In 1980, Catherine Claire, an
art restorer, lives in
Manhattan with her husband George and daughter Franny. When George lands a job teaching art history at a college, the family moves into a large farmhouse in
upstate New York. Catherine, who has
bulimia, feels isolated in the house. She finds an old Bible containing a family tree of the previous owners, the Smits; some of the names are scratched out and marked "Damned." She senses a spirit and sees strange lights leading her to an antique ring, which she begins wearing. Franny sees a female spirit in her room and insists on sleeping with her parents. Catherine employs brothers Eddie and Cole Lucks as handyman and babysitter while George starts an affair with Eddie's cousin Willis. Catherine befriends George's colleague Justine Sokolov. George invites Floyd DeBeers, the head of the art history department, to his home. Floyd feels the presence of a soul but assures Catherine that the spirit is benevolent and offers to hold a
séance. George and Catherine throw a party, where Catherine finds out the previous owners, who died in a murder-suicide, were Eddie and Cole's parents, and that her ring belonged to their mother Ella. She confronts George about the house's violent history. As they argue, a radio begins playing, only stopping when George smashes it. Catherine asks George to take Franny to his parents' house. While George is gone, Catherine and Floyd hold a séance and the ghost of Ella is summoned. Floyd tells Catherine that there is another spirit in the house and that she should be careful. Justine discovers George's affair with Willis. On a class trip, Justine overhears a conversation between George and his dissertation advisor, who asks how he was hired without a letter of recommendation. Floyd confronts George, who admits to forging a recommendation. At a family dinner, Catherine learns that the paintings George claimed were his work were actually painted by his cousin, who drowned in a boating accident. Her trust shattered, Catherine begins an affair with Eddie.
, from a series of paintings called The Voyage of Life'' by
Hudson River School founder
Thomas Cole On a boat ride, George fails to dissuade Floyd from reporting him. Later, a soaked George returns to campus (with Floyd nowhere to be seen), where Justine confronts him about his affair with Willis. George follows her car and runs her off the road, putting her into a
coma. Catherine learns of Floyd's death and Justine's accident. In George's classroom, a mystical painting of death and a Christian cross from a book that Floyd gave him is suddenly projected on a screen. George can't make it go away, which infuriates him and sends him running from the class. Back home, Catherine prepares to leave with Franny. George drugs her and murders her with an axe. In the morning, Cole comes to babysit, finding instructions from George not to disturb Catherine as she is ill. George returns home from campus, where he has been given Floyd's office and position, and pretends to discover Catherine's body. The police suspect he is responsible but have no proof, so they release him. He takes Franny to his parents' home in Connecticut. Catherine's soul joins forces with Ella's. They awaken Justine and show her what George did. Justine speaks to the police. To avoid being arrested, George tries to escape on his cousin's boat. A storm arrives and George's boat disappears in flames, a scene that resembles the painting seen earlier. However, the cross in this painting is upside down, indicating that George is damned. ==Cast==