Lost After Dark

In 1977 a man ambushes a young woman inside a rundown Michigan farmhouse. She escapes into the surrounding woods, hides briefly, and discovers a body hung from a tree before fleeing in terror. The man corners her and forces her head into a bear trap, delivering a brutal first image that lingers.

In 1984, Adrienne packs for a weekend with friends after the Spring Ball and shares a close bond with her father, who is coping with loss. At school, she grows closer to Jamie and they talk about Adrienne’s crush on Sean. The moment hints at calm before the storm to come.

Wesley, Tobe, and Sean hotwire a school bus and pick up Adrienne, Jamie, Heather, Marilyn, and Heather’s boyfriend Johnnie. The principal regroups outside as the bus speeds off, leaving the school behind. The bus eventually runs dry, sparking tense quarrels about what to do next.

Adrienne, Marilyn, and Jamie slip into the woods to change while a heavy-breathing stranger watches from the shadows. The others head toward the old farm, unaware of the danger that stalks them. The moment foreshadows the lurking threat tied to the Joads.

Johnnie and Heather stumble upon a shrine made from human bones in the barn, triggering screams and alarm. The group learns about the Joad family, rumored to have turned feral and cannibalistic on the land. Adrienne recognizes a necklace on the shrine that once belonged to her sister, deepening the connection to her past.

The group discovers Tobe hanging from the barn door with barbwire, a grim sign of the killer's reach. Adrienne rushes to help him, but the killer emerges and stabs her in the gut, killing her outright. The killer drags Adrienne's body away to begin his grisly work.

The survivors barricade themselves inside the farmhouse to hold off the killer. Inside, Sean is killed as he fights to defend the group, heightening the sense that escape is slipping away.

The killer closes in on Jamie, driving the tension as she fights to stay alive. She is knocked toward a bear trap as the scene abruptly cuts to black with the words 'REEL MISSING.' The abrupt cut leaves her fate unresolved and suspends the tension.

The film resumes with the killer shattering a window and dragging Wesley through it to his death. The brutal intrusion signals the killer’s escalation as the other survivors scramble for shelter.

Johnnie and Heather hide in the barn and find an injured Tobe. Heather’s dog whines as she cold-bloodedly kills it, foreshadowing their fate. The killer then stabs Heather in the back while Johnnie tries to escape beneath a car.

Mr. Cunningham arrives in the battered bus and drives toward the farmhouse to defend the survivors. The killer bursts in and the vice principal’s head is flung into the room, underscoring the brutality. Jamie escapes through a window and attempts to reach a gas can, but the keys are missing, trapping her in a tense standoff.

Adrienne’s father arrives and shoots the killer dead, ending the immediate threat. Police arrive and reveal the Joad family terrorized the area for years, with Junior identified as the killer. Jamie is transported toward the hospital as a coroner’s van crashes on the roadside, leaving her fate and the lingering threat unresolved.