The People Under the Stairs (1991) Movie Script
1
Swords and staves.
Tough road you got this year.
Judgment... Death...
...and Mr Devil.
I'm glad it's your birthday reading
and not mine.
Now here's your card, Fool. See?
- That's where I got your nickname.
- Don't remind me!
Here you go. 13 today.
The golden-haired birthday boy is
settin' off on life's big adventure.
I ain't no golden-haired nobody!
All I'm goin' on to is seventh grade.
Well, you're the Fool, and you
can't escape that. That ain't bad.
- No?
- No. Ain't the stupid kind of fool.
The ignorant kind,
cos you're just startin' out.
That's better, I guess.
Ah, but look here.
Already he's got a problem, see?
One step in front - the drop-off.
- What about the dog?
- That's Fool's companion.
See his spirit barking?
"Fool! Don't go marching
over that cliff, now."
"Do the smart thing. The high thing."
So what Fool gonna do if he ain't
gonna go off the cliff? Fly?
He gonna do what he have to, Fool.
Turn around and walk the other way,
right through the fire of the sun.
He'll get burned up if he do that.
Just the boy part get burned up.
The rest come out the other side a man.
And no one calls him "Fool again.
Just try to sleep, Mama.
There's nothing you can do.
- Sh.
Sh.
Just rest, Mom.
Oh.
I don't know what to do with this, Ruby.
I didn't think the
landlord would do this.
Not now.
- Fool, you shouldn't be here.
- Fool, go back to reading your book.
- What's wrong?
- Nothing you can do. Go on.
Who are you?
Leroy. A friend of Ruby's.
You the little brother she call Fool?
My real name's Poindexter,
but Ruby's hung up on them tarot cards.
Why Mama cryin'?
Y'all been evicted. You gotta
be out tomorrow at midnight.
I guess Ruby didn't see
that one in the cards.
But why?
You're three days late
with your payment.
The fine print in the lease says
you gotta pay triple or else get out.
Your mama and Ruby ain't got triple.
Well, don't the landlord know that...
that Mama's sick...
- ..or Ruby got babies?
- Yeah, sure. He knows. He don't care.
He wants to tear down the building.
You're the last family in it.
You got some money you can kick in?
I know a way you can earn some.
You game?
One last family in the Lenox Avenue
building, then it's clear to tear down.
We build a nice neat condominium,
we get clean people in there.
Lots of nice wood for my fireplace,
lots of nice...
- Money.
- And money.
For me.
Mama, what happens to the people
when you make them leave their home?
I don't believe I was speaking to you.
Speak when spoken to,
that's what good girls do.
- You getting them out soon?
- By tomorrow midnight.
Damn buckshot.
Hey, Fool. I hear
you're gettin' evicted, man.
Your ass will be out on
the street like the rest of us!
Hey, come back here!
Hi, Fool.
He don't need that kind
of opportunity. He's a good kid.
He'd do better than the rest of you.
Out of seven, three's already dead.
Then there's you, baby,
turnin' tricks on the strip.
Willy's a crack addict, and what's
the other one's name, in jail?
- Washington. And he didn't do nothin'.
- He tried to put food on the damn table.
That's what I'm tryin'
to teach the boy to do.
- He wants to be a doctor.
- You can't even afford to pay rent!
How are you gonna afford
to send him to medical school?
- It ain't right anyway.
- Oh, that right?
Your mama got a cancer in her
she can't afford to have taken out.
Leroy!
A thing any doctor could
take out just like that.
But you ain't got no money! And you
ain't gonna have no money unless...
Ow! You little snot!
Don't touch me. Don't touch me!
You listen up, you little punk.
Listen up!
Now, this is the big one,
and somebody deserve to be robbed...
"somebody who don't care about families
or the neighbourhood.
He just wanna bring the wreckin' ball in
so he can line his pockets.
Who you talkin' about?
The landlord, that's who.
- The landlord of this building?
- Yeah.
I found the treasure map last night
in the liquor store, me and Spenser.
A letter addressed to the owner,
along with the name of his company.
- So?
- So the name of the company...
...is the same as the name
on your eviction notice.
Same guy who owns the liquor store
owns half the buildings in the ghetto.
I know where your landlord lives.
No.
Leave him alone. I heard things about him.
- Bad things.
- You heard about the gold?
This is from the company that wants to
buy the coins the landlord collected.
- Gold coins.
- You wanna be stupid, Leroy...
...you don't need Fool for that.
- We got a plan for him, baby.
Fool proof.
Or you want your family
eatin' beans out in the street?
One day I'm gonna buy you
a Cadillac for each foot, Mama.
And you're gonna skate
around town lookin' so bad.
Just take care of the kids, Dexter.
You the man of the house now.
I'm tryin', Mama.
I'm tryin'.
You didn't lick this, did you?
No, ma'am.
Stand up.
I hope this fits. I worked all day.
Turn around. Stand still.
- Do you love your mother?
- Yes, ma'am.
"Yes, ma'am" what?
Yes, ma'am, I love you, Mother.
Good girl.
Where's your fork?
- Fork?
- I gave you a fork with this.
Where is your fork?
Well, it must have fallen... somewhere.
- On the floor, maybe.
- You don't know?
No, I'm sure it's on the floor.
I mean, I know I dropped it.
You know the punishment
for losing silverware.
I'm sure it's right here.
I knew it was there.
Some niggers robbed the store.
Again? May they burn in hell.
I'm very tense from this.
- You have one of your headaches?
- Ooh.
I'm very, very tense about this.
Alice has been bad.
She's been feeding that thing
between the walls again.
- No...
Remember not to bruise her face.
Bad girls... burn in hell.
There.
- Jesus. It goes on for ever.
- No bars on the windows.
No car in the driveway.
Maybe we lucked out. Where's Fool?
He's goin' in. Takin' it cool.
May I help you?
Good afternoon, ma'am. I'd like to show
you some of these cookies we're selling.
I'm sorry. We watch what we eat
very carefully here.
I know it's a bother,
but so is... cerebral palsy.
- And if we don't do all we can...
- I'm sorry.
Well, do you have, like,
a bathroom I could use?
They leave us out here all day
without anywhere to take a leak.
- Sorry. Run along.
- That's all right.
No. Run along.
That's OK.
Heavy wire screens on the back windows.
- They been hit before, you think?
- No, probably just the neighbourhood.
- How are the screens held on?
- Padlocks on the outside.
Padlocks on the outside?
Jeez. What else?
- Any alarms?
- I don't know. She wouldn't let me in.
- I told you to tell her you gotta piss.
- She wasn't buyin' that.
- I wanna take a look.
- Don't be stupid, Spenser.
The kid told us all there was to see.
- We go in Sunday as planned.
- What if they got an alarm to the police?
I'm not going in Sunday
without checking out the security.
Just look at the doors... the basement,
maybe the connector boxes.
How the hell are you gonna get in? She
wouldn't even let him up on the porch.
You send a boy to do a man's job,
that's what you get.
Anyway, if you thought the Bear Scout
disguise was good, watch this.
- Help you?
- Gas company, ma'am.
Got an emergency. Got an emergency.
I need to check your meter.
You passed it on your way up the drive.
Oh, that one we've already got. There's
one inside the house I need to check.
There's none in the house.
I'm quite sure of that.
You're probably not even aware of it,
ma'am, but it's on the list.
We got a leak on the block,
and it could be very dangerous.
Identification?
We do have a legal right to come in,
even if we do have to call the police.
Not that we ever have.
It's just there have been
a lot of robberies lately.
The neighbourhood's changing.
It has us all a bit on edge.
I completely understand.
Better this little bother than
a chance of danger, though, right?
I don't know how he got past
that woman. She's got x-ray eyeballs.
Spenser's as slippery
as a snake.
- I think he's up to somethin'.
- Somethin' like what?
Like grabbin' that coin collection
for himself and cuttin' me out.
Cuttin' us out. Spenser mess with you,
he gotta deal with me, too.
You somethin', Fool.
- She leave him alone? You're kiddin'.
- There has to be someone else in there.
Old folks, kids or something.
Maybe Spenser should stick
his ugly head out and give us a signal.
Maybe he lookin' around a little bit,
to make sure it's safe.
Maybe the president is gonna
make me Secretary of Pussy.
Now, he's probably in there
hiding the best for himself.
Come on. We're goin' in.
Spenser said we gotta
stay out here, Leroy.
So he can get
all the good shit for himself?
Why not throw your mom out in
the street along with Ruby and the kids?
See?
They in Fort Knox or what?
Listen, Leroy. This breakin'
and enterin' might not be so smart.
I mean, it's the first day
of my 13th birthday.
- Could be unlucky.
- 13th birthday is unlucky anyway.
Too old to get tit, too young to get ass.
You're fucked either way.
Lord, now look at this.
The mother of all doors.
They ain't messin' around.
Spenser.
Spenser!
Uh, so, Leroy...
...you think I got what it takes
to be a doctor?
Doctor of burglary, maybe.
You're lucky
I'm teachin' you a trade, kid.
Ain't no door stands up to Leroy.
I done busted this house's cherry.
It's opened right up now.
Get off him!
Leroy!
Hey, fuzzball!
Your mother sleeps with cats!
Run, Fool!
That's one mean motherfucker.
You see that?
- He came at me like an airplane.
- I saw him all right.
He gone?
He's waitin' right there.
Been trained to wait there, probably.
He'll stay out there,
and we stay right in here.
This place is weird.
"See no evil,
hear no evil, speak no evil."
Every cabinet has a lock on it.
Why do you think they do that?
Somebody need a bath, bad.
Nice to see the rich folks got rats too.
Listen, Leroy, let's just
get outta here. Out the front.
First we find out what's up
with good old Spenser.
Man, the hell with Spenser.
Let's get outta here.
The hell with those gold coins too, huh?
Maybe you're too stupid for this
kinda work, or maybe too chickenshit.
Oh, there's that bastard now.
He's upstairs.
We'll surprise him. Come on.
- You comin' or what?
- I'm comin'.
I don't think
we should go up there, Leroy.
Oh, that's fine, girlfriend.
I tell you what. You stay down here,
and you keep an eye out.
You think you can do that?
Yeah, I can do that.
Man, there's enough room
for ten families in here.
Spenser!
Spenser, are you up here?
Spenser!
Spenser, you back in there?
I ain't stupid.
"Or maybe you're just
too chickenshit for this kinda work."
Fool.
Spenser?
Spenser?
How can you say that of me?
I've never been unfaithful to you.
I'm not talking
about another woman, John.
- What's that supposed to mean?
- Connect the dots, John.
Everyone else has. Ever since Paris.
Ever since Cybill killed herself.
Cybill's death
was a sailing accident.
- That's what I am - a survivor.
- Tiffany!
I'm sorry, John. Sorry for the both of us.
Sorry for the child that... we never had.
I'm sorry, John. Sorry for the both of us.
Sorry for the child that... we never had.
- And never will!
- Tiffany, don't get...
Now the anti-aircraft battery!
They're firing.
- Where?
- I think it's the barracks.
They're over by the barracks.
We can hear the staccato firing,
and now here it comes.
Baghdad is lighting up!
Tracers aring up like... like
angry hornets from every rooftop now.
We cannot see the bombers, but the fire
of their munitions is shaking the city.
It's shaking our hotel.
Oh, look! See it?
There! Right over there,
ying just over the rooftops.
Spenser, you back in there?
No!
Spenser!
You can't do that,
you miserable stinkin' thing!
Come on, Spense.
I'm gonna get you outta here.
Man... this ain't right.
Who are you?
Leroy, we gotta get outta this place!
Hello? Miss?
Leroy. Leroy!
Leroy?
- Leroy?
- Jesus!
- You scared the shit outta me.
- I thought you were dead!
- You was just layin' there.
- A man ain't dead...
...just cos he's layin' on the floor.
I was listenin'. Something's in there.
As a matter of fact, why don't you
crawl in there and see what it is?
Turkey-brain! Are you hittin' on me
like I'm here to save your ass?
You're gonna stick your dumb head
in there and lose it, like Spenser!
- What kinda shit you talkin'?
- I'm talkin' we gotta get outta here.
The x-ray lady's back.
She's out back right now by the van.
She got a man with her
the size of Detroit!
Damn. You seen Spenser?
- I seen Spenser all right.
- He find anything?
Somethin' found him.
He's dead, Leroy.
I think scared to death.
- You sure?
- You thought he was white before?
You should see that sucker now!
There is somebody in there.
The door's been pried.
- I told you there'd be another one.
- Out the front.
Wah!
Oh, shit!
Oh, my hand!
Pry it open at the bottom,
enough so Prince can get in.
- Come on, Fool!
- Agh! What are you doin'?
Stay here in the open
so the fuckin' dog can see you.
You think I'm crazy? He's got teeth
he ain't even used yet!
Do like I say,
or I'm gonna take your head off.
I'm gonna nail that sucker, don't worry.
- I'm worryin'.
Kill him!
Uh-oh.
- Where'd he go?
Shit!
- Leroy!
- What the hell are you doin', Fool?!
Come on!
I'm gonna take your fuckin' head off!
I heard him yell!
I heard him go down!
- I told you, don't mess with me.
- Man, I saved your body.
- Are these people crazy or what?
- You ask 'em!
Get in there, Daddy!
Get in there and get 'em!
Make it safe for Mommy!
Ow! Damn!
Little doggy baby! Someone is in here.
The people under the stairs
got the so-called gasman.
- The other one must be upstairs.
- Princey... Daddy'll get him.
That's a big-calibre automatic.
Did you ever see the holes they tear?
- We can hide under the bed.
- I ain't goin' in there, man.
No room. Find your own.
Aha!
Run, Fool!
Fool... Yee-ha!
Got him!
on, Daddy!
- See that? He came at me like a bull.
- Just like a bull!
A big one!
- Did you hear what he called me?
- He called you a fool.
He's the fool!
The only good fool's
a dead one.
- Upstairs might be a mess.
- I don't want a mess. I better go look.
We might have to mop up a little.
Thought I heard something. Stay there.
Get back in the cellar,
you little bastard.
You little animal shit!
I get the dog up here, you'll be sorry.
My... my name is Fool.
- What's yours?
- Alice.
Don't be scared. You...
you never seen a brother before?
- I never had a brother.
- No, I mean a black dude.
There's black folks
in this neighbourhood.
Neighbourhood?
The neighbourhood.
You know, outside?
Well, that's outside, not in here.
So you get outside, don't you?
- Are... are you sayin' never?
- Can't get out. No one ever has.
Well... well, I'm gonna get out.
I'm a whole other thing.
People have tried.
You... you mean
the... the people in the cellar?
Who are they?
Mommy and Daddy looked a long time
to find the perfect boy child.
But each one they found turned out bad.
Some saw things
they weren't supposed to.
Others heard too much,
others talked back.
Daddy cut out the bad parts
and put the boys in the cellar...
...one by one.
When they get ashlights
and food of some kind...
...they're happy in their own way.
Yeah, right.
What about you?
How come they haven't
put you in the cellar?
I do not see, or hear, or speak evil.
It's the only way.
- What is that?
- What?
- That yellin'. What is that?
- Well, that's Roach.
- Roach?
- That's who Daddy's hunting.
See, Daddy hates Roach cos he got
out of the cellar and into the walls.
And Daddy can't find him.
- There must be another way out.
- Further into the house. Here.
Father's too big to follow,
and he's afraid of what's in there.
- I don't want in, I want out.
- Sometimes in is out.
Forget it.
I hear ya! I hear ya!
Yes.
OK, I'll get in there.
I'm gonna get Ya!
- Yes!
I've got something for my Princey. Yes!
Come on. Come on. Come on.
Good appetite.
Healthy Prince... a secure home.
Stay.
The vehicle registration matches
that of a van used in a 211 last night.
Daddy. Police out back.
Damn.
Hey, police! Police!
Police! Police!
Hello. What can I do for you, gentlemen?
- Good afternoon, ma'am.
- Is this your van?
Goodness, no. It was just standing here
when we got back from shopping.
- Did you see anybody around?
- Trouble?
Well, as a matter of fact
we did see a couple of men -
one black, one white -
walking away as we approached.
We thought they were
service people of some sort.
- They were working on your door.
- No harm done.
- We'll check the house.
- Just checked it.
Even looked under the beds.
Clean as a whistle.
Well, let's recon the neighbourhood.
- Do you get a lot of this?
- It's as if we're the prisoners...
- ..and the criminals roam free.
- I know what you mean.
You're lucky. This van was used
in a liquor-store robbery last night.
- Oh, goodness.
- Liquor store?
I'd advise you to stay inside,
keep your doors locked for a while.
You can count on it.
Hope you catch 'em.
- Catch 'em in hell.
- Oh, my God.
- What?
- There's not just the two.
There's a boy.
He's in there right now...
...with our little angel!
God! What are they feedin' you?
What is it, boy?
You come in here
and I'm gonna kick your ass!
Gonna kill you!
Kill.
Kill them!
Is this your place?
- What hit you?
- The damn Bear Trooper.
But Prince is after him.
He'll kill him before he gets to Alice.
Let's do somethin'!
Do you hear something?
The boy's gotten to Alice.
Thanks.
He doesn't talk much, does he?
His... his tongue's cut out.
Oh, man!
Mummy caught him trying to
call for help one day, and...
...Daddy had to teach him...
- Speak no evil, right?
Your father's one sick mother,
you know that?
Actually, your mother's
one sick mother, too.
Sh!
You're speaking evil. They'd kill you
if they heard a word you just said.
Roach. Roach is my friend.
Roach?
I'm Poindexter.
Everybody calls me Fool.
Fool?
We sure got the names, huh?
Is this Leroy?
You did this? Why do you make these?
To hold the souls
of burglars when they died.
Or salesmen, workmen...
other people who saw too much.
There she is!
You viper in my bosom!
- You little Judas!
- What do I do with him, Mommy?
It is time to clean house!
Total spring-cleaning.
OK, let's move it!
Pull, you little piece of shit!
No, wait a minute!
I am sick and tired of your attitude!
You will do your chore now!
Clean it up, for God's sake!
What is a mother to do?
Lazy brat sits in her room
all day, sewing dolls!
Children misbehaving in the basement!
And one in the walls...
...doing his business God knows where!
You kids'll be the death of me!
The death of me.
I keep 'em real hungry.
I ask a simple thing -
just clean up that awful man's blood -
and what do you do?
You get it all over your nice,
clean dress I worked so hard to make!
Now get in that tub and scrub yourself!
No!
Don't wanna get in, huh?
Well, let me help you!
You scrub yourself!
You scrub yourself! It's hot!
The fires of hell are hotter!
No! Don't put me in there!
No! No!
No!
Where's the Bear Trooper?
Dead meat.
I could've killed him, but I let
the people under the stairs do it.
Leave me alone!
Get away from me!
Roach.
It's right there, Roach.
I told you to keep quiet
down there!
You're drivin' me nuts!
Pull it!
Guard 'em, Prince. Guard 'em.
Noisy bastards.
If I have to come down there,
you're gonna be sorry.
Roach, you're shot.
We gotta get you to a hospital.
The coin collection.
Leroy was right.
Thanks, Roach.
Alice is up there?
Roach!
Roach...
Get outta here! Go!
What did he do to you?
I told you never to talk to anybody!
You hear me? Come here!
You answer me!
Did you tell him anything?
If you did, you know what I'll do.
I killed your skinny friend in the walls.
Now what do you think of that?
Oh, I got him good.
And the black one, too.
Shut the fuck up!
What the hell's wrong with him?
- He said he killed you.
- He exaggerated.
Come on!
Stay!
Move. if he finds us,
he'll shoot through the walls.
- My dress is stuck on something.
- Oh, great
Uh-oh. You gotta keep goin', Alice.
Come on.
Burn in hell for gettin' free,
and burn in hell for showin' the way!
Who turned on the heat?
Burn! Burn!
Burn in hell!
Burn!
Alice, he's comin' closer.
We gotta get outta here.
- Which way?
- Only Roach knew the way.
So we'll explore.
Gonna find you!
- I gotta sneeze.
- Gonna kill ya!
Sh! If he can't hear us,
he can't shoot us.
- We gotta be careful.
- Real careful.
- Do you think you got him?
- We'll soon find out. Come on.
Come on. Kill. Kill. Kill.
Kill! Kill 'em, Prince. Kill 'em!
Kill 'em!
Sh! I just heard something.
Come on!
I'm not runnin' any more.
Come on!
Alice!
Alice, get back!
Get away from the wall!
Get away from the wall!
Got ya.
Got ya!
Jesus.
I got him! I got him!
I got him, I got him, I got him!
I got him, I got him!
I got him, I got him, I got him!
I got him, I got him!
I got him, I got him, I got him!
Prove it.
Hey! Hey, wait a minute.
There's light up there. Come on.
I know you're in there,
you little piece of shit.
Oh, no!
Oh, shit.
You killed Prince!
Look. You can see
the lights of the ghetto from here.
I never thought
smog could smell so good.
' Help!
' Sh!
- We might have to climb down.
- There's nothing to hold on to.
It's just a straight drop off the roof.
- Wait a minute.
- What?
The water in the garden.
I think it's right under this window.
If we take a jump off the edge,
we might be able to hit it.
- I don't know how deep it is.
- I hear 'em!
- Alice, come on. We gotta jump!
- I can't! I'm afraid.
You upstairs, Alice?
- Alice!
- What's out there?
There he is!
What were you doin' with him?
Come here.
Alice! Alice!
No! No! No! No!
Damn it.
I'll be back, Alice! Hang on!
Bastard!
Never shoot your gun outside!
- He got away.
- Come back inside.
Damn it.
Bad boy! Go on.
Go to your room and get into your suit.
If these had come from anybody else,
I'd make you take 'em straight back.
- You know that?
- Yes, sir.
Well, figurin' the rarity of these...
...you do have enough
to pay your rent for a while.
Say, to the year 2000.
- And Mama's operation?
- And your mama's operation.
Keep hold of these till tomorrow.
I'm gonna order
an ambulance for your mama.
Tomorrow we'll take those to
a good coin dealer,
and we'll all be smilin'.
Meanwhile, you be careful.
That brother-sister act you messed with
are evil, plain and simple.
Wait a minute. Brother and sister?
Brother and sister. Tail end of
the craziest family you ever heard of.
Every generation more insane
than the one before.
Started out as a family
runnin' a funeral home...
...sellin' cheap coffins
for expensive prices.
Then they got their fingers
into real estate...
...started makin' a lot of money
takin' over people's homes.
The more money they got,
the greedier they got.
The greedier they got,
the crazier they got.
All sorts of rumours about
what's gone on in that place.
Never proved it because
the police didn't take it serious.
But believe me, when I was a kid,
none of us ever walked past that house.
You OK, Fool?
I was just tellin' Mama that
I did somethin' wrong. Real wrong.
And now I gotta do somethin' right.
I done the tarot cards on you again.
They come up real scary. Don't go
messin' with them people again.
Somebody has to.
And maybe that means me.
Anyway, I made a promise to Alice.
And I'm gonna keep it.
- 14th Precinct.
- Hello. Police?
Yes.
I'd like to report a
case of child abuse.
- All right. When did this happen?
- Right now.
- Is this real or what?
- Bogus. The place is clean.
The people don't even have kids.
They have coffee, though.
I'm gonna go upstairs
and look around.
- More coffee?
- No, thank you. I've had plenty.
I'm so sorry you all had to come out
at such an hour for such a silly thing.
But, you know, it's better
there are a few false calls...
...if we can prevent
just one child from being abused.
- Mm-hm. Absolutely right.
- Cream and sugar?
Nice furniture. You didn't get that stuff
at Price Club, that's for sure.
- It's been in the family for years.
- Yeah?
Used to be the house
was used for, uh... business.
- No kidding?
- Sergeant?
There's something you might wanna see.
- What?
- Take a look.
- I thought you said you had no kids.
- Alice left us a long time ago.
The Lord saw fit to come and take her.
Never touched the room since.
We're foolish, I suppose, but...
in a sense, she still lives here.
- And always will.
- My apologies.
It must be very painful for you.
I'm sorry about this.
This should have never happened.
No need to apologise.
We wanna be helpful.
- Good night, sir.
- Thanks for the refreshments.
You're welcome.
I don't wanna see
another cop or cookie in my life!
I don't know which one makes me sicker.
May they burn in hell.
For ever and ever in hell.
- The shelf worked.
- Yup.
Always does. Simple works best.
Gotta get a new dog tomorrow.
A good big one.
I was worried. The police left
the back door open for so long.
- So?
- I couldn't watch it all the time.
- Think any of 'em got out?
- Nah. They were pretty out of it.
- What'd you use?
- Horse tranquillisers.
Tomorrow I'm gonna look
for the Bear Trooper.
- Where would you look?
- The ghetto.
I'll find him. And I'll kill him.
- Night, Mama.
- Night, Daddy.
- Say your prayers like a good boy.
- Oh! I forgot.
Now I lay me down to sleep...
Now I lay me down to sleep...
...I pray the Lord
my soul to keep.
If I should kill before I wake...
...I pray the Lord
my soul to take.
...I pray the Lord
my soul to take.
Ah! You miserable little shit!
Shut up!
You hurt my baby!
Get him! Get him!
- Get him! Get him!
"Downstairs door."
- Did you get him?
- He's fast, damn it!
Open the kitchen.
Oh, shit!
What happened? Did he get out?
Oh! Burn in hell.
Burn in hell.
What about Alice?
What'll we do with her?
Let her hang up there all night.
- She's terrified of the attic.
- I know. It serves her right.
- Alice!
- Fool?
Are you OK?
Can you get any more
of these bricks out?
- I can't. They've got me stuck.
- How?
I'm tied to a bolt in the chimney.
This one?
Yes.
- Hi.
- Hi.
Let's see if we can get
some more of these bricks out.
Sh! Get down!
Let me down, please.
Daddy! Come down from there
and help me to bed!
Daddy!
I said now!
He's gone. Fool?
Fool?
Meet me at the window.
You know the one.
OK.
- You find him, bring him back to me.
- I will!
I'll take him under the stairs
and do him like the others.
- Only it won't be his ears I cutoff.
- His balls!
Here, hold this.
Listen, Alice.
They're not your real parents.
They're not even husband and wife.
They stole you, like they did
Roach and all the others.
They're a bunch of
rotten baby snatchers.
- You're just saying that.
- My grandfather Booker told me.
He wouldn't lie to me.
What do we do now?
Feel up to a little jump?
The problem is, first thing he did
when you escaped was drain it...
...and put broken glass and rocks
in the bottom.
That's a problem.
The way we came up before
he's got fixed now.
Look.
- This place is one big bomb.
- He's got 'em all over the house.
- Think you could climb the roof?
- What's up there?
The only way out.
- How dare he come into our home?
- He came back to get Alice!
- You should have let me kill her.
- You stay away from Alice!
- She did it with him, I know it.
- Not my little girl!
She's a whore!
What is that?
Oh, God!
- That hurts so bad!
See him?
I can't see shit!
Let me see the brick.
Hold it. I think I hear somethin'.
Bombs away.
" No!
Argh!
I guess it was one of
those smart bricks.
You bastard!
Come on. You can do it.
Just brace yourself on the sides.
This is it. Hang on.
The gun!
Ca-ca!
- Hold it. Do you know where we are?
- Uh-uh.
There's the living room.
Get out the back door.
- Fool, come with me.
- I'm not finished with them yet.
- Fool...
- Go!
I'm gonna get the shotgun,
set those kids free.
I... I will get them.
Sh!
Hold it right there!
Where is that little bastard? Tell me!
- Tell me!
- I... I won't tell you.
We will get him out of our house!
He's filthy! He's bad. He's awful!
Go to hell!
Eldon!
Oh, God! He's turned
my little girl against me!
I told you. Those two...
Then she can burn in hell.
Both of them.
She doesn't have a key.
She's still in here!
- She's in the cellar.
- No way.
Then he is.
You know a prayer?
You say it.
Shoot her if you see her.
Come here!
See your friends?
- Get him?
- Oh, yeah.
Sh! It may be the police again. Hold on.
My name is Ruby. I represent the
Association of People Unjustly Evicted...
...Exploited and Generally Fucked Over.
- What?
You and your brother are
landlords of over 50 buildings...
...which you allow
to deteriorate into hellholes...
...while you guys get rich
charging ridiculous rents!
Then you evict anyone when they can't
pay so you can tear down their homes.
- Ain't that about right?
- None of your goddamn business!
Kill the little bugger!
Kiss your ass goodbye, boy.
- What the hell is going on?!
- He's loose again! Damn it!
Police! Open up!
Sh!
Police! We have reports of gunfire!
If you do not open this door,
we'll break it down!
- Get off my property!
- Just want to finish sayin' our piece.
Not only are you bad landlords
but, ten times worse...
...you've stolen children from
our community for your own sick needs.
There's no community here.
All I see are a couple of n...
Ruby! We're right here.
We busted your ass, bitch!
What are you gonna do? Shoot us all?
- You'll do!
- No!
Damn! You knocked
that bitch cold!
Look at her!
What they doin' to her in there?
Oh, shit.
I know you're in here.
You're not gettin' out.
Nobody gets out.
Nobody-
Fool!
Fool? That you?
Listen. There's a way out for you guys,
if you can get past the man.
The door to the outside cellar
got left open.
There you can get outside.
To the sun, to the birds.
To the women.
You wanna give me something?
A burglar alarm? No problem.
I've studied with the best.
I can use these wires to bridge it.
No wonder there's no
money in the ghetto.
Fool?
Fool! Fool!
Uh-oh. Your mama's gone.
Oh, shit.
Where did that crazy heifer go?
You guys see where she went?
Don't let her get away, you hear?
Wait a minute! Let us help you!
Please! Open the door!
We wanna help you!
System remote override.
All doors locked.
You know I wouldn't
let you get away that easy.
I see you.
And I see you, dearie.
You get back in there!
Get back in there!
Don't you touch me!
Don't you touch me! No!
You hurt your mother.
You're not my mother.
You never were.
Then burn in hell!
Mommy!
I know what you're doin'.
You're countin' that money.
You're lettin' it roll through your fingers.
I've done it myself... a thousand times.
You're lettin' it roll through your fingers.
I've done it myself... a thousand times.
And I'll do it again.
But you won't!
Hey!
You shoot me and you die too, man.
And you better believe it.
Don't be crazy, now. There's enough
dynamite there to blow you sky-high.
Not the best place
to store it, in my opinion.
But there it was. Just put the gun down.
Put the gun down.
I don't wanna kill you, but I will,
cos I don't like you much anyway.
I'm tired of fuckin' around,
so either put the gun down now...
...or kiss your ass goodbye, boy.
Oh, shit!
All right!
Fool?
Fool, are you OK?
I feel like a million dollars.
Swords and staves.
Tough road you got this year.
Judgment... Death...
...and Mr Devil.
I'm glad it's your birthday reading
and not mine.
Now here's your card, Fool. See?
- That's where I got your nickname.
- Don't remind me!
Here you go. 13 today.
The golden-haired birthday boy is
settin' off on life's big adventure.
I ain't no golden-haired nobody!
All I'm goin' on to is seventh grade.
Well, you're the Fool, and you
can't escape that. That ain't bad.
- No?
- No. Ain't the stupid kind of fool.
The ignorant kind,
cos you're just startin' out.
That's better, I guess.
Ah, but look here.
Already he's got a problem, see?
One step in front - the drop-off.
- What about the dog?
- That's Fool's companion.
See his spirit barking?
"Fool! Don't go marching
over that cliff, now."
"Do the smart thing. The high thing."
So what Fool gonna do if he ain't
gonna go off the cliff? Fly?
He gonna do what he have to, Fool.
Turn around and walk the other way,
right through the fire of the sun.
He'll get burned up if he do that.
Just the boy part get burned up.
The rest come out the other side a man.
And no one calls him "Fool again.
Just try to sleep, Mama.
There's nothing you can do.
- Sh.
Sh.
Just rest, Mom.
Oh.
I don't know what to do with this, Ruby.
I didn't think the
landlord would do this.
Not now.
- Fool, you shouldn't be here.
- Fool, go back to reading your book.
- What's wrong?
- Nothing you can do. Go on.
Who are you?
Leroy. A friend of Ruby's.
You the little brother she call Fool?
My real name's Poindexter,
but Ruby's hung up on them tarot cards.
Why Mama cryin'?
Y'all been evicted. You gotta
be out tomorrow at midnight.
I guess Ruby didn't see
that one in the cards.
But why?
You're three days late
with your payment.
The fine print in the lease says
you gotta pay triple or else get out.
Your mama and Ruby ain't got triple.
Well, don't the landlord know that...
that Mama's sick...
- ..or Ruby got babies?
- Yeah, sure. He knows. He don't care.
He wants to tear down the building.
You're the last family in it.
You got some money you can kick in?
I know a way you can earn some.
You game?
One last family in the Lenox Avenue
building, then it's clear to tear down.
We build a nice neat condominium,
we get clean people in there.
Lots of nice wood for my fireplace,
lots of nice...
- Money.
- And money.
For me.
Mama, what happens to the people
when you make them leave their home?
I don't believe I was speaking to you.
Speak when spoken to,
that's what good girls do.
- You getting them out soon?
- By tomorrow midnight.
Damn buckshot.
Hey, Fool. I hear
you're gettin' evicted, man.
Your ass will be out on
the street like the rest of us!
Hey, come back here!
Hi, Fool.
He don't need that kind
of opportunity. He's a good kid.
He'd do better than the rest of you.
Out of seven, three's already dead.
Then there's you, baby,
turnin' tricks on the strip.
Willy's a crack addict, and what's
the other one's name, in jail?
- Washington. And he didn't do nothin'.
- He tried to put food on the damn table.
That's what I'm tryin'
to teach the boy to do.
- He wants to be a doctor.
- You can't even afford to pay rent!
How are you gonna afford
to send him to medical school?
- It ain't right anyway.
- Oh, that right?
Your mama got a cancer in her
she can't afford to have taken out.
Leroy!
A thing any doctor could
take out just like that.
But you ain't got no money! And you
ain't gonna have no money unless...
Ow! You little snot!
Don't touch me. Don't touch me!
You listen up, you little punk.
Listen up!
Now, this is the big one,
and somebody deserve to be robbed...
"somebody who don't care about families
or the neighbourhood.
He just wanna bring the wreckin' ball in
so he can line his pockets.
Who you talkin' about?
The landlord, that's who.
- The landlord of this building?
- Yeah.
I found the treasure map last night
in the liquor store, me and Spenser.
A letter addressed to the owner,
along with the name of his company.
- So?
- So the name of the company...
...is the same as the name
on your eviction notice.
Same guy who owns the liquor store
owns half the buildings in the ghetto.
I know where your landlord lives.
No.
Leave him alone. I heard things about him.
- Bad things.
- You heard about the gold?
This is from the company that wants to
buy the coins the landlord collected.
- Gold coins.
- You wanna be stupid, Leroy...
...you don't need Fool for that.
- We got a plan for him, baby.
Fool proof.
Or you want your family
eatin' beans out in the street?
One day I'm gonna buy you
a Cadillac for each foot, Mama.
And you're gonna skate
around town lookin' so bad.
Just take care of the kids, Dexter.
You the man of the house now.
I'm tryin', Mama.
I'm tryin'.
You didn't lick this, did you?
No, ma'am.
Stand up.
I hope this fits. I worked all day.
Turn around. Stand still.
- Do you love your mother?
- Yes, ma'am.
"Yes, ma'am" what?
Yes, ma'am, I love you, Mother.
Good girl.
Where's your fork?
- Fork?
- I gave you a fork with this.
Where is your fork?
Well, it must have fallen... somewhere.
- On the floor, maybe.
- You don't know?
No, I'm sure it's on the floor.
I mean, I know I dropped it.
You know the punishment
for losing silverware.
I'm sure it's right here.
I knew it was there.
Some niggers robbed the store.
Again? May they burn in hell.
I'm very tense from this.
- You have one of your headaches?
- Ooh.
I'm very, very tense about this.
Alice has been bad.
She's been feeding that thing
between the walls again.
- No...
Remember not to bruise her face.
Bad girls... burn in hell.
There.
- Jesus. It goes on for ever.
- No bars on the windows.
No car in the driveway.
Maybe we lucked out. Where's Fool?
He's goin' in. Takin' it cool.
May I help you?
Good afternoon, ma'am. I'd like to show
you some of these cookies we're selling.
I'm sorry. We watch what we eat
very carefully here.
I know it's a bother,
but so is... cerebral palsy.
- And if we don't do all we can...
- I'm sorry.
Well, do you have, like,
a bathroom I could use?
They leave us out here all day
without anywhere to take a leak.
- Sorry. Run along.
- That's all right.
No. Run along.
That's OK.
Heavy wire screens on the back windows.
- They been hit before, you think?
- No, probably just the neighbourhood.
- How are the screens held on?
- Padlocks on the outside.
Padlocks on the outside?
Jeez. What else?
- Any alarms?
- I don't know. She wouldn't let me in.
- I told you to tell her you gotta piss.
- She wasn't buyin' that.
- I wanna take a look.
- Don't be stupid, Spenser.
The kid told us all there was to see.
- We go in Sunday as planned.
- What if they got an alarm to the police?
I'm not going in Sunday
without checking out the security.
Just look at the doors... the basement,
maybe the connector boxes.
How the hell are you gonna get in? She
wouldn't even let him up on the porch.
You send a boy to do a man's job,
that's what you get.
Anyway, if you thought the Bear Scout
disguise was good, watch this.
- Help you?
- Gas company, ma'am.
Got an emergency. Got an emergency.
I need to check your meter.
You passed it on your way up the drive.
Oh, that one we've already got. There's
one inside the house I need to check.
There's none in the house.
I'm quite sure of that.
You're probably not even aware of it,
ma'am, but it's on the list.
We got a leak on the block,
and it could be very dangerous.
Identification?
We do have a legal right to come in,
even if we do have to call the police.
Not that we ever have.
It's just there have been
a lot of robberies lately.
The neighbourhood's changing.
It has us all a bit on edge.
I completely understand.
Better this little bother than
a chance of danger, though, right?
I don't know how he got past
that woman. She's got x-ray eyeballs.
Spenser's as slippery
as a snake.
- I think he's up to somethin'.
- Somethin' like what?
Like grabbin' that coin collection
for himself and cuttin' me out.
Cuttin' us out. Spenser mess with you,
he gotta deal with me, too.
You somethin', Fool.
- She leave him alone? You're kiddin'.
- There has to be someone else in there.
Old folks, kids or something.
Maybe Spenser should stick
his ugly head out and give us a signal.
Maybe he lookin' around a little bit,
to make sure it's safe.
Maybe the president is gonna
make me Secretary of Pussy.
Now, he's probably in there
hiding the best for himself.
Come on. We're goin' in.
Spenser said we gotta
stay out here, Leroy.
So he can get
all the good shit for himself?
Why not throw your mom out in
the street along with Ruby and the kids?
See?
They in Fort Knox or what?
Listen, Leroy. This breakin'
and enterin' might not be so smart.
I mean, it's the first day
of my 13th birthday.
- Could be unlucky.
- 13th birthday is unlucky anyway.
Too old to get tit, too young to get ass.
You're fucked either way.
Lord, now look at this.
The mother of all doors.
They ain't messin' around.
Spenser.
Spenser!
Uh, so, Leroy...
...you think I got what it takes
to be a doctor?
Doctor of burglary, maybe.
You're lucky
I'm teachin' you a trade, kid.
Ain't no door stands up to Leroy.
I done busted this house's cherry.
It's opened right up now.
Get off him!
Leroy!
Hey, fuzzball!
Your mother sleeps with cats!
Run, Fool!
That's one mean motherfucker.
You see that?
- He came at me like an airplane.
- I saw him all right.
He gone?
He's waitin' right there.
Been trained to wait there, probably.
He'll stay out there,
and we stay right in here.
This place is weird.
"See no evil,
hear no evil, speak no evil."
Every cabinet has a lock on it.
Why do you think they do that?
Somebody need a bath, bad.
Nice to see the rich folks got rats too.
Listen, Leroy, let's just
get outta here. Out the front.
First we find out what's up
with good old Spenser.
Man, the hell with Spenser.
Let's get outta here.
The hell with those gold coins too, huh?
Maybe you're too stupid for this
kinda work, or maybe too chickenshit.
Oh, there's that bastard now.
He's upstairs.
We'll surprise him. Come on.
- You comin' or what?
- I'm comin'.
I don't think
we should go up there, Leroy.
Oh, that's fine, girlfriend.
I tell you what. You stay down here,
and you keep an eye out.
You think you can do that?
Yeah, I can do that.
Man, there's enough room
for ten families in here.
Spenser!
Spenser, are you up here?
Spenser!
Spenser, you back in there?
I ain't stupid.
"Or maybe you're just
too chickenshit for this kinda work."
Fool.
Spenser?
Spenser?
How can you say that of me?
I've never been unfaithful to you.
I'm not talking
about another woman, John.
- What's that supposed to mean?
- Connect the dots, John.
Everyone else has. Ever since Paris.
Ever since Cybill killed herself.
Cybill's death
was a sailing accident.
- That's what I am - a survivor.
- Tiffany!
I'm sorry, John. Sorry for the both of us.
Sorry for the child that... we never had.
I'm sorry, John. Sorry for the both of us.
Sorry for the child that... we never had.
- And never will!
- Tiffany, don't get...
Now the anti-aircraft battery!
They're firing.
- Where?
- I think it's the barracks.
They're over by the barracks.
We can hear the staccato firing,
and now here it comes.
Baghdad is lighting up!
Tracers aring up like... like
angry hornets from every rooftop now.
We cannot see the bombers, but the fire
of their munitions is shaking the city.
It's shaking our hotel.
Oh, look! See it?
There! Right over there,
ying just over the rooftops.
Spenser, you back in there?
No!
Spenser!
You can't do that,
you miserable stinkin' thing!
Come on, Spense.
I'm gonna get you outta here.
Man... this ain't right.
Who are you?
Leroy, we gotta get outta this place!
Hello? Miss?
Leroy. Leroy!
Leroy?
- Leroy?
- Jesus!
- You scared the shit outta me.
- I thought you were dead!
- You was just layin' there.
- A man ain't dead...
...just cos he's layin' on the floor.
I was listenin'. Something's in there.
As a matter of fact, why don't you
crawl in there and see what it is?
Turkey-brain! Are you hittin' on me
like I'm here to save your ass?
You're gonna stick your dumb head
in there and lose it, like Spenser!
- What kinda shit you talkin'?
- I'm talkin' we gotta get outta here.
The x-ray lady's back.
She's out back right now by the van.
She got a man with her
the size of Detroit!
Damn. You seen Spenser?
- I seen Spenser all right.
- He find anything?
Somethin' found him.
He's dead, Leroy.
I think scared to death.
- You sure?
- You thought he was white before?
You should see that sucker now!
There is somebody in there.
The door's been pried.
- I told you there'd be another one.
- Out the front.
Wah!
Oh, shit!
Oh, my hand!
Pry it open at the bottom,
enough so Prince can get in.
- Come on, Fool!
- Agh! What are you doin'?
Stay here in the open
so the fuckin' dog can see you.
You think I'm crazy? He's got teeth
he ain't even used yet!
Do like I say,
or I'm gonna take your head off.
I'm gonna nail that sucker, don't worry.
- I'm worryin'.
Kill him!
Uh-oh.
- Where'd he go?
Shit!
- Leroy!
- What the hell are you doin', Fool?!
Come on!
I'm gonna take your fuckin' head off!
I heard him yell!
I heard him go down!
- I told you, don't mess with me.
- Man, I saved your body.
- Are these people crazy or what?
- You ask 'em!
Get in there, Daddy!
Get in there and get 'em!
Make it safe for Mommy!
Ow! Damn!
Little doggy baby! Someone is in here.
The people under the stairs
got the so-called gasman.
- The other one must be upstairs.
- Princey... Daddy'll get him.
That's a big-calibre automatic.
Did you ever see the holes they tear?
- We can hide under the bed.
- I ain't goin' in there, man.
No room. Find your own.
Aha!
Run, Fool!
Fool... Yee-ha!
Got him!
on, Daddy!
- See that? He came at me like a bull.
- Just like a bull!
A big one!
- Did you hear what he called me?
- He called you a fool.
He's the fool!
The only good fool's
a dead one.
- Upstairs might be a mess.
- I don't want a mess. I better go look.
We might have to mop up a little.
Thought I heard something. Stay there.
Get back in the cellar,
you little bastard.
You little animal shit!
I get the dog up here, you'll be sorry.
My... my name is Fool.
- What's yours?
- Alice.
Don't be scared. You...
you never seen a brother before?
- I never had a brother.
- No, I mean a black dude.
There's black folks
in this neighbourhood.
Neighbourhood?
The neighbourhood.
You know, outside?
Well, that's outside, not in here.
So you get outside, don't you?
- Are... are you sayin' never?
- Can't get out. No one ever has.
Well... well, I'm gonna get out.
I'm a whole other thing.
People have tried.
You... you mean
the... the people in the cellar?
Who are they?
Mommy and Daddy looked a long time
to find the perfect boy child.
But each one they found turned out bad.
Some saw things
they weren't supposed to.
Others heard too much,
others talked back.
Daddy cut out the bad parts
and put the boys in the cellar...
...one by one.
When they get ashlights
and food of some kind...
...they're happy in their own way.
Yeah, right.
What about you?
How come they haven't
put you in the cellar?
I do not see, or hear, or speak evil.
It's the only way.
- What is that?
- What?
- That yellin'. What is that?
- Well, that's Roach.
- Roach?
- That's who Daddy's hunting.
See, Daddy hates Roach cos he got
out of the cellar and into the walls.
And Daddy can't find him.
- There must be another way out.
- Further into the house. Here.
Father's too big to follow,
and he's afraid of what's in there.
- I don't want in, I want out.
- Sometimes in is out.
Forget it.
I hear ya! I hear ya!
Yes.
OK, I'll get in there.
I'm gonna get Ya!
- Yes!
I've got something for my Princey. Yes!
Come on. Come on. Come on.
Good appetite.
Healthy Prince... a secure home.
Stay.
The vehicle registration matches
that of a van used in a 211 last night.
Daddy. Police out back.
Damn.
Hey, police! Police!
Police! Police!
Hello. What can I do for you, gentlemen?
- Good afternoon, ma'am.
- Is this your van?
Goodness, no. It was just standing here
when we got back from shopping.
- Did you see anybody around?
- Trouble?
Well, as a matter of fact
we did see a couple of men -
one black, one white -
walking away as we approached.
We thought they were
service people of some sort.
- They were working on your door.
- No harm done.
- We'll check the house.
- Just checked it.
Even looked under the beds.
Clean as a whistle.
Well, let's recon the neighbourhood.
- Do you get a lot of this?
- It's as if we're the prisoners...
- ..and the criminals roam free.
- I know what you mean.
You're lucky. This van was used
in a liquor-store robbery last night.
- Oh, goodness.
- Liquor store?
I'd advise you to stay inside,
keep your doors locked for a while.
You can count on it.
Hope you catch 'em.
- Catch 'em in hell.
- Oh, my God.
- What?
- There's not just the two.
There's a boy.
He's in there right now...
...with our little angel!
God! What are they feedin' you?
What is it, boy?
You come in here
and I'm gonna kick your ass!
Gonna kill you!
Kill.
Kill them!
Is this your place?
- What hit you?
- The damn Bear Trooper.
But Prince is after him.
He'll kill him before he gets to Alice.
Let's do somethin'!
Do you hear something?
The boy's gotten to Alice.
Thanks.
He doesn't talk much, does he?
His... his tongue's cut out.
Oh, man!
Mummy caught him trying to
call for help one day, and...
...Daddy had to teach him...
- Speak no evil, right?
Your father's one sick mother,
you know that?
Actually, your mother's
one sick mother, too.
Sh!
You're speaking evil. They'd kill you
if they heard a word you just said.
Roach. Roach is my friend.
Roach?
I'm Poindexter.
Everybody calls me Fool.
Fool?
We sure got the names, huh?
Is this Leroy?
You did this? Why do you make these?
To hold the souls
of burglars when they died.
Or salesmen, workmen...
other people who saw too much.
There she is!
You viper in my bosom!
- You little Judas!
- What do I do with him, Mommy?
It is time to clean house!
Total spring-cleaning.
OK, let's move it!
Pull, you little piece of shit!
No, wait a minute!
I am sick and tired of your attitude!
You will do your chore now!
Clean it up, for God's sake!
What is a mother to do?
Lazy brat sits in her room
all day, sewing dolls!
Children misbehaving in the basement!
And one in the walls...
...doing his business God knows where!
You kids'll be the death of me!
The death of me.
I keep 'em real hungry.
I ask a simple thing -
just clean up that awful man's blood -
and what do you do?
You get it all over your nice,
clean dress I worked so hard to make!
Now get in that tub and scrub yourself!
No!
Don't wanna get in, huh?
Well, let me help you!
You scrub yourself!
You scrub yourself! It's hot!
The fires of hell are hotter!
No! Don't put me in there!
No! No!
No!
Where's the Bear Trooper?
Dead meat.
I could've killed him, but I let
the people under the stairs do it.
Leave me alone!
Get away from me!
Roach.
It's right there, Roach.
I told you to keep quiet
down there!
You're drivin' me nuts!
Pull it!
Guard 'em, Prince. Guard 'em.
Noisy bastards.
If I have to come down there,
you're gonna be sorry.
Roach, you're shot.
We gotta get you to a hospital.
The coin collection.
Leroy was right.
Thanks, Roach.
Alice is up there?
Roach!
Roach...
Get outta here! Go!
What did he do to you?
I told you never to talk to anybody!
You hear me? Come here!
You answer me!
Did you tell him anything?
If you did, you know what I'll do.
I killed your skinny friend in the walls.
Now what do you think of that?
Oh, I got him good.
And the black one, too.
Shut the fuck up!
What the hell's wrong with him?
- He said he killed you.
- He exaggerated.
Come on!
Stay!
Move. if he finds us,
he'll shoot through the walls.
- My dress is stuck on something.
- Oh, great
Uh-oh. You gotta keep goin', Alice.
Come on.
Burn in hell for gettin' free,
and burn in hell for showin' the way!
Who turned on the heat?
Burn! Burn!
Burn in hell!
Burn!
Alice, he's comin' closer.
We gotta get outta here.
- Which way?
- Only Roach knew the way.
So we'll explore.
Gonna find you!
- I gotta sneeze.
- Gonna kill ya!
Sh! If he can't hear us,
he can't shoot us.
- We gotta be careful.
- Real careful.
- Do you think you got him?
- We'll soon find out. Come on.
Come on. Kill. Kill. Kill.
Kill! Kill 'em, Prince. Kill 'em!
Kill 'em!
Sh! I just heard something.
Come on!
I'm not runnin' any more.
Come on!
Alice!
Alice, get back!
Get away from the wall!
Get away from the wall!
Got ya.
Got ya!
Jesus.
I got him! I got him!
I got him, I got him, I got him!
I got him, I got him!
I got him, I got him, I got him!
I got him, I got him!
I got him, I got him, I got him!
Prove it.
Hey! Hey, wait a minute.
There's light up there. Come on.
I know you're in there,
you little piece of shit.
Oh, no!
Oh, shit.
You killed Prince!
Look. You can see
the lights of the ghetto from here.
I never thought
smog could smell so good.
' Help!
' Sh!
- We might have to climb down.
- There's nothing to hold on to.
It's just a straight drop off the roof.
- Wait a minute.
- What?
The water in the garden.
I think it's right under this window.
If we take a jump off the edge,
we might be able to hit it.
- I don't know how deep it is.
- I hear 'em!
- Alice, come on. We gotta jump!
- I can't! I'm afraid.
You upstairs, Alice?
- Alice!
- What's out there?
There he is!
What were you doin' with him?
Come here.
Alice! Alice!
No! No! No! No!
Damn it.
I'll be back, Alice! Hang on!
Bastard!
Never shoot your gun outside!
- He got away.
- Come back inside.
Damn it.
Bad boy! Go on.
Go to your room and get into your suit.
If these had come from anybody else,
I'd make you take 'em straight back.
- You know that?
- Yes, sir.
Well, figurin' the rarity of these...
...you do have enough
to pay your rent for a while.
Say, to the year 2000.
- And Mama's operation?
- And your mama's operation.
Keep hold of these till tomorrow.
I'm gonna order
an ambulance for your mama.
Tomorrow we'll take those to
a good coin dealer,
and we'll all be smilin'.
Meanwhile, you be careful.
That brother-sister act you messed with
are evil, plain and simple.
Wait a minute. Brother and sister?
Brother and sister. Tail end of
the craziest family you ever heard of.
Every generation more insane
than the one before.
Started out as a family
runnin' a funeral home...
...sellin' cheap coffins
for expensive prices.
Then they got their fingers
into real estate...
...started makin' a lot of money
takin' over people's homes.
The more money they got,
the greedier they got.
The greedier they got,
the crazier they got.
All sorts of rumours about
what's gone on in that place.
Never proved it because
the police didn't take it serious.
But believe me, when I was a kid,
none of us ever walked past that house.
You OK, Fool?
I was just tellin' Mama that
I did somethin' wrong. Real wrong.
And now I gotta do somethin' right.
I done the tarot cards on you again.
They come up real scary. Don't go
messin' with them people again.
Somebody has to.
And maybe that means me.
Anyway, I made a promise to Alice.
And I'm gonna keep it.
- 14th Precinct.
- Hello. Police?
Yes.
I'd like to report a
case of child abuse.
- All right. When did this happen?
- Right now.
- Is this real or what?
- Bogus. The place is clean.
The people don't even have kids.
They have coffee, though.
I'm gonna go upstairs
and look around.
- More coffee?
- No, thank you. I've had plenty.
I'm so sorry you all had to come out
at such an hour for such a silly thing.
But, you know, it's better
there are a few false calls...
...if we can prevent
just one child from being abused.
- Mm-hm. Absolutely right.
- Cream and sugar?
Nice furniture. You didn't get that stuff
at Price Club, that's for sure.
- It's been in the family for years.
- Yeah?
Used to be the house
was used for, uh... business.
- No kidding?
- Sergeant?
There's something you might wanna see.
- What?
- Take a look.
- I thought you said you had no kids.
- Alice left us a long time ago.
The Lord saw fit to come and take her.
Never touched the room since.
We're foolish, I suppose, but...
in a sense, she still lives here.
- And always will.
- My apologies.
It must be very painful for you.
I'm sorry about this.
This should have never happened.
No need to apologise.
We wanna be helpful.
- Good night, sir.
- Thanks for the refreshments.
You're welcome.
I don't wanna see
another cop or cookie in my life!
I don't know which one makes me sicker.
May they burn in hell.
For ever and ever in hell.
- The shelf worked.
- Yup.
Always does. Simple works best.
Gotta get a new dog tomorrow.
A good big one.
I was worried. The police left
the back door open for so long.
- So?
- I couldn't watch it all the time.
- Think any of 'em got out?
- Nah. They were pretty out of it.
- What'd you use?
- Horse tranquillisers.
Tomorrow I'm gonna look
for the Bear Trooper.
- Where would you look?
- The ghetto.
I'll find him. And I'll kill him.
- Night, Mama.
- Night, Daddy.
- Say your prayers like a good boy.
- Oh! I forgot.
Now I lay me down to sleep...
Now I lay me down to sleep...
...I pray the Lord
my soul to keep.
If I should kill before I wake...
...I pray the Lord
my soul to take.
...I pray the Lord
my soul to take.
Ah! You miserable little shit!
Shut up!
You hurt my baby!
Get him! Get him!
- Get him! Get him!
"Downstairs door."
- Did you get him?
- He's fast, damn it!
Open the kitchen.
Oh, shit!
What happened? Did he get out?
Oh! Burn in hell.
Burn in hell.
What about Alice?
What'll we do with her?
Let her hang up there all night.
- She's terrified of the attic.
- I know. It serves her right.
- Alice!
- Fool?
Are you OK?
Can you get any more
of these bricks out?
- I can't. They've got me stuck.
- How?
I'm tied to a bolt in the chimney.
This one?
Yes.
- Hi.
- Hi.
Let's see if we can get
some more of these bricks out.
Sh! Get down!
Let me down, please.
Daddy! Come down from there
and help me to bed!
Daddy!
I said now!
He's gone. Fool?
Fool?
Meet me at the window.
You know the one.
OK.
- You find him, bring him back to me.
- I will!
I'll take him under the stairs
and do him like the others.
- Only it won't be his ears I cutoff.
- His balls!
Here, hold this.
Listen, Alice.
They're not your real parents.
They're not even husband and wife.
They stole you, like they did
Roach and all the others.
They're a bunch of
rotten baby snatchers.
- You're just saying that.
- My grandfather Booker told me.
He wouldn't lie to me.
What do we do now?
Feel up to a little jump?
The problem is, first thing he did
when you escaped was drain it...
...and put broken glass and rocks
in the bottom.
That's a problem.
The way we came up before
he's got fixed now.
Look.
- This place is one big bomb.
- He's got 'em all over the house.
- Think you could climb the roof?
- What's up there?
The only way out.
- How dare he come into our home?
- He came back to get Alice!
- You should have let me kill her.
- You stay away from Alice!
- She did it with him, I know it.
- Not my little girl!
She's a whore!
What is that?
Oh, God!
- That hurts so bad!
See him?
I can't see shit!
Let me see the brick.
Hold it. I think I hear somethin'.
Bombs away.
" No!
Argh!
I guess it was one of
those smart bricks.
You bastard!
Come on. You can do it.
Just brace yourself on the sides.
This is it. Hang on.
The gun!
Ca-ca!
- Hold it. Do you know where we are?
- Uh-uh.
There's the living room.
Get out the back door.
- Fool, come with me.
- I'm not finished with them yet.
- Fool...
- Go!
I'm gonna get the shotgun,
set those kids free.
I... I will get them.
Sh!
Hold it right there!
Where is that little bastard? Tell me!
- Tell me!
- I... I won't tell you.
We will get him out of our house!
He's filthy! He's bad. He's awful!
Go to hell!
Eldon!
Oh, God! He's turned
my little girl against me!
I told you. Those two...
Then she can burn in hell.
Both of them.
She doesn't have a key.
She's still in here!
- She's in the cellar.
- No way.
Then he is.
You know a prayer?
You say it.
Shoot her if you see her.
Come here!
See your friends?
- Get him?
- Oh, yeah.
Sh! It may be the police again. Hold on.
My name is Ruby. I represent the
Association of People Unjustly Evicted...
...Exploited and Generally Fucked Over.
- What?
You and your brother are
landlords of over 50 buildings...
...which you allow
to deteriorate into hellholes...
...while you guys get rich
charging ridiculous rents!
Then you evict anyone when they can't
pay so you can tear down their homes.
- Ain't that about right?
- None of your goddamn business!
Kill the little bugger!
Kiss your ass goodbye, boy.
- What the hell is going on?!
- He's loose again! Damn it!
Police! Open up!
Sh!
Police! We have reports of gunfire!
If you do not open this door,
we'll break it down!
- Get off my property!
- Just want to finish sayin' our piece.
Not only are you bad landlords
but, ten times worse...
...you've stolen children from
our community for your own sick needs.
There's no community here.
All I see are a couple of n...
Ruby! We're right here.
We busted your ass, bitch!
What are you gonna do? Shoot us all?
- You'll do!
- No!
Damn! You knocked
that bitch cold!
Look at her!
What they doin' to her in there?
Oh, shit.
I know you're in here.
You're not gettin' out.
Nobody gets out.
Nobody-
Fool!
Fool? That you?
Listen. There's a way out for you guys,
if you can get past the man.
The door to the outside cellar
got left open.
There you can get outside.
To the sun, to the birds.
To the women.
You wanna give me something?
A burglar alarm? No problem.
I've studied with the best.
I can use these wires to bridge it.
No wonder there's no
money in the ghetto.
Fool?
Fool! Fool!
Uh-oh. Your mama's gone.
Oh, shit.
Where did that crazy heifer go?
You guys see where she went?
Don't let her get away, you hear?
Wait a minute! Let us help you!
Please! Open the door!
We wanna help you!
System remote override.
All doors locked.
You know I wouldn't
let you get away that easy.
I see you.
And I see you, dearie.
You get back in there!
Get back in there!
Don't you touch me!
Don't you touch me! No!
You hurt your mother.
You're not my mother.
You never were.
Then burn in hell!
Mommy!
I know what you're doin'.
You're countin' that money.
You're lettin' it roll through your fingers.
I've done it myself... a thousand times.
You're lettin' it roll through your fingers.
I've done it myself... a thousand times.
And I'll do it again.
But you won't!
Hey!
You shoot me and you die too, man.
And you better believe it.
Don't be crazy, now. There's enough
dynamite there to blow you sky-high.
Not the best place
to store it, in my opinion.
But there it was. Just put the gun down.
Put the gun down.
I don't wanna kill you, but I will,
cos I don't like you much anyway.
I'm tired of fuckin' around,
so either put the gun down now...
...or kiss your ass goodbye, boy.
Oh, shit!
All right!
Fool?
Fool, are you OK?
I feel like a million dollars.