8mm Page #19

WELLES:

Mary Anne Mathews, that was her

name. Her mom remembers her.

Welles looks at Longdale.

WELLES:

You found these smut dealers and

asked to buy a snuff film, right?

Wanted them to find you one. Well,

they didn't find you one, Longdale,

they went out and made you one...

LONGDALE:

Shut up.

WELLES:

Mary Anne Mathews was alive till you

paid money to have her murdered.

LONGDALE:

Shut your mouth and drive!

WELLES:

Did it get him off, huh, watching

them cut her up? Tell me, because

I really want to understand. Did he

jerk off to it? You watch it with

him, sit there giving him a handjob

while you both watched... ?

Longdale jams the gun against Welles' side.

LONGDALE:

You're making me very angry.

WELLES:

Just tell me. Tell me some more of

the secrets you and Christian

shared. What kind of degenerate

pervert was he really? What the

f*** did he want with a snuff film?

LONGDALE:

You're asking me why?

WELLES:

I'm asking.

Longdale sits back, wipes sweat from his face.

LONGDALE:

A man like Mr. Christian, a great

man... all his money, all his

power... a man who attained

everything there was to attain...

WELLES:

Why did he buy a film of some poor,

lost girl getting butchered?

LONGDALE:

Isn't it incredibly obvious?

WELLES:

Enlighten me.

LONGDALE:

Because he could. He did it because

he could.

(pause)

What other reason were you looking

for?

Welles tightens his grip on the wheel, numbed.

EXT. CHASE MANHATTAN BANK -- DAY

Welles double parks, puts his hazard lights on.

INT. WELLES' CAR -- CONTINUOUS

Longdale sits forward, looks to the bank.

LONGDALE:

You've got four minutes till I call

Mr. Velvet and let him know there's

a problem.

Longdale takes a CELLULAR PHONE from his pocket, shows it.

Welles climbs out, heading to the bank...

INT. BANK, SAFE DEPOSIT VAULT -- DAY

Welles and the SAFE DEPOSIT MANAGER enter. They go to put

their KEYS in one drawer, unlocking it a pulling it out.

MANAGER:

May I show you to a booth...

WELLES:

No, I've got it.

Welles pulls the drawer open, takes the 8MM film out and

hands the empty drawer to the manager, exiting.

INT. BANK -- DAY

Welles comes out from the SAFE DEPOSIT VAULT, pocketing the

film, crossing towards the entrance, looking around...

... at other CUSTOMERS waiting on line...

... at a GUARD with a GUN at his side...

Welles detours, toward one of the LOAN DESKS. The BANK

EMPLOYEE behind the desk is occupied, on the phone.

As Welles moves past the desk, he grabs a PAIR of SCISSORS

from a pencil holder and palms it, heading to the door...

INT. WELLES' CAR -- DAY

Welles gets behind the wheel. Longdale looks at his watch.

LONGDALE:

You almost went over your limit.

WELLES:

F*** you.

Welles puts the car in gear and drives.

LONGDALE:

Give me the film.

WELLES:

You'll get it when we get there.

Longdale puts the gun to the side of Welles' head.

LONGDALE:

Give me the film.

WELLES:

Go ahead, shoot me. Then try

driving to Brooklyn with my brains

all over the windshield.

Welles keeps driving. Longdale sits back, stewing.

INT. WAREHOUSE -- DAY

The door is kicked open. Welles enters, takes the 8MM FILM

out and holds it in his hand. Longdale follows.

As Welles moves forward, his face goes slack...

Machine is seated on the bed, Eddie and Dino stand smoking

cigarettes, and further on, Max is tied to the target,

slumped over, three arrows in his chest. Dead.

WELLES:

No!!

Welles runs towards Max, crying out, tears in his eyes...

Machine rises, goes to intercept Welles, grabbing him.

Welles tries to break free, but Machine lifts Welles up and

throws him brutally to the ground.

Welles scrambles to get up...

WELLES:

You f***ers!

Eddie comes to KICK Welles in the face.

Welles is sent sprawling, blood gushing from his nose. He

lays there, stunned, weeping.

Eddie pries the 8MM FILM from Welles' hand, tosses it...

Dino catches the film.

Machine comes to drag Welles towards the bed.

Dino unspools the film, holding it up to examine it.

Machine handcuffs Welles to the metal bedframe. Welles

falls to his knees, holding his face.

Eddie PUNCHES Welles in the head.

EDDIE:

You're a dead man.

DINO VELVET:

Leave him alone.

EDDIE:

F*** off.

Eddie PUNCHES Welles in the kidney. Welles tries to protect

himself. Eddie raises his fist to punch again, but Machine

catches Eddie's fist, throws Eddie back...

EDDIE:

What the f***... !

DINO:

I promised him to Machine.

Eddie looks up at Machine, who towers over him.

EDDIE:

... sorry...

DINO VELVET:

First things first. You might want

to watch this, Mr. Welles...

Welles looks up through tears...

Dino drops the 8MM FILM on the floor, takes a small bottle

of lighter fluid from his pocket. Longdale comes to watch.

Welles watches helpless, agonizing...

WELLES:

Don't... please...

Dino drops the film to the floor, sprays it with fluid,

takes out matches, light one, drops it...

The 8MM FILM goes up in flame...

Welles watches, quaking, hysterical, trying to pull himself

towards the flame, dragging the bed...

The film is destroyed by flame...

Welles gives up, presses his face to the floor, eyes shut.

DINO VELVET:

And so it ends. It's as if she

never existed.

Welles falls back, gasping, wiping blood and tears and

spittle from his face, getting slowly, to his feet.

DINO VELVET:

Don't blame yourself. You were in

way over your head.

He looks to Max's corpse, to the smoldering film...

Swallowing back his fear, panic and rage...

WELLES:

Motherfuckers. Small time,

motherfuckers... ! Tell me

something...

Welles spits blood, hangs onto the bed for support.

WELLES:

I know why you did it, Dino,

Eddie... but, why'd the lawyer do

it? Must have been a helluva lot of

money, right? One fuckload of

money...

Welles sits on the bed, eyes burning with fury.

WELLES:

So, what are you all still doing

small time, huh? What are you still

doing in the sewer, Eddie?!

Christian gave Longdale a million

dollars to find him a snuff film.

How much did you ever see... ?

Eddie and Dino look to Longdale.

EDDIE:

What's he talking about?

WELLES:

One million dollars, Dino. How much

did he tell you he had...

Longdale's getting very nervous.

LONGDALE:

He's lying.

WELLES:

Look at him. You think he played it

square? How much did he give you,

how much did he keep for himself?

Eddie walks towards Longdale...

EDDIE:

What the f***'s he talking about?

Longdale takes out his gun, aims it at Machine, Dino and

Eddie, scared...

LONGDALE:

Stay away from me.

DINO VELVET:

What's going on, Longdale? Did this

happen?

EDDIE:

You sell us short, you f***?

LONGDALE:

Stay back! You have a gun, Eddie,

show it to me. Now!

Eddie slowly takes out his gun, seething.

LONGDALE:

Put it on the ground, kick it here...

Eddie puts the gun down, kicks it...

Longdale picks it up, throws it far away.

EDDIE:

You f***ing lawyer...

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