A Night to Dismember

The Kent family is haunted from the start by a supposed curse as Bonnie Kent is found hacked to death with an axe by her sister Susan. After the murder, Susan slips in the bathroom and falls on the weapon, killing herself. This violent act marks the beginning of a family saga built on blood and tragedy at Woodmire Lake.

Lola Kent is discovered murdered in her bathtub, shattering any denial of the curse. Broderick Kent initially denies involvement but soon confesses to the killing. He hangs himself soon after, sealing a grim chapter in the family history.

Vicki Kent commits the murders of two neighborhood boys, an act that shocks the community and the family. As punishment and concern for her safety, she is sent away to an asylum. The crimes set the foundation for her long, troubled arc.

Six years later, Vicki is released from the asylum, returning to a home that is wary of her. Her release is met with strong opposition from her siblings, who want her recommitted. The family atmosphere grows increasingly tense and unstable.

Vicki comes back to Woodmire Lake, and her parents Adam and Blanche struggle to help her assimilate back into normal life. The atmosphere at home remains oppressive as old suspicions resurface. The family dynamics become a powder keg waiting to explode.

Vicki attempts to rekindle a romance with Frankie, but an unseen assailant murderously interrupts a sexual tryst. Frankie is decapitated, and his head is burned in the fireplace, underscoring the brutal reach of the curse. The crime shocks everyone connected to Vicki.

Vicki's attempt to see her uncle Sebastian and Aunt Ann ends in rejection as Bea is staying with them. The next morning, Sebastian is murdered with a hatchet and Ann is run over by a car in the family's circle of kin. Bea is later decapitated inside the house with her head stored away in a cupboard.

The killer pursues Bea inside the house and decapitates her, then wraps the head in a cloth and stores it in a cupboard. The chilling aftermath amplifies the horror surrounding the Kent family. The room becomes a shrine to the brutal acts that followed the initial murders.

While reflecting by the lake, Vicki is chased by a zombie-like male figure emerging from the water. It is later revealed that this figure is Billy trying to scare her, a disturbing prank that foreshadows deeper family violence. The lake scene heightens the sense of an inescapable legacy of murder.

Vicki tries to manipulate Tim O'Malley, a detective investigating the recent murders, by performing a striptease. She also hallucinates a sexual encounter with him, blurring the line between reality and madness. The moment underscores her psychological collapse and the danger she represents.

As the house plunges into darkness, Adam goes to the main breaker and is stabbed to death with an ice pick by an unseen assailant. Moments later, Blanche is brutally murdered in her bed, heightening the night's terror. The electricity outage intensifies the sense that help is absent while danger closes in.

Billy discovers his parents' bodies and flees the house, only to be killed by Mary with a rock. Mary later retreats to the basement, hearing disembodied voices that seem to beckon her deeper into madness. This sequence marks a turning point toward the revelation of true guilt.

O'Malley arrives, finds the carnage, and pursues Vicki through the house. He overpowers her and strangles her to death, ending her direct involvement in the terror. In a voiceover, he recounts diaries from each family member that reveal Mary committed all the murders Vicki had been accused of, including the two boys.

Mary departs Woodmire Lake in a taxi, and in a final act of violence, murders the taxi driver with a hatchet. The true killer's identity is confirmed as the diary revelations settle over the family’s dark legacy. The ending leaves Mary free, but culpable for a litany of crimes.