Mausoleum 1983
Mausoleum Plot Summary
Read the complete plot summary and ending explained for Mausoleum (1983). From turning points to emotional moments, uncover what really happened and why it matters.
Ten-year-old Susan Walker Farrell attends her mother’s funeral with her aunt Cora Nomed, who is appointed as her guardian. After the funeral, Susan slips into the family’s mausoleum tomb and witnesses a demonic force that kills a vagrant in the cemetery. The encounter binds her to an ancestral demon tied to her lineage.
Twenty years later, Cora worries about Susan, now thirty and married to Oliver Farrell, on the anniversary of her mother’s death. Susan and her husband go out for dinner, and Susan is attacked by a drunk patron outside. He enters his car, which Susan causes to burst into flames, killing him. Oliver is summoned to New York City for work, leaving Susan home alone. She seduces their landscaper, Ben, before killing him after sex with a hand rake. Oliver returns shortly after, and Susan tells him she gave Ben the night off from work.
The next day, Cora arrives at the house to bring Susan paperwork pertaining to the familial inheritance she is due at age 30. In the house, she finds Susan grossly deformed in the figure of a demon. Susan causes Cora to levitate over the staircase before breaking open her chest. That night, Oliver calls Dr. Simon Andrews, alarmed, claiming to have seen Susan in a disfigured state. Susan interrupts the call, appearing entirely normal. The following morning, the Farrells’ housekeeper Elsie finds Susan’s room glowing green and witnesses her in her deformed state, and flees the house in terror.
At the urging of Oliver, Susan visits Dr. Andrews, who tapes a hypnosis session with her in his office. Initially she reverts to a childlike state before becoming possessed by the demonic entity. Andrews ends the session prematurely, and Susan reverts to her normal self. Disturbed, Andrews consults his colleague, Dr. Roni Logan. The following morning, Susan kills another landscaper sent to her house. That night, Oliver returns home and finds blood splattered on the kitchen telephone.
Meanwhile, Andrews and Logan begin researching demonic possession, convinced that Susan’s problem is supernatural and beyond the help of medicine. After analyzing a journal kept by Susan’s grandfather, Andrews informs Oliver that the Nomed family is subject to a curse in which firstborn daughters fall prey to a demon. Susan visits a shopping mall alone, and steals a painting from an art gallery. When the gallery owner confronts her, she causes him to levitate over an atrium before he falls multiple stories, and his body is impaled on a sculpture below.
Andrews retrieves a crown of thorns from the Nomed family mausoleum, which, according to Susan’s grandfather’s journal, will expel the demon. Simultaneously Susan transforms into a fully formed demonic state at home, and brutally kills Oliver. Andrews arrives shortly after and manages to crown Susan, banishing the demon to the mausoleum. Andrews brings Susan to the mausoleum, and she uses the crown of thorns to banish the demon back to its tomb. Susan begins to cry as she now remembers killing her Aunt Cora and husband Oliver.
Before they depart, Andrews instructs a gravekeeper to keep the mausoleum sealed from the public. As they drive away, the gravekeeper laughs maniacally. It turns out the gravekeeper is actually Ben, the landscaper from earlier in the film.
Mausoleum Timeline
Follow the complete movie timeline of Mausoleum (1983) with every major event in chronological order. Great for understanding complex plots and story progression.
Funeral and guardian appointed
Ten-year-old Susan Walker attends her mother's funeral with her aunt Cora Nomed, who is appointed as her guardian. The family mourns, but a dark foreboding settles over Susan as she watches the ritual. This event sets the stage for the demon that will shadow her life.
First brush with the demon in the mausoleum
Right after the funeral, Susan slips into the family mausoleum and witnesses a demonic force kill a vagrant in the cemetery. The sight reveals a malevolent influence tied to her lineage. The encounter plants the first seeds of possession that will follow her for years.
Twenty years later: dinner and attack
Two decades later, Susan and her husband Oliver Farrell go out for dinner. A drunken patron attacks Susan on the street, and she retaliates by causing the man’s car to explode into flames. The incident marks the demon’s growing control over her actions.
Ben the landscaper seduced and killed
With Oliver away in New York on business, Susan lures and seduces their landscaper Ben. Later that night she kills him after sex, showing the demon’s increasing appetite for violence. Oliver returns to a house where danger lurks behind Susan’s calm facade.
Inheritance paperwork and the demon reveals itself
The next day, Cora arrives at the house with documents related to Susan’s inheritance. Susan appears grotesquely deformed, and in a shocking display she levitates Cora over the staircase and then rips open her chest, killing her. The family curse seems to claim another victim.
Oliver alarmed by the deformed Susan
That night Oliver calls Susan’s psychologist, Dr. Andrews, claiming to have seen her in a deformed state. Susan interrupts the call, appearing completely normal, confusing Oliver and unsettling the doctor. The episode deepens Oliver’s fear and pushes him toward seeking scientific help.
Housekeeper warns of the growing danger
The following morning Elsie, the housekeeper, reports the room glowing green and seeing Susan in the deformed state. She flees the house in terror, unwilling to stay near the escalating horror. The household unit begins to fracture under the strain.
Hypnosis attempts and possession glimpse
At Oliver’s urging, Susan sees Dr. Andrews for a hypnosis session. During the session, she initially reverts to childlike behavior before being possessed by the demon; Andrews terminates the session and consults Dr. Logan. The doctors conclude the problem is supernatural rather than medical.
Another killing and mounting dread
The next morning Susan kills another landscaper at the house. Oliver returns home to find blood on the kitchen telephone and confronts her, but she tells him they will talk in the morning. The sense of danger escalates as the haunting intensifies.
Investigation uncovers a curse
Andrews and Logan begin researching demonic possession and uncover a journal kept by Susan’s grandfather. They learn that the Nomed family is cursed and that firstborn daughters are prey to a demon. The discovery provides a possible path to ending the menace.
Mall theft and gallery murder
Susan visits a shopping mall alone and steals a painting from an art gallery. When confronted by the gallery owner, she levitates him to the atrium and he falls onto a sculpture, dying in a grisly impaling. The supernatural violence becomes increasingly public and spectacular.
Crown of thorns and the final banishment
Andrews retrieves a crown of thorns from the Nomed family mausoleum, believed to expel the demon. Simultaneously Susan fully transforms into a demonic state at home and brutally kills Oliver. Andrews arrives, crowns Susan, and banishes the demon to the mausoleum.
Memory of the killings and departure
Susan cries as she remembers killing Aunt Cora and her husband Oliver, now free of the demon’s influence. Andrews and Susan depart with orders to keep the mausoleum sealed from the public. The house feels emptied of its horrors as they move forward.
Gravekeeper revealed
As they drive away, Andrews instructs a gravekeeper to keep the mausoleum sealed from the public. The gravekeeper laughs maniacally, revealing himself to be Ben, the landscaper Susan killed earlier. The satisfaction of vengeance turns to chilling realization.
Mausoleum Characters
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Susan Walker Farrell (Bobbie Bresee)
A once-ordinary woman who becomes host to a demonic force tied to her family. Her demeanor shifts from approachable to predatory as the possession deepens, leading to brutal killings. The struggle between her remaining humanity and the demon drives the central conflict of the story.
Oliver Farrell (Marjoe Gortner)
Susan’s husband, who appears supportive but is drawn into the house’s growing peril. He becomes alarmed by the strange events and seeks help from professionals, ultimately facing a horrifying climax. His bond with Susan is strained as the demon asserts control over her actions.
Cora Nomed (Laura Hippe)
Susan’s aunt and guardian, tasked with safeguarding the inheritance. She represents a link to the family’s past and the protective but fragile ties that bind the living to the dead. Her discovery of Susan’s condition triggers a tragic confrontation.
Dr. Simon Andrews (Norman Burton)
A psychologist who suspects a supernatural cause behind Susan’s ruptures of violence. He undertakes hypnosis and consults colleagues to uncover the demonic roots of the illness, ultimately seeking a ritual solution.
Dr. Roni Logan (Sheri Mann)
A colleague of Dr. Andrews who assists in researching the demonic possession. She contributes to piecing together the journal’s clues about the family curse and the means to expel the demon.
Ben, the gardener (Maurice Sherbanee)
Initially a harmless landscaper who becomes entwined in the family’s fate. He is used by the demon to reach Susan’s husband and is ultimately revealed to be the enigmatic gravekeeper in disguise.
The Final Demon (William Vail)
The malevolent entity inhabiting Susan, driving the horrific acts and demanding ritual closure. The demon’s power wanes when the crown of thorns is used, but the evil persists in the shadows of the mausoleum.
Elsie (LaWanda Page)
The housekeeper who witnesses alarming events and escapes the house in fear. Her perspective underscores the household’s creeping dread and the sense that something unseen is watching.
Mausoleum Settings
Learn where and when Mausoleum (1983) takes place. Explore the film’s settings, era, and how they shape the narrative.
Location
Cemetery, Mausoleum, Farrell Family Home, New York City, Shopping Mall, Art Gallery
Key locations include the family cemetery where Susan’s ordeal begins, and the family mausoleum that houses the ancestral demon. The Farrell family home serves as the central stage for possession, violence, and secret inheritance. The story also moves to New York City for professional consultations, and features scenes in a shopping mall and an art gallery that escalate the danger.
Mausoleum Themes
Discover the main themes in Mausoleum (1983). Analyze the deeper meanings, emotional layers, and social commentary behind the film.
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Possession
The narrative centers on a demon inhabiting Susan, altering her behavior and driving lethal acts. Possession reshapes her identity, merging human memory with supernatural control. The struggle between autonomy and domination fuels fear, misdirection, and tragedy within the family.
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Family Curse
An ancestral demon ties itself to the Nomed lineage, especially affecting firstborn daughters. The journal from Susan’s grandfather reveals a hereditary fate that repeats across generations. The curse surfaces through ritual objects and the mausoleum, suggesting destiny can be sealed or unsealed by mortal actions.
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Seduction
Susan uses allure and manipulation as part of the demon’s toolkit, drawing in partners and feeding on power and secrecy. The sexual encounters become pretexts for murder, complicating relationships and eroding trust within the household. This theme highlights how desire can blend with danger when possessed.
Mausoleum Spoiler-Free Summary
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In the quiet outskirts of a small town, a funeral draws a young girl to the solemn stone walls of her family’s mausoleum. The weathered sepulcher, hidden among overgrown gravestones, holds a lingering sense of history that feels both protective and oppressive. As mourners depart, the air grows heavy with an unspoken lingering grief, and the ancient structure seems to pulse with a quiet, uncanny energy that beckons the curious and the forlorn alike.
Susan Walker Farrell, then only ten, is thrust into a world of sudden responsibility when her aunt, Cora, is named her guardian. The bond between the two women is fragile, stitched together by loss and the weight of inherited duty. As Susan grows, the memory of that fateful night in the mausoleum refuses to fade, shadowing her adult life and the relationships she forms, including a marriage to Oliver. The film hints that her family line carries a hidden burden—an old, unseen presence tied to the very ground beneath their feet—that begins to surface as she confronts the mysteries of her past.
The atmosphere of Mausoleum is steeped in a gothic, slow‑burn horror that blends personal mourning with an ever‑present, almost tactile dread. Cinematic tones shift between the oppressive silence of the tomb and the uneasy normalcy of everyday life, leaving the audience to wonder whether the true danger lies in the external darkness of the crypt or the internal turmoil it awakens. Subtle whispers of a generational curse linger, promising that the answers Susan seeks may be as ancient as the stone that shelters them, and that the line between grief and the supernatural is thinner than it appears.
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