Tales from Black Manor (2025) Movie Script

Black Manor
Keeper entry 602.
It's taken quite some time
to uncover the myths and fables
of the House of Black.
But it would seem that
the house established itself
and its connection to the deaths
with Alister Black
in the year 1309.
Tales from Black Manor
Alister Black: My father
told me a story
when I was a young boy.
Something that sounded
like a legend or a fable.
He told me that he saw a woman
in the woods one day.
A woman wearing a blood red dress.
She told him that one day
a war would come,
a war between his two sons.
She told my father after he died
his two sons would
wage war upon one another.
One would be victorious.
A retelling of Cain and Abel.
The winner would be the one that
killed the most soldiers
in her name.
That winner would be given
the right to her heart.
And I'm not talking about love.
I'm talking about her real
fucking heart.
A heart that she had carved
from her own body.
My father asked her
what her name was?
She replied,
Death.
When my father was crowned king
he waited and prayed.
But the war never came.
When it finally did
he was long gone.
And it was I who now
sat on the throne.
We rode forth to a place
called the Tanglewood.
It was here that we would
make our last stand.
And with every man that fell
I said her name:
Death.
AHHHHHHH!
AHHHHHHHHH!
The fields ran red with blood.
It was here
that I
claimed victory.
It was here that I
established the House of Black
and said her name:
Death.
That was the first time
the House of Black
met one of the Deaths.
But it wouldn't be the last.
As Alister Black descended
into mere legend,
little Ivy Black
would grow curious
to see if the stories were true.
Ivy Black: Legend has it
that my great great grandfather
was a king.
A king who had pledged
his throne to Death.
He had told us,
that if you find one of the deaths
before they find you
you can make a trade.
I didn't want to die.
Not ever.
So I began to look.
First in the hills
behind Black Manor.
Then I visited
the Witch of the Tanglewood.
Witch: Blood for blood.
Bone for bone.
Blood
Blood for blood.
Bone for bone.
Life for death.
Death
Blood for blood.
Bone for bone.
Ivy: She told me that death
requires sacrifice.
Blood for blood.
Bone for bone.
Life for death.
Death for life.
Blood for bone.
Bone for blood.
Life for death.
Death for life.
Blood for bone.
Bone for blood.
Life for death.
Death for life.
Then she told me to listen.
Listen to the whispers of Death
and it will lead me to a mist.
A mist between our
world and theirs.
When I arrived
at the castle he called home,
he knew my name.
Death: Well if it isn't
little Ivy Black
come to die so soon?
Ivy Black: I've come to make a trade.
Death: Another's life for your own?
Who?
Ivy Black: My brother.
Death: Do you know how it's done?
I did not.
Ivy Black: So he offered me a gift.
Death: It's one of the seven
books of Death.
Inside are the secrets
of how to live forever.
Secrets no mortal has ever known.
Ivy Black: And so I returned home
to Black Manor.
I'll admit the first one
was the hardest.
But Death was pleased.
Death: Well done.
The second one was a bit easier.
My mad father Atticus Black.
Atticus Black:
A little tasty treat.
I like the gristle,
I like the gristle.
But we shouldn't eat friends.
Are you my friend little rat?
Shh...
Maybe it's okay?
But just taste
A tiny tiny taste.
A little tasty treat...
I like the gristle,
I like the gristle.
But we shouldn't eat friends...
Ivy Black: The third.
I didn't even blink.
The Keeper: With the Victorian age
in full swing
the Black family began
to ritualize their heritage.
Suzie Black:
Mommy used to tell me a story
every night before bed.
She told me that there
was supposedly
a balance over all living things.
Then she told me of the Deaths.
But Mommy didn't like balance.
No one in my family did.
We weren't meant for such things,
she'd say.
And she was right.
The night I came of age
my family gathered
in the Tanglewood.
I'm not sure whose life it
was that they traded for mine?
Just some stranger
I guess...
I can still remember
when it happened.
The tingling sensation
over my entire body.
It filled me up.
It felt like I was shimmering.
When I woke I was alone.
But I could sense him.
Death.
I could sense him all around me.
Death:
Well if it isn't Suzie Black
Mommy's little star.
The House of Black traded your
life for another's yesterday.
Now you can live forever.
Then I learned the rules.
The first rule of living forever
was try not to die.
People could still kill us.
Rule two.
Don't get paralyzed.
Cousin Alice was buried
somewhere out in the Tanglewood,
eyes closed,
living in darkness forever.
Uncle Oliver loved to dig her up
and talk to her.
Rule 3.
Aging still took place.
Just very slowly.
Now I watch the world
change all around me.
Every day something new.
But I remain the same,
Mommy's little star.
The Keeper: Black Manor
hasn't always belonged
to the Black family.
When World War II erupted
the family would be forced
to flee leaving the Manor
behind them in ruins.
Adolphus Winter:
The Second World War
was a time for great opportunity.
As we marched across Europe
I heard whispers
and rumors of a place.
A place filled with dark
and wonderful secrets.
We used all the resources
afforded to us as commanders.
AHHHHHHH!
My brother Helmut,
he and I used the war as an excuse
to hunt down the long lost
Black Manor.
A place that had been
all but forgotten.
It was now just a bit
of folklore,
fable,
myth.
Nothing more than
an old fairy tale.
Something from the Grimms that you
would use to tell your children
to stay out of the woods at night.
To live forever,
as the story says,
you must trade one life for another.
We traded many lives
my brother and I.
Russian lives. American lives.
British lives.
We carved our way across Europe.
Each battle brought us
closer and closer.
And with every death
of their men and ours
I knew he would listen.
Then we found it.
Black Manor.
A place that is said
Death himself frequents.
When we arrived
the family had already fled.
But I waited.
I waited for him to arrive.
Death: Well if it isn't
Adolphus Winter...
I don't care how many
soldiers you've killed,
not all deaths are equal.
For those men
were killed in self defense.
One of you was always going to die.
For something more...
For something beyond your reach...
You need to trade a life
that wasn't meant to die.
I knew then what I had to do.
I would have to kill my soldiers,
my own men.
Helmut, my dear brother
couldn't believe what I had done.
His loyalty was to the Third Reich.
Mine was only to myself.
By the time I was done,
I had killed more Nazis,
than Russians, British,
or Americans put together.
Am I proud of what I had done?
Well I have forever to decide.
Death: I had come to Black Manor
during the Second Great War
looking for my brother
one of the Deaths.
He had grown an affection
for the House of Black
and the family
that resided at Black Manor.
Instead of finding my brother though,
I found him.
A young man
by the name of Jack.
I came to him as a young woman.
So young so vibrant,
so full of life.
I couldn't help myself.
For each of us,
each of the Deaths,
we each fall victim to something.
For my brother, it's power.
For me, it's courage.
Those that face certain death
and do it anyway.
He knew he was going to die.
So brave, so courageous,
So young and foolish.
I couldn't help but fall in love.
Then one day he got his wish.
He marched off like a brave fool
to the same place where so
many young boys had died.
The bones and blood
littering the ground.
But he would send me letters
telling me how much he missed me,
how much he needed me.
He told me how strong he needed
to be to get through this.
But he wasn't scared
of death.
Even though he should have been.
He should have been scared.
If he knew what was coming.
Jack Jones: Where am I?
Lucas: You know where we are?
We're in the Tanglewood,
outside of Black Manor.
Everything here dies.
Jack Jones: What?
You can't...
You can't talk like that.
Okay.
Okay.
Soldier: Let's go! Come on!
Jack Jones:
You know we're probably
gonna die out here, right?
Where am I?
Where...
Where am I?
Death: So when he did die.
I brought him here,
to the afterlife with me.
Jack Jones: Where am I?
Death: The Land of Death and Dreams.
The Keeper: As the decades crept on
the whispers and rumors of
Black Manor
spread far and wide.
It became a desolate
and haunted place,
known to the locals
as a rite of passage.
Kat: Rumor has it
that there's a part of Black Manor
that no one's
brave enough to enter.
They say that there's something
lurking in the shadows.
Or someone.
Someone that everyone
is terrified of.
They say her name
is Little Ivy Black.
They say she haunts the halls
to this day
the same way she has
for hundreds of years.
She's been alive for so long
they say,
that she's barely even
human anymore.
On a dare.
We thought it would
be fun to find out.
The Keeper:
With the new millennium upon us
the Black family had
held tight to their beliefs.
Even though they had
fled their home,
they had brought with them
their rituals and ceremony
and the Book of Death.
They like to call me
Bloody Mary Black.
There's nothing really healing
about bathing in blood
but it does feel good.
It feels nice.
It feels powerful.
And when you can't die,
that little bit of exhilaration
well it can make the entire
body tingle with delight.
For you see in my family,
death was only an option.
An option we chose not to pursue.
We didn't want to move on.
We liked it here
and planned on staying.
Uncle Oliver took me
out to the suburbs.
He taught me how to hunt.
He said, "Some people say the first"
one should be special
but after a while
they all blend together.
So I say the first
one should be easy.
"Go for that low hanging fruit,"
he said.
"A real Miss Nobody."
I didn't know who she was.
Uncle Oliver said it didn't matter.
Olivier Black:
Oh little Miss Nobody...
We're going to get you.
We're going to get you.
Come out! Come out!
Wherever you are...
Bloody Mary Black: We buried her
out in the Tanglewood
beside Cousin Alice.
I have no idea how many bodies
were buried out there
but it was probably a lot.
Uncle Oliver performed the ritual.
Read from the Book of Death
and it was done.
Now I can live forever.
Uncle Oliver said, "if you're going"
to live forever and you want
to keep that pretty face of yours
Then you have to keep on killing
Otherwise you can still age
"just very, very, very slowly."
That one I took to heart.
So I began to hunt.
I went after the low
hanging fruit first.
Boys mostly.
Boys that I could lure back
to a room somewhere.
But I did like that
it was fun.
There's something that
gets your blood racing
when you decide who
your next target is.
Men.
Women.
After a while I could
lure anyone back to bed.
And since I want to keep this
pretty face,
it didn't matter
how many people had to die
or how dark I had to get
just as long as it was fun.
AHHHHHHH!
Miss Nobody: 5:30 am
Time to wake up.
But I'm already awake.
I'm always awake.
Get up.
Take my medication.
Go to work.
Not like I'm overly
excited or anything.
There's not really much
to be excited about, is there?
Maybe my morning coffee
will cheer me up?
Nope
that doesn't help at all.
Yay! Spreadsheets!
Fucking Spreadsheets!
There's always more
fucking spreadsheets,
isn't there?
Go home.
Noodles.
Tv.
Try not to cry...
TV Host: Thank you for playing.
We have some lovely
parting gifts for you.
Next contestant, spin the wheel.
Contestant: Oh wow!
I'll take number 10.
TV Host: And the answer is 23.
Thank you for playing.
We have some lovely
parting gifts for you.
Next contestant spin the wheel.
All right.
Next contestant spin the wheel again.
Go to bed and wait
for the sweet release of death.
5:30 am
Time to wake up.
I'm already awake.
I'm always awake.
Take my medication.
Go to work.
Where the fuck do all these
spreadsheets come from?
And where do they go?
Is it a game?
Am I being watched?
Maybe they're just waiting
for me to crack.
Maybe I am being watched?
You know just because
you're paranoid doesn't mean
they're not after you.
I think Radiohead
came up with that?
Go home.
Noodles.
Tv.
Try not to cry.
TV Host: Thank you for playing.
We have some
lovely parting gifts for you.
Go to bed and wait for
the sweet release of death.
I'm being watched...
Who's there?
Uncle Olivier:
Oh little Miss Nobody.
We're going to get you.
We're going to get you.
Miss Nobody: an intruder?
Is it weird that
I'm really excited.
Maybe this is it.
My moment.
Uncle Olivier: Come out! Come out
wherever you are.
Miss Nobody: Finally this is it.
The sweet release of death.
AHHHHH!
The Keeper:
With the legacy of her family
nothing more
than an odd curiosity,
Anastasia Black was dying.
Anastasia Black: Legend has it
or so my late grandmother
once told me,
if you want to live forever...
when death comes for you,
you have to kill
something you love.
No one ever believed a word
my grandmother said
She was a witch after all.
But still it was interesting
to think about.
Especially when I found out
I was dying.
The doctors didn't
know what it was.
No one did.
So I set out to fall in love.
His name was Dorian.
It was the way he could
disarm you with a quick smile
or something silly.
I fell hard and fast.
Even though I was in love,
his love
was spread much more freely,
more easily.
I killed her first.
But that wouldn't help me.
So I plotted...
When death finally came for me,
I was still in love.
No matter how badly hurt I was.
Death: And now Anastasia Black
you can live forever.
Anastasia Black: Forever.
Without the one person
I wish I could share it with.
The Keeper:
That brings us to the here
and the now.
As the Keeper it's my job
to keep tabs on the House of Black.
I'm not the first Keeper.
There have been many before me.
Always tucked away in our tower,
affectionately called The Keep.
I keep the secrets
of this place safe.
I keep the Rippers at bay.
I collect and record
every time something new is found,
like Death's pocket watch.
I keep the Book of Death
locked away.
I record everything.
We watch over Black Manor.
We watch over the families.
When one goes on a killing spree
and needs it to be cleaned up,
I do that.
When the Tanglewood overruns with
graves, I move the bodies down
to the catacombs beneath.
Here, the bones are organized by century,
the decade,
down to the very year.
I'm not a Black nor a Winter.
I am an Asher.
The Ashers left the
House of Black many years ago.
There was little blood left
between the families.
When I was drafted
into the Great War,
my mother
a devout Catholic woman,
went to mass,
every morning.
She prayed and prayed,
and prayed for my safe return.
Then came the letter
that I'd been shot.
As the years went on
she became terrified that she
would never see me again.
The priest told her to have faith
but when it wavered,
she returned to the dark practices
the Ashers had left behind
at Black Manor.
However,
instead of committing the gravest of sins
and taking another's life,
she read from the Book of Death,
and took her own life
on my behalf.
Not a suicide
but a martyrdom.
When I found out
I could live forever,
I returned to Black Manor
and became the newest keeper.
I learned the stories,
the fables,
the myths,
I memorized the tales.
The tales of Black Manor.
So if you of all people
wanted to live forever,
you could come to Black Manor
to this very day and visit me
at my tower.
The price is death.
Just not yours.
Annabelle Black:
For life to mean anything
you need to know you're going to die.
And that is what
my family took from me
when I came of age.
Now it's just me.
And forever.
Forever.
I didn't realize at the time
that forever means forever.
As in never ending.
Life will just go
on and on and on
forever and ever.
What makes things special
is time.
That they won't last.
That they're special.
Rare.
Then one day
walking the long forgotten
east corridor of Black Manor,
I found something.
Something new.
Something that hadn't been there before.
It was a small glass orb.
When I touched it,
I could see everything.
And I mean everything literally.
But more importantly,
I could sense her.
The one on the other side.
The Death of time.
The final Death.
She was there watching me.
And for the first time in a long time,
I could sense a beginning,
a middle, and an end.
The end of me.
The end of the world.
The end of Black Manor.
She was the final Death.
The end of all things.
Until the end,
I could only dream.