Man: Life is a story.
People think dreams are stories.
They seem like stories,
but they're not.
Misguided, no shape, no form.
No reason.
Like rummaging
through unmarked boxes
in a long-forgotten
storage shed.
You'll think it was a story,
but try telling a friend
of yours what happened
in your dream the next day.
Only then will you finally
realize, wait a minute,
"that wasn't a story at all."
Not all my dreams
were like this.
Some of them
really were stories.
Some of them were like this.
(wind blowing)
Mom takes me
to an amusement park.
It's deserted...
dusty...
lifeless.
Even the barkers pitching
unwinnable games
for Kewpie doll prizes do so with all
the joie de vivre of a cancer patient.
But I'm ecstatic.
No crowds means no lines.
(soft music, wind blowing)
And there it is,
the snow-capped summit
In the topography
of juvenile taste:
The wonderful
haunted house ride.
Its facade promised more
than papier mache monsters
wrapped in derelict-resistant
chicken wire.
Mom, we gotta go.
We gotta go on
the haunted house ride.
Are you sure?
It says right on the marquee,
it's the scariest one
in the world.
Of course, I'm sure.
We have to, have to, have to.
(soft music, wind blowing)
Are you sure you wanna go?
The sign ain't lyin'.
I'm ready.
Are you sure you're ready?
And the car lurched forward
clumsily
and crashed through the doors,
which snapped back.
And into the darkness.
Into the darkness.
Whisking along through
the darkness,
and, crash, out the other side.
No pneumatic hiss pop ups,
no shrill startle bells, nothing, !
not even the faintest attempt.
A con game.
What a rip-off.
We should get our money back.
Mom, we got ripped off
by the idiots who lives here.
You're not gonna
do anything about this?
Mom?
We should get our money back.
She turned to me
very slowly and said,
'What makes you think
the ride's over?
"What makes you think
it's ever gonna end?"
That was the first
of these experiences I had.
I'm still reluctant
to call them dreams.
I had that one when I was four.
Let me show you the one
I had last night.
I can't sleep.
It's this house.
I hate this house.
It won't let me sleep.
Oh, my god, I am asleep,
and dreaming about being
right here in my bedroom,
trying to fall asleep.
I had to open my eyes,
but I couldn't.
I could only open the little
dream eyes inside my head,
because I felt the fear.
I felt the dread, pending,
closing, all around me.
Only one kind of dream
tries to hide itself.
The door is open.
He's already here.
You can't run in a nightmare,
not with atrophied muscles
over tungsten bones,
hot through the gelatinous
atmosphere,
not from him.
(zipping)
I watched my hand draw a row
of faces on my whiteboard
and despite
the childish artwork,
I could instantly
recognize each,
Family friends. ..
I left the room, then blackness.
The next time my senses
returned to me,
I was not before my whiteboard,
I was in a basement,
standing before a mirror,
surrounded by the
miss-en-scene of nightmares.
I was in his world now,
not my own.
And I can't wake up.
I can't wake up.
Oh, my god, I am awake.
Awake in the very location
where my nightmare ended.
This was real.
How much nightmare would
prove to be real?
Did I sleepwalk here?
How could I have pulled
so sadistic a trick on myself?
Especially as I didn't know
where "here" was.
I know this place.
This is my home.
I was just in a room that
doesn't exist in my own house.
First, relief,
then a sobering realization.
As I had fallen asleep
where my dream began
and woke up where it ended,
I could never know for sure
what was a dream
and what wasn't.
Here I am now,
in a much warmer place,
in a much brighter place,
enjoying a picnic with
my brother and his girlfriend.
You're gonna have to get used
to the way I speak out loud,
my inner voice is considerably
more sophisticated.
John, this chicken was good,
but we didn't bring
any ice cream.
I'm sorry I didn't bring any
ice cream on a picnic, Dennis,
but, uh, well, we have cupcakes.
No, I don't want cupcakes.
All I want is ice cream.
We have ice cream at home.
Well, I like the kind
at the store.
We have that kind at home.
Well, it's better at the store.
It's exactly the same.
You just wanna see that girl.
What is her name?
Susan, I think.
Yeah, she's cute.
I think someone has a crush.
No way, all I want is ice cream.
I don't know any girl.
What girl?
- Hey, guys.
- Hi!
It's nice to see you.
Of course, it's nice to see me.
I'm outlandishly hot.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough?
You know my flavor.
Of course I do, you're
my favorite customer.
I got ya.
- You ready for this?
- Uh-huh!
You ready, Dennis?
Surprise, Dennis.
M-m-mirror.
I think it'd look good on the wall
there, between the windows.
- Yeah. - Where am I
supposed to put my Habitrails?
Where did you put
all of my stuff?
Where's all of it going?
It's mostly still
in here, Dennis.
No, no, that smelly old box
is where my robots used to be,
and that scary statue
is where I kept my comics.
Well, I had to put one or two things
down in the storage room, Dennis.
You wanna move my Habitrails
into the storage room?
- Well, Dennis...
- Anyway, I don't like this mirror.
And I don't want it
in this room.
Dennis, look at the
shape of this frame,
compared to the shape
of the window.
It's the same kind of wood stained
with the same kind of stain.
It matches the character
of the house perfectly.
It even matches the
motif of the furniture
that you and I chose ourselves.
Use all the big words you want,
you know I won't be able to
argue with all of you big words.
- I've seen this mirror before.
- Well, I doubt that.
- No, I have seen it.
- It's unlikely, Dennis.
It wasn't just locked up
in a vault.
If you surprised us all and
proved yourself a safe-cracker,
you still wouldn't
have found it.
- I know that.
- Well, there's a vault within a vault.
Did you know that?
A prohibition vault.
A place where back in the
day of Prohibition,
when booze was illegal,
people used to hide their booze.
I don't think anyone has
been in that room,
since the original owners,
because what I found
in that room is worth enough
to pay this mortgage for a year.
Well, I've been down
in there and I saw the stuff.
I saw the mirror
and I hated it even then.
Really? Really, Dennis,
Dennis when was this?
- I hated it when I saw it.
- When was this?
Last night.
The mirror wasn't even
in the house last night
it was in town getting
restored for you.
No, it's not for me. You just
want to get rid of my hamsters.
Dennis, your hamsters
really smell bad.
Now, the mirror
really looks good.
Put the mirror in your room.
It's just one week,
that's all I'm asking.
Just... just see if the
mirror grows on you.
No, it's not going
to grow on me.
Because I don't like
anything you put in here.
This isn't my room
anymore, it's your room.
But this is the worst thing,
because the chair,
I just don't like it.
But the mirror I hate.
And I'm gonna break
the mirror right now.
- Hey, hey!
- John!
Dennis, calm down.
(whimpering)
I'm sorry, Dennis.
I'm sorry.
All right, Dennis, just look,
you know, a couple of days.
Just a couple of days is not
too much to ask, all right?
And you can keep your hamsters.
A couple of days, you're
going to love the mirror.
You're going to
love that mirror.
You can't tell me what
I like or don't like.
With the right w-wood.
With the right stain.
With the right motif.
Using all these big words,
thinking he knows everything.
Knowing big words
doesn't make him right.
Knowing big words
doesn't even make him smart.
Just makes him know big words.
No matter how many long,
50-cent words he uses,
he can't tell me to like you.
Boy: I like you.
I like you a lot.
We both know where the
stress is coming from.
Just put him in a hospital.
That's why I want to
redecorate his bedroom,
so we can sell the place so
I can put him in a hospital.
We could sell this place
tomorrow, unfurnished.
This is a summer town.
People that buy here
want a summer retreat.
They want it finished.
Furnished.
Yes, and I would agree with
you if we had unlimited time,
but you're a time bomb, sweetie.
We could put Dennis in... - I'm not
putting Dennis in a state hospital.
This train hit my dog
right in the ass.
Rectum, said the teacher,
rectum.
So, I said, "Rectum?
It fucking killed him."
Thank you, thank you.
You're too kind.
I tell nice, simple jokes.
I use no big words.
Aw, thank you.
Hey, stop throwing your
panties on the stage.
It's really disruptive.
Destruct, disturbs my concentra...
See?
(laughs)
No big words.
Thank you.
You tell jokes everyone
can understand.
John's jokes only
make sense to John.
You don't get his jokes,
but everyone else does.
Why?
Cause they're about you.
In his mind everything
that make him
sad or angry...
is your fault.
How did you get past my gate?
Oh, please excuse my breach.
My name is Mildy Torres.
I work with Social Services.
And...
And we got a tip on our
hotline that you've been
losing your temper
around Dennis.
But when we saw Dennis
yesterday, he seemed fine.
No marks, no bruises.
Who said I was losing my temper?
Aren't you gonna invite me in?
Yeah.
Please.
We just wanna make sure
that you're the right person
to take care of Dennis
because, frankly,
it's a responsibility some people
shouldn't be trusted with.
- I can handle it.
- Are you sure?
Because taking care of a
mentally challenged person
can be a real handful sometimes.
Wouldn't it be a load off
if the state could
take care of Dennis?
There's an opening
in Green Valley.
- ( Door creaking )
- Lydia: That would be fantastic.
No, it wouldn't be.
Please excuse us, Lydia.
Thank you.
I don't want Dennis in Green Valley.
Don't you want a break?
I mean, it all adds up.
Taking care of a mentally
challenged person,
it just wears on you
and wears on you.
It changes your personality.
Do you know where
it would show up first?
- Where?
- Well, why don't you take a guess'?
- I could give you some...
- I asked you where, Mildy.
Your patience.
You would become very impatient.
Do you know where it
would show up second?
I don't have time
for these games.
Your temper.
Your temper would go next.
And a short-tempered man
is not fit to be custodian
of a mentally-challenged one.
Is this some sort of experiment?
You want a reaction.
You keep asking me if I have a
temper, you're gonna find one.
Well, you're not dumb,
I'll give you that.
Your lab is contaminating your experiment.
You're completely prejudiced.
I am angry. How can the
state split up my family?
- I'm not a criminal
- You don't have to be one.
Social Services can remove
a child from a suspect parent
on the strength of one
anonymous phone call.
Look, Okay, so let me get this straight.
I can make a phone call about anyone
at random without giving my name
and a person like you
will show up at their door
- and remove their children?
- That's right.
- And that's legal?
- Well,
A lot of people thought
it was a necessary law
that was a long time in coming.
We call those people idiots, Mildy.
Temper, temper.
You know, uy, this has been amazing, Mildy.
We must do this again sometime.
Oh, we will, we will.
(cell phone beeps)
(sighs)
Dr. Preston,
John Peterson.
I need to come and see you.
No, not next week.
Now, man.
Right now.
This bitch, Mildy Torres
from Social Services
shows up at my front door,
finagles her way in
and tells me I'm under investigation,
that I might lose Dennis.
Why are you under investigation?
She said someone complained that
I've been losing my temper...
violently.
Now she doesn't think
Dennis is safe with me.
- You're very tense, John.
- But that's normal, right?
The situation I'm in
justifies my tension.
No, it legitimizes it.
It does not justify it.
The last time we spoke,
all you could talk about
was moving away from Dennis,
finding a care facility for him.
Yeah, and I still want that.
Then why didn't you give Dennis the
choice of going to Social Services?
Because she would've
sent him to Green Valley.
Have you seen the fucking place?
- I volunteer there twice a week.
- Okay, well, it's fine.
It's just not right for Dennis.
You want a private hospital.
How badly?
How soon?
Oh, Christ, Doc.
I don't even have
a life anymore.
All I do, I... I...
I care for Dennis 24/7.
If he's not in the car
I don't even know
what station to put it on.
I just scan and I scan.
I don't even know
my own taste in music.
You have got
to get out of there.
Losing your identity...
That's a pretty, pretty
serious sign, John.
He's my responsibility.
I can't dump him
in someone else's lap.
I owe him.
No else can pay my debt.
Debt?
What do you owe him?
And Susan is handing me ice cream...
and she's dropped a little
and is slipping in it.
Looks like she's gonna crack her skull.
Oh, but luckily there's
a pillow on the floor.
Or a pillow case
full of broken glass.
But I rush in
and I catch her
and throw her on the glass.
Stop.
This is ruining the drawing.
(background chatter)
- John.
- No.
I don't even like that tone.
We're not gonna fight, are we'?
No, you're not gonna itemize the
way in which I disappoint you.
- Not today.
- Yes, I am.
What do I think
John and Lydia are doing?
They're discussing big ideas.
With big 50-cent words in them.
You can see how overwrought I am.
I don't have time today
to fucking breathe.
And yet you do nothing about
your overwhelming lifestyle.
If it were as difficult as you claim,
then you would've done
something about it by now.
But you haven't,
so it seems to me
that you like the situation you're in.
Makes you seem selfless,
gives you room to operate.
- Operate'?
- Well,
no one would ever question ore
even suspect a tireless martyr.
Suspect me of what?
You're never gonna
marry me, John, are you?
You've got the perfect
excuse to stay single
and not look like a cad.
You've got Dennis.
They're right on the edge
of having another huge argument
as always.
Why do they even stay together?
They both must like to argue,
but neither one of them
will ever admit it.
What's tonight's argument about?
Lydia's trying to convince John
that you're the reason
there's so much tension.
He's resisting,
but her will is stronger.
It's just a matter of time
until she has him convinced
that his life would be a whole easier
without a big dribbling
mongoloid in it.
Look, we're not gonna
do this again, are we?
Do what?
Break up, wait a month,
realize there's nobody better out there
and get back together again?
Uh, come on. It was not
even that big of a fight.
That was just a discussion.
I never could tell the difference
between fights and discussions.
I was always surprised
as to which was which.
Well, you could ask me
which it is as we're going.
Huh?
So, uh, which is this?
What we're doing right HOW?
Yeah.
This is foreplay.
Do you think I'm retarded?
Uh, just a second, Dennis.
( Nervous chuckle)
It's okay.
I'll see you later.
Okay.
Shit.
Okay, now what's going on?
D-do you think I'm a big
dribbling mongoloid?
(laughs) Where..
Where do you get these ideas, Dennis?
I don't think you're that big.
Dribble you do,
and mongoloid you are,
but big?
Well, that's just
wishful thinking, buddy.
No, I'm not a mongoloid
- I was just kidding.
- Well, you should stop.
I'm not retarded.
I'm just slow.
I don't even think
you're that slow, buddy.
No, I'm smarter
than people think I am.
I'm getting smarter and
smarter all the time.
I know you are.
I'm not afraid to look at myself
in the mirror anymore.
(thud)
(whimpers)
(gasping)
Oh wow.
Bad dreams, buddy'?
Yeah, yeah.
I borrowed one of your ties.
You don't really use 'em anyway.
Okay.
You can have it.
I gotta talk to you.
I need to know.
A dream is a story I tell myself,
Right?
What do you mean exactly?
I tell myself a story.
One part of my brain
tells another part
of my brain a story.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's a good way
of saying it, I guess.
Well, if it's a story I tell me,
how can I trick myself?
Well, wait.
What do you mean?
You can't tell yourself a joke
and not see the punch line coming.
What, you... you...
you think someone else
is telling you these stories?
I think that...
that it has to be.
Someone like...
Me?
(gasps)
(thud, cries out)
(laughs)
I scared you.
I was not scared.
You're scared of some
of your own hamsters.
We gotta do something about it.
We gotta fix the scare.
How can you make me
not scared anymore?
We have to stop the nightmares.
How can we stop the nightmares?
We have to fix our brain.
We have to get better
and become smart.
There's a way to do it,
but nobody tells you how.
Why don't they just tell me
how to get better?
Because it's a test.
They make up rules that are lies
to see if you'll be dumb
enough to believe them.
So what do I do?
Follow only the real rules.
How do I do that?
You gotta go kill a kitty cat.
Why?
It's what you're supposed to do.
They say it's bad
to kill kitty cats.
But you like eating meat, right?
So farmers can kill animals, right?
See? That's the
due they gave you.
They serve you meat.
They're testing your...
gullibility when they say
it's bad to kill animals.
If you kill a cat
you can prove that you know
which rules are fake.
And they'll all know
you're becoming smarter.
You really think so?
We have to be brave.
We have to kill
our neighbor's cat.
The tabby.
But that kitty likes me.
Thaw make it easier to catch.
- ( meows )
- ( clicking tongue )
( meows )
Psst, psst, psst, psst...
(clicking tongue)
(hissing, meows...)
I did very good work today.
I did many kitties
and many doggies.
This... this taxidermy cassette,
ifs very important.
Why?
It's gonna teach you
what to do with
the kitties and doggies
you bring back.
Grab a doggy from the cooler.
You're holding a new paint brush, Dennis.
( Hammering )
Hey, buddy, I didn't even know
you knew how to do anything
involving wood work.
Im getting better and better at it.
Can I see?
- Oh, not yet.
- Why not?
Well, you get
your private office.
Why can't this be
my private office?
Why can't this be where
my work stays just for me?
Oh no, brother.
I gotta see this.
I'll show you all of it
in a few clays.
"Taxidermy."
"Forensic..."
Why do you have these tapes?
Why do you wanna know about
butchery and leather care
and taxidermy,
especially forensics?
What is that smell?
No, Dennis, I'm definitely
coming in there.
No, no.
Those aren't my cassettes.
They got in my bag by mistake
You know, Dennis,
I might believe that
if there was one cassette on one topic,
maybe two, but not four.
These didn't fall into someone's bag.
Someone went shopping for these
and placed them in a bag.
Yes, but that someone
wasn't me.
So you picked up
someone else's bag?
Yeah.
I got their books on tape
and they got mine.
Well, thank God,
because this is, uh,
- that's, that...
- (doorbell ringing)
Excuse me, buddy.
(footsteps descending)
- Hey babe, come on in.
- Uh-uh, you come out.
Come on, let's get something to eat.
( Hammering )
Uh, okay.
Hang on a second.
Hey, uh, Dennis.
You gonna be okay
for a couple hours?
I'm gonna go out with Lydia.
Dennis: Yeah, I'll be fine.
You know, just before
you picked me up
I had a nasty scare.
What happened?
I heard a hammer pounding
down in the basement.
So I went down to investigate.
It couldn't be Dennis.
Dennis doesn't know
anything about carpentry.
But it is Dennis,
suddenly looking a lot like
a professional carpenter.
But the fact that he's doing
something skillfully is exciting,
But it's also kinda scary.
What's he building?
- I don't know.
- You don't know?
It doesn't really matter.
Even if it's an atrocity
it want be an eyesore
because it's down in
the basement.
Well, aren't you
the slightest bit curious?
I mean, when's he gonna show you?
He said he would show me
in a couple of days.
You know...
you should've seen him
with his tool belt
and his protective goggles.
What if he could
become a carpenter?
Get a job.
Look at you.
You're so proud of him.
You'd make a great dad.
Well, I wanna be a dad.
I wanna be your husband.
And I wanna know
what you call those
turbine engine-driven
ceramic and titanium vehicles
you see maybe once
or twice in a lifetime.
I never remember
what they're called.
But what do you call that?
( Scoffs )
I can't believe I fell for that.
They're very fast.
(gasps)
- What is this?
- I have no idea.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Those look a lot like the
earrings that you saw in Aspen
that you fell in love with
that I couldn't afford.
Now this is wrapping up
much too neatly
to be a coincidence.
No.
Okay, what's wrong?
Are they not the right earrings?
Why did you set me up like that?
Set you up like what?
We were talking about marriage,
children.
Earrings?
Man on TV:
But with spiders
the challenge
is of a different nature.
Spiders are not social animals.
They have no families.
If the spider's gene is to last
into the next generation,
he must approach
the female by stealth,
careful not to be seen by her.
Because spiders are Cannibals,
and females are much
larger than males.
I would give you a ring today
if you would live with Dennis.
When I said I wanted a baby,
I meant the small kind,
the cute kind.
Not the 30-year-old
masturbating kind.
Man on TV: The
procreative ad compete,
the male spider
must now escape her web
before she catches and eats him.
To her the male
is not a husband,
not a mate,
not even another spider.
To the female,
the male is merely food.
Australia is home to the
world's most venomous spiders.
Notable amongst them
is the funnel-web.
Unique not only
for its deadly poison,
but for its inexplicably
aggressive behavior.
It will, unprovoked,
charge anyone it sees.
Which raises the question,
why?
If it doesn't have a soul,
it will bite you
without a second thought
because it doesn't have a first.
If it does have a soul,
it will bite you
because it doesn't like you...
you fucking retard.
Demon: It would need a soul
to appreciate your disgust
with its soullessness.
Look at those eyes,
those lifeless black spheres.
Could they be looking back?
No.
No, not these eyes.
Those eyes.
- (screeching)
- (gasps, screaming)
I'll let you wake up
if you do a job for me.
Say yes,
and your dreams will be
pleasant for a long time.
Say no...
and I'll knock off
the training wheels.
If you think this was bad,
wait.
You have to do this.
You have to go get a boy, get a little boy
if you want to get better.
I have to kill a little boy?
Ora little girl.
It doesn't matter.
It has to be a child.
Why?
'Cause that's what
we'll need to do
to prove that we're not stupid.
It's the next step in the test.
Once you realize
killing animals isn't bad,
it soon gets clear
that all killing isn't bad.
To learn killing animals is okay,
they meat.
You don't know how many times
your meat at dinner time
was someone you knew.
I ate kids at dinner?
Many times.
Everybody kills
little boys and girls,
and they're all
disappointed in you
because you haven't done it.
It's only a few hours
until dawn.
Go out and kill a kid.
(crying)
Why'd I do that?
Why?
It's not helping me.
I don't feel smarter.
Nobody says I'm acting smarter.
You did good work,
very good work.
All we did was
kill three kids.
I'm just as dumb as I ever was.
We did very well.
And I have to tell you
a secret now.
This isn't helping me.
I gotta tell you a secret.
Lean in close.
This isn't helping me.
When you're sleeping at night,
I'm the one who
whispers in your ear.
Sorry about the stories I tell,
but it's just a little darker over here.
Thank you.
- Thank you for meeting me, Dr. Preston.
- Of course.
Have a seat.
You need more sessions with me, right?
Desperately.
And you can't
afford them, right?
Not really, no.
What if I give you my lunchtime
every day for a month?
We wouldn't be in session.
We'd be having lunch
together as friends
so I wouldn't have to charge you.
That would be great.
I do expect a fee,
just not a cash fee.
What do you want?
You can't skirt issues
by claiming they're not
what you want to talk about.
If I want to talk about
the house and the car
you can't afford,
you must play along.
Fair enough?
So it's half therapy,
half browbeating?
More like 90 percent
therapy you think you need
and ten percent therapy
I think you need.
That's fine.
Well, we'll start with
what you think
your problems are.
Who are you?
I'm not just one.
I've been called legion.
I am many.
Well, where are you?
I'm right here.
The dark place,
where is the dark place?
I'm not sure.
I couldn't show you on a map.
I do know this though,
no one here ever wanted to come,
but you, oh Dennis,
you would love it here.
If you came here,
you'd be happy
for the rest of your life.
If I went there,
I'd be happy
for the rest of mine.
So what do we do?
Just keep doing
what you're doing.
It'll make you smarter.
It'll make me able to go where you are.
It's a good deal
all the way around.
Just keep doing
what you're doing.
What do you look like?
You wanna see me?
Take this mirror and point
it at the closet mirror.
Take a step back.
Look down the hallway into infinity.
Is that you?
I didn't choose
to look this way.
Why should I help you anymore?
You hurt me.
Who's really hurting you?
Me?
Or Susan?
Susan likes me.
She wouldn't fuck you
with someone else's pussy.
Why?
She wouldn't fuck a retard.
How revolting.
But a serial killer...
ah, how exciting.
How intriguing.
How mysterious.
You know what makes you so
unattractive in Susan's eyes?
No.
She thinks you couldn't hurt a fly.
She thinks you're insignificant.
If you killed her,
she'd die screaming,
she'd die in agony,
but she'd die wet
between the legs.
Am I really your enemy?
Tsk, tsk, Dennis,
I'm your only friend.
I'm hungry, Dennis.
Let's go get some ice cream.
(screaming)
( clanging )
Hello?
(creaking)
- ( screeching )
- ( gasps )
(gasps)
Oh my God, Dennis.
Thank God it's you.
Hi.
What's up with
the hand in the coat?
You hiding a concealed
weapon or something?
(laughs)
- Uh, no.
- No?
It's a new notebook I got here.
I'm gonna write down notes
in it and keep them.
Can you read?
Well, uh, no, but what
I've kinda been doing
is asking other people
to write down notes
and then when I get home
I ask John to read them to me.
That's the coolest thing
that I've ever heard.
I was hoping
you'd write me a note,
I would love too, Dennis.
Take a letter, Susan.
Okay.
To...
whomever it may concern:
I, Susan Hill,
being of
sound mind and hot body...
(giggling)
am prepared to make
the following confessions.
I think Dennis Peterson
is super keen
and I would like
to have his babies.
I can't think of a way
to get him to ask me out
or tell him that my idea of a perfect date
would include bumper cars
and ice cream here in my own store
This is a joke, isn't it?
Why?
I would just feel more
comfortable if you were kidding.
I mean, you're not really
asking me out, are you?
Would it be so wrong if I did?
Well, Dennis, I'm spoken for.
No, you broke up with
that guy two weeks ago.
Yeah, I'm not...
I'm not ready
to move on, Dennis.
You can't just turn
love off like a switch.
You were only dating him for a month!
Dennis, it wouldn't work out between us.
(clanging)
(grunts)
- ( horn honking)
- ( brakes screeching )
Are you lying, John?
No.
Are you sure?
When you continue
lying to someone
whom you know
knows you're lying,
that's when it can be called compulsive.
(scoffs)
How do you know?
Friendly word of advice, John.
Steer clear of poker.
It wouldn't be your game.
Quite a tell, huh?
- Oh. Sorry.
- Excuse me.
I'm so sorry.
- Lydia.
- Hi, John.
Are you spying on me?
No.
No, I, uh, I just needed a ride.
Well, I'm going home.
That's okay.
You want company?
Yeah.
- Yeah, sure.
- Okay.
Thanks.
What was our first date like?
Feeling nostalgic?
Sentimental?
You wanna do it again,
see if we can recapture
something, is that it?
What're we doing down here?
Dennis spends a lot of his spare
time down here these days.
Oh right, carpentry.
The carpentry.
(knocks on door)
Hey, Dennis.
Come here, buddy.
I got a surprise for you.
Dennis: What surprise?
You know I love surprises.
John: Well, come on out.
Come on out and I'll
tell you all about it.
Tonight, you're in charge.
Whatever you wanna do we'll do.
All three of us.
Let's go to the car, chop, chop.
Dennis.
The girls are over here,
the girls are over there
Love is in the air
Yeah, the girl's are fair
walking in the field
Flower in the air
I Looking for a fling
with a millionaire.
How do they make
the things move?
Like, the octopus, how do they
make all those eight big tentacles
of the octopus move like that?
Well, it's animatronics, Dennis.
Very simple one.
See the wires attached
to the tentacles?
Well, they go up past the
curtain where we can't see them.
Into a big plastic tube
with a bunch of disks on it.
It's not too unlike a giant shish kabob
skewer, put through old vinyl records.
But it doesn't actually go through the
center, it's a little off center,
so when it rotates, the
disc goes up and down
and subsequently the arms attached
to that disc go up and down as well,
moving cables,
which move the tentacles.
I didn't understand any of that.
( laughing)
Hi, What'll it be?
Large pepperoni pizza
and a pitcher of diet.
And a strawberry milkshake.
Okay, I'll be back in a flash.
I'm gonna go to the bathroom.
When I look in her eyes
I see the sunrise
He is really well-behaved this evening.
You didn't talk me into that one.
I just did it and I don't know why.
I knew you'd come
around eventually.
What happened?
You've developed immunities,
so you're upping your dosage.
Why?
You're addicted. Stop killing and
sobriety's icy hand will have you.
Hell, you can't even
decrease your kills,
but any increase
and you overdose.
So, what do I do?
You graduate to stronger shit.
You have to kill those
close to you now.
Friends, family, you have to
kill more people like Susan.
I think you're tricking me.
I think you had this
planned all along.
You say everyone else is tricking me,
but it's you.
I know that now, so you
can't trick me anymore.
You're still gonna have
to do everything I say,
because I control your dreams.
I can handle the nightmares.
You haven't yet had a nightmare.
I won't do it.
You're getting real close.
I can smell your soul getting ripe.
I won't do it.
Oh, you'll do it, retard, or I'll find
another retard, and he'll do it to you.
(whimpering)
Oh, wow.
Hi, Susan.
You got me really good.
Car? Hit me right here,
first, and then up here,
You can't even really see
a bruise, can you?
(giggling)
My skin held up pretty well.
Even after the bus sent me
through the windshield.
You'd think I"d be cut, but I'm not.
My skin...
(giggling)
is good.
There's not a mark
anywhere on it.
And most of my bones
aren't broken either.
You know that saying,
"a chain is only as strong
as its weakest link"?
Well, you can see that my skin
isn't the weakest link.
My bones aren't either.
What is?
Absolutely everything else.
You can see now, Dennis that may skin,
Is the only thing
that's holding me together.
(whimpering)
Hey, you nod off there, buddy?
Well, I guess you've had
enough fun for one night.
Come on, we'll take you home.
You can't hurt me
if I don't fall asleep.
You know what happens
if you stay awake too long?
I don't care.
You reach a state
of semi-consciousness,
unable to discern
asleep from awake.
You know what happens if you stay
in the dark place long enough?
You get really ugly.
You ain't seen nothing yet.
How can you stay awake all night?
You won't last an hour.
Nighty night.
This just in, Sleep.
Let yourself sleep.
Sleep.
(gibberish)
Sleep.
- You still up?
- Nope, I just woke up.
Glad to hear you got some sleep.
Whew! You are ripe.
You need a bath.
Let's go run one.
I'm not. I get to call the
shots today and I say no bath.
Yes, that was yesterday.
Run a bath.
Today.
Chop, chop.
Wake up, honey.
We overslept.
(grunts)
What are you talking about?
You went to go check on
Dennis five minutes ago.
No, I didn't.
You didn't?
No.
You didn't tell him
to take a bath?
No.
That's weird,
I must have dreamt it.
- I got the "morning afters."
- Yeah.
Morning after crack
and gasoline.
What the hell did
we drink last night?
We didn't. We didn't drink
anything last night.
Let's get some coffee
at the ice cream place.
Hey, Susan, do you still...
That's not Susan, honey.
Sorry, ma'am, I just so
used to seeing Susan here.
You look so much like her.
People have made that mistake
tons of times before.
You'll be seeing me here from now on.
Where is Susan?
- I'm sorry, you haven't heard?
- No.
She had an accident.
What kind of accident?
A traffic accident, kind of.
She got hit by a car.
- Oh, my god.
- Well, how is she doing?
She's dead.
- Oh, honey, here she comes.
- Good. Ma'am.
- Miss.
- Ma'am.
Excuse me, ma'am.
- Wow.
- Sir? Sir? Could you send...
Thank you.
What would you like?
- Uh, I want a drink. You?
- Definitely.
Vodka, soda, splash
of pineapple, please.
And I will have a Jack, neat.
And what happened
to the usual waitress?
What's her name, Jenny?
I'm filling in for her.
She's sick or something.
Hostess, valet, waitress...
it's beginning to seem
like an epidemic.
No kidding.
Totally forgot my appointment
with Dr. Preston.
At least I'll see one familiar face today.
Excuse me, Dr. Preston?
- I am, uh, I'm sorry.
- Thanks fucking Christ for that.
I'm in the mood to vent, and you
caught me at a hell of a time.
Go ahead, ask me the question.
Ask me what everyone
fucking asks me,
every fucking minute
of every fucking day.
"Why do you look like that?
What's wrong with you?"
You wanna know what's
wrong with me?
Nothing.
I'm just dandy.
Until of course some asshole
like you comes along,
and ruins my damn good time.
Terribly sorry, sir.
I need a break.
- After we get Mildy.
- Who?
You'll remember when we see her.
But I don't know.
She's a bitter social reject who
can never feel good about herself,
so to even the playing field
she makes everyone feel bad.
No! What if I say,
"No, I won't kill Mildy"?
I won't kill anyone again.
She's coming for you now.
She's coming with the police.
Good.
Go too long without killing
and the nightmares start, Dennis.
I can fix that.
If I kill me, I kill us.
How do you like
the dark place, Dennis?
Y-you said I'd be happy
for the rest of my life.
You're not alive
anymore, Dennis.
I am.
So we're all clear, right?
John Peterson?
Mildy Torres, Social Services,
with a court order relieving you
of your custodial responsibilities
to Dennis Peterson.
Looks like nobody's home.
Yeah, we don't have
a search warrant, so...
So stick to what's
in plain sight.
All right.
You smell that?
Retard stink.
No, it smells good.
Wait a minute, we're alone here, right?
Yeah, turkeys, chicken,
roast beef, it all takes a day.
All right, so I'm going up here,
you're gonna take the kitchen?
Just save me a piece, all right, Don?
- Yeah, right.
- I'm serious.
(thud)
Did you hear that?
You better fucking
save me a piece.
(static)
(freezer starts)
(gasps)
I don't recognize a soul.
It's worse than that. We haven't
recognized anyone all day.
Where is everyone?
I don't know. Must be
the flu or something.
Well, why would it only
target our friends?
Okay, so what's your guess?
Well, Dennis is holed up
in the basement
with instructions for
butchers and taxidermists.
It smells like Satan's
ass down here.
People are missing,
one's dead for sure...
Not everyone we know
is missing, okay?
Ha! There's Pete.
Pete from the bookstore.
Hey, Pete!
Pete!
Uh, hi, John, Lydia,
what's going on?
You're a little bit excited
and it's creeping me out, man.
It's just really good to see you.
Yeah, super to see you guys.
No, no.
You don't understand, man.
You're the first familiar face
we've seen all clay.
It's just really "Twilight Zone" -ish.
Okay.
Uh, oh, John, I've got Dennis
books on the tape here.
Yeah, this is definitely
Dennis's.
I've got Chuck's marked down
there with a different color.
Have Chuck's and Dennis' books
been getting messed up?
Yeah.
Thank God.
Yes, thank God. Parking
of the Red Sea was okay,
but I was not a believer until I
witnessed the bookstore fuck up.
- Have you seen any of Chuck's cassettes?
- Yeah?
Because I was a bit worried
they may be Dennis's.
Okay, yeah I got that.
He's been spending a lot
of time in the basement.
There's weird smells
coming out of there.
And stinking in the basement is okay
if you're reading the right books.
Exactly.
Well, there you have it.
- What? - Well, Dennis didn't
even buy the book, Chuck did.
Your point?
Your theory about Dennis no
longer has a leg to Stan on.
Well then, why do you lie
about him so much?
What are you hiding?
What?
Why are you lying?
I'm not lying.
We both know you're lying.
You really wanna know?
Dennis was a prodigy.
His IQ is not
traditionally measurable.
Taught himself arithmetic through long
division at age five, library books.
He was a hero in the papers
and still a hero to Dr. Preston.
He keeps a display case
of newspaper clippings,
essays, novellas, theories,
all about or by Dennis.
What happened?
I don't remember all of ll.
I was eight when he was six
and we got into a fight,
and I punched him, good punch,
knockout punch right to the jaw.
And he went tumbling
down the stairs.
He was only unconscious
for about an hour,
but, uh, when he came to,
he couldn't read.
He couldn't even tie
his own shoelaces.
Christ, I don't know.
I don't even know what
the fight was about.
You did this to him.
He was a genius?
Christ, I'd love
to get away with you.
Start a family,
have a normal life,
but I really do owe
every cent that I make,
every moment of my life to Dennis.
We're gonna have
to talk to Dennis.
About what?
He'll need to know how things
are going to change.
What's going to change?
For one, that house is going to be a
little more cramped with me living in it.
You could live with Dennis?
Well, it's not a dream come
true, but it is a family.
And that's more than I ever had.
Wait, wait, I'm sorry,
where are you going?
I'm gonna go get Dennis.
Get the birthday table
at Monsoon's.
He's gonna have a lot to digest.
A lot of complicated
grown-up issues
and pizza to digest.
So, how about them Dodgers?
I'm sorry, Pete.
I'm sorry to everyone, I seem
to have made a bit of a spectacle.
No, no, dude.
None oi us. Even noticed.
Let me just put Dennis' books
there on the edge of your table.
- You look a bit crazy, man.
- Yeah, I feel a bit weird.
You take anything, man?
Just prescription stuff.
Well, let's not jump to
conclusions and blame the drugs.
Anybody would freak when they found out
what Dennis has been reading about.
Well, I haven't yet found out what
Dennis has been reading about.
I know what Chuck's
been reading.
Oh yeah, now, that's creepy.
Why? What has Dennis
been reading?
Well, books on forensics
and taxidermy.
That's... that's Chuck.
No, that's Dennis.
It's an acquired taste.
Don't worry about that smell in
your basement, it's dead animals.
Taxi!
Pete, you gotta call the cops.
I don't want to.
Send them to my house.
There's a crime in progress.
Dennis!
(baby crying)
- Denn..
- (baby crying)
(crying continues)
Here's the knife, alakazam,
Gone. Boo!
(heavy breathing)
(power tool whirring)
(splashing, grinding)
(splattering, grinding)
Gesundheit.
(creaking)
Dennis?
Good evening.
Lydia?
Say hello to John.
Hello, John.
Lydia, you seem a little sad.
Is something wrong?
Yes, I feel all empty inside.
I'm a shell of my former self.
Why are you feeling that way?
I've demanded so much
of my brother's time
that he no longer has a life.
I can't care for myself,
so duty binds him to me.
And you feel guilty
because of that?
I took all the time he could
have focused on his own needs
and demanded he focus
on my needs.
I took his life away.
Oh, it can't be that bad.
What could be worse?
You could remove any hope
of his having a normal life.
How?
Well, you could push him down
the stairs and damage his brain.
Render him mentally incompetent.
What kind of a monster would
do that to his own family?
A spider.
What do spiders do?
They kill all their
family members.
That's not as bad as what I did.
And what you did isn't as bad
as damaging someone's brain.
Oh? Why not?
When you damage someone's brain
you darken their whole world.
Dennis.
Dennis, what are you doing?
Nothing remains familiar.
Family loses familiarity.
Dennis, get me out of the chair.
Imagine that.
Imagine what?
How it must feel to wander
about a town once familiar
only to meet fifth generation
copies of people you once knew.
How could someone
in that position cope?
He'd have to think
like a spider.
Dennis, Dennis, Dennis,
everything is gonna be fine.
A spider's so cold
and deceptive.
Oh, Christ.
Dennis. Dennis. Dennis! Dennis!
Let me out of the chair!
Dennis, God damn it!
Let me out of the chair!
Right now!
Everyone is.
Dennis, listen to me!
God damn it, Dennis,
let me out of the chair!
Let me tell you a story about
a worse deception still.
(door creaking)
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
And I pray the Lord forgive me,
but he cannot stay.
He takes attention I need
from my Mommy away.
He reminds me all the time
that I'm not him.
Forgive me, oh Lord,
but I'm about to sin.
These injuries could not have
happened in the fall.
Ah-ha!
The jealous older brother.
He's the victim of an attack.
I'll revive him, he'll talk.
Talk to me, boy.
Beautiful, beautiful boy.
God dammit, Dennis!
Get me out of this chair.
Foiled! No, not foiled,
just a setback.
We'll bring you back.
And your brother
will get his comeuppance.
Everyone is deceiving everyone.
We're not social animals,
it's a rogue world.
A spider world.
The itsy bitsy spider
crawled up the water spout
Down came the rain,
and washed the spider out.
(roaring)
Dennis! Let me out
of the chair!
Dennis!
Dennis!
(roaring)
(gasping)
(screaming)
(screaming)
The doctors tell me
if I received orders
to kill from the person
who made up my dreams
and the person I saw
in the mirror,
then I ordered myself to kill.
I am simply insane.
None of this is real,
but that isn't true.
I'm not in this hospital.
This isn't me.
I'm in this hospital,
this is me.
All I do now is hope, hope
that the cheap electric car
will come crashing
through the doors.
I'll be safely back
at the carnival.
and the scariest haunted
house in the world
will finally come to an end.
Woman: La, la, la,
la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
(music playing)