Head of the Family

Loretta, the wife of Howard the town thug, starts an affair with Lance, setting off a chain of tension in town. The relationship complicates loyalties and deepens the rift between the couple and their enemies. Howard remains largely oblivious at first, while Loretta's secret life lurks behind the scenes.

During a late-night drive, Lance sees the Stackpools dragging a man from his truck and into their house. The shocking sight unsettles him and raises questions about what is really going on in that family. He resolves to dig deeper into the strange occurrences surrounding the Stackpools.

Lance uncovers that the Stackpools are not a conventional family but quadruplets with extraordinary abilities. Each sibling possesses a single extreme trait: strength, senses, beauty, and intellect. The true power in the family lies with Myron, the intelligent head who directs them all.

Myron, a giant head with hands in a wheelchair, psychically controls his siblings and rules the household. He seeks even greater power and a normal body to house his superior intellect. The siblings follow his commands, making the Stackpools a dangerous unit.

Driven by ambition, Myron orders experiments on the brains of idiotic locals to create a body suitable for his intellect. The plan reveals his cold, calculating ruthlessness. The family becomes a factory of eerie scientific ambition.

Lance leverages the Stackpools' secret to force them into killing Howard. He also demands $2,000 a week in cash as payment for his silence. The arrangement drags the entire town deeper into a web of crime and manipulation.

Growing tired of Lance's blackmail, Myron seizes Lance and Loretta to ensure the secret cannot be exposed. The capture tightens Myron's grip and isolates the two from any outside help. The stakes for Loretta grow as she becomes a bargaining chip.

To coerce Lance into paying, Loretta is forced into a mock Joan of Arc trial in the basement, complete with a burning at the stake. The macabre setup heightens the danger and demonstrates how far Myron will go to maintain power. Otis becomes aware that Loretta is in danger.

Otis Stackpool intervenes, carrying Loretta away rather than letting her be harmed. He then torches the Stackpool house to erase the evidence of the secret. The rescue removes Loretta from immediate danger, but binds her fate more tightly to Otis.

With the Stackpools and Lance eliminated, Loretta realizes Otis is the rightful heir to the family fortunes. She marries him and becomes Loretta Stackpool, inheriting control of the oil and coal wealth and other assets. Their marriage consolidates power and wealth within the Stackpool line.

The combined deaths of Lance and the Stackpools erase the immediate threat to Loretta's new position. The town's insider power structure collapses, and Loretta's authority within the family rises unchallenged. The void left by their removal sets the stage for Otis to rule.

The finale hints that Myron never fully dies. Though outwardly defeated, he is still alive and appears to manipulate Otis from behind the scenes. The eerie implication suggests the intelligent head's influence will persist, leaving the door open for his return.