In Canyonland, a remote town tucked away in rural Utah, a mad albino scientist, Brion James, acts with the support of a shadowy agency to poison the water supply. The moment someone drinks from the tap, they begin a rapid, unstoppable Transformation into rabid zombies, turning the town into a pressure-cooked nightmare of fear and panic.
From the river, two visitors in a recreational vehicle watch the horror unfold with growing dread. One of them, Reilly, [Bo Hopkins], recalls a strange, almost otherworldly sight they noticed on the way into town and starts to suspect the water is the culprit behind the town’s descent into madness. The two visitors scramble to warn anyone who will listen, but the town’s officials seem oblivious, and they quickly realize the outside world may be cut off entirely.
Back at the heart of Canyonland, survivors gathered in City Hall theorize a chilling possibility: this is a test of a new bio-weapon, a weapon capable of destabilizing or destroying a nation with relative ease. The plan, as they conclude, would be to burn the remains of the town to erase all traces of the experiment. By the time the Sheriff Hanks, [George Kennedy], learns the water is poisoned, it is already too late; he drinks and, in a final act of defiance before his transformation, struggles to break into a van that townsfolk suspect is the command center, while others set the vehicle ablaze to cripple the operation.
The Albino’s presence lingers like a shadow over Canyonland, and the situation grows more dire as a handful of his henchmen—unnamed in the summary but present in the cast—continue to move behind the scenes. Amid the chaos, Reilly, [Bo Hopkins], steps forward with a sense of atonement and offers to lead the effort to stop the Albino once and for all. He is joined by Lori, [Jean St. James], the Sheriff’s daughter and a capable deputy, who chooses to pursue the Albino on horseback. They ride out of town with a stubborn determination, hoping to reach help by radio, convinced that on horseback they stand the best chance of an escape when other routes are blocked.
What follows is a tense, relentless pursuit across the rugged outskirts. The chase culminates in a dramatic showdown: an agency helicopter attempts a dangerous rescue of the Albino, and the skirmish devolves into a deadly duel above the landscape. A second helicopter, drawn by a distress call, closes in and engages the Albino’s craft, bringing the dangerous situation to a fragile, decisive close. As the dust settles, Canyonland lies ravaged, and the Sheriff’s daughter and the visiting stranger—Reilly—contemplate a future together, watching over the ruined town and the thoughts of what comes next.
