Nightmare City

American television reporter Dean Miller waits at a small European airport to interview a scientist about a recent nuclear accident. The atmosphere is tense as an unmarked Lockheed C-130 lands and disgorges armed, deformed men, one of whom is the scientist. The attackers appear impervious to most injuries and begin to move with a frightening ruthlessness, biting into victims as they feed on blood.

The plane doors open and dozens of armed, deformed men burst out and attack the military personnel on the runway. They wreck havoc with frightening speed and strength, and bullets fail to slow them. The outbreak explodes into the airport as the attackers pursue anyone in reach.

Miller flees the airport and hurries to the TV station to alert the public. He discovers that General Murchison has shut down the news operation, locking the crew inside with bombs to keep them quiet. The city spirals into confusion as the attack spreads unchecked.

Miller continues his frantic search for Anna, who works as a doctor at the local hospital. He hopes to reunite with her to coordinate a response, but the hospital is quickly overwhelmed by the advancing infected. The threat to Anna becomes personal as time runs out.

That evening, a group of infected breach the TV station's defenses, forcing Miller to flee for safety. The outbreak expands into every institution the city relies on, turning Miller from journalist into a surviving participant in the chaos. His resolve to reach Anna grows stronger as the danger closes in.

A group of infected assaults the city's power station, destroying it and plunging the city into darkness. The blackout worsens confusion and hampers any organized response to the outbreak. Fear and desperation spread through the streets as the night deepens.

Miller arrives at the hospital and fights his way to Anna amid the chaos. He secures her safety and the two escape together in a stolen ambulance. They drive out of the city, trying to outrun the encroaching infected and the collapsing infrastructure.

In a hidden bunker, General Murchison and his advisers explain that the attackers are contaminated humans mutated by radiation. They theorize the leak at the state nuclear plant involved a scientist who became infected, spreading the outbreak aboard the military transport. The infected are incredibly strong and fast, but they crave blood because their bodies cannot regenerate red blood cells.

Major Warren Holmes warns his wife Sheila to stay inside their country house as the crisis deepens. Cindy visits Sheila, unaware of the danger, and two infected break in, killing Cindy. Sheila manages to kill the attackers before they can harm her, but the threat to her and Holmes grows closer to home.

The next day, Miller and Anna stop at a rural filling station to rest and resupply. They are attacked by a small group of infected; Miller improvises a Molotov cocktail, blowing up the zombies and the ambulance in the process. They press on, desperate to find safety away from the infected surge.

The couple takes shelter in a local church, only to encounter an infected priest. Miller is forced to kill him to protect Anna and any bystanders nearby. The shelter becomes a grim pause in their flight as danger closes in from every side.

Major Holmes arrives at a local airbase to find it overrun; the pilots are dead or paranoid, and the remaining aircraft are inoperable. After a tense radio exchange with General Murchison, he abandons the base rather than risk himself. The crisis escalates as military support collapses.

Holmes races to his house to rescue Sheila, only to discover that she has become infected, forcing him to shoot her. The personal costs of the outbreak are laid bare as a once-ordered life falls apart in seconds.

Miller and Anna reach an abandoned amusement park and fight their way through more infected. Holmes arrives by helicopter to offer aid, but Anna loses her grip and falls to her death as Miller fights to save her. The chase through the park becomes a desperate last stand.

Miller wakes up, realizing the ordeal was a dream. He rushes to the airport to meet a scientist, only to see a military plane make an emergency landing, repeating the events of the film's opening and sealing the nightmare in reality.