Zubrovnik's Ghost - Recap

Dan goes to a doctor’s office in a hospital and picks up his briefing from a safe. He’s informed that American scientist Dr. Martha Richards met Dr. Kurt Zubrovnik two years ago. She married and stayed with him in his country. A year ago Zubrovnik died and she stopped sending the U.S. the results of her experiments. She is being influenced by Sigismund Poljac, an agent of an East European country who claims to be a medium and says her husband wants her to defect. The IMF must convince her not to go behind the Iron Curtain.

Jim selects Rollin and Barney for the mission, along with psychic consultant Ariana Domi. Dan knows Martha and can’t go on the mission but they’ll be going in as a team of psychic investigators. Barney demonstrates a black-light hologram projector with Zubrovnik’s image. Ariana is a true believer while Barney and Rollin are skeptical, but Dan hedges his bets. Ariana wonders why Dan is so confident in her and he notes that he wants even Barney and Rollin to wonder if her powers are real.

The team arrives at Martha’s house where they notice there are bees flying even though it’s night. They go into the house after discovering the door is open and a large German Shepherd barks at them. Ariana manages to calm it and it runs off. Martha comes down but says the dog hasn’t been seen in the house since her husband died. She shows them to their rooms where they meet Poljac and his assistant Kroeger. Barney sets up scientific equipment and they begin a séance to contact Zubrovnik’s spirit. Before his death, Zubrovnik had a message placed in a lock box and he promised his spirit would provide the combination. They go through the séance and Poljac’s spirit guides provides the combination. Inside they find a letter from Zubrovnik to his wife, and Martha is convinced. Outside, the bees begin to swarm more heavily.

After Poljac leaves, Barney is convinced the box wasn’t tampered with, and Ariana notes that it may have indeed been a spirit. They’re interrupted when a signal goes off and the dog scratches at the window. Thunder booms out and a picture of Zubrovnik falls down from the wall. Ariana says that there is a spirit in the house, much to Rollin’s surprise, but she warns the spirit is malevolent. They go to the laboratory where Zubrovnik was burned to death and Ariana tries to pinpoint the spirit through her control, Frances. Ariana starts writhing in pain and the spirit warns there is agony and torment nearby. She knocks over a Bunsen burner and Rollin and Barney manage to put it out as she collapses. She reveals that the man who died in the fire wasn’t Zubrovnik, claiming her subconscious spoke to her as a spirit. Rollin figures that Poljac’s employers faked Zubrovnik’s death to get access to Martha’s research. Barney remembers seeing a trunk belonging to Poljac and they go to see if it contains a clue to Zubrovnik’s location. Ariana stays in the lab to try to make contact again.

Rollin and Barney go to the storage room in the attic, unaware that Kroeger is watching them. As they open the trunk, Kroeger locks them in and it’s too high to jump. Barney uses a mattress spring and an old battery to create a makeshift magnet and open the door bolt. Meanwhile, Poljac confronts Ariana in the lab and wants to know what she’s doing and then leaves, refusing to discuss the matter further. Kroeger tells him what’s happening while Barney and Rollin get the trunk open. Ariana meets them and they reveal there’s no clues in the trunk. Ariana says she got a vision of Zubrovnik in the nearby village, by a butcher’s shop. Barney goes downstairs to distract Poljac and Kroger and examine his equipment while Rollin and Ariana go to the basement and the dog gets in and crouches underneath the stairs. Ariana realizes that Zubrovnik is now dead.

Poljac gets a call and goes upstairs with Kroeger while Rollin brings Barney up to speed. They figure now that Zubrovnik is dead, Poljac might try something with Martha. They find her and she tells them she must complete her work away from the house. Barney goes to get the black-light projector while Kroeger goes upstairs to get the trunk. The door closes and locks by itself and hundreds of bees attack Kroeger. Everyone races upstairs to find that he jumped out the window to his death.

Barney needs 20 minutes to rig the projector and Ariana goes to get Poljac to agree to another séance. Rollin asks her to fake summoning Zubrovnik’s spirit but she refuses to be dishonest about the supernatural. She agrees to stall Martha until the séance begins and goes to the scientist’s bedroom to talk, but Poljac comes in. Barney sets up his projector while Ariana explains she is a medium as well. When she starts to get through to Martha, Poljac reluctantly agrees to the séance. The guys finish their set up just as the others arrive, but as they begin the lights go out due to the storm. Barney and Rollin have no choice but to continue even though the projector has no power.

Poljac goes through his routine again and his spirit guide tells the strangers to leave and Martha to complete her work before Zubrovnik will appear to her. They’re interrupted when Zubrovnik apparently speaks through Ariana. Martha is sure it’s her husband’s voice. Smoke starts to pour from the fireplace while Zubrovnik says that it was another man’s spirit that was angry. Zubrovnik explains that a beekeeper was murdered in his place, while Poljac chokes from the smoke and staggers up to the upper floor, the smoke seemingly following him. He runs into the attic but the door locks behind him and the bees swarm in through the shattered window. The others are unable to get the door open until Poljac is dead, covered in bees.

The next day Martha announces she will stay and start sending her reports again. As they drive away, Ariana says she simply played a hunch once she saw the bees and when even Rollin admits he has some doubts, she says she gave her greatest performance.

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