James Keech

James Keech, or just known in his adult years merely by his last name Keech, is the main antagonist of the 2011 straight-to-DVD science-fiction thriller Ticking Clock. He was portrayed by Neal McDonough who also played Jon Forster. Austin Abrams plays Keech as a child.

Keech, a time traveling murderer from the year 2032, has lived a life of tragedy and abuse. Born in 2000, Keech was raised by an abusive and alcoholic mother and had an illegitimate father. In every timeline, the young James, despite however and whoever raised him, had always wanted to be an inventor and create a time machine to fix the bad things that happened in his life, things that caused him to begin to dissect and kill small animals like frogs and rats, and later humans in his modus operandi in his adult years. By age 32, Keech, who in the original timeline was raised by his mother, finally perfected a time watch, and travelled back to 2000 where he killed his abusive mother in the intro of the film, before holding his infant self in his arms and telling him she can't hurt him anymore.

However, even as the timeline changed, Keech still had an abusive childhood, moving through foster homes, so he kept traveling to the past up until 2011 to keep killing his abusers or people who (even those who unwittingly) put him through circumstances that caused the abuse. He goes back to April 17, 2011, where he kills district attorney Felicia Carson, who at this time was working young James' case. Felicia's boyfriend, the film's protagonist Lewis Hicks (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), spots Keech after the murder and finds his journal, learning that two more murders will happen in the next 72 hours. Lewis, an investigative reporter, learns the next victim is teacher Vicki Ihling, who had recently reported a young James for abusing a stray cat and thus had him sent to a new boys home. Keech begins to pretend to flirt with Vicki at a bar who becomes disturbed that Keech somehow knows about the incident; he kills her in the bar bathroom and leaves before Lewis can catch him.

Discovering a fingerprint, Lewis learns it belongs to 11 year old orphan James Keech; also found is a piece of coat fabric that reacts to heat, something not yet invented. Lewis meets the young James who is in the orphanage after being returned by many foster families. After Lewis befriends him, James shows him his private collection of small dead animals which shocks the former. James then tells Polly, the orphanage director, that Lewis tried molesting him, but Polly does not believe it. Lewis, who doesn't tell Polly of the collection, leaves, and is arrested for the murders after finding out that Polly is the next victim.

The older Keech, pretending to be Lewis' lawyer, that he is indeed James from the future who came back to fix his life, and after showing demonstrations with the time watch, the two are transported to the boys home where Polly is tied up on the roof. Keech demands that Lewis brings his younger self to the roof or else he will kill Polly. Lewis tries to kill young James to set the timeline right but he can't bring himself to. The younger James, coming out of hiding after Lewis told him to hide, confronts his older self, who says to James that Polly, despite her being the nicest person to him, will discover the "private zoo" and send him to a mental hospital where more abuse will continue.

During a fight with Lewis, young James is accidentally knocked off the roof by Keech, and as James dies, Keech screams and vanishes. With the timeline completely changed now that Keech never came to the past, Lewis passes by James' mother's house and sees the 11 year old James alive, and presumably no longer having murderous tendencies, taking out the trash.