I posted in another thread about this that perhaps Bob Vaughn had nothing to do with the Zodiac at all. It's possible he was just a really creepy guy who was interested in Zodiac and tried to inject himself into the case in some small manner. What reinforces this somewhat for me is when he is in the basement and asks Robert if he thinks the Zodiac watched the movie in his theater and was inspired. Really creepy stuff. I mean, how does Robert get onto the whole "Rick Marshall" thing in the first place: some anonymous phone call leading him off in that direction. We later find out that same guy called the handwriting guy, Sherwood, and that's how Robert gets his name (Wallace Penny). So, perhaps the person upstairs was Wallace and they were messing with Robert? Maybe it was Rick Marshall. Maybe ALA. Maybe it was just Bob Vaughn's mother or Robert's ears playing tricks on him. It's all speculative. The movie unfortunately never expands upon this encounter as it quickly pivots to ALA after this scene and visiting the girl in prison.
That's the only thing I didn't really like about the movie; it left loose-ends in regards to other suspects in the case. It's understandable as the movie was 2 1/2 hrs already and ALA was the guy Greysmith basically honed in on. Whatever it was, great & creepy scene and one of the best in the movie in fact, so much so that it stuck with me long after watching.
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regahsof
9 years ago
Yeah, I tend to agree. I don't quite see it being Allen upstairs, but possibly someone or something else. For Allen to be involved in the movie poster industry - in short, the arts industry - doesn't entirely seem fitting to him. Still, a memorable scene in the movie, good deal of ambiguity.
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