Shatter Dead (1994)

[bunniefuu]

- Help a dead fella, sister?

I took a job as a crash test
dummy to feed my family.

Now I'm too damn ugly to go home.

That's gotta be worth somethin'.

Thank you.

God bless you.

God bless her.

God bless her.

Oh, my back!

- sh*t, my last gallon.

That seems
like a logical mistake to me,

based on what we now know

and could not have even
imagined at the time.

Well, you
can imagine their surprise

when it was discovered
that the freshly-dead,

embarrassed, frightened,
unsure of what to do

or even what to make
of their own situation,

congregate where they know
they're supposed to be.

A graveyard.

Here, these people would later describe

that they heard the voices
of long-dead friends

and relatives calling to
them from their graves.

Right.

But it doesn't take a genius to know

that trying to push six-feet
of dirt out of your way

isn't going to happen
without some outside help.

- So, they dig them up.
- Exactly.

Suddenly, dead people are missing,

graveyards are being desecrated,
conclusions are reached.

You know, the first phone call

is always the hardest.

I've been hearing rumors lately

about the possibilities of
unionization and labor talk.

Well, in
the underground circles,

I've heard that too.

That's not my area of concern, however,

and I am not prepared to make
a public statement either way.

So your concerns right now

are mostly the scientific angle?

Well, I guess to be blunt,

I'm not really sure what
science means anymore.

- I claim this vehicle for our people,

in the name of the lord!

- f*ck you!

- Let's explain this to her.

Okay.

That's enough.

Give her room! She's frightened!

We don't want to get her
unnecessarily violent.

Nobody touch her!

The car is ours.

Forget about her now.

She will join us later, only by choice.

That is our strength!

- b*stards, my food is in the trunk.

You guys don't even eat.

- Howdy.

You need a lift?

Oh, man. You're, uh...

You don't wanna steal my car, do ya?

I mean, they got that scam goin' on

down the road a few miles.

They steal the juice out
of all the cars in town,

and they wait for you to get
a few miles out, and wham.

They just swarm on you,
they're b*stards.

You know? Because they
just drive off in your car.

Did they steal your gas right in town?

You, uh, you look really exhausted.

Are you all right?

Is that what happened to you or somethin'?

- Yeah.

- Well, why don't you come
in? Let me give you a lift.

Come on.

I'm fine, I'm friendly.
I'll give you a lift.

- Stand still.

Don't move.

f*ck it. You win.

Get your dead
a*s out of this car, now!

- Excuse me.

Hello?

- Yeah, it's past curfew.

Would you please step out of the car?

Now, please?

Curfew?

- Yeah, it went into effect this evening.

No one on the street past nightfall.

All right, I don't care
where you got right now, but,

you're not gonna sit
in this car all night.

This is my street.

I'm not f*ck' around here.
Let's go, out of the car.

Out.

- Funny, you don't look like a suit to me.

I'm neighborhood patrol.

Is that a problem?

- Yeah, where am I supposed to go?

- I'll show you. Come on.

Come on! Roll up the window.

You're not gonna leave all
that stuff in the car, are you?

- Oh, yeah.

I have a shotgun and some
other stuff in there.

- Right.

And?

- And I get the feeling
that you're not in the mood

for any surprises.

- That's very smart.

I wish other people in this neighborhood

were as smart as that,
it would save my b*ll*ts.

Go ahead. Go ahead, get your stuff.

You're shaking too hard to be dead anyway.

- So what'll it be tonight?

- I got a vagrant here, grandma,

with no place to go and no reservations?

- Oh, come on! I don't
have any more room here!

I've got enough people in here already!

- It's marshal law now,
lady. No private residency.

Now shut up and put up or I'll
arrest the whole bunch of ya.

- Fine, f*ck this sh*t. Send her in.

- You'll thank me later,
grandma. She's a real live one.

- You look exhausted.

Come in the kitchen. I'll
get you something to drink.

- Thanks.

- Everyone's in the kitchen.

- You want some tea?

- Yeah, sure.

- Really?

Why don't you have a
seat in the living room?

I'll cook you up some water.

- It's in there.

- Nevermind the tea.
- Where am I gonna sleep?

- Upstairs.

- Hey, wait a minute. Jack.

Yeah?

- Why don't you show
the lady up to her room?

- You got it.

Turn around.

It's back where you came from.

The further upstate you go,
the worse it gets out here.

Cities are used, so crowded and rioting.

The balance is a little
more delicate around here.

- Running out of places to run?

- So what's your story?

Everybody around here's got a good one.

- Sorry.

Just another tragedy.

Tell me about it.

Four years of college for this?

Sorry about that. It's standard procedure.

- No surprises.

- Glad to hear it. I hate
making passes at corpses.

You know, you're good lookin'.

- Thanks.

I'm really tired.

I just need to get some sleep.

- Night.

- Howdy.

Is there a working phone in here?

- On the harmonium.

Are you traveling alone?

- Nope, I'm trying to get
home. I've got friends there.

Wow, You're lucky.

- Is anybody in the shower?
- No, it's over there.

Excuse me.

- Problem?

- My name's Mary. What's yours?

- Susan.

- Howdy, Susan.

Listen, I heard you opening
up a bar of soap in here.

I don't have any. I
haven't had any for days.

So I must really stink, you know?

I know this sounds really weird,

I mean, we don't even know each other,

but we're both girls,
you know what I mean?

It's just that I'm really
afraid to be left alone,

and now you're here.

Things have been really weird around here.

I don't mean to scare you,
but I'm really scared.

Nobody trusts anybody anymore.

What kind of advantage do
you think I have over you?

Here, let me show you.

You see?

Now we're both naked as jaybirds.

And you've got the g*n,
And the soap.

I'll do your back, if
you want. I'm good at it.

Sorry.

I just, you don't know how
much I appreciate this.

I don't wanna hurt you or anyone else.

Please, just let me go on.

I just wanna be left as I am.

That's what happens when I stay

in one position for too long.

The blood tends to pool in one place.

It feels kind of gross and
it sounds really terrible

when it starts flooding
back down to my feet again.

If I know I'm gonna be around people,

I make sure to stand
on my head for a while

to get the color in my cheeks.

Do you use the mirror trick to find us?

- Yeah.

- I will give you everything I have

and anything I can get my
hands on for this bar of soap.

I need it to move freely.

Help me. I'm not alone.

There are more of us
like me than you'd think.

Sometimes it's a real drag.

You gotta keep moving
or your blood settles

and your organs go flat.

But I don't even want to,
or need to sleep anymore.

- What about taste?

- You mean taste like flavor?

Nope, nothing.

- And you're happy?

- Listen, what're you gonna do?

You're gonna live your life
without a home, without a job,

and you're gonna grow
old and decrepit and die.

Except, you won't die,
'cause nobody dies anymore.

And you're gonna spend
the rest of eternity

wandering the face of the
earth in that pathetic state,

wishing you could lay down and rest,

like people did in the good
old days, but you can't.

Not anymore.

I'm beautiful, and I will be, forever.

And young and healthy and strong.

Today is the beginning of the
rest of my life, for real.

And I'm no burden on society.

I don't consume or waste anything.

So what's wrong with the choice I've made?

Can you look me in the
eye and honestly tell me

what it is I've done wrong?

- I don't know.

Yet.

- Well, then what're you waiting for?

- How'd you do it?

- No visible scars whatsoever.

A very professional piece
of work, don't you think?

Sleeping pills, a plastic grocery bag,

and a string tied around my
neck to keep the bag in place.

A little Beethoven to set the mood...

And there you have the
secret of my success.

It was a giddy, exhilarating
experience to have all

these poisons trapped inside
my body, with no way out,

knowing that I'd fall
asleep and when I woke up,

I would be immortal,
forever young and beautiful.

- But dead.

- This isn't death.

I still think and feel.

Dead people are the ones
who give up hope, like you.

Can't stay in one position for too long.

- I'm going to sleep now.

- I'll turn out the light.

- You up there, Mary?

Can you hear me?

You gonna play for us?

Why?

Did you expect that you would live to see

the last generation of humans,

as we've known them for
the last 5,000 years?

Look over there. Look at that tree.

That tree is the end.

That's how clear it is to me. The end!

Does that scare you? Do
you see what I'm seeing?

Yes, preacher man,
I see! I'm scared, too!

- Wrong!

Of what I am seeing right
now, you see nothing!

What are you afraid of?

You see the end of the world?

This is god's world.
It's never going to end.

Oh, sure, god is gone,

and he's opened a really big can

of theological worms this time,

but he's testing us.

We are the beginning of a
better way for the world,

and all that we are seeing is
the end of all these things

as we know them.

Something beautiful is beginning.

Man, we're so close to the
fireworks, they're behind us!

Join me! Turn around!

I'm not afraid, preacher man!

Tell us what we have to do!

- Now, that's the kind
of talk I like to hear.

But are you ready to know?

Ready to know what I know?

Are you ready to have your eyes
opened, to be struck blind,

so that you can see
with your other senses?

Are you ready to know the why...

Please.

There are people trying to sleep here.

And who are we

to disturb the world

as it slumbers peacefully?

f*ck the world!

- Watch your language!

I mean...

Really, look at us.

Who are we?

Who are we to change the world?

The homeless, the jobless, the forgotten,

and we really smell bad.

Who are we?

Who was Jesus, preacher man?

- Ah, indeed. If not one of us.

A downtrodden wanderer who
spoke the truth at all cost,

and has liberated us with that
truth and continues to do so.

The redemption of all
mankind is 100 years away

from the breath that I am now breathing.

The resurrection is coming.

All those who have died will live again.

In 100 years, when everyone,

and everything on this earth is dead,

we will all join hands,
generation after generation

after generation, in flesh and spirit!

The big book says it all!

And we'll all be shaking hands
with the almighty himself!

People, I have a very important question

for you to think about.

Are you really ready to sit back



The lord is waiting for your answer,

and he is a very busy man.

- Listen, I hope I'm not annoying you.

Thanks for putting up with me.

Susan?

Susan, Susan, wake up. Susan.

- Prepare to be physically challenged!

- All those who are within
the sound of my voice,

I demand your attention, as I
read aloud from the manifesto

of the new order of every
man, woman and child

currently residing on this planet.

- Oh, no.
- We are death!

- I'm sorry.

- Tell me I'm dreaming.

Please tell me this is a dream.

- Thank you, god!

Thank you.

- What am I gonna do? This is
just the beginning of forever.

- Oh, f*cking useless.

- Where do you think you're going?

Sorry, but I'm not up there.

It's not the brain, but the soul.

How do you k*ll the soul?

I'll get you for this.

God, the ways I'll find
to make you suffer.

Shut up, I can't think!

- Prepare to receive
your eternal handicap,

as punishment for trying
to escape the hand of god.

- Help! She's gone mad!

- Don't f*ck with me, dead b*tch.

- God hates you!

- Okay, boys, next house!

- Now what the f*ck's going on down here?

Holy sh*t.

- Give me that.

You missed one!

He shoots! He scores!

- Yes!
- Yeah!

- Where's my car?

- Hey, whose side are you on anyway?

- I'm packing enough ballistics here

to make you as airy as
a fly swatter, holy man.

Where the f*ck is my car?

- That's not fair!

- Life's not fair.

- Neither is death.

- I'm sorry to hear about that.

- Welcome to the last days
of the old generation, c**t.

This is the beginning of the redemption.

Tell me, what in the past was so special

that you feel the need to
hang on so tightly to this?

Awaken.

Join us.

I have more important work to do.

Many more souls to save.

Don't you think that's a little redundant

in this day and age?

I mean, really, times are changing.

- I hate to ruin my last clean shirt

with the back of your head.

- What's your name, lady?

- Susan.

- Susan, don't try to stop me.

It's god's decision that
I do what I'm doing.

No earthly force, not you nor anyone,

can stop me, nor has the
right to try to stop me.

How very strange.

I think I'm beginning to like you, Susan.

- Jesus, you're good.
- Good?

Jesus was the best.

- Dan?

Don't look at me, Susan.

Something bad happened
here while you were away.

I'm sorry.

- What happened?

- You've been to the bathroom. You know.

It's me in the bathtub. Was me.

Why don't you sit down?

The phone just wouldn't
stop ringing, you know?

When my mom died of cancer
all those years ago,

I thought that was it, I was
rid of the b*tch for good.

Ring, ring!

"Hello, son!"

"Hi, mom."

- Dan, that's impossible.

Your mother's been cremated.

What are you saying?

- My youngest sister was
k*lled in a car accident.

Her child safety seat
broke free of the seatbelt

when we got rear-ended
by a silver Cadillac.

Ring, ring!

Where the hell did she ever
learn to use the damn phone?

It's insane!

And it just kept ringing.

Every time I answer, a
newly forgotten friend,

relative I've never even met or heard of.

So, I took the phone off the hook.

And it still kept on ringing.
I mean, what the hell is that?

What was I supposed to do?

And where were you?

Sorry about the mess.

I was really upset.

- Is there something wrong with your face?

- I saved the rest of this for you.

- Thanks.

- Nothing, actually. There's
nothing wrong with my face.

Or is there?

- It's always been fine by me.

Very fine.

- You're as sweet as ever, lover.

There, you see?

No scars to hide.

Only shame.

- When I look at you, I can tell.

You're dead.

- It's in the eyes, isn't it?

My face feels like it's floating
a foot in front of my head

and the space in between is
filled with wet concrete.

Making a face is like

placing a long-distance telephone call.

They won't heal.

Little slits that open
every time I make a fist.

Like angry mouths.

Does it hurt?

- On the inside.

But not on the outside.

Not for real.

Jesus, you look beautiful.

Drink up.

That milk is sour.

What's the matter?

- I can't.

I can't do it.

No blood.

Can't get hard without blood.

- But I love you.

We'll find a way.

- I'm sorry. I feel like such an idiot.

Sometimes you get carried
away with your emotions

and make rash decisions.

Look at me.

What an as*h*le.

Look at what I did to myself,

in a sane moment to
escape from this insanity.

My sin quite literally on
my sleeve for eternity.

I mean, what was I thinking?

Things would be different for me?

That I've just been going, thank god,

mad all this time, and that
this would end the madness?

- I feel sick.

- Do you wanna lie down?

- No.

I wanna hear you talk.

- You're crazy. Forever
young, forever dumb.

Why didn't I have the good sense

to think of poison for myself?

I guess I love you that
much more than myself.

- Poison?

- For the woman I love.

- But that's not fair.

- I know, but you'll thank me later.

I'm not k*lling you. You can't die.

Death, what a silly word. It
doesn't mean anything anymore.

And now we're all equal because of it.

What I am isn't dead. What
you're now becoming isn't dead.

I've gone beyond living and I'm
sitting here talking to you.

I haven't died.

I'm simply folded a little differently.

And soon, so will you.

- You're f*cking out of your mind.

- Why?

You can't tell me you're
ready to grow old and die

and watch me stay young and healthy.

Who would be hurting who
more in that situation?

You think I wanna stick around,
feed you through a straw,

and wipe away your sh*t?

This way, we can be together as equals.

Come on. I know you're not gonna sh**t me.

What's it gonna do?

You'll just end up messing me up.

Can you live with that?

Are you really ready to
take care of me forever?

I don't think so.

- You're right.

- You will fall asleep
eventually and fold, you know.

- It doesn't bother you a bit, does it?

- Please, don't even think it.

- That's what I thought.

You're not ready to spend eternity

kissing a squashed tomato, are we?

You vain, frightened son of a b*tch.

Get out

of my sight.

- Whatever you say.

- Pour me a glass of water.

I can still feel it in my
system and I wanna puke it out.

- Careful, babe.

- From the sink.

I wanna see that glass at all times.

Come on, hurry up!

Okay, put it on the table.

Now step back.

- Please go to sleep, Susan.

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the lord my soul to keep.

But if I fold before I wake,

I pray the lord my soul to take.

- I should've shot her
when I had the chance.

- Look! There's another one.

How did you come to find yourself

in this sorry state, my friend?

- I fell.

- Typical. I understand.

- Please.

Take me home.

My lover's

waiting for me.

- Certainly, my friend.

We'll help you.

Susan!

I've come back.

Please.

Please let me in.