Black Sabbath telephone segment
This is my own idea for how the telephone segment in the Black Sabbath movie should play out. My interest was piqued after learning it was the inspiration for the heavy metal band's name. This is largely the original Italian version of the telephone segment, with a few parts from the AIP version thrown in, not necessarily in the same place they were in the movie. No copyright infringement is intended.
Rosey enters her apartment after an apparently frustrating night. The phone rings, she answers, but gets no response. She goes to her bed, removes her stockings, and hears the phone ring again, but again there’s no answer from the other party when she picks up the receiver. After she puts on a bathrobe the phone rings again. She picks up the receiver and says “Hello?” and this is when the other party speaks.
Voice: “You’re so beautiful. Too beautiful, Rosy.”
Rosy: “Who IS this?!?”
Voice: “You’ll know right before you die. I can see your heavenly body. Your silky arms, your perfect legs.<Rosy tries to cover her legs with her robe.> No, don’t cover them! A body like yours can drive a man to madness. And I will kill you!”
Rosy: “WHO IS THIS??? Who are you?? Hello!? HELLO?!?”< other party hangs up >
Rosy has changed into a nightgown and robe and is sitting on her bed after pacing a bit. She gets up to make her bed and the phone rings again. Rosy answers.
“Hello.”
Voice: “Why did you put your robe on? You should have stayed as you were. I like you better with nothing on. That’s how I want to find you. I’ll get in, even if you lock the door.”
Rosy: “Who are you? What do you want from me?”
Voice: “I told you. I want to kill you. I want revenge. You did well to turn on all the lights. I want to see you die. Do you understand, Rosy?”
Rosy hangs up, feels a chill, paces some and pours herself a drink. Hearing running footsteps, she rushes to the door to put a piece of cloth over the keyhole. She begins turning off some lights in her apartment and hides some jewelry underneath the sofa. She picks up the phone and puts it down next to her, hears something fall outside, and tries to put back the phone--only to hear it ring and drops the phone.
Voice: “Rosy. Rosy. Rosy. I know you’re listening. <Rosy picks up receiver> I saw you, you know. You hid your money and jewels. How stupid. You haven’t changed. You don’t get it, do you? I’m not interested in money. I want you. I want your splendid body. And I’ll have you. I will! Not to caress you. But to wring your neck. To choke you until you suffocate. And I’ll do it, Rosy. You’ll see!”
Rosy: “Who is this? Who are you? Answer me! I beg of you. Why do you hate me? What have I done to you? What have I done to you? Don’t drive me mad like this! Answer me please!” The other party hangs up, Rosy breaks down crying. Above her a screen shutter opens up to reveal someone apparently with glasses/sunglasses looking in. Hearing footsteps, Rosy goes to the door and tries to listen.
On the other side an elderly gentleman with an overcoat, fedora, and glasses walks down the steps and corridor. At the end of the corridor he looks back and whistles for his dog, Dee to come. He leaves the door open when he takes her out. *This is in the AIP version and Rosy bumps into him when he returns from the walk. I’m assuming that Rosy would not have her ear to the door the whole time he’s walking Dee.*
Inside, Rosy notices a white envelope on the stairs. Catching her breath, she picks it up and opens it. Inside is a newspaper clipping that an ex, Frank Ranier, has escaped from prison. The phone rings again. Now apparently with a good idea of who the caller is, she goes over to pick up the receiver. “Hello?”
Voice: “Rosy. You’re beginning to understand, huh? You weren’t expecting it, were you? But I escaped just to find you. And finally, I’m close to you. Very close. And you can’t do anything about it. Calling the police is useless. Because I’m closer than the police. Don’t you forget it. Much closer.”
Rosy: “Frank, listen. Listen to me, Frank!”
Frank hangs up. Rosy calls her friend, Mary, who is sitting at a desk with the phone right there.
Mary: “Hello.”
Rosy: “Mary, it’s Rosy.”
Mary: “Hi, honey! I really didn’t expect your call. You said you didn’t want to see me or speak to me anymore.”
Rosy: “Please. Now’s not the time. Frank has escaped!”
Mary: “Yes, I read about it. So why are you telling me? Now you two will get back together.”
Rosy: “Mary, cut it out! I’m scared. He wants revenge. I’m sure of it. Come over right away, please!”
Mary: “You want me to come to you? Did I hear correctly?”
Rosy: “Yes, yes. As fast as you can. He wants to kill me!”
Mary: “All right, honey! I don’t bear grudges. Give me five minutes.”
Rosy: “Thank you. Hurry!”
*From this point it’s obvious Mary and Rosy have a past lesbian relationship, which was omitted in the AIP version. Unknown to Rosy, Mary is hiding a secret.* The phone rings.
Voice: “Rosy. Why did you call your friend, Mary? Are you hoping she can help you? Did you think I wouldn’t hear?” <At this point the camera cuts to another room where we see the caller is...MARY! She has a cloth over her mouth and is disguising her voice.> “You spoke in a whisper, but it’s no use. Because I’m close, I told you. Very close. Call whomever you want, Rosy. It’s all of no use. Even if you had an army around you. By dawn, you will be dead. Did you hear me, Rosy? By dawn--you will be dead!”
Rosy runs frantically throughout her apartment to turn the lights back on, then hears a pounding on the door. It’s Mary. “Rosy. It’s me. Let me in.”
Rosy runs to the door and opens it. Mary: “Ciao! In trouble?”
Rosy: "How did you get in?”
Mary: “The door was open.” as she enters the apartment. <She’s wearing a bright green outfit, and a Youtuber has commented on the use of green in Vertigo to represent deception. I’m assuming the door was open because of the man who took his dog for a walk earlier.> Rosy follows her in. Mary continues: “Look at all this light! What are you, the mistress of the guy who reads the meter? <laughs> Sorry, I was forgetting that you have a fine palate. It must be the CEO of the company.<continues looking around> I see you haven’t changed anything here. Everything’s as it was when we were friends and I came over all the time. Rosy pours a drink for herself and Mary and Mary sits on Rosy’s bed and continues. “Just like old times.”<moves to the side and motions Rosy to sit next to her> Come on, honey, tell Mary everything.”
Rosy: “Please, I’m not in the mood for humor. Believe me.”
Mary: “All right, Rosy. As you wish. No jokes.”
Rosy: “He’s been calling me since I came home. He’s been saying terrible things with a cold, threatening voice. He knows everything I do, sees my every move. The first time he called, I was in my bathrobe and he knew it. Then I put my house robe on and he knew that too. He even knew right away when I called you.” Mary rises as Rosy continues. “It’s as if he were in the room, spying on me, ready to kill me.” Mary moves closer to Rosy and touches her from behind. Rosy gasps.
Mary: “Don’t be silly. He’s guessing. He’s going on a hunch.”<Mary is stroking Rosy’s hair>
Rosy: I thought so, too. But how did he know I called you? He called right after that.
Mary: “He always knew about us. But what he doesn’t know is that you swore never to see me again.”
Rosy: <puts her drink down and resumes pacing> “He told me I’ll die before dawn.”
Mary: “He’s an exploiter, not a killer. Trust me, he was just trying to frighten you.”
Rosy: “Mary, I’m the one who turned him in and he knows it. I’m scared.”
Mary: “Come, come. I’m here now. Tomorrow we’ll go to the police together.<takes phone off hook> He can call all he wants now. Come on, give me a nightgown. In the meantime I’ll make you some tea.”
While Rosy looks for a nightgown, Mary looks through another cabinet and finds a large steak knife. Rosy panics when she is looking through some lingerie and Mary appears holding the knife.
Rosy: “What are you doing with that knife??”
Mary takes the knife over to Rosy’s bed and puts the knife under a pillow. “You never know. Still afraid?”
Rosy: “No, I’m better now.”
Mary: “Come on, then. Go to bed.”<gets her gown>
Rosy changes into a nightgown herself while looking to her left. Mary dissolves a powder in the boiling water she’s using to make tea.
Rosy walks in. “What’s that?”
Mary: “Poison. Compliments of Frank. It’s a tranquilizer, silly. It will do you good. Can’t you see how shaken up you are?”
The two ladies go into the next room. The change of lighting on a window denotes the passage of time, and Rosy’s subsequent, sprawled diagonal appearance on a disheveled bed implies a prior interlude, though if Rosy were out cold from the tranquilizer it could qualify as a date-rape. On a nearby desk Mary is writing a letter:
“Dear Rosy,
I’m sorry I frightened you so. But it was the only way for me to get you to reconsider your decision that caused me such pain. Reading about Frank’s escape gave me the idea. The voice you heard was mine. Don’t hate me for it. Was seeing me again really that bad?”
Mary will very soon pay for her transgressions, because Frank really is gunning for Rosy. He sneaks into her apartment while Mary is looking over her letter with her back to him, and believing her to be Rosy, sneaks up to her and strangles her with a stocking. Rosy wakes up and sees this, petrified. Frank realizes it’s Mary he killed and says “Damn you! Always where you shouldn’t be!” He then looks up, sees Rosy in bed, gets up and moves toward her. Rosy feels underneath the pillow for the knife and grasps it, still hidden from Frank. As he gets on the bed and starts to choke her, she stabs him and he reels back, collapses and dies, but it’s not over. We hear Frank’s voice on the phone, deeper than in the earlier calls. “Rosy...you can’t kill me! I’ll always be here. Close to you. I’ll be talking to you every night. No matter where you are, I’ll be calling you--on the telephone!”
The last part is only in the AIP version, and it’s followed by a scream from Rosy. I’ve envisioned an alternate ending, where instead of merely screaming, she runs out into the corridor (half-naked thanks to Mary's earlier subterfuge) and her run-in with the elderly gentleman mentioned earlier occurs here instead, and their conversation is somewhat different.
Man: “What is it? What’s the matter?”
Rosy: “Good evening, Colonel. Excuse me!”
Man: ”But you’re frightened. You look upset! What happened? You’re safe with me. You can tell me about it. Come on.”
Rosy looks at the Colonel, eyes wide with fear.<The End>
The above ending leaves open whether she accepts his help. A second possible alternate ending would have the colonel call the police to have Rosy taken away because she’s apparently convinced Frank is still alive--only to have Dee bark at Frank’s ghost.