Goosebumps.
Viewer beware.
You're in for a scare.
You have to put me through.
I've got important information. Hurry.
They're coming. My cover's blown.
The fate of the world is at stake.
I'm hiding.
I think he heard me.
He's coming. He's coming. Help me.
- Jerry, who are you talking to? - Uh, no one, Mom.
Honey, please stop fantasizing...
and try to concentrate on what I asked you to do.
- Thank you. - Mom, are we sleeping here tonight?
Well, of course. We're gonna be moved in by the end of the day.
You're gonna love it here. Nice hat.
The brilliant scientist was abducted by aliens.
Why had his colleagues on Earth stopped all communications?
He made subtle adjustments to his telepathic helmet.
But no matter how hard he thought,
he got no answer.
Sorry, Jer.
Look at this. Where'd this come from?
Wow. The real estate agent didn't say anything about a piano.
It was playing by itself.
A player piano?
No. It's just a regular piano.
I'm serious, Dad. Really.
- It was playing by itself. - Hello.
- Anybody home? - Cut it out, Dad.
- I saw it.
Yeah?
Well, why would anybody leave this behind?
You know, a little wax, a little polish, this'd be a beaut.
Hey, you wanna make this our little project?
No, thanks. I've got a life, you know.
Little Sister to Big Brother.
- I'm moving in.
I'm almost there. Here I come.
A piano playing by itself?
- He's living in a fantasyland. - He has an active imagination.
Most kids are out playing sports. They're making friends.
Our son talks to himself. Is that normal?
Well, for an only child,
plus, you know, the new house, new neighborhood—
He needs something to focus on— a project, a hobby.
- Something. - Braves trail by three.
Hawkins at the plate.
Pitcher winds, deals.
Oh, Hawkins connects.
It's a towering shot to straight center field. It's going.
It's a long fly out.
The ball game is over.
The crowd is stunned into silence.
- Hi. I'm Kim. I live across the street. - Hi.
I'm Jerry. We just moved in.
Yeah. I know.
Your new house has been vacant for a long time.
Uh, yeah. There's an old piano in the basement.
A piano teacher used to live there. It must've been hers.
Hey, do you play? Maybe we can jam together.
Jam? Sure.
Uh, actually, I'm not very good.
I just started taking lessons.
Dad, check this out.
I thought you hated the idea of piano lessons.
I never said that. How long would it take to learn?
- Well, it depends on how much you practice. - I'll practice every day.
Well, that's terrific, Jerry. That's just great.
- Yeah. I'll— I'll call today. - Thanks.
- Stay away. - Dad.
- Stay away! - Dad!
- Jerry! - Dad, there was a ghost!
It was playing the piano. It talked to me.
- The ghost said stay away.
Jerry.
Maybe she meant stay away from this place.
I thought we were gonna try to stop fantasizing.
"The Shreek School." Well, this is it.
Looks more like a prison than a music school.
Who's fantasizing now, Mom?
- Can I help you? - Uh...
- Mom, up there. - Oh. Uh, hello.
Name and business, please.
Uh, yes, it's Jerry Hawkins. He's here for his first piano lesson.
- Please come in. - Thank you. Oh.
They enter the mad scientist's lair,
unaware of the dark fate that lurked behind—
Jerry, try to stay focused. Come on.
- That's weird. It's the same—
- Hmm? - Never mind.
Can I help you?
I was just trying to see who was playing in there.
Hi. I'm Adele Hawkins. This is my son, Jerry.
Ah, Mr. Hawkins. I'm Dr. Shreek.
I know it's a funny name, but it's a real attention getter.
Have you...
ever played an instrument before, Mr. Hawkins?
Uh, I can play "Stairway to Heaven" on the kazoo.
The piano is considerably more demanding.
But with hands like these,
I'm sure you'll be a perfect student.
Oh. You'll have to excuse me. We just moved into a new house.
- Come back in an hour. - All righty.
Um, have fun.
Come with me, Mr. Hawkins.
What was all that high-tech stuff at the front door?
Security. We're very isolated here.
But our janitor, Mr. Toggle, is a mechanical genius.
He can build anything.
How long before I play rock and roll?
All in good time.
Today we will learn the C-major scale.
Watch me.
What happened to your hands?
They just don't work like they used to.
But you—
you have marvelous hands.
Simply marvelous.
Begin.
- Thanks, Dr. Shreek. - Remember, Mr. Hawkins, practice.
Okay.
The world-famous explorer was hopelessly lost.
But when he saw the words "Do Not Enter,"
the drumbeat of adventure began to pound inside his fearless heart.
Down, down, down...
went the world-famous explorer,
down into the forbidden world.
The world-famous explorer...
is starting to wish he's home in bed.
Help.
Oh, no!
Oh, no, not through there.
Are you looking for the front door? It's upstairs.
- This is the recital hall. - Oh, sorry.
- What's that? - Oh, that...
is my floor sweeper.
Very simple, but effective.
Oh, man, yeah.
- I'm Mr. Toggle. - Hi. I'm Jerry Hawkins.
Dr. Shreek said you're a mechanical genius.
I programmed him to say that.
And Dr. Shreek has told me about you too.
He says you have excellent hands. That's what he looks for.
Come on, Jerry. I'll show you the way out. Come on.
Go ahead.
You... will... suffer.
- What did I do? - Stay away from The Shreek School.
It's evil.
Evil!
Jerry? Jerry. Jerry, honey. What's wrong, honey?
- Did you see her? Did you see her? - See who?
The ghost. It was playing the piano.
- Oh! - There!
- That's just Bonkers. That's all you saw.
- Mm-hmm. - But— But I saw it.
I did.
- Come on. Let's go to bed. - Yeah, come on, honey.
Son, we're worried about you.
- Maybe you need some help. - You mean like a psychiatrist?
Well, it's just somebody to talk to.
- You think I'm crazy? - No. Of course not.
Just 'cause I don't wanna go back to The Shreek School.
Well, it's the reason you don't wanna go back.
You guys don't believe me that I saw a ghost.
Maybe— Maybe I was just sleepwalking.
Honey, we would never force you to keep taking lessons.
But if you could just give it one more try.
You know what the best feeling in the world is, Jer?
It's confronting the things you're most afraid of,
finding out it's no big deal.
It's all in the mind.
- Oops.
- Sorry. - That's fine, Jerry.
You lost your concentration.
Let me help you.
Keep the fingers curved.
- I'm getting kind of tired. - Try again.
You must concentrate.
Try again.
Once more.
Stop that!
Your hands are precious. Precious.
You must take good care of them.
Don't you realize what potential you have?
I will not tolerate a student who's not serious about his hands!
Sorry.
Try again. Take your time.
Dr. Shreek! You okay?
Fine, Jerry. Fine.
You mustn't worry about me.
Think about these hands.
They're perfect. Perfect.
- No! - Yes, Jerry.
I must have your beautiful hands.
Let— Let go.
Your beautiful hands.
Let go. Let go!
Your beautiful hands!
Beautiful hands!
- Beautiful hands! - Mr. Toggle!
- Beautiful hands!
Beautiful hands! Beautiful!
Help me, Mr. Toggle! Help!
Beautiful hands! Beautiful hands! Beautiful!
No! Mr. Toggle! Mr. Toggle!
Hands! Beautiful hands!
No! Help! Help me!
Mr. Toggle, help! Let go! Please!
- Don't worry, son.
He's crazy.
He's a robot.
They all are. He's really lifelike, don't you think?
Yeah. Thanks for stopping him.
No problem.
As long as you're okay.
- Yeah. I think I'm fine. - Let me see.
Your hands, Jerry. Let me see your hands.
You. It's you, not Dr. Shreek.
- I need your hands, Jerry. - You're nuts.
- Why do you need my hands? - To make beautiful music.
Hands are just too hard to build—
too many moving parts.
I need your hands!
They're exquisite!
- No! No!
You've gone too far.
I warned you.
This time you've gone too far,
Andrew Toggle.
- I tried my best. - You were just a lazy boy.
Very clever, but lazy.
You could have mastered all your pieces...
if you'd only practiced.
I did! I practiced every day.
"Faster, Andrew. Again, Andrew."
But it was never good enough for you.
- [ Crying, Sniffling ] - Practice makes perfect, Andrew Toggle.
It's time for your lesson.
No. No!
No!
- Go, go, go! - What's going on, Jer?
So, how are your parents?
The psychiatrist said that talking about it would help them a lot.
I'm just glad our house is ghost-free.
No more piano, huh?
Not in this lifetime. Come on.
Okay.
Cowan winds and deals.
Griffey hits a long fly to right field.
Whoa! Hawkins chases it down.
Way to go, Jer. Good hands.
This is your punishment...
for terrorizing the boy.
You will practice and practice.
How much longer?
Till eternity!
You lazy boy.
Till eternity.
Captioned by Grant Brown