Happy Hell Night

On Halloween night in 1965, Zachary Malius murders seven fraternity pledges who violated his family's crypt. Father Cane confronts him, believing Malius may be possessed, and Malius is subsequently incarcerated in an insane asylum. Henry Collins, one of the pledges, survives and carries the memory of the night.

In 1991, during pledge week, Eric Collins is urged by Ned to have new pledges infiltrate the local asylum and photograph Malius as part of an initiation ritual. Eric discusses the idea with his father, Henry, who cuts the call short, signaling a dangerous family connection to Malius's past. The plan sets the stage for a deadly ritual centered on Malius's captivity.

Sonny and Ralph break into the asylum and locate Malius's cell in the basement. Ralph attempts to photograph him, but Malius attacks and kills him. Sonny escapes on his motorcycle as Malius murders a nurse orderly and slips away.

Liz, Eric's girlfriend, arrives at the party with Susan and tries to apologize, but Eric rebuffs her. Ned inadvertently reveals Sonny's initiation assignment, heightening the danger. She goes to the local church to seek guidance from Father Cane, who panics and urges her to go into hiding.

As the party continues, Malius targets attendees, including a Kappa Sigma sorority sister who leaves in her car after Eric can't find a condom. He drives an ice axe through her head, beginning a bloody rampage inside and around the house. He then continues to stalk and kill several partygoers.

Henry Collins arrives in town and goes to the church, where he discovers Father Cane's body hanging in a cruciform pose above the altar. The gruesome sight confirms the connection between Malius's killings and an old pact. He confronts the growing terror tied to his family's past.

Liz returns to the fraternity house to find it seemingly empty and soon uncovers multiple corpses scattered throughout. She is confronted by Malius but manages to evade him and escape the house alive. The night deepens as the hunt continues.

Eric, Sonny, and Liz join Ned, who monitors the house via closed-circuit cameras. They locate Susan, who has been decapitated in the attic, signaling Malius's reach and the escalating danger inside the building. The trio pieces together the layout of the house for their next move.

Malius stalks the trio through the house until Eric shoots him with a speargun, sending the killer tumbling out of a window. The immediate threat seems to be reduced, but Malius is not finished. The survivors brace for what comes next as the night presses on.

Moments later, Henry arrives and confesses that he and Malius conspired in 1963 to recreate a Satanic ritual to gain power and wealth. Malius ignores the confession and murders Henry, impaling him with the ice axe through the door. The revelation ties the present terror to the past and raises the stakes for the survivors.

Eric and Liz discover a Latin book in Henry's satchel detailing the ritual they performed years earlier. They hurry to the cemetery to perform the same rite inside Malius's crypt, hoping to break the cycle and end the terror once and for all. The discovery reframes their mission as a last-ditch attempt at salvation.

Malius arrives at the cemetery as Eric and Liz begin the rite; he stabs Eric through the chin, but Sonny arrives just in time to aid the ritual. The trio completes the ritual, but Malius drags Sonny down to hell, thwarting their efforts to seal him away.

Police arrive at the cemetery and Liz leaves with Eric in an ambulance. The ambulance driver reveals himself to be Malius, suggesting the curse has one last trick up his sleeve. The ending implies the evil may endure beyond the grave and continues to threaten the living.