- 23 hours ago
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Come with me to a place of wondrous contradictions.
00:04A place that is silent and unstirring, yet restless and alive.
00:10A place of untold peace and boundless dread.
00:16Come with me into the very cradle of darkness, where those who dwell, dwell alone.
00:32The maximum security facility at Lynnhaven.
00:37A vigil is in progress to prevent the execution of death row inmate Vinnie Falco.
00:44Falco was condemned to die for killing a jewelry store clerk six years ago during a robbery.
00:49He's always maintained his innocence, claiming the murder was actually committed by his partner.
00:55Zach Cruz, who was shot dead by police as he tried to flee the scene.
01:00In 48 hours, Vinnie Falco's life will end in the gas chamber.
01:19I can't eat. I can't sleep.
01:23I can't even take a drag off a smoke without puking.
01:30Blood pressure's fine.
01:32No sign of any respiratory infection.
01:36It's my nerves, Doc.
01:38I mean, that's why they called you in here, right?
01:40That's what I need help with.
01:42Strictly routine.
01:43We just want to make sure there isn't a pre-existing condition that might...
01:47I don't want to die, do you hear me?
01:50Not this way. Not like that.
01:54I know what happens in there.
01:56Bunch of chemicals mixed with the cyanide crystals.
02:00First, you hold your breath until every cell in your body is screaming for air.
02:04Then you flop around like a fish until you black out.
02:09But you're not dead yet.
02:10Uh-uh.
02:12Sometimes it takes 10, 15 minutes until the machine's flat-lined.
02:16Things are different now. More efficient.
02:19Is that supposed to make me feel better?
02:23Perhaps you need to talk to the chaplain.
02:29About what?
02:34But how is merciful Lord going to let a man pay for a crime he did to commit?
02:40Huh?
02:41If I were you, son, I'd pray he doesn't exist.
02:48Because if he does exist, you're going to have a whole lot more to worry about than breathing.
03:20I think I found the long shot we were looking for.
03:23Remember when I wanted to check the papers filed by your previous attorney before I came on board?
03:28Well, as it turns out, he didn't submit one on time concerning the method of execution.
03:34Beth, I'm dead.
03:36You're looking at a dead man here.
03:38Benny, listen to me.
03:39The gas chamber is only used in this state by default in cases where the inmate waives his right to
03:45lethal injection.
03:46Don't you see?
03:47You never waive that right.
03:49And just because you had a turkey for an attorney...
03:51What are you saying?
03:53That I didn't have to be gassed?
03:54That I could have been put to sleep instead of feeling the air sucked out of my lungs?
03:58That's what I argued in a brief I submitted to the appeal board.
04:01I also messengered the governor...
04:02The smell of gas makes my skin crawl.
04:05Ever since that night, my mom asked me to get my old man for dinner.
04:08Benny...
04:09The garage door was sealed tight.
04:11I could still hear the engine running.
04:13The minute I opened up the doors, fumes hit me like a sledgehammer.
04:18Then I saw him.
04:23Slumped over the wheel.
04:24Benny, we have a real shot here.
04:27That's what they always say when it's hopeless, huh?
04:30A lot of people are pulling for you.
04:32Some joke, isn't it?
04:35Ever since all those nightmares about how my old man felt in the end, I'm gonna experience it for myself.
04:40If I wasn't just so spineless, I'd chew through my veins and bleed to death.
04:45Benny, you gotta hang in there.
04:47Just give me a little more time.
04:49I'm out of time.
04:52I'm a corpse.
04:54I'm a vampire.
05:59You scared the daylights out of me.
06:03What are you doing here anyway?
06:05I didn't ask for no priests.
06:09Oh, man, don't tell me the doc sent you.
06:13You're probably wondering what I'm doing with this, right?
06:17Well, desperate men do desperate things.
06:21Lucky ones get a pipe, maybe even a blade.
06:23What do I get?
06:25I rub a glove.
06:27I mean, what can I even do with this thing besides put it over my head and pretend that I'm
06:31a rooster?
06:34Look, I'll be straight with you, Father.
06:37I'm not big on religion.
06:39As a matter of fact, last time I was in church was because I was stealing money from an offering
06:42box.
06:45But people change.
06:49I'll tell you what.
06:53You show me a little of that Christian charity and help me get out of here.
07:00And help me a true believer from now on.
07:05Go on.
07:07Give me that Holy Joe speech.
07:10Tell me how painless it's gonna be to die.
07:14How forgiving they are in heaven.
07:17Well, I don't want your heaven.
07:19I want my life back.
07:22Sure, I robbed.
07:24I cheated all kinds of rotten things.
07:27But I never killed nobody.
07:29Not once.
07:31Not ever.
07:33It was my partner, Zach.
07:36He shot that store clerk.
07:41I don't want to die for something that I didn't do.
07:48I don't deserve that.
07:52Aren't you saying anything?
07:54What's the matter with you?
07:56Preach to me!
08:05No.
08:07No.
08:09No!
08:17What do you mean you haven't checked him since last night?
08:20The man is about to be executed.
08:23He should have been put on suicide watch.
08:25So help me if he has done anything.
08:30Beth!
08:31Finney?
08:32What do you know?
08:33What do you say?
08:37You know, I was just thinking about you.
08:42Nothing like the taste of menthol in the morning, huh?
08:44Are you okay?
08:47Are you okay?
08:47Never felt better in my life.
08:52Although now that I think about it, I'm starved.
08:56You know what I'd love?
08:59Eggs Benedict.
09:01Hash browns.
09:02Maybe a side of buttermilk pancakes, huh?
09:06Any chance of getting that right now?
09:09I would call it my last meal.
09:12Uh, could I have a word with my client, please?
09:15In private.
09:20So, like I was saying, I was thinking about you.
09:24Actually, it was more like a fantasy, huh?
09:26We were on a beach in Maui and you were wearing this skimpy little...
09:31Vinny, Vinny, what's going on?
09:33What do you mean?
09:33When I spoke with you last night, you were a basket case.
09:36All you could do was rant and rave about how you were afraid to die.
09:39And now you're making plans for Hawaii.
09:41Well, you just might say I had a revelation.
09:44A revelation.
09:46Instead of seeing the glass half empty, I realized I could see the glass half full.
09:52So, I figured the last few hours, why not appreciate the good things in life?
09:57For example, what great legs you have.
10:00Okay, I'm gonna recommend another psychiatric evaluation.
10:04Maybe if you're found insane, it might delay or even prevent the execution.
10:09Whatever.
10:12Then again, maybe that's what you had in mind here.
10:15Maybe that's what this whole act is about.
10:16What act?
10:21Beth, if I told you the truth, you wouldn't believe me.
10:26Try me.
10:28Well, would you believe an angel came into my cell last night and promised to help me get out of
10:32here?
10:33As in the angel of death or the centerfold of your dreams?
10:36I told you, you wouldn't believe me.
10:58All right.
10:59I mean, it is like it is when you say the wrong type of stuff was about, sinning.
11:08So let's get to the chase. How do I get out of this dump?
11:13Wow, Zach, how'd you get that past the guards? I'm dead. Remember, I can do all sorts of things.
11:20Always full of surprises. Just like old times, huh? So don't keep me in suspense, man. What's the plan?
11:25Same old Vinnie, always jumping the gun. Well, what do you expect? Six years in this cage, hours away from
11:30being gassed?
11:31Just like a mix before it's a fur coat. Don't worry. You're gonna be free as a bird before you
11:35know it.
11:36What are we waiting for? Let's do it!
11:39Not yet. After they move you to the death watch cell.
11:42What are you talking about?
11:46I thought we were doing it now. I'll explain everything later.
11:49All you have to do is make an excuse to be alone for a couple of hours before they move
11:54you to the chamber.
11:55What if they push up the execution?
11:57It's not gonna happen. They're gonna have guards on full watch.
12:10It's gonna be like Fort Knox up there.
12:12Don't worry about the guards. They'll only see what I want them to see.
12:17Sarek.
12:20We've always been straight with each other.
12:23You wouldn't let me down, right?
12:25Vinnie.
12:26What kind of question is that?
12:29If I were in your shoes, would you let me down?
12:32No kidding.
12:34Not a chance.
12:35Partners are partners, right?
12:39You're sure nothing's gonna go wrong with this?
12:41Vinnie.
12:42You have my word.
12:45You're gonna get out of here.
12:47And you're not gonna die in the gas chamber.
12:53Miss Acton, with only ten hours left, do you really expect the governor to reverse the execution order?
12:59My client's rights were violated.
13:02To kill him without due process would be a mockery of justice.
13:05But what about those who say he should be punished for committing such a brutal, cold-blooded murder?
13:10Vinnie Falco isn't a murderer.
13:12He's a scapegoat the D.A. created to win headlines in re-election.
13:15Because the man who really committed the crime, Zach Coombs, was killed before he could ever be brought to trial.
13:21Miss Acton, Miss Acton!
13:29Eight years since you last used the chamber.
13:32You sure it's still working okay?
13:35Afraid so.
13:54Of course, it's customary to wear new clothes before you go.
13:59And the chaplain here will be available right up to the end.
14:03Well, you guys think of everything.
14:16If there's anything else we can do to make your last hours comfortable.
14:23Well, I guess a couple of girls on the trampolines added a question, right?
14:27Well, if not, I'd like to spend these last few hours on Earth alone.
14:32You know, so I can talk to the guy upstairs without any distractions.
14:38Of course.
14:44Something wrong, Vinnie?
14:48Nah.
14:51Not at all.
14:52Well, everything's just fine and dandy.
14:58There was an old mine on this site before they built the prison.
15:03But to make a long story short,
15:06one of the shafts runs directly under this cell.
15:09Yeah, but the floor is solid rock.
15:20You must have been absent that day in geology class
15:22when they talked about the effects of dampness on sedimentary rock.
15:26But I can't see anything.
15:27There's a side tunnel 12 feet down.
15:29All you got to do is climb down there and you're home free.
15:39Zach, you sure about this?
15:41Relax.
15:42I'm going to be with you the whole way.
15:45Twelve feet.
15:46You sure?
15:48Vinnie, you'll just have to trust me on this, won't you?
15:58Yeah.
16:11We made it, didn't I tell you?
16:13Yeah.
16:14How do we see where we're going?
16:17Where did those come from?
16:20Oh, yeah, I forgot.
16:22You're dead.
16:22You could do anything, right?
16:24Catching on fire.
16:25All right.
16:31Zach, I owe you a big time for this.
16:34I'll never forget this.
16:35Like you said, Vinnie, you'd do the same for me.
16:40Like at that jewelry store when the cops showed up.
16:42I mean, even as I felt myself dying,
16:46I could sense you standing right there beside me trying to save me.
16:50Weren't you, Vinnie?
16:52Yeah, absolutely.
16:54Must have been hard watching your partner get plugged full of lead like that, huh?
16:58Knowing you'd done everything in your power to save him.
17:01You said we were going to come out on the other side of the river, man.
17:03How much farther?
17:04Patience, Vinnie, patience.
17:06Of course, that was never your strong point, was it?
17:14Zach, you sure you know where you're going?
17:16I mean, it feels like we're going in circles here.
17:19You afraid you'll end up back in that cell?
17:21Don't worry, Vin.
17:22I wouldn't do that to you.
17:23After you did six years for a crime you didn't commit.
17:26So I stretched the truth a little.
17:28A little?
17:30All right.
17:31So I lied through my teeth.
17:33I killed the clerk.
17:35But I mean, Zach, I blamed it on you because you were already dead.
17:38I mean, what's the difference?
17:41I mean, you would have done the same.
17:43Well, I guess we'll never know, will we?
17:54What is that?
17:56What?
17:57You didn't hear that?
18:01Don't worry, Vinnie.
18:03It's a little further.
18:10You've got to hear that now.
18:11Almost there, Vinnie.
18:12Well, how about that red light?
18:14Come on, man.
18:14You can make it.
18:21Wait.
18:21I get it now.
18:23This is payback, isn't it?
18:25It's the way you get out of here.
18:27The lights, the sound effects getting me lost.
18:30This is all a creep show you croaked up to get me back for what I did to you.
18:34You're not lost, Vinnie, and I have no grudge with you.
18:36Believe me when I tell you that.
18:38Okay, I admit it.
18:40I took off on you when we robbed that place,
18:43and I left you there when a cop showed up.
18:45But I was scared, Zack.
18:47I didn't mean for them to kill you, I swear.
18:50Out my mother's eyes, I swear.
18:51You can tell Zack yourself.
18:54He's waiting for you just around that corner.
18:56What are you talking about?
18:59Who are you?
19:01Don't you know?
19:05Who are you?
19:10He's waiting for me.
19:11I know.
19:11Oh, oh!
19:12Help!
19:14Help!
19:18Help!
19:23Help!
19:28It's time.
19:31Wait.
19:32Sorry to disappoint you, warden, but the governor just pulled the plug on your little circus.
19:36Beg your pardon?
19:36Not only did he grant his stay of execution, but he also agreed to consider ordering a new
19:41force, which means Vinnie Falco might actually walk out of here a free man.
19:52He comes to us in a variety of forms.
19:55He can appear as a stranger, a man of the cloth, or the closest of friends, even one you cheated
20:04to save yourself.
20:07But as Vinnie Falco discovered, the angel of death could never be cheated.
20:15The End
20:17The End
20:24The End
20:25The End
20:25The End
20:31The End
20:32The End
20:33The End
20:34The End
20:35The End
20:36The End
20:36The End
20:36The End
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