New Jersey, 1961. Alice Spages (Paula E. Sheppard), a troubled 12-year-old girl, lives with her mother, Catherine (Linda Miller), and younger sister Karen (Brooke Shields). Divorced from Catherine, their father Dominic (Niles McMaster) has recently remarried. Residing in a modest apartment, their lives revolve around their Catholic parish, with the sisters attending a nearby school. The students wear distinctive yellow rain slickers, and as Karen prepares for her first Holy Communion, Alice's jealousy surfaces. The intricate emotions within the household unfold, revealing Alice's significant emotional struggles.
In a chilling opening scene, the family visits Father Tom (Rudolph Willrich) at the rectory to discuss Karen's big day. Alice, wearing a strange translucent mask, frightens the rectory’s housekeeper Mrs. Tredoni (Mildred Clinton) and torments Karen by stealing her doll and dragging her into an abandoned building. Within those eerie walls, Alice terrifies her sister, locking her away and threatening to keep the doll forever if she breathes a word of it to Catherine. In a mundane moment of sibling rivalry, Alice models Karen's communion veil, much to her sister's dismay, prompting their mother to intervene.
The situation escalates tragically on the day of Karen's communion. As the family and parishioners await the children's entrance, panic strikes when Annie (Jane Lowry), Catherine's younger sister, realizes Alice is missing. Just as the girls don their pristine white dresses, the malevolent figure in a yellow rain slicker—wearing Alice's ominous mask—attacks Karen. The scene crescendos into horror as the figure strangles her and hides her lifeless body in a hollow bench, which is then set ablaze. Before the fire consumes the evidence, the killer violently snatches the small cross from around Karen's neck. As the reality sinks in, Alice appears among the untouched girls, donning Karen's veil, igniting outrage from Annie, who urges Catherine to act quickly. The chilling revelation of Karen's death soon ignites chaos in the congregation, leading to Alice slipping the veil into her pocket, a sinister symbol of her deceit.
In the aftermath of Karen's funeral, as grief envelops the family, Annie's intrusive presence stirs resentment in Alice, who yearns for her mother’s undivided attention. Amid escalating accusations of Alice's involvement in the murder, the family struggles with their trauma. Alice's erratic behavior raises suspicions, especially when confronting the grotesque landlord Mr. Alphonso (Alphonso DeNoble), whose insinuations about Alice's connection to Karen's death intensify the unease. The disturbing suggestion that Alice may have a dark shrine in the basement, where she hoards odd trinkets, including her sister's doll, complicates matters further.
As the detectives continue probing into Karen's murder, Alice's deeper psychological issues surface during her questioning. Despite her refusal to admit guilt, her responses hint at delusions, leading to a mandated evaluation at Sara Reed Children's Hospital. The harrowing diagnosis hints at dangerous inclinations, sending ripples of panic through Catherine and Dominic, who still cling to the hope that Alice is innocent.
The tension reaches a boiling point when Annie suffers a vicious attack from a masked assailant, leading to heightened anxiety regarding Alice’s innocence. As she seeks refuge in her shrine, where her bizarre collection grows, the mystery of her mental state remains ominous. The investigation takes a dark turn, revealing depths of paranoia and dread as Dominic finds himself in the crosshairs of a frenzied Mother Tredoni, who harbors a twisted love for her deceased daughter, with a deadly rage targeting those she blames.
The plot thickens as deadly confrontations escalate, culminating in a shocking revelation in the church, where secrets unravel violently. In a grotesque climax, Tredoni attempts to eliminate Catherine in a fit of madness, committing acts of violence in the name of tragic obsession. As chaos reigns and police confront the masked threat, Alice remains ominous, suggesting that the cycle of violence may continue with her at the helm. The film concludes with chilling implications of what lies ahead for Alice, hinting that she might follow in Tredoni’s murderous footsteps, leaving audiences haunted and disturbed by the tale of fragile innocence overshadowed by dark perversion.
