Original subtitles

Ma? I don't think you're better to see me today, Johnny.

I'm not so good today.

Maybe I'll be better tomorrow.

What's the matter?

It itches.

I itch all over.

I've never been in a fix like this before.

I can't move anything and my nose itches.

Isn't that a pitiful way to be, with your nose itching and not able to

it?

Mama?

I think I'm crying.

I don't mean to in front of you.

I wish I was out of this.

I'd do anything to be out of this.

Don't say that, Ma.

It's true.

I wish... I wish it were over.

I feel so much pain.

The doctor said the operation would take your pain away.

It's still there.

I can feel it.

The doctor says I shouldn't, but I do.

Maybe... Maybe I could talk to him again.

He might listen to you, Johnny.

Do you like a smoke?

Could I have a drink of water first?

I'm dry as a bone.

Sure.

Mom, I brought something from your house, from your medicine chest.

It's for the pain.

Thank you, Johnny.

What is it?

It's, um... Aspirin.

I'm sure I still have some left from the last time you brought it.

In the secret box in my nightstand, remember?

Oh, sure.

Sure, I remember.

Want that smoke now?

If it's not too much trouble.

And then you better go.

I had to live 60 years.

My son could hold my cigarette for me.

I don't mind.

Mama?

Johnny?

Emma, it's me.

How long have you been here?

Not long.

I think I better go.

Let's sleep.

Hi, Kevin. How's it going?

Listen, I saw Mom today.

Well, it's, uh... It's pretty bad. I don't think she's going to make it.

Well, she said she still has pain.

I know what the operation was supposed to do, but she said she still has pain.

Yeah, I talked to the doctor.

He says he can't do anything else for her, and all we can do is just...

Wait for her to die.

Yeah, I know.

I know. Listen, Jeff, when are you going to come and see her? I know she'd love

to see you.

We'll make some time, God damn it.

I know what you're doing is important, but we're talking about our mother, for

Christ's sake.

Tell your boss she's dying.

Oh, that's bullshit.

Yes, it is.

You should see her once.

Because it would make her feel better. It would make me feel better.

Yeah, well, see what you can do.

Because she's going to be dead by the time you get around to it.

I know it's hard to deal with. I know.

But just come and see her, okay?

All right.

I give my love to Cheryl and the kids.

Yeah, I'll talk to you later.

Want me to lay the cups on him?

Turn him loose.

All right.

Counselor, good of you to come.

Sorry I'm late.

That's okay.

I ain't going nowhere.

Care to join me?

Geez, man, you look like a chef.

What, you got some broadkeeping you have, Nance? No, not exactly. I've just

a little preoccupied.

What with?

My mother.

She's dying.

Of what?

Cancer.

Abdominal cancer.

Tough break.

Yeah, I guess it is.

Well, what are they doing for her?

Well, not a hell of a lot, you ask me.

They gave her a chordotomy yesterday.

Chordotomy?

Yeah, I know about those.

It's supposed to take away the pain.

How'd you know that?

A buddy of mine and I got both his legs blown to shit by a booby trap.

The problem was he was lying in a puddle of mud for about an hour before we

could get to him.

So by the time I pulled him into a chopper, why, and maggots crawling under

skin, gangrene started killing him.

Slowly.

And the pain was just too much, so they gave him a chordotomy. Stuck a needle in

his brain and just short -circuited his pain.

Short -circuited just about everything else with it.

That's what they did to my mother.

Too bad.

She can't walk anymore.

She says she still has pain.

But that's not what we came to talk about, is it?

No.

I hear they're talking the death sentence.

Yeah.

I'm sorry.

Well, it's not your fault.

Guess that old judge just took a disliking to me.

That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. The judge mentioned to me

that he would prefer it if you were to dress a little nicer in his courtroom.

With the cameras.

Well, what about my execution?

You want me to wear a tux?

I'll watch this.

No shit.

I'm touched. Yeah, it was on sale.

At Thrifty's. Well, that's the thought.

But do you think the collar is me?

Just do me a favor and wear it.

You think it's going to make a difference?

No, but it may make the judge happy.

Well, how does this look?

It's very becoming.

Pick it up from the bailiff. I wouldn't want you to hang yourself in your cell

or anything.

Oh, Paris, the thought.

So, is this all we have in the way of a defense tactic? A cheap tie?

No, not exactly. I have been doing a little thinking.

And it's not too late to change your plea, you know.

To what?

Insanity.

Don't do me any favors.

I'm afraid it may be our only hope.

Do you think I'm crazy?

It doesn't matter what I think.

I think I could sell it to the jury. I could bring up your experiences in

Vietnam. Yeah?

Tell them I'm nuts because of what went down in Nod.

Thanks, but no thanks.

Why not?

Because it's bullshit. That's why not.

If you'd just be willing to go along with me. I've had it up to here with

crazed veteran crap off of the late show.

I ain't no crazed veteran.

I'm a professional. I'm a professional!

All I'm saying... All I'm saying is I ain't no sideshow freak.

I never said you were.

Then don't parade me around like one.

No one ever came back crazy from nine and wasn't crazy to begin with.

All right, all right. Where does that leave you?

Well, you're the liar. You figure it out. Come on, man.

You know I can't do anything to help you unless you help me first.

Let me ask you a question.

Okay, shoot.

How many people have you killed in your lifetime?

Including the war?

Uh -huh.

You lose count.

Out of all those times... What did

it feel like?

Feel like?

Jesus, you're beginning to sound like the prison shrink they send in here

a week. Guy comes in here with Freud in one hand, his dick in the other, and he

asks the same stupid questions.

What does it feel like to kill somebody?

Did it ever give you a hard -on?

Hey, it's nothing special, okay?

It never did give me a hard -on.

So it was always just a job to you?

Yeah. During the war, after, always a job. Never felt one way or the other

it. Just got good at it.

But it never meant anything.

Once.

Just once.

Never go through that again.

Not worth it.

What happened?

Killed a friend of mine.

I don't understand.

It was that buddy of mine I told you about.

The one that got his legs blown away.

You killed him?

Yeah.

He was my buddy.

And I wasn't about to let him die dang green like that.

After what the doctors did to him.

Lying there, gaping his mouth open and shot like some kind of fish they dragged

out of the water.

Hell, he saved my life once. I owed him.

Jesus.

What's the matter, Counselor? You don't look so good.

No, no. I just think I need a little air.

Yeah, you look pale.

Look, we were scheduled for 8 a .m. Monday.

Will you do us a favor and get a shave and wear the tie?

And will you please think about what I said?

And once you get some rest, you look terrible.

Let's just wear off the cigarettes, too.

You're ruining your health. Who's talking?

Why, you think if I quit, I'll live longer?

Monday.

Dad.

Dad.

I'm gonna give my best to your mom.

Counselor.

I think it was the year Dad died.

I think I was five.

I remember Kevin wasn't born yet.

Dad was home on furlough.

He had a couple of weeks for you. You remember that?

The three of us went to Pacific Ocean Park when it was still there.

Do you remember that place?

Carousel.

Ferris wheel.

Cotton candy.

I was between the two of you all day, holding on to both your hands.

I remember how handsome Dad looked in his uniform.

He had all these shiny buttons up the front.

Brass, I think.

They'd catch the sun and shine all around.

I remember being very proud of having both of you there that day.

You are looking better tonight.

Am I? Mm -hmm.

How do you feel?

Oh, not so good.

Not so good tonight.

Let me see you move your right hand.

Did you see the doctor today?

Yes. He came in.

He's good to come. as often as he does.

Could you give me a little water, please, Johnny?

You're good to come as often as you do, Johnny.

You're a good son.

How's your left hand?

Oh, better than the right one.

Let me see.

But there's no feeling in it.

Let me see something.

Do you still have your purse in the closet?

Behind my coat.

Can you take something out of there?

Oh, Johnny, I don't know. Try it.

For me.

Good. Good.

Your left hand always was stronger than your right.

Even when I was a kid and you had to smack me, I always used your left,

remember?

I was able to pull two full dish trucks with these hands.

Can you sneak me a couple of aspirin, Johnny?

I, uh... I brought you some pills from home.

Did you?

They're good for pain.

an old prescription of yours.

They're very strong.

Are they?

Can I chew them?

I don't know.

You could try one.

All right.

Here you go.

Does it taste bad? I won't... No.

Not too bad.

Do you want another one?

Yes.

Will you see if my legs are together?

Yeah, they're together, Ma.

Here.

It's the last one. Take it.

I think I'll sleep now, Johnny.

I always wanted to thank you for that day in the park.

You've always been a good son, Johnny.

I love you, Mom.

um

I don't know

um

I should have gone right into his office, taken a whole dozen of those

bottles and taken a whole dozen and just... Thank you.

I'm not sure.

But if anyone hurt, you don't understand. We live right next door, and

to come over and see her. She's a friend of mine. We've been friends for a long

time, and I'd like to find out if anything... Everything is going to be

fine. Hey, now, why don't you just go home and watch your back?

Oh,

could you please? I want to talk to her. I have to talk to her. She's a friend

of mine. Just go home and go to bed, okay?

Forget it. Forget it.

You better hold up with that until Girlan is in the body.

6 -9.

Sergeant Girlan will be arriving shortly. Please stand by.

10 -4.

I'm so afraid.

I'm so afraid to have her in the room.

I told you.

I told you not to move her.

What happened to Denny?

I think Mr. Billings, we should have a little talk.

As I understand, Mr. Billings, you discovered the child's body.

Well, is that right?

Yes.

How about your wife?

Where was she at the time?

And where, Mr. Billings, was the

body when you found it?

Billings, where was the body?

In the bed.

In the bed.

And what time was this?

One o 'clock.

One o 'clock.

It's now 2 .15.

Are you telling me it took her an hour before you called the police?

Answer me, Billings.

Don't you find it rather strange that the same thing happened to you less than

three months ago?

Another crib death, maybe.

Answer me, Billings!

Mr.

Billings, I'm Dr.

Harper.

Your case is an extremely interesting one.

Look, Dr.

Harper, there's no sense beating around the bush, okay?

I was responsible for the deaths of my children.

You mean you actually killed them? No.

I didn't, but I was responsible.

You see, they were murdered.

I see.

There's something wrong, Mr. Billings.

That door.

Well, it's the closet.

Shall I open it? No!

Tell me, Mr. Billings.

Exactly how were the children murdered?

Look, don't try to jerk it out of me.

I'll tell you, okay?

And I'm not one of your freaks who thinks he's Napoleon or something.

I know you won't believe me.

It doesn't matter.

I just came here to get this off my chest, okay?

Okay?

Who killed the children?

Boogie Man.

Boogie Man killed him.

Just came out of the closet and killed him.

You think I'm crazy, all right. It's written all over you.

But I don't care.

Just tell will be enough.

It all started when Denny was almost five.

Cheryl was about three and... No, Cheryl was about four and Andy was three.

Rita and Mia.

That's my wife.

We... We were sleeping.

I'd better get some warm water.

Don't, don't.

It has to learn not to keep waking us up every time he's a bit thirsty.

I'll go in.

Lester!

Daddy!

Daddy! Daddy!

Denny, what is the matter with you?

Denny!

Mommy,

did she teach you that?

There's no such thing as a boogeyman. Now, come on.

You're just dreaming.

Come on, lay down and go to sleep. I can't. No, I can't. No, I can't. Just

it. You couldn't wake up Andy and Sherlock.

You could just lay down.

Daddy!

I finally got him to calm down.

And I went in and asked Rita why she wanted to teach the kid a word like

boogeyman.

Said she never taught him to say that.

Continue.

So anyway, later that night, Andy started crying.

He did it every night, right on schedule.

Luckily, Cheryl was staying over with Rita's mom.

That's her only granddaughter.

Anyway, I'm sure if she was here, she would have been whining too.

Kid, sometimes, you know, you could just...

Anyway, like I was saying, Andy started crying.

Rita got up. I got up and I went to the bathroom.

Did you go check on Danny?

I need my sleep.

Here then.

Lester.

Here, tuck Andy in.

Good night. Good night.

Did you know it was the boogeyman then?

No.

Not then.

But I did notice one thing.

It didn't mean much to me then, but my mind. It started away, see?

What was that?

The closet door was open.

The closet door was open.

Not much. Not much. Just a crack.

See, I knew I left it shut.

See, there were dry cleaning bags in there. You know, a little kid messes

with those.

Of course.

Did you notice anything else?

Nothing.

See, things didn't become clear at all much later.

After we buried Denny, I moved Cheryl into his old room.

Rita fought a tooth and nail, but I had the last word.

I mean, Rita loved me.

I mean, she knew her place. She knew her station in life.

I mean, I'm the king of the castle, right?

I mean, I...

I loved having the kid in with us.

But you can't get overprotective. You make a kid a cripple that way.

I mean, I know.

My mother, every time she used to take me to the beach, she'd say, you know,

don't go out too far.

You've only eaten an hour ago.

Even look out for sharks, for Christ's sake.

To this day, I cannot even go to the beach without I feel like I want to puke

guts out.

So anyway, a few months passed.

And then one night I'm putting Cheryl to bed and she starts to scream and cry,

bogeyman, daddy, bogeyman.

Well, that threw a jump into me.

It was just like Denny.

I wanted to move her back to our room.

But you didn't.

Well, I wasn't sure of anything. I mean, they called Denny's death a crib death.

I mean, it could have been, I began to think.

Maybe I was dreaming.

We were so happy.

This is Sergeant Gurley.

Hello, John. How are you?

I received your report this morning on the Billings case.

Oh.

How would you possibly call it a crib death?

What about the contusion on the back of the kid's neck? Look, we're merely

calling it a crib death for lack of a better explanation.

Any lawyer would tell you that those contusions could be caused by any number

things.

In fact, in your own report, you have Mr. and Mrs. Billings claiming... I have

Mrs. Billings claiming nothing.

Take it easy, John.

Because she's locked up in some institution.

You think she doesn't know that her husband's a murderer?

Listen, John, my report is by no means conclusive.

It simply means that you won't be able to get anywhere with the case based on

the medical evidence alone.

You need more.

About the last two and a half weeks now, little Eddie Smaldone and his...

No! Maybe if you think of a thing long enough and you believe in it, Maybe it

becomes real.

Maybe all the things we were afraid of as kids, all the monsters, like

Frankenstein, Wolfman, Mummy, maybe they were real.

It's enough to kill the kids that were supposed to drown in lakes or fall into

gravel pits.

I had a neighbor who stayed with Andy during the day.

We kept house nights.

I had Andy sleeping.

I didn't want to move him.

I was afraid to.

But you did move him, didn't you? Yes, I moved him. Jesus Christ, are you a

fucking nerd?

The few nights ago, I started getting bullied. Closet doors came open. The

was so sound. Shit.

No one would go for him because he was weaker.

Shut up!

Shut up!

Great deal to talk about, Mr. Billings.

Come back tomorrow and we'll talk some more.

I haven't told the police yet.

I'm afraid to do what they think.

I'll speak to them.

But they already think I killed Cheryl.

I know they do.

I had to move her out of the bathtub.

Imagine if they found her there. She's just a little kid.

What are you going to tell him? That the boogie man was playing games with me?

Oh, everything will be fine, Mr. Billings.

Billings, come on.

You're a good fellow.

I promise.

We'll talk tomorrow, Mr.

Billings. No.

Really. I have to go now.

Come on.

You go out, talk to the receptionist, and make an appointment for tomorrow.

I don't have any place to go.

See you tomorrow, Mr. Billings.

Mr. Harper?

Nobody there.

Mr.

Harper? It is only a game, Mr. Billings.

You know, maybe if you think of a thing long enough and you believe in it, maybe

it becomes real.

Maybe all the things we were afraid of as kids, all the monsters like

Frankenstein, Wolfman, mummies, maybe they were real.

We didn't have to kill the kids that were supposed to drown in lakes or

into gravel pits.