Horror House on Highway 5

A killer wearing a Richard Nixon mask murders a man who was trying to frighten his girlfriend, then steals the mask and kills the girlfriend. The killer's identity is linked to Frederick Bartholomew as the story unfolds. This brutal act establishes a looming threat over Littletown that will haunt the characters.

Three Los Angeles City College students—Louise Kingsley, Michael Simpson, and Sally Smith—are assigned to research Frederick Bartholomew, a supposedly-deceased German rocket scientist. He is rumored to have Nazi ties and a murderous rampage in Littletown. Their academic project pulls them into a dangerous mystery.

Sally meets Dr. Marbuse and his brother Gary to discuss Bartholomew. Marbuse is depicted as a mentally ill, unlicensed physician, while Gary is a shy, tarot-obsessed man. The interview hints at the danger surrounding Bartholomew and the case they are investigating.

Frederick Bartholomew—revealed as the killer—prowls lonely highways at night, stalking motorists. His nocturnal presence foreshadows the danger that will intrude upon the students' investigation. The threat of Bartholomew looms over Littletown.

Marbuse and Gary drug and kidnap Sally, holding her hostage in their home while subjecting her to occult rituals. The abduction escalates the peril facing the investigators and tightens the web of horror around Bartholomew. Sally's fate becomes increasingly precarious.

That night, Bartholomew, in the Nixon mask, attacks a young couple parked in a car. The male driver is killed on impact, and the girlfriend is murdered afterward. The roadside assault cements Bartholomew's rampage as a town-wide nightmare.

Michael and Louise park their van in a remote area to work on a model V-2 rocket, but the van fails to start. Michael goes to the nearest house seeking a phone and inadvertently finds himself at the residence where Sally is being held. The contrast between scientific ambition and creeping danger deepens the tension.

Inside the labyrinthine, red-lit hallways, Michael becomes disoriented and is struck by a supernatural force. He grows delirious and falls onto the ground, where a rake lacerates his head. Bartholomew watches him from behind a window as danger closes in.

Louise, waiting by the van, enters the house to locate Sally. Gary blocks her attempt to unchain Sally, who is bludgeoned to death in the ensuing struggle. The investigation collapses into a new wave of tragedy as Sally loses her life.

Louise wanders through the house and encounters an invisible supernatural force, plus the dead body of one of Bartholomew's victims. She then discovers Michael dead with the rake still lodged in his head, collapsing in fear. The house becomes a chamber of horror for the two remaining survivors.

Gary continues his eerie behavior by dancing somberly with Susan's corpse. Louise confronts Bartholomew and detonates the model V-2 rocket, stunning him. Removing Bartholomew's Nixon mask reveals worms crawling from his eye sockets, suggesting he is undead.

At dawn, Louise awakens in the underbrush and is found by a passing van driver who stops to help. He offers to call the police from a nearby call box and take her to safety, signaling a possible escape from the nightmare behind them.

The driver agrees to help, but Bartholomew attacks as Louise opens the rear of the van. She bites him and frees herself, and the van speeds away onto the highway. Louise lies on the roadside, watching the distance as the danger recedes for now.