Floorplans - Howie, Willow and Alder MacGreagor's rooms

I have divided them up into separate groups, as they are seen in the movie. Ideally one plan should cover them all. When I create that I will upload it. Until then, these will do.

## Floorplans

Here are floorplans drawn up by Phil Heslop who lived in the house before the film crew changed things around.

## Floorplans by scene (using old floorplans)

Howie and WIllow's room for the Ash Buchanan scene.

Howie and Willow's rooms (See Willow's rooms below for details about her room)

Willow's room for the first scenes of her dance

WIllow's room from the first full rear shot

Willow brings Howie his breakfast

Hand of Glory scene

MacGreagor's room when he's tied up

## Howie and Willow and Alder’s rooms

Our first sight of any of these is of Howie’s room as Ash is being offered to Willow. We see Howie from outside of his room, him being seated at a round table with a white table cloth, and a lit lamp, writing in his diary. (Note the cover. Why is there writing on it? For the detail obessed… it also has a printed top line in bold. Underneath that is a smaller printed text. Below that are 6 lines that start with printed text and then have hand-written info. None of this is legible or I would have transcribed it.)

Looking into Howie’s room we see a little of the exterior wall along the top. To the left of the window frame is a curtain with a distinctive vine pattern. On the table is a small red bible and some other indistinguishable items. Behind the lamp is a triangular cabinet that appears to be fitting into a corner. To our right of that is a low bureau. There is a small picture over the bureau. It appears to be of a large tree but it’s hard to tell. To our right of that is the bed, set up perpendicular to the wall.

Howie turns to his left, towards the window when he hears Lord Summerisle call to Willow.

We then look down onto Lord Summerisle with Ash as if we are looking down from a window above, with them slightly to our left.

Willow appears at her window. We can see a flower box on its outside and inside, we see a light brown-ish curtain behind her to her left and a colorful picture (some orange in it) to our right of Willow. Something round is below that. A curtain for this window is visible to our right and left of Willow, probably of the same pattern as the one seen on the far wall.

After Lord Summerisle offers a sacrifice to Aphrodite\*, we see both Willow and Howie at their windows, Howie’s head poking out a little. This shows how the rooms are situated, at an angle to each other. Note there the windows are. Willow’s is close the join, Howie’s further away. We’ll need to reconcile them with the floorplan. (\* I am just noticing but Willow’s lips don’t move when she says “You flatter me your lordship.” Oops.)

In this shot we see that half of WIllow’s rear wall to the right of her is partially covered with the same brown vine curtain. Where is that in shots of her dancing? The curtain does not reach fully to the ceiling, It does not extend upwards past the lower window frame.

Also notice that in Howie’s room there is a lit-up brown door or cabinet in the corner of the room towards Willow’s room. I now think that is a a window shutter… Note also how the curtain is AFTER the brown shutter, not closer to the window, like in the previous shots of Howie by his window.

In subsequent close ups of Willow, the curtains behind her are now on her LEFT! which may indicate there are two sets of almost full-length curtains behind her. A mystery.

As Ash is inside Willow’s room, we see a shot of the dimly-lit interior. A ruffled pile of something at the bottom of the frame and the picture on the wall, too dark to see it. Also a small lamp hanging from the ceiling somewhat lit up.

There is a cutaway from the snails to show Howie kneeling, praying at his bedside. In that shot we see his room facing away from Willow’s room. We see the lamp on the table as it was before but also another bureau to the right of his bed, a flower pot on it, a picture above it, and the wall that Howie is facing has a curtain covering it from the corner to just after the bedpost. There appears to be some sort of protrusion from the wall with a covered dish on top of it(?) Is that curtain blocking a passageway?

A later shot from further back shows a little more of that back wall. To the right of what looked like protrusion before looks like a bureau with something, perhaps a vase on it.

Howie turns to look towards Willow’s room and we are shown a wall. In the middle of it is a picture. To the right what would be a doorframe but could be cabinet. Below the picture is a comfortable chair and Howie’s police cap to our left of it. The picture is the one Howie straightens after Willow’s dance though it is dark and hard to see. Later shots of it show that it is full of old photographs, someone’s relatives most likely, arranged in a circle. At the bottom of it is some text, the borders have frilly flowers. You can see a better shot of this when Howie has returned to bed after Willow’s dance.

When Howie gets into bed, his diary is now on the bureau close enough for him to close it.

Problem #? The last time we saw it, as Howie was praying by his bed, it was on the round table by the window. Howie didn’t go back to the table so it must have flown to the bureau by itself…

\*\*\*

## Willow’s dance

Summary: The camera pans around the room in the same direction in sequential shots, from when Willow is in her bed, all along all four walls to the window where we see her from outside. The only part we don't see is by her door.

Howie is in bed when this scene starts. We see a shot of the door and a shadow as Willow whisper’s “Sergeant.” The shadow moves from right to left indicating that she moved in the same direction. Knowing how the outside of Howie’s door is set up (from the extensive views we see during the Hand of Glory scene) she most likely was on the landing below his door, unless there was a level at his door that lined up with her door to the left of his. We never see to the left of his door so it’s all speculation. (According to the shot of her room in The Ex:S documentary, her door was across from Alder's, NOT immediately to the left of Howie's door so her shadow passing under his door was pure theatrical effect.)

The camera pans left and up and stops at the picture on the wall above the comfortable chair as we hear her door open and close. She takes three steps to get to her door…

The camera then pans more to the left so that we see his closed window light up when Willow turns her light on. Remembering that the two rooms are at a 90 degree angle to each other the closest Howie will get to her room is that wall with the picture. The door he opens is NOT to her room as it is suggested in the shots we see of her room. He would have had to cross over the landing to get to her door, much less get in.

The first we see of Willow’s interior is an extreme close-up that shows her hand tapping the wall in bed, a lamp on the side with her looking to her left, our right (as if to be looking at Howie.) As it pulls out we see large paper mache flowers in a corner, a little more of the blue poster/picture behind the lamp and more detail of the bed, and Willow.

The cut to the shot of Howie’s room, the picture, chair and door edge, reinforces the suggestion that she is tapping on THAT wall. From what we see of her room it is possible that that wall could be shared by the two of them.

(Note that the shots used with Howie kneeling at his bedside and what’s in the Director’s Cut (he is already in bed when the song starts) are different. The Final Cut shows more detail and is better lit.)

For some reason, we see his watch on the bureau to our left of the bed when Howie sits up. In the Final Cut, the BIBLE is on that bureau… When Howie sits up in bed, we see the lamp and his headboard better.

When Willow gets up, we see a mirror on a bureau, a winter seascape and a larger painting over those that we can’t see any detail of.

She then rubs her hand along the top of a table/bureau that has sea shells in a glass container.

The next shot shows her approaching and next to the floor to ceiling curtains with the vine pattern. (That is covering a window to the front of the house where would see the street.)

The wall with the picture in Howie’s room is reinforced again but we see more of his closed door now.

As Willow turns towards the camera while she is against the curtains, we see a bedpost suggesting that the bed is opposite the window. It is parallel to the wall it is on.

Then a shot to another wall, this one has the picture of the person with the umbrella riding on the large shaggy animal (bull?) as well as the corn dolly hanging by some vertical molding.

Howie reaches for and begins to open his door.

Our view of Willow is now of a wall we haven’t much of seen before (it is opposite the wall her bed is against). This has a picture of a sailboat on the right, a mantelpiece that has all sorts of things on it including a jar, a candle holder for two candles, what looks like Javanese shadow puppet on the wall and perhaps a marble egg. The mantelpiece has some dried plants in front of it. As the camera moves left we also see a large butterfly in a frame, a small corn dolly and a cat pendulum clock hanging on the wall. She is approaching a door.

We cut to Howie in his room with door ajar. He closes it.

The next shot is of Willow facing the door. The suggestion is that this is the same door that Howie just closed. From what we know of the layout, that cannot be. (it is the double built-in cupboard seen in the first floorplan pic.) So, we’ll believe it for the sake of the movie but if we study the setup, we see what it is. Furthermore, the woodwork on both doors don’t match up so they CANNOT be the same door.)

After some more shots we see a shot that includes most of that side of the room. We can see the fireplace, its mantelpiece, the END of Willow’s bed, the door, nude Willow from behind, the statue she rubs the head of soon, a picture to the left of the door (looks like a mountain by the sea and a beach), another corn dolly on a protrusion on the wall (a remainder of a wall that had been taken down by the the production crew), a desk or table, a lamp on that and another picture to the left.

There is also a silver pot to the left of the fireplace and a fireplace “fender” (decorative metal that extends in front of the fireplace on the floor).

Willow turns so we see what’s above the fireplace from that angle and the statue she rubs the head of in the foreground. That statue has some green at its base, between the statue and its base actually... The stand that the statue is on is not against the wall as Willow puts her hand behind it... It is a slightl distance from the wall. This shot pulls back and out of the window that we had seen when Ash was presented. So, that means that Howie’s room is to the RIGHT!

The wooden panels we see Willow bang on one side but that there are two of are window shutters.

Howie moves away from the door to his left. We see his bedpost in the foreground. He leans against the comfortable chair. We also see that there is painting on the wall opposite his bed but it is too dark to see what it is of. The picture to the left of the door is somewhat highlighted.

The next shot of Willow that we see is her with her back to the window, presumably the one she was just facing. There is a large corn dolly to our left in front of some molding that has channels/ridges (and a nail mark.) The curtains are the same we’ve seen earlier.

The shot after that shows the picture of the large shaggy animal (bull?) with the umbrella rider so we have gone in somewhat of a circle.

Willow approaches that wall. OK. That would be the shared wall.

Howie turns to his wall that we’ve been focusing on.

Willow is now facing us and dancing. There is a decorated elephant on the left on top of high cabinet.

A later shot shows that cabinet better. In front of it is a teddy bear on a chair. On top of it is also an unknown object that has two thin curved sticks (maybe driftwood with some sticks?), There is a round table in the middle of the room which has a white table cloth on it. A copper candle holder on top of that. The Final Cut version of this scene is brighter than previous versions. Due to that we can see the painting above the high cabinet is of a waterside landscape. There are also two rugs, one a small bathmat-like one that the dancers stay on and the other a larger white shag rug.

Further into the dance, Howie is pressing his face into the picture on his wall in en extreme close-up. Willow is doing the same with the picture of the large animal with the umbrella rider.

After the climax, Howie staggers back onto the bed. We briefly see the ceiling molding as he does this.

(One little continuity problem here: The picture is ajar, tilted to the left when Howie leaves it. As he sits on the bed, we see it much straighter than he left it.)

A small detail. Howie’s door stands out into the room. You can see that slightly with how how the shadows play as he paws the wall.

\*\*\*

## Willow brings Howie his breakfast.

The next scene isn’t in the Director’s Cut, only in the Final Cut and Theatrical versions.

It starts with Willow already inside his room, closing the door. The triangular bureau is to our right of the door. The lamp is to the left of his bed.\* There is a landscape picture above it. The book, a bible I presume, is not there as it was the previous night. \*(Both the lamp, which was on the round table the night before, and the book have mysteriously moved overnight…)

As Howie sits half-up we see a pot with some cut flowers (what kind?) in it to the right of his bed.

Willow opens the curtains. We see a chimney, some roofs and a little bit of a tree. Hard to tell if there could have been a good place for Lord Summerisle to present Ash in out there.

As Willow walks back from the window, she passes a bureau that has two ceramic objects, a washbasin and pitcher, a mirror and Howie’s valise. She straightens the now-crooked picture that Howie was pressing up against.

Howie pulls his watch off the bureau to our left of his bed. (The one with lamp on it.)

Willow walks back after straightening the picture and leaves soon enough.

\*\*\*

## Hand of Glory scene

We next Howie’s room for the Hand of Glory scene.

Howie is lying in bed (with a blue bedspread. Never seen that before.) The bureau is to the left of the bed and now the lamp is on top of it. OK. There is a triangular cabinet in the corner between his bed and the door.

The door is ajar, opening in the hinge on the left. There is a comfortable chair to the left of that.

Beyond the door we see a railing where Alder will walk up to his room. To the left of that are some stairs that lead down. Willow goes down them to join the procession. So, at the top of those stairs is a landing. When you are facing the top of the stairs you can go LEFT to Howie and Alder’s room, or by inference but never seen, if you go right and presumably up some stairs as well, you would be at Willow’s door. One would think that Willow’s room would be identically situated as Howie’s in regard to the stairs but one can’t be sure of that. So enough speculation for now.

Also note: There is a wall to the left, as we face out of Howie’s room. So, to get to Willow’s room you’d have to be on the landing below, NOT right outside of Howie’s door. It’s possible but not probable that one could get to Willow’s room immediately to the left of Howie’s door. We never see any more to the left to find out though.

Willow first then both her and Alder appear on the landing. They light the Hand of Glory, we cut to Willow by the door, she goes down those steps to the landing, talks with Alder and then heads down the stairs as Alder heads up his steps and turns to the left. Notice on his landing there is a chair, a grandfather clock we only see the bottom of and an oriental rug next to the red carpet that’s on the steps. So that area isn’t closed in with a door. His door is to the right as we’ll soon see. There are also some stairs that go up above the stairs that Willow goes down. Who knows what’s up there.

As Willow heads down the steps it looks like there is light coming in from our right. It is window as we see the frame as Howie puts out the Hand of Glory.

As Howie opens his eyes to see the burning Hand of Glory, we see the bureau on the other side of his bed. Note the small red bible. There is also a pot for a plant I presume. (That bible moves around. The previous night it was on the other side of the bed and when Ash was presented to Willow, it was on the round table.)

When Howie picks up the now extinguished Hand of Glory we can see the grandfather clock across the way a little better. We also see two pictures by the landing and the doorframe that is Alder’s room. The doorknob to his door is on the right…

There is a door inbetween the landing and Alder’s. I am guessing it is a closet. Howie walks past it right before he enter’s Alder’s room.

As Howie approached Alder’s room, we see a round black thing on the wall. I don’t know what it is. Once he is at Alder’s door, we see that his door opens IN from the left. There is a fireplace straight ahead and another white door to the left of that. There is a chair in front of that door. There is a mirror above the fireplace so we can see Alder’s face before he gets knocked out. There is a dark bureau to the right of the fireplace. His mask is hanging on it. (That chair gives something to prop Alder’s head up when he is lying on the floor. Clever…) With Howie in Alder’s room we see another chair in front of the fireplace.

After the cutaway to the sun figure at the Old Tollbooth (outside of the courtyard), we see Alder tied up for the first time. He is in a new part of his room. His hands are tied to his bed. There is a door ajar to our left and a bureau to the left of that. Who knows where this is in relation to the rest of the room that we know about…