Richard Nixon is central to the film’s eerie thread, opening with a late-night prank that quickly turns deadly: a young man, trying to scare his girlfriend, wears a Nixon mask and is murdered by a masked killer who steals the disguise and then kills the girlfriend. The menace behind the mask lingers as a chilling omen throughout the story.
In Los Angeles, three university students—Louise Kingsley, Michael Simpson, and Sally Smith—are assigned to a research project about Frederick Bartholomew, a German expatriate once connected to the V-2 rocket program. Bartholomew is rumored to have been responsible for deadly work in Littletown before vanishing, and whispers suggest he may have harbored Nazi ties. The project pulls them into a network of curiosities and danger that will test their nerves and loyalty.
Sally Smith begins her fieldwork by meeting with Littletown locals, including Dr. Marbuse and his brother Gary. Dr. Marbuse is depicted as a mentally troubled, unlicensed physician who believes parasites have invaded his brain. Gary, a shy, isolated young man who reads tarot cards, bears his own dark fascination with occult ideas. The two men become entangled in Sally’s investigation, while their father situation is hinted at in the background as Frederick Bartholomew’s shadow looms, showing Bartholomew prowling lonely highways at night.
That same night, Bartholomew—still wearing the Nixon mask that has already become a symbol of fear—attacks a young couple parked in a car. The male driver drives through the assailant, knocking him down, but Bartholomew rises again, and kills the girlfriend in front of the car. The violence feels almost supernatural, as if the killer’s presence refuses to be contained by ordinary danger.
Meanwhile, Louise Kingsley and Michael Simpson park their van in a remote area to begin work on a model V-2 rocket. Their plans are interrupted when their vehicle refuses to start, forcing Michael to seek help and explore a nearby house—the very one where Bartholomew killed the couple and stole the Nixon mask. Inside, Michael discovers the horrific evidence of the earlier crime: corpses scattered in the living room. His search for a telephone leads him into a labyrinth of red-lit hallways, and he becomes increasingly disoriented as a sinister force seems to move around him. A fall to the ground in the abandoned basement leaves him with a rake embedded in his head, a wound that signals the awakening of an otherworldly danger he cannot escape. Bartholomew watches from a window, an unseen observer in the terror that unfolds.
Back at the house, Louise finds Sally and attempts to free her, but Gary blocks her efforts with brutal force, and Sally is killed by Gary’s hand. Louise, shaken but still moving, continues through the house and comes upon Michael’s pale, injured form in the dim light, the rake still piercing his skull as he lies in a corner. Desperation drives Louise to pull at the rake, but Michael dies in her arms, leaving the two of them to face the house’s haunted atmosphere alone. Louise then wanders outside and encounters a further wave of dread: Gary dances with Susan’s corpse, a disturbing image that underscores the complete disarray of the night.
dawn breaks, and Louise, exhausted and fear-worn, wakes on a hillside and is picked up by a van driver. He offers warmth and safety, promising to take her to a call box to contact the police. Hope flickers, but the moment of relief is brief: as Louise prepares to board the back of the van, Bartholomew—still a looming threat—seizes the moment. A struggle ensues, and Louise defends herself by biting him, managing to break free as the van speeds off toward the highway. She collapses on the roadside, watching the vehicle disappear into the distance, while the image of Bartholomew lingers in the narrative as a symbol of the film’s unresolved horror.
By dawn’s end, a disturbing revelation completes the arc: Bartholomew’s apparent undead state becomes evident when worms emerge from his eye sockets after the mask is removed and the V-2 mechanism detonated, underscoring the supernatural transformation that lies at the heart of the nightmare. The film closes on this unsettling note, weaving together the fates of the students with the terrifying legacy of a man who may never truly be gone.
