The old priest in the apartment building basement

[Mr.G]

Was he infected? With all the coughing and the hobbling, and giving last rites to a roomfull of zombies, I think he was. Regardless, living with only one good leg in a zombie world, I'm very comfortable assuming he is on borrowed time. What are your opinions?

[darth los]

Was he infected? With all the coughing and the hobbling, and giving last rites to a roomfull of zombies, I think he was. Regardless, living with only one good leg in a zombie world, I'm very comfortable assuming he is on borrowed time. What are your opinions? Well, here's the way I see it point by point: The coughing was most likely the result of the tear GAs PHILLY SWAT saturated the building with. After all, Roger and Peter were hacking and wheezing as well and we know for a fact that they were not infected. The Leg being missing is a more murky issue. We know at that point that the plague had been going on for approx. 3 weeks. If that leg was missing before all that then why does it look like a makeshift contraption (Crutch?) helping him get around? If it happened as a result of the bite everything we know about how amputating the affected area is inconclusive, but if that were the case one would think he'd be in no shape to be up and about. About giving last rights, he is a priest after all so that part of the job decription. I saw no evidence that he was bit or favoring a wound. That's my quick take anyways.

[bassman]

I agree with Darth. The gas caused the coughing and the leg had been gone for quite some time. Surely before the dead began to rise. He was pretty quick and comfortable with one leg, iirc. That seems like something that would take time to get used to. BTW....was that set supposed to be the basement? I always thought they were on some sort of roof. The clothes hanging to dry, the shafts going down, etc. Who hangs clothes to dry in a basement?

[Rancid Carcass]

The Leg being missing is a more murky issue. We know at that point that the plague had been going on for approx. 3 weeks. If that leg was missing before all that then why does it look like a makeshift contraption (Crutch?) helping him get around? I don't see it as a recent amputation for the simple reason that when he walks away he does it 'naturally', like he's been doing it for years. If it were more recent he'd be hobbling along a bit more clumsily - mobility after the loss of a limb, I'm sure, would take some time to get used to. Also don't forget he's a priest - they have that worldy possessions thing going on - perhaps a simple wooden crutch was all he needed.

[Mr.G]

I assumed it was the basement....but I could be wrong. IIRC, there's a message by the door that reads "please lock cellar when finished". If his leg was bitten by a zombie, maybe his pals helped him (cut off the leg, stopped the bleeding, gave him the crutch). I only pause because he was walking really well on the one crutch which makes me think he was legless for a long time. Who knows! I'm heading to 'THE mall' this weekend and was just bored at work.

[darth los]

I have the answer right here ! Ahem: They couldn't have been in the basement because the priest clearly states, "In the basement of this building you will find them." So obviously the place where they had that exchange wasn't it.

[Thorn]

I never thought he was infected at all, I just assumed he was an elderly priest and one who was in a poor area and could not afford great medical care. It would explain away why he was not using amazingly high tech prosthesis and the like. Maybe he was an old priest from the islands who was used to it and refused to spend the churches money or his own on expensive solutions when there was so much suffering in the world and he could get by fine with what he had. The coughing was likely the gas in my opinion as well.

[JDFP]

The old coughing man with the crutch was certainly a metaphor for the shoddy state of affairs of the U.S. under the Carter administration. The old man was representative of society under the heel of high taxation and stagflation. He would have gotten a prosthetic but due to the increasing high taxes on him by gov't was unable to afford it. Not to mention, having to wait in lines for hours for gas on his 10-mile-a-gallon Nova probably had an impact on his naturally depressed condition as well. "Soon they will be stronger than us!" is certainly an indictment on the Arab warlords who were sticking it to us with a stick without the comfort of vaseline at the time with the fuel shortage. See, there you go, even something "safe" can be turned into a political indictment. I always imagined they were in the basement too and never thought Morgan Freeman look-alike was infected (just old and in poorly shape from the no doubt lack of sleep and stress of the situation, he was probably going around the clock with assistance to his parishoners for the little comfort he could offer). If they were on the roof where was the soldier above them opening the hatch coming from? The roof above the roof? j.p.

[bassman]

If they were on the roof where was the soldier above them opening the hatch coming from? The roof above the roof? That's a different set. After the priest tells them "in the basement of this building", it switches to a new set. I'm not sure the priest set was supposed to be a roof, but it certainly has a few things that point in that direction. I think Roger drops his mask down one of the vents, there are clothes hanging to dry, etc. Drying clothes in a dark and damp environment isnt the best of ideas....

[JDFP]

That's a different set. After the priest tells them "in the basement of this building", it switches to a new set. I'm not sure the priest set was supposed to be a roof, but it certainly has a few things that point in that direction. I think Roger drops his mask down one of the vents, there are clothes hanging to dry, etc. Drying clothes in a dark and damp environment isnt the best of ideas.... Well, frick, you got me there. It's been awhile since I've seen it (and the last few times I did watch it I was fairly drunk, which I know comes as a great shock to everyone). Good catch, Bassy. j.p.

[bassman]

1:37 Looks like it isn't on the roof. Could be the basement, but not the same room where they find the bodies. Strange place to hang dry clothes, but whatever. And yeah....the priest is WAY to comfortable with that crutch for it to have been a more recent wound.

[Trin]

Regarding basement vs. roof... I never imagined there was any debate possible on this topic. I just always assumed it was one part of the basement, and the room full of dead was another part of the same basement, very nearby. Once again HPOTD makes me think harder about the movies!! I think it's basement... here are my reasons: - Peter and Roger escaped the mass of fighting to a quiet spot. The fight was progressing up the stairs floor by floor as they took the building. To go up toward the roof would've had them fighting through and past the front lines and then through more infested areas. The retreat option would've been back down. The basement would've been an obvious place of refuge. - The old priest told them where the dead were (the basement) and that he'd performed last rites. I got the impression he'd just come from them. I don't see him hobbling up the entire building's worth of stairs on that crutch through the fighting. - Peter and Roger assumedly made it from the priest to the room full of dead without distraction and without meeting up with other forces who might've questioned where they were going. I got the impression they were just a few rooms away, not the entire building's length of stairs away. Regarding clotheslines in basements... I had a clothesline in my basement in college. I was sharing a house and we only had a washer, not a dryer. We didn't have outdoor areas accessible to us. The basement was the best place to dry clothes because it had a floor drain and it was near the washer. The room in that scene looks remarkably similar to the basement of my college place, right down to the clothesline. Regarding the old priest and infection... he sure didn't seem infected. The leg wound had to have been old (for all the reasons already mentioned). Aside from that he had no bandages or visible wounds. His clothing appeared intact. He wasn't nursing any wounds that we could tell.

[Mr.G]

I still say the scene occurred in the basement. Notice at the 3:20 mark the writing on the wall left of the priest. I think it’s safe to say cellar is analogous to basement. Why would someone write it on the wall if it wasn’t located in the same space? My next question is why is the room with the priest so smoky while the room with Peter & Roger smoke free? Is the priest self medicating due to the pain? I often wondered how this man of the cloth seemed so cool considering the condition of his world.

[darth los]

@ trin and G. The reason I think the basement he's referring to is another room is this: If you and a friend were in the kitchen and they asked you where you kept the dishwasher you wouldn't say "it's in the kitchen" would you? Of course not because you're already there. The priest cleary states " in the basement of this building you will find them". So using the same logic (and that's pretty much all we can do in cases like this) he meant in another room, not actually the one they were in.

[AcesandEights]

If you and a friend were in the kitchen and they asked you where you kept the dishwasher you wouldn't say "it's in the kitchen" would you? Of course not because you're already there. The priest cleary states " in the basement of this building you will find them". So using the same logic (and that's pretty much all we can do in cases like this) he meant in another room, not actually the one they were in. I've always thought this, as well and I figure that conversation took place in an out of the way (service ?) area that was close to the steps to the basement (hence the sign on the wall that one may put near the steps down to their basement).