Original subtitles

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]

[CRICKETS CHIRPING]

[FATHER SIGHS]

[EXCLAIMING IN ANNOYANCE]

[UTENSILS CLATTERING]

Honey, it's family hour,

there must be something on.

DAUGHTER: Oh, wow, Candied Critters!

[FATHER EXCLAIMS]

Oh, Great. It's Monsters, our favorite show!

[MONSTROUS LAUGH]

Shh, it's starting.

[MONSTROUS LAUGH]

[FATHER CHUCKLES]

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

More covered.

Gee, kid. You look kinda cold.

Find him a blanket.

Go to hell. Let him freeze.

[SARCASTICALLY] Hey guys, don't feel like you've to be civilized.

I know you're under lots of pressure.

Wise guy.

I said, find him a blanket, please.

You have children, Dolan?

No, son.

How did I know that?

What now?

It's really very simply, Jeffrey.

The way I look at it, there are some people in the world with more money than they need,

like your father.

And there are some people with less, like Kirby and I.

We're just trying to equal things out a bit.

If your father meets our demands,

then he'll get his son back.

It's called "distribution of wealth."

It's called "kidnapping."

Hey Dolan, ain't no blankets.

There's some in the cellar.

And get some coal for the stove while you're down there.

Only got two hands.

Take the boy with you.

He's a bright boy. Goes to prep school.

Maybe he'll teach you a few things.

All right, kid.

It's time to make yourself useful.

[LAUGHING]

Go on.

What'd I tell you, kid, huh?

Come on. We can't afford to lose you.

Place is really funky, huh?

You've to chew out the butler.

See that? Huh?

KIRBY: Fill up that thing.

Come on!

Blankets...

Don't hear a shovel, kid.

Yes, sir. Great working with you, sir.

Shut up.

There ain't no blankets here.

Hey, tough guy. Where you going, tough guy?

You a tough guy, huh?

You wanna know something? I'm a tough guy, too.

Someone hurts me, I hurt them back. Harder.

I learned that in the slammer.

That was my prep school.

[JEFFREY SHOUTING] Go to hell!

You little!

[GROWLING]

KIRBY: Shoot it! Shoot it!

[GRUNTING]

What the hell is it?

DOLAN: Some kind of animal.

I never seen no animal like that before.

It's still alive.

And you thought you were tough.

[LOW MOANING]

Chain him up.

Oh, come on, you can't leave me down here with that... thing.

KIRBY: Wanna bet?

What if that thing gets loose?

A chance I'm willing to take.

You shouldn't have taken advantage of Mr. Kirby.

DOLAN: Leave your canteen.

In case he gets thirsty.

Tough luck, Jeffrey.

But look... Hey, I won't try anything. Please, just...

[WHIMPERING]

[WHIMPERING]

[MUSIC INTENSIFIES]

BEAST: You needn't be afraid.

It was you.

You talked.

I spoke to you with telepathy.

Forgive me for frightening you,

but touching helps create the link.

[GASPING]

Can I do anything?

No, I will not die until I choose to do so.

But when I am wounded, the healing is slow,

and painful.

Who are you?

Call me William. I am what you see.

But this...

This is what I shall be when I am healed.

And this, this is my human form.

Far out! Can you do that whenever you want?

It is the least of my powers, Jeff.

Many years ago, I met a man. A last of an ancient race.

Through him, I received a great legacy.

The power to change my shape from man to beast.

If you've got this "power" then what are you doing here?

I was shot trying to save a man.

I made my way to this solitary cabin to rest and regain my strength.

You picked the wrong place.

There are no right places when the world is full of guns

and the hearts of men are empty.

Look, all I'm saying, it's a great score.

[SHUSHING]

The thing can probably hear you.

Look, it's probably from a circus, or a museum or something.

And what do you suggest we do?

Carry it away on our backs?

It's probably worth a bundle.

All we got to do is figure out how to cash in.

Kirby, once we get the ransom, we're gone. History.

Besides, you know how I feel about witnesses.

WILLIAM: Tell me, Jeff,

you must be very lonely and afraid to be taken by such men.

Hey, I can handle it. I'm on my own a lot.

My parents don't get a ransom note, they may not notice I'm gone.

I see.

You said you were shot trying to save a man.

Who was he? A friend?

I hardly knew him. But I believe he was a good man.

You see, with my power comes a duty.

A solemn obligation to care for human kind.

Preserving the good, destroying the evil.

And what do you get for the hassle?

I mean... Jeff,

when I was given the power, I knew my life would be hard.

But each of us must decide his path.

Some give to the world. Others only take from it.

This is K-6-0-7-1-M calling Mcgregor enterprises. Over.

Hello, this is Harris. Over.

Has your employer followed my instructions precisely?

Yes, Mr. Mcgregor has his company plane fueled. They're on the runway.

It'll take off as soon as the money arrives.

But let me speak to the boy.

Kirby, get him.

Remember, no sequential serial numbers on the bills.

And no secret markings.

We can check for markings.

I know. You told me all that before.

WILLIAM: I expected no reward.

[GROWLING]

You're on, kid.

KIRBY: Cool it, freak.

WILLIAM: Go with him. Don't resist.

Go on, Jeff. Talk to Mr. Harris.

Hi, Harris. HARRIS: Jeff?

Jeff, are you all right? I'm okay, I guess.

When you'll find... [MUFFLED]

Sorry about this. You'll be hearing from us again before morning.

Stay on this frequency.

Let him go.

Are you kidding?

If he'd have managed to tell that guy where we were, that'd have been it.

My hand was off the switch.

Jeffrey, I'd have had you stay up here,

but since you still insist on misbehaving,

I'm afraid you're gonna have to go back downstairs.

You're the boss, aren't you.

I knew you were a bright boy.

KIRBY: Pleasant dreams, Jeffrey.

[DOOR CLOSES]

My dad's paying the money. I should be out of here by morning.

WILLIAM: I see.

Hey, your eye looks better.

The power greatly accelerates the healing process.

The deeper wounds will take longer.

Look, don't worry. Once I'm home, I'll tell them about you.

I won't leave you here like this.

Thank you... It's unnecessary.

William, how did you get the power?

Why did the old man choose you?

I often wonder. He never told me.

That was some 200 years ago.

200 years!

Strange... It doesn't seem so long.

I was taken prisoner in a skirmish near Yorktown.

Do you know what they did with the Yankee prisoners back then?

Shot them? Nothing so kind.

We were packed by the hundreds in the holds of merchant ships,

anchored at New York harbor.

Every morning they would pass down food and water and we would pass up the dead.

And as it turned out, I happened to possess some desired information.

They offered me a bargain.

The hiding place of a certain Pennsylvanian gentleman for my freedom.

For my life, really.

We all knew that the prison ships were a death sentence.

I told them I'd rather die.

And that my ghost would haunt good King George's bed chamber

and dance a jig on his royal backside every night.

Who was the gentleman?

No one famous.

Just a friend of the revolution.

The old man was there in the hold.

He'd lived a long time.

The power was the only thing keeping him alive.

Yet he gave it to me.

I suppose he thought I was worthy.

[RADIO BUZZING]

HARRIS: Hello? The money's here.

A million in small bills, like you said.

HARRIS: Over. Good.

You will instruct the pilot to drop the package by parachute

at these coordinates.

0O44 South by 9608 West.

HARRIS: When do we get the boy?

When we have the money in our safe, I'll radio his location to you.

Tell Mr. Mcgregor...

that is was a pleasure doing business with him.

That's it...

That's is? They're gonna do it.

[BOTH LAUGHING]

[FLOORBOARD CREAKING]

[MUSIC INTENSIFIES]

What, are you spying now, kid?

Let me go!

Let him go, Kirby.

What does it matter? We do it now or do it later... Kirby...

if I can't rely on you, I don't see how we can continue to work together.

What is he gonna do to me?

Jeffrey, go back downstairs.

There's nothing to worry about. We're all friends here.

You're perfectly safe.

William, can you use your powers to find out what they're planning to do?

Thinks he's so damn smart.

He'll see what smart is when he's got five inches of steel between his ribs

and I feed him to that thing in the basement.

Hey Dolan, what say we waste him now, huh?

Stick to the plan, Kirby.

Let them die in the fire.

And you along with them.

WILLIAM: They're planning to kill us, Jeff.

No...

If I can find some wire or chains...

yes, chains, I'll spring them across the stairs.

Then, when they come down, I'll trip them.

Please, please help me.

I cannot. I cannot break these chains.

Change into a man. Then you can wiggle out and turn back...

Jeff, I have a dozen bullets in me.

If I were to change into a man, those wounds would be fatal.

Then what good are you!

You're talking about giving and taking and being worthy and all that.

But when I need you, you can't do anything.

You're supposed to be some kind of hero.

Shot up, beaten up, chained up, you can't even help yourself.

[SOBBING]

Why should it be me?

I never hurt anybody. It's not fair!

It never is.

I'm sorry, William. I'm sorry.

I'm so scared. I'm going to die.

William, do you believe in life after death?

Yes.

Maybe I'll come back and dance a jig on Dolan's backside every night.

Jeff,

there may yet be a way for you to save your life.

How? I'll do anything!

I have a power which I've seldom used.

I can transfer your mind into the body of another boy.

A boy living far from this place.

So, I become him?

And what happens to his mind?

It enters your body, here.

So he'd die in my place?

How can I do that?

How can I?

Then I'd be just as bad as those two upstairs.

I'd be a murderer, too.

William, I want to live... but not like that.

I can't.

I can't.

Jeff, I have a parting gift to give you.

I don't need anything.

I give you...

the power.

They brought the money. I can see the parachute.

Yeah? Where's it coming down?

DOLAN: Just over the second hill.

[MUSIC INTENSIFIES]

I told you, Kirby... no witnesses.

Jeffrey...

It's all right, Jeffrey. I've come to take you home.

[GRUNTS]

Please don't kill me.

I'll never hurt you again, I promise.

Jeff!

[GRUNTING]

[STRUGGLING] You... have done well.

There was no other boy.

JEFFREY: William!

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]