MovieChat Forums > House on Haunted Hill (1999) Discussion > *Spoiler* Question about Sara

*Spoiler* Question about Sara


So I'm not understanding the Sara/Jennifer thing. Was Jennifer invited but Sara went? Is that why she survived - she wasn't related to the "originals" so the house didn't want her?

reply

See that's what I said. If you've ever seen the movie And Then There Were None, there's a similarity in that the only two people to survive the killer's plan, are NOT who they're supposed to be. A deleted scene shows AFTER the movie, the REAL Jennifer Jensen coming to the asylum and going in, and the door closes, and the realtor turns around and reveals it's actually Vannacutt, so obviously the house cared VERY MUCH about tying up its loose ends in who got away.

Now in the ORIGINAL script, it didn't matter one bit because Eddie gets killed, but Watson escapes with Sara, but they changed it.

reply

Yes, she got away because she was the roommate and the other because he was adopted. The house wanted direct descendants/bloodlines. Neither of the survivors were that, so the house let them go more than they escaped. The house could have just opened the door again and had something drag them back on, or did something to make them fall.

reply

Neither of the survivors were that,


Fixed.

reply

I think, it was hastily thrown at us, Sara probably got fired by Jennifer and she took the invitation before Jennifer got ahold of it as retaliation and a way to make money now that she is out of a job. As for the house letting her go, that's what I figured when I first saw it, but since I just rewatched it, I'm not so sure. When Sara and Eddie first get separated in the basement, she exposition dumps her identity and then sees the Fake Eddie bait that leads her to the vat of blood. The house tries to kill her even after she said she wasn't who she claimed to be. And in the end, it's not too certain whether or not Eddie would've gotten out without Ghost Watson's help. He says he's adopted, but the Darkness doesn't go away even though there is no one else in the house to kill, and he gets out of the house before anything else can happen.

I think the house works exactly as Watson said earlier in the film, "This house is pissed. It has no morals cuz it's a *beep* house!" Yes, the house wants the souls of those who escaped their fate, but at the same time, it seems to just want people dead in general because it's mad. The house doesn't have any morals, but the film does. The two end up surviving at the end because they were granted mercy by the filmmakers. They weren't related to the atrocities of the house, so the filmmakers let them live.

reply

Very good summation. I agree, although before your comment I'd thought they survived because they weren't defendants. The writers made a point of pointing that out, but I think you nailed it. After all, Price's employee had his face scooped out and he wasn't anything to the house.

reply