The Crow

TORRES: What in the hell... do you call that?

ALBRECHT: I call it blood, Detective. If you want, you can call it graffiti.

TORRES: And you're gonna tell me who.

ALBRECHT: Who ever made that.

ALBRECHT: Sure it coulda. Funboy's not here, neither is T-Bird -- none of Top Dollar's number ones.

TORRES: You know, you sure got a hard-on for a guy that's guilty of zip on paper. Top Dollar runs Showtime; what's the matter, don't you like adult entertainment?

ALBRECHT: This sack of shit is called Tin- Tin.

TORRES: Don't any of your little pals have real, grown up names?

ALBRECHT: He was a runner for Top Dollar. Just muscle.

TORRES: Was. ALBRECHT This isn't Top Dollar's style anyway. This was somebody else. Somebody new.

ELLY: No onions though, okay?

ALBRECHT: No onions?

ELLY: They make you fart.

ELLY: Talent. Hi.

ALBRECHT: Care for a hot dog?

ELLY: You buying?

ALBRECHT: I'm buying.

ALBRECHT: Well, hello there...chocolate,

ANNABELLA: Don't thank me.

ALBRECHT: Thanks, babe.

ALBRECHT: Could be.

ANNABELLA: You gonna wind up working at a school crosswalk. that doughnut's chocolate you, know.

ANNABELLA: Don't thank me. Your ass is already in enough trouble for this shit.

ALBRECHT: I knew that.

ANNABELLA: Just don't tell me you "owe me one." What file?

ALBRECHT: Double homicide. A year ago. Las Halloween.

ANNABELLA: Speak up. Clear it with the Captain if you need a file.

ALBRECHT: This is special, darlin'. Please?

ANNABELLA: Whatever it is, the answer's no, Eddie. I'm too busy tonight.

ALBRECHT: Annie, I need a file.

ERIC: Don't interfere.

ALBRECHT: You're bleeding, man. You can't make it.

ALBRECHT: You sorta looked like you might need my help.

ERIC: This isn't your place. This isn't your fight. And I don't need your help.

ALBRECHT: You're welcome.

ERIC: Leave here. Don't do this. I don't want you here.

ALBRECHT: The hell you say. This isn't just about you any more.

ERIC: They couldn't do anything for me.

ALBRECHT: How 'bout the morgue?

ERIC: No. I have one more thing to do.

ERIC: I mean, I've done what I came to do. It shouldn't hurt this much. But it will pass...

ALBRECHT: Right. You sure I can't just take you to the emergency ward?

ERIC: It's done. ALBRECHT I figured as much. Did you cap off Funboy.

ERIC: Funboy had to leave this mortal coil.

ALBRECHT: Yeah, among others. Hey, man -- you're hit.

ERIC: It's only a flesh wound.

ALBRECHT: It's only fourteen or fifteen flesh wounds.

ERIC: Thank you. For giving a damn.

ALBRECHT: My pleasure. ERIC Don't smoke these.

ERIC: Halloween is coming, soon. You will have Top Dollar if you watch for me at the Showtime, tomorrow night.

ALBRECHT: I should be trying to stop you.

ERIC: My name.

ALBRECHT: I'm sorry as hell, man.

ERIC: Thirty hours. A day of life, plus change...

ALBRECHT: You okay, man? I mean, what just happened.

ERIC: The venom of bad memories. You were there; you saw her. I saw you seeing her.

ALBRECHT: You died, man. I can't believe it but here you are. Last year, you and your girlfriend --

ERIC: I need you to tell me what you remember. What happened to us?

ALBRECHT: You went out the window. She was beaten and raped. She died in the hospital.

ALBRECHT: You, my friend, are dead. I saw your body. You got buried.

ERIC: I saw it, too.

ERIC: Listen: Top Dollar. He "owns the street here." He will "erase my ass."

ALBRECHT: You don't say.

ERIC: I know Top Dollar has turned your streets into his hell.

ALBRECHT: Fucking A, my friend.

ERIC: The others are called Skank, T- Bird. Street names. Funboy. Watch me, office Albrecht.

ALBRECHT: Are you nuts, walking into a gun?

ERIC: You must listen carefully: the Fire Department will be here soon. There is an injured man in the alley who needs assistance. As Shelly Webster once needed your assistance, and as you are shortly going to need my assistance.

ERIC: And I say I'm dead... and I move.

ALBRECHT: No further. I'm serious.

DARLA: At least it finally stopped raining.

ELLY: It can't rain all the time.

DARLA: I was wonderin' where you'd gotten to -- Oh, Elly, honey, a cat. Here?

ELLY: He was a present. Besides, we're moving anyway. You said.

DARLA: We'll discuss this later. Obviously. You left the door open.

ELLY: Mom --?

DARLA: I told you you're not supposed to come in here.

ELLY: I lost my key.

FUNBOY: Oh wow, oh wow, don't fucking do that, man. I nearly had a fucking heart attack.

DARLA: Fun -- look at that guy...

FUNBOY: It's just the dope, don't worry

DARLA: Fun, he's not going away; he's scaring the piss outta me!

FUNBOY: Not me.

FUNBOY: Hey, Darla -- before we die of old age, how about it --?

DARLA: Out. Now. I gotta work.

ERIC: I don't know if I can. But you have this... and you know where to come.

ELLY: You mean you'll, like' dig your way out of the grave? Euww.

ELLY: Now do you get to see her? Shelly, I mean.

ERIC: In a better place. I hope.

ELLY: You're not gonna come back, are you?

ERIC: Shelly would've wanted you to have it. This way, you'll think of her every time you see it...

ELLY: And she'll be alive. Up here.

ELLY: I remember him! Here, Gabriel... here kitty... Gabriel... Is he still yours?

ERIC: I think he's yours, now.

ERIC: You brought flowers. As long as you don't forget her, Elly, she lives.

ELLY: She's dead. She's gone. And now you're just gonna go away and never come back, too. I hate this place; it isn't fair.

ERIC: Elly...

ELLY: What's going on...?

ERIC: A remembrance. A closure.

ELLY: Do you feel okay.

ERIC: No.

ELLY: You gotta go now, I bet.

ERIC: I have to go.

ERIC: I can pick out a tune now and again.

ELLY: Can you play "Teddy Bears' Picnic?" It used to be her favorite.

ERIC: Does she have a name?

ELLY: No name. You sure ask a lot of questions.

ELLY: My mom works over there. I'm waiting for her, but she's probably with him, right now.

ERIC: Who?

ELLY: Mister Funboy.

ERIC: Mister Funboy lives there?

ELLY: He has a room, upstairs. I don't like him very much.

ELLY: You look like a rock star without a job.

ERIC: I dabble. May I?

MICKEY: Chili dog for breakfast... it's original.

ELLY: Mom tried to cook.

MICKEY: Oh.

MICKEY: What's goin' on, Elly?

ELLY: I went to see a friend of mine.

MICKEY: Well, how's your friend?

ELLY: She's still dead.

ELLY: You buying? He kinda wanders around. You'll see him if you pay attention.

GRANGE: I need to find him kind of soon, Elly.

ELLY: You're not a cop, either. What do you want him for?

GRANGE: I'm looking for a good guitar man.

ELLY: Right.

GRANGE: I know your friend, too -- the one that looks like a rock star.

ELLY: I don't know you.

GRANGE: I'd like to get in touch with him.

TIN-TIN: Holy shit... you're dead, man...

ERIC: Victims. Aren't we all.

ERIC: I want you to tell me a story, Tin-Tin.

TIN-TIN: I don't know you...

ERIC: A year ago. Halloween. A man and a woman. In a loft. You helped to murder them.

TIN-TIN: Last Halloween, eh? Yeah... Yeah, I remember. I fucked her too, I think.

ERIC: You cut her. You raped her. You watched!

TIN-TIN: Hey, I got my rocks off, so fuck you in the ass, man.

TIN-TIN: Little early from trick-or-treat, homie. This dick trying to bushwack me.

ERIC: Murderer.

TOP DOLLAR: Who gives a fuck! I'm a businessman. You gonna do me, then do me and shut you're face!

ERIC: You don't even remember...

TOP DOLLAR: I never forget anything, dickhead. That building was a sweep-and- clear; the bitch was a nuisance with her goddamned petition. It got a little rowdy... end of story.

ERIC: Rowdy. Let me fill in some gaps for you.

ERIC: A year ago. A very nice lady circulated a petition. She died. Last Halloween. Answer yes or no.

TOP DOLLAR: That's ancient history.

ERIC: It's yesterday! Do you know what you destroyed?

ERIC: Top Dollar, you're the only one here still wasting good air...

TOP DOLLAR: Five large, in the drawer right over there. I never saw you.

ERIC: Do you know what you destroyed?

TOP DOLLAR: Take the dope, too.

GIDEON: Top Dollar.

ERIC: Another jolly nickname?

GIDEON: You want those assholes, you want Top Dollar.

ERIC: T-Bird?

GIDEON: Like the car. He hangs out with Skank. that little ass-hair, and they hang at the Pit -- hell, Funboy lives there. Ask Top Dollar.

ERIC: A whole club of pirates, with pirate names...

ERIC: Cute nickname, don't you think?

GIDEON: I ain't got no fuckin' ring.

ERIC: Wrong answer.

ERIC: And how many lives have you destroyed?

LAO: I took yours from you. Your little girlfriend? I took hers, too. Your meaningless, petty life? I took it so that tonight your existence might gain a purpose. You're no avenger. You're mine.

LAO: Sooner or later, my action were destined to bring me a genuine Fury. And it turned out to be you. At last. I appreciate your abilities as few mortals can. That's why I desire them.

ERIC: You're too late. There was a guy outside - on the stairs - you really need to talk to. But he turned to dust and blew away. I don't have any power for you to take.

LAO: I don't believe that. Lao motions to Grange with the killing blade. Grange RELAXES his deathgrip on the crow. MOVE IN CLOSE on Eric so we may perceive a palpable degree of relief.

LAO: I wish to possess what you have now.

ERIC: I want the girl. Unharmed. Now.

LAO: I know. That is why I will prevail. Mr. Grange... ?

LAO: I believe our friend Elly call you Mister Crow. Please acknowledge; the mike will pick you up.

ERIC: I can see her.

LAO: Of course you can. ANGLE - GRANGE IN THE GALLERY -- in darkness. The running lights on his night-scoped, laser-sighted sniper's rifle which THROWS vague sprays of eerie red and green light.

FUNBOY: No, wait, no WAIT, that's too much, man, that's like overkill, nobody can take that much, you're wasting it -- !

ERIC: Your pain ends now.

FUNBOY: Owwwaaaa -- fuck me! Look what you did to my sheets, you lame piece'a shit! AAAAaa! Goddd!

ERIC: Does it hurt?

FUNBOY: Does it hurt?! You dead-ass, clown-faced fuck, of course it fucking hurts! What the shit are you gonna do about this?!

ERIC: Neither.

FUNBOY: Yeah, I got a more fun idea myself.

FUNBOY: How the hell did you do that?

ERIC: Magic.

ERIC: Don't waste my time.

SKULL COWBOY: Very well, it's your ass.

SKULL COWBOY: You'll be alone.

ERIC: I'm already alone.

SKULL COWBOY: Do this thing and you will be vulnerable. The blood will not return. No powers. No reunion. Nothing.

ERIC: Fine with me.

SKULL COWBOY: Your job is done. You interfere with the living again.

ERIC: Tell me I'll get hurt. That I might die. I've already done that. I don't need anyone's help. Yours included.

SKULL COWBOY: Getting a little ambitious and extracurricular, aren't we?

ERIC: Go away.

SKULL COWBOY: You need to learn to mind your own business or you'll never get where you think you're going.

ERIC: Shut up.

SKULL COWBOY: Maybe I was wrong about you.

SKULL COWBOY: Glad to see you're finally with the program.

ERIC: Bugger off to the graveyard, skull- face, I'm busy.

SKULL COWBOY: You work for the dead. Forget that, and you can forget it all.

SKULL COWBOY: Get it?

ERIC: Leave me alone -- !

SKULL COWBOY: Having fun yet? No? I'll give you a hint. Remember whatshername?

ERIC: Shelly?

SKULL COWBOY: Miss her?

ERIC: Yes.

SKULL COWBOY: Kill the men who killed you both, and the Day of the Dead will be your reunion.

ERIC: What the hell are you?

SKULL COWBOY: Interested? Follow the crow.

GIDEON: What's this -- a little, ah, bloodstain, right? Fifty bucks for the box, and I'm doin' you a --

T-BIRD: Yeah, I know, fatso. Do us all a favor. Make Top Dollar smile.

T-BIRD: Coupla more rings... 24k.

GIDEON: 18k. Crap.

T-BIRD: ...necklace... pearls...

GIDEON: Nineteen bucks at Sears. Fake,

T-BIRD: Leather purse...

GIDEON: Blow yourself, bigmouth.

T-BIRD: Whoa, hey, whoa. Business.

GRANGE: I've got him if you want him.

LAO: No shooting.

GRANGE: Move in, guys.

GRANGE: We've got company.

LAO: Is he inside?

LAO: Who is only invulnerable so long as he cares about the dead. When he begins to care about the living, you'll find his heart can bleed... and I want it to bleed for me.

GRANGE: Kill a dead guy?

LAO: Do you know of spirit assassins? You do know the dead can rise? Properly motivated, of course.

GRANGE: Like some sort of zombie on a revenge trip.

LAO: Mmm. But tonight I can take what is his.

GRANGE: Only thing you'll get from that clown is a faster way to die. LAO To the contrary...

GRANGE: Give me a break. That guy's a wacko...

LAO: I intend no slight to you, but I cannot find the English to adequately express just what he is. I suppose Western mythology would describe him as a Fury.

GRANGE: Not a Plymouth Fury, I bet.

GRANGE: That thing is poisonous.

LAO: Extremely so. You and I are the recipients of unwanted good fortune, in the form of a man everyone is calling The Crow.

GRANGE: What... the hell is that?

LAO: This is a cobra, Mr. Grange. Yes, it is real.

LAO: Did you see an animal of any kind? Did you see a bird?

GRANGE: No. I saw a guitar. This isn't some rock-n-roller you forgot to pay, is it? There was a drawing on the wall that looked like a bird. In blood.

LAO: Do you think this childish machismo impresses me? When I was a boy in Saigon I watched my country change one block at a time, one building at a time. Whole lives erased. A way of life, polluted. Today, no one forces me to move. I use my powers to change your country, one block at a time, one building at a time.

TOP DOLLAR: Nice speech. What's it supposed to mean?

LAO: Your comprehension is not required. Your cooperation and, indeed, your ability are the issues on the table.

LAO: Sounds like our "Crow" is out-maneuvering you.

TOP DOLLAR: "Our" Crow...?

LAO: Come now. You've seen the graffiti -- all over the city in the few hors it has taken your men to drop like plague victims. What about your turf, Top? You don't seem to have ripped out anyone's heart yet.

TOP DOLLAR: The night is young.

LAO: An unexpected pleasure.

TOP DOLLAR: Bad news. Alot of action on the streets tonight, and nobody bothered to clear it with me. Tin- Tin got himself whacked.

LAO: Who got himself what?

TOP DOLLAR: One of mine. And it wasn't a standard hit.

LAO: I had heard something like this. Describe it for me. The "hit".

TOP DOLLAR: I was wondering if you could tell me anything... about a wildcat operative.

LAO: I know of no one. But even if there is, I am sure it is nothing outside your capacity to deal with?

TOP DOLLAR: Anybody violates my turf -- our turf -- I'll rip out there heart and show it to 'em.

LAO: To be sure. Now tell how your friend died.