Night School

Anne Barron is brutally decapitated by a kukri-wielding assailant wearing a black motorcycle helmet. Her head ends up in a nearby bucket, shocking bystanders and starting the police investigation. Lt. Judd Austin is assigned to the case and begins coordinating the response.

Police and investigators comb the scene while the distraught center director explains Anne’s routine of working there by day and taking night classes. The investigation expands as witnesses share glimpses of the killer and the brutal method. The community reels from a second decapitation possibly tied to a larger pattern.

At the hospital, Judd and his partner Taj compare the latest murder to a similar decapitation from the previous week, where a victim’s head was found in a pond. They wonder whether the two cases are connected and part of a ritualistic killer. The hospital scene confirms a dangerous, ongoing threat.

At Wendell College, administrator Helene Griffin mentions that Anne was close to a student named Kim Morrison and hints at possible romantic entanglements. When Judd asks about a boyfriend, Kim admits she doesn’t know who Anne was involved with. The potential motive remains murky but hints at personal entanglements.

Judd attends Professor Millett’s anthropology class to ask about Anne. Millett introduces a British exchange student, Eleanor Adjai, which places Eleanor squarely in the center of the investigation’s social web. The encounter leaves Judd questioning Eleanor’s role and motives.

Eleanor leaves the campus and goes to the local diner, where she is creeped out by Gary, a busboy who seems unsettled. The waitress Carol whispers about Millett’s sexual exploits, irritating Eleanor. The scene heightens tensions around the campus community.

The professor follows Eleanor, and she bluntly tells him she is three months pregnant. Millett remains charming and flirtatious, continuing to court Carol. This dynamic complicates Judd’s questions about Millett’s mix of authority and affection toward students.

After the diner closes, Carol is left to clean up; a power outage traps her in the basement where the killer attacks. Although she escapes briefly, she is killed in an alley. The next day, Carol’s head is found in a water-filled sink and her body dumped in a dumpster.

Kim Morrison, a Wendell student working at the aquarium, is decapitated by the same masked figure. A bystander screams as Kim’s head sinks into the tank, shocking witnesses and drawing police attention. The aquarium scene confirms the killer’s reach across campus life.

Judd returns to Professor Millett’s residence and discovers a disturbing collection of skulls from tribal headhunters around the world. Eleanor dismisses the display as irrelevant, while Millett’s professional veneer remains on edge. The discovery deepens the murk surrounding Millett and Eleanor.

Helene tells Millett to stop sleeping with his students, underscoring the professional boundary issues in the department. Kathy confesses she has also been intimate with Millett, revealing a problematic pattern. The campus’s moral hazard becomes a key thread in the investigation.

Helene is killed when she answers the phone, while Kathy is murdered soon after discovering Helene’s severed head in the toilet. The murders strike closer to home for the college community and raise the stakes for Judd. The trail points toward Millett’s dangerous influence over his students.

Judd chases the killer to Millett’s apartment and confronts a shocked Eleanor, who confesses the killings to her boyfriend and rationalizes them as tribal rituals taught by Millett. Millett tries to deflect suspicion by wearing the helmet and fleeing on his motorcycle. The pursuit ends with Millett’s death in a car collision.

Eleanor attends Millett’s burial, and the police declare the case closed, though Judd remains wary that Eleanor may still be involved. Eleanor returns to England as the formal investigation wraps up. The surface resolution hides lingering questions about motives and connections.

Back in Judd’s car, the killer suddenly launches a last attack, only to reveal it was a prank by Taj meant to test Judd. The real killer’s identity remains a point of ambiguity, leaving Judd unsettled. The film closes on uncertainty even as the action appears to end.