THE CARPENTER

After being released from the institution in Québec where she was placed in after suffering a mental breakdown, housewife Alice Jarett relocates to another part of Canada with her husband Martin, a professor. The house the couple moves into was never finished, so Martin hires a cheap construction crew to complete it. One night, Alice is awakened by hammering in the basement, caused by a carpenter she had not seen with the rest of the crew. Unlike the other workers, this one has a pleasant demeanor and good work ethic, and while Martin is away one night, he stops another carpenter from trying to rape Alice by cutting the man's arms off with a circular saw, sending the dazed Alice back to bed, and cleaning up the mess afterward.

Alice has a few more run-ins with the carpenter, and comes to the conclusion that he is the spirit of the house's builder, a man named Edward who was executed for killing several repo men when his obsession with perfecting his home caused him to incur massive debt. Despite Ed's murderous past, Alice finds herself falling for his charms, even after witnessing him murder two disgruntled former workers who break into the house to loot it.

One day, one of Martin's students, Laura Bell, shows up at the house, to confess to Alice that she and Martin are having an affair, and that she is pregnant with his child. An argument breaks out between Laura and Alice, who kills Laura with a nail gun with help from Ed. When Martin returns home and discovers Laura's mangled body, he attacks Alice, but is subdued and has his head crushed in a vise by Ed. Sometime later, Alice's sister Rachel stops by, and tries to leave with Alice after spotting Martin and Laura's bodies, but she is stopped by Ed, who gets violent with her. Angered by Ed harming her sister, Alice turns against him, and the two fight. During the scuffle, Alice realizes that damaging the house hurts Ed, so she starts a fire with a blow torch. As the flames spread through the house, Alice and a recovered Rachel flee, being briefly chased by Ed before he burns away.

Alice defeats the Carpenter by setting the house on fire, destroying his spirit, and escapes with her sister.

The climax literalizes the connection between the ghostly Carpenter and the house: damaging the home weakens and ultimately destroys him. Alice’s act of arson is both a break from her psychological entanglement and a final stand against her supernatural tormentor. The resolution leaves Alice and her sister free, but at the cost of the home that triggered the haunting.