REGGIE: Where he came from, nobody knows.
His evil spread like a plague...
...destroying towns...
...maiming and killing.
We called him The Tall Man.
At first we thought he was just an undertaker.
His hordes pillaged graveyards, rooted up the bodies...
...and spirited off the dead to a place worse than hell.
We were just three friends.
Jody was taken from us, turned by The Tall Man into an alien form.
His younger brother Mike, I've tried to protect as he's grown.
The Tall Man wants to transform him into one of his kind.
My name is Reggie. I was an ice-cream vendor by trade.
Now... I'm a soldier...
...a soldier in a war...
...against his army of the living dead.
On his own, Mike fled into the wastelands...
...trying to escape the transformation that was taking place inside him.
His only hope was to somehow uncover the mysteries of The Tall Man.
As for me, I was left deep in the catacombs of The Tall Man's lair.
Mike left me hanging.
Small man...
...your end approaches but it is not yet.
Take great care how you play.
The final game now begins.
MIKE: Reggie...
...I've been moving southeast for three days now.
I know he's behind me somewhere.
Don't try to come after me.
There's very little left alive out here anymore.
The towns have all been abandoned.
Do you remember our old town?
That last perfect day before he came?
It was the very next day that he arrived.
I remember, Reggie.
I was with my brother.
(BARKING)
(THUMPING AND YELPING)
Where are you, brother?
What's become of you?
Jody died in a car wreck.
(HORN BLASTS)
(GASPS)
(CACKLES)
- Hey, Reg. - Goddamn it.
Not you again.
Why don't you just get the hell away from me, man? I'm done with you.
That's a fine, "How ya been?", Reg.
If you think I'm going to help you find your brother Mike, you're wrong...
...dead wrong.
You're his only friend. He can't make it without you.
I wish things had been different...
...but they're not.
No. Forget it. I'm done with that shit.
And besides, I thought you said you were going to stay in touch later.
Like, later being the operative word here.
Well, as it turns out, we need you sooner.
I'm going after Mike now...
...but I know for sure that we're going to need some backup...
...from somebody he trusts.
Not me. Besides, I wouldn't know where to look.
You just keep driving, you know, southwest a few hundred miles...
...and it'll become pretty obvious.
No thanks, Jody.
Not to mention the damage to my car. I mean...
...the convertible roof, the tires all messed up.
And look at what that zombie bitch put to my lacquer paint job.
Goddamn it.
Well...
I guess I know where I'm going, huh?
(GASPS)
No.
Yes, boy.
The coach will drive itself.
(RADIO CRACKLES)
God damn you to hell.
Not possible.
- Where are you taking me? - Where you belong.
This experience may seem strange to you...
...this evolution, as you prepare for passage.
I still have a friend. He'll follow and find me.
You have no one... but me.
(SIREN)
Son of a bitch.
Just what I need.
Now I've got to deal with a fucking cop.
Shit.
License and registration.
(RADIO CRACKLES)
(SOFT THUMPING)
The hell...
(MUFFLED MOANS)
(SHIVERS) Don't kill me.
Don't kill me.
(GASPS)
(GROWLS)
(SPLATTER)
Fuck you! (CHUCKLES)
Come on.
(GROWLING)
Blow me.
Huh?
(GROANS)
Oh, no.
(SQUELCHING)
(GROANS)
Wow.
Some cops can be real assholes.
(GROANS)
(SHUFFLING)
MIKE: Reggie...
...I don't yet know why he's brought me here.
It feels like I'm at ground zero of his experiment.
There is one escape from him, though.
And I've got a plan.
When the sun comes up, I'm going to force him out.
See if I can't take him down with me.
(DISTANT EERIE CRIES)
(ECHOING CANNON FIRE)
(MOANS SOFTLY)
Let me release you from this imperfect flesh...
...that ties you to time and space.
All that is unknown will be known to you once more.
(WHIRRING)
(GROANS)
(BOOMING OF CANNONS AND RATTLE OF RIFLE FIRE)
(MEN SHOUTING)
- (SQUELCHING) - (MUFFLED GROANS)
(MUFFLED SCREAMS)
(BOOM OF CANNON FIRE FADES)
(DISTANT ELECTRONIC HUMMING)
(ELECTRONIC HUM)
(ENGAGED TONE)
(DISTANT CAWING OF CROWS)
THE TALL MAN: Where do you think you're going, boy?
Death is no escape from me.
(GROANS)
(CROWS CAWING)
(GHOSTLY WHISPERING) Cut me down, boy.
Cut me down.
Cut me down. (ECHOES)
Boy.
Cut me down, boy!
- No! - Cut me down!
No!
I won't hurt you.
You're killing the world.
I'll go away...
...and I won't ever come back.
You will?
Yes.
Boy!
(CROWS CAWING)
(GROANS)
I've been waiting for you...
...for a very long time.
And no, you may not take your own life.
That is my domain, exclusively.
Come, boy.
We have things to do.
Careful what you look for.
You just might find it.
(ELECTRONIC HUMMING, MACHINERY CLANKING)
(DISTANT HORSE NEIGHING)
Can I assist you?
Have we met?
I don't believe so.
Have you traveled far?
Wouldn't you like to sit down? But let me offer you some lemonade.
We don't receive many visitors and your clothes are different.
You don't look like you're from around here.
Did you make passage through the dimensional fork?
You're him, right?
Jebediah. Jebediah Morningside.
I've been waiting for someone, someone like you.
Jebediah.
Please, don't leave. There's so much you can tell us.
Things we need desperately to know.
(CACKLES)
(ELECTRONIC HUMMING)
(TIRES SCREECH)
Oh, man.
Jesus Christ.
God.
WOMAN: Help me! Help me! Help me get out of here!
Oh! Help me, please!
Help me. Please, God, please.
Get me out! Get me out! Help me, please!
Hurry!
- Let me out! Get me out of here! - Get back! Cover your eyes!
- Help me. Get me out. - Give me your hand.
(WOMAN GROANS)
We gotta move away from the car before the gas tank blows.
(GROANS)
Wait. I thought cars only blew up like that in the movies.
Yeah. Me too.
JODY: Hey, brother.
I was wondering when you'd show up.
- You can't stay here. - I don't see many options.
- What's wrong? Can't you fix it? - I'm not trying to. I've got other plans.
Hey, what are you anyway?
I thought you were my brother.
Reggie said you died in that car wreck.
No. That was a lie.
But I remember the funeral.
Mom and Dad.
Seemed so real.
So what is it with you, brother?
Are you alive or are you dead?
You know, Reggie, I can count on.
Reggie's always been there for me.
But you...
...you I can't trust.
WOMAN: My clothes, my money...
...my car.
My name's Jennifer, by the way.
Thanks for pulling my ass out of the fire.
I'm Reggie.
All right, it's getting dark. Hop in. I'll give you a lift to the next town.
You can't imagine what I went through to get back here.
Let me guess. Seeing is easy. Understanding takes a little more time.
Right?
I didn't abandon you, Mike. I was taken.
(THUNDER)
(DISTANT THUNDER)
(ELECTRONIC HUMMING)
(LOUD HUMMING)
Well... this looks affordable.
You've gotta be kidding.
Jen...
I can call you Jen, right?
Look, Jen, I've been on the road for, uh... 16 hours straight.
One more minute and it could get ugly.
Now, I've got a couple of sleeping bags in the trunk...
...and we can just camp out here till dawn.
At least it'll get us in out of the wind, okay?
And then I'll take you to the next town.
Okay, I'll take you to the next inhabited town.
All right.
(DOOR CREAKS)
JENNIFER: This place reminds me of a club I used to dance in.
Hey, wait a minute.
Look. We've got 24-hour room service, huh?
And, uh... and look over here.
Our media center boasts 49 satellite stations.
Uh, how about this? Look. You just... you dial three...
...and you've got the health club and spa.
- Hello? - (CHUCKLES)
Well, it's not exactly the honeymoon suite.
But then again this isn't a honeymoon. Is it?
(WIND WHISTLES)
So you're telling me there's some Tall Man...
...clearing out entire towns and he's got your friend.
Yup.
I've been tracking him for years.
He's one tough hombre too.
He's got these little dwarf critters.
And he, uh... shrinks them down from...
What?
Well, yeah.
Haven't you wondered why you haven't seen anyone all day?
Can't you feel the stillness in the air?
The Tall Man's real. And...
...and...
...and, uh...
...I think he wants nothing better than to populate our world with the undead.
No way.
In your dreams, Reggie.
If you only knew.
Nightmares aren't real, you know, and neither is your Tall Man.
Give me one of your shirts, will you? Mine's too rank to sleep in.
Yeah, sure.
I think I've got a spare here somewhere.
You know, you really shouldn't dismiss The Tall Man as just some ghost story.
If you've seen some of the stuff I've seen...
...you wouldn't be able to deny the evidence that's right in front of your... face.
Thanks.
Believe what you want.
But I'm telling you I've seen him.
I've lost friends to him.
Lady, I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but I can tell you this...
...that old bastard's going down.
I don't give a damn what fucking planet or dimension he's from.
His balls are mine.
Reggie.
You sound so demented.
Yeah. I guess I do.
So, anyway...
I like you, Reg.
And that was a great story.
But I make it a policy...
...never to get personal with someone who has more problems than I do.
Yeah, but I don't...
Sweet dreams.
(MUTTERS)
(CHILD LAUGHING)
Mike!
(SQUELCHING)
Far out.
(GASPS)
You want to get it on, Reggie?
Oh, no. No!
(PANTS AND GROANS)
(YELLS)
Thought you had me, son of a bitch?
- (SCREAMS) - (WHIRRING)
- (SCREAMS) - (SQUELCHING)
(SCREAMS)
(NOTE RINGS OUT)
(GROANS)
Wait! We're not done yet!
(SNARLS)
Sorry, baby, but yes, we are.
(THUMPING AND SQUELCHING)
MIKE: Dear Reggie...
...today I was able to conjure one of his dimensional forks
...and discovered something astonishing.
In another time, I believe I met him before he turned evil.
If only I could return there and somehow change things.
We know that he can't be killed...
...but could he be stopped from ever existing?
(ELECTRONIC HUMMING)
THE TALL MAN: You go where I want you to go, boy.
Hey!
You found me. He's right behind me. He's coming.
- There's a way out. - What is this place?
You mean when.
We can't stay here. There's a risk of infection.
Oh, yeah.
Mike?
(GROANS)
(METALLIC CLICK OF MACHINERY)
(METALLIC CLICKING)
(CLICKING AND WHIRRING)
(SNIFFS)
(GHOSTLY GUNSHOT)
He'll be coming for you soon.
(GUNSHOT ECHOES)
It's Reggie.
(ROARING)
Always sneaking round.
Yeah, I'm getting really good at killing you little motherfuckers.
Mike.
(LAUGHING) Mike.
Hey, Mike, I found you guys.
- Hey, Jody. - Reg.
(WHISPERS) Don't trust him, Reggie.
Stay here. There's something I need to do.
I need to go back to the beginning. Back where it all started.
Let's go.
(WIND WHISTLES)
JODY: This is the night, Mike.
The night when it all started.
As undertaker...
...he bore witness to the stark passage from life to death.
But the more he put in the grave, the more questions he had.
He came to the conclusion that the answers were before him.
Hidden in subjects as simple as shifting phases...
...vibration, warmth and cold.
It became his life's work, his passion...
...to learn the craft, find the rift...
...and make his way through that passage.
This is the hour.
The time has come.
(MACHINERY CLUNKING)
You can't affect him.
We're not in the same dimension.
When's he coming back?
Jebediah Morningside never does come back.
And so it begins.
JODY: Mike?
Over here.
I knew you'd find me here.
What's happening, brother?
(WHIRRING)
(SQUELCHING)
Just had to be sure...
...before I killed my own brother.
Or what's left of him.
I won't be like you.
(FOOTSTEPS ECHO)
- Now, this won't hurt a bit. - (CLICKING, WHIRRING)
Well, maybe just a little bit.
(SCREAMING)
(NOTE RINGS OUT)
(SCREAMING)
(NOTE RINGS OUT)
I died...
I died in the car, Mike.
- Reg. - Mike.
Jody's dead.
You don't have another one of those tuning forks, do you?
He's coming for me.
He's going to rip open my skull and there's nothing I can do about it.
It'll be okay, pal. Here, just stand behind me.
The Cuda's stashed a mile away.
Once we get to that bitch, nothing can stop us.
Anything that tries is going to get a hot introduction to my four friends here.
Thanks for standing with me, Reg.
Don't mention it.
Oh, shit.
(GUN CLICKS)
What do you want?
Ice cream man, it's all in his head.
(YELLS)
It's time now, boy.
Yes...
...it is.
A toy.
Mike!
(GROANING)
(GHOSTLY GROANING)
No.
(SQUELCHING)
(SCREAMING)
(MIKE GROANS)
Mike? Mike?
You're still alive.
I'm dying, Reg.
No, don't let go.
I'll be coming right back for you.
REGGIE: (ECHOES) Mike! Mike!
You're still alive.
- Hey, howdy, partner. - Hi.
MIKE: I'm dying, Reg.
Hey, did you hear something?
It's just the wind.