Deadbeat at Dawn

Goose, Jim Van Bebber, is the charismatic yet ruthless leader of Dayton’s Ravens, a street gang locked in a brutal feud with the Spiders, who are led by the sadistic goon Paul Harper who portrays Danny. Goose thrives on the thrill of the criminal life, but his world begins to derail when his girlfriend, Christie, threatens to leave, pushing him to quit the Ravens. To fund a fresh start with Christie, he agrees to one last drug deal, hoping to secure money for a new life.

While he’s away, two Spiders break into Goose’s apartment and kill Christie. When Goose discovers her body, he channels his grief into a brutal act of practicality, feeding her corpse to a trash compactor, then moving in with his Vietnam veteran junkie father, Dad. He ends the night by getting drunk at a bar.

The Ravens organize a hit and recruit Goose for a payoff: steal $100,000 from the federal government. They plan to meet at a place where no one is armed to keep the deal safe, and Goose secretly arms himself, unaware that the Spiders have laid a trap. The raid goes wrong for the Ravens; they are killed, but Goose narrowly escapes with the money, phoning Christie’s sister to arrange a meetup near a freight train station, lying that Christie is alive.

As he makes his way toward the meeting point, he is spotted by a Spider. He waits for Christie’s sister to arrive, only to fall asleep; when he wakes, a tense confrontation erupts. The fight spills into the streets, Christie’s sister arrives with danger looming, and Goose fights off and kills one of her assailants but is mortally wounded in the process, stabbed repeatedly in the kidney and bleeding heavily. He finally hands the money to Christie’s sister and reveals that Christie is dead, urging her to run. He walks away into a bustling street as sirens rise in the background, the night closing on his exhausted, collapsing figure.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:24