this.

Is that some kind of trick?

That's no trick!

It's exactly what happened last night.

And boom.

What was that?

It came from the kitchen.

sh*t.

They simply fell off the magnet.

-You know that's not true.
-Honey...

See? Nothing there.

It's here. I can feel it.

Don't you feel it?

It's here.

Where are you taking us?

Just wait.

Come on, let the cat out of the bag.

I've made a little discovery.
You won't believe it until you see it.

Meet the lord of the castle.

Count Marian in person.

Impossible!
That actually seems to be his grave.

Why was he buried so far from the castle?

Maybe something inside the castle
had him spooked.

In that case,
whatever is haunting the castle

is older than the Count.

Maybe the Countess was
possessed by it as well,

and that's why he had her walled in.

Could we go back, please?

Yes, let's go back.

Sleep tight.

There are noises coming from the attic
again. The others are sleeping.

Show yourself.

Can you give me a sign that you're here?

We heard you rumble up here before.

February 12, 2014 / Day 5

Last night I clearly heard that they
all slammed shut at the same time.

How can something like this happen?

And they're all empty?

That must be a truly smart rat.

Do you think that's funny?
You two can go to hell!

Roll camera! Action!
She's brushing her teeth.

Do you shower naked?

Of course.

-Well, I would like to film that.
-You've already seen me naked.

I have, but not the camera.

-Stop it!
-Open the door!

-What are you doing?
-Let me go! You wanted to hurt me!

-Markus, let me get in the car!
-One moment. Let's talk about this.

-Please let me in.
-You give me 10 minutes.

Lukas, turn off that camera!

What's going on? Why don't you talk to me?

You know exactly what's going on.
There's something here!

That's why I want to stay,
to find out what it is.

He wants to stay.

I understand that you're afraid.
But there's nothing to be afraid of.

That's baloney.

We're not in any danger.

She wants to leave.

-Aren't you afraid?
-Of what? Of something I don't know?

See, we don't even know what it is!
This is serious!

That's why it's so thrilling.

Who is going to win?

That's why we have to stay.
Something has revealed itself.

This is our chance.

You have my word
that we're not in any danger.

I saw this in my dream.

-What?
-This.

You sneak up to film us?
Like some kind of Peeping Tom?

I thought we document everything.

You better stay clear of my privacy.

All that's going on, and Rebecca
losing it, do you think that's private?

Well, look who's here.

You have a pretty big mouth!

The chandelier!

What is that?

We've been looking for over an hour now.

You don't seriously believe we'll find
something here, do you?

I have a hunch it could be here.

You know what we should've done?
We should have just woken her up!

Quiet!

Wait, I hear a beeping sound.

I've found it.

That's really spooky, man.

I was hoping something
like this would happen.

She throws away our camera and goes
back to sleep? That's abnormal!

We didn't come here
to sh**t something normal.

This just became interesting!

The footsteps lead to her sleeping bag.
She walked barefoot in this cold.

This is getting a little too eerie for me.

Do you remember what happened last night?

I dreamed that something
was in the castle.

Don't you remember getting up?

No, Markus.

You walked in your sleep.

Say that again. What you just told me.

Why? Just because of the camera?

No, I won't tell you.

I just want to document it.

No.

That's all.

I said no, Markus!

You woke up and heard a voice next
to your ear. What did the voice say?

"Rebecca."

I'm getting tired of your games.

Is that all you got?

Okay, that's not bad.

I'm not scared of you. Do you hear?

You took the ball?

Ghost hunter's log, 1:14 a.m.

God, you're a freak.

Don't wake her!

February 14, 2014 / Day 7

Is that where you found the ball?

Everything's exactly how I found it.

I wonder how she opened that door.

We don't know that she did it.

Yeah, right.

Is somebody here besides us?

Is there something you want to tell us?
Something we can record right now?

You can't be serious, Markus.

Is that supposed to be a sign?

Notice something?
You're talking to a wall.

I guess Rebecca didn't do that either?

Or do you have
a natural explanation for this?

Do you think she's still on our side?
The side of the sane?

That's my research.

These are children's drawings.
As if she had drawn her nightmares.

This is creepy, man.

When on earth did she do all this?

Last night. Yesterday these pages
were still on the table.

What are you doing, Becky?

Of course, if she sleeps all day,
she has enough energy at night.

Just look at this! She's lost her mind!

Hey, Snow White.

What are you doing?

I want to know what's going on.

Don't wake her up!

Are you even sure she's asleep?

Cut it out right now!

My name's Rebecca Winter,
I was born October 21, 1989,

and my phone number is 017963769...

Becky, what is that?

Is the door locked?

What is that?

What was that?

It's up there.

Show yourself!

Let's go!

It's still here.

Is somebody there?

It's still here.

It's still here.

Do you hear that?

Do you hear that?

sh*t, man! What the hell is happening?

-Are you scared?
-What a stupid question!

Do you have a problem with us being here?

We're not scared,
if that's what you think!

The car keys are gone.

Rebecca says they were in the bag
that was hurled through the room.

Do you have an explanation
for this, professor?

-Do you hear this?
-What?

Listen. Here in the white noise.

That's a voice!

Isn't that exactly
what I just said to you?

"Do you have an explanation
for this, professor?"

-That's just noise.
-What?

You can't be serious!

I'm not staying here a minute longer!

-How do you want to leave?
-I'll walk!

What are we going to do
if we don't find the car keys?

-Rebecca won't make it.
-Then Rebecca will have to stay!

We can't lose it now!

Sure. Let's just stay a little longer.

February 15, 2014 / Day 8

Well, have fun! Have fun with it.

I don't need this bullshit!

There's no way I'm going back!
I'll walk 15 miles if I have to.

I'll find the next country road.

I know you're not sleeping.
You're not fooling me.

You're not fooling me, honey.

Mane... Mane...

sh*t!

Oh, God. sh*t!

What are you doing out here?

Honey, come...

Mane! Mane!

What happened, Becky?

No! It's too horrible!

What's happening to you?

I dreamed that you were covered in blood.

I'm okay.

-Come on, let's go back inside.
-No! I don't want to go back there!

-Please, Markus!
-Come on, don't worry.

Honey, it's all right. I'm right here.

This is so messed up.

How messed up is this?

Look here, the mirror!

Why did you mess up the place like this?

Me? Are you going nuts, too?

Do you take me for a fool?

-What do you think, that I'm nuts?
-You tell me!

You're sick!

Do you want to frighten Rebecca?

Why are you doing this?

You should ask your girlfriend
that question!

You're the one who was here.

And where have you two been?

The chairs... The tables...

That's Latin for "morning."

Switch that thing off!

That stuff comes from the woods.

Three guesses who stuffed it in there.

Come on.

I think Rebecca has lost it!

Back off!
That's my girlfriend you're talking about.

That's some girlfriend
you got yourself there!

Not even you can be so blind!

Haven't you seen the state she's in?
Can't you give it a rest?

We're cutting this short.
We'll leave first thing in the morning.

Where are you two?

Where are you?

Honey, where are you?

What's going on?

What is that?

Please, not me!

I just want to get out of here!

Don't, Markus!

No!

No!

No! No.

Come on! Come on!

Markus, what have you done?

With the aid of dental records,
the charred body found in the castle

was identified as Lukas Schell.

Rebecca Winter was found
on February 17, 2014

in a confused state
in the woods near Hohnau Castle.

To this day she is unfit for questioning.