Return to Cabin by the Lake

Two years after being presumed dead, Stanley Caldwell (under the alias Alan) meets with Lauren Majors on a boat to discuss a new screenplay. They discover that principal photography has begun on Cabin by the Lake, a film based on Stanley's old exploits as a serial killer, despite public protests.

Lauren admits she hired a writer to redo the screenplay. Stanley binds her to a cement flower pot and, realizing his identity, pushes her overboard to drown.

On the Cabin by the Lake set, Paul Parsons confronts director Mike Helton and demands that filming stop. He is dragged away by security as tensions rise around the production.

Stanley appears on the set in disguise, declaring that he owns the cabin where he lived two years earlier. He moves through the set, taking in the space while others remain unaware of his true identity.

While wandering the set, he bumps into screenwriter Alison Gaddis, who praises his work and expresses curiosity about his background. The encounter plants the seeds of a dangerous dynamic between the killer and a fascinated writer.

Helton receives a call from J.C. Reddick, the producer's nephew and second unit director whom no one has met. He tells Helton that a plane will be sent to pick him up at the airport.

Stanley leaves the set and races to the airport, where he retrieves J.C., then drugs and kills him on the lake. Posing as J.C., he returns to the set and blends back into the production.

Back on the set, Stanley, still posing as J.C., feeds Alison details about ‘Stanley’ and his victims, hinting at his preference for strong women. Alison, a film student, remains fascinated and agrees to meet him for coffee later.

Helton unveils the indoor water tank for the film’s underwater scenes. Stanley dons scuba gear and dives into the tank to tend his garden, ignoring Helton's directions and angering the director.

Alison returns to the tank to continue writing, but an unknown assailant ambushes her. Simultaneously, Helton discovers that Stanley has altered the script, and Stanley drugs Helton and takes him back to the cabin, burying him alive with fireworks masking the screams.

Stanley assumes control of the production and micromanages every aspect of the film, imposing his own vision on the set. The crew is left to navigate his increasingly controlling demands as the filming continues.

Stanley coerces Mallory and Boone back for a final shot on the stage, tightening his grip on the production. Alison confronts Stanley during this sequence, but he abducts her and takes her to his cabin basement, where she is bound.

Paul keeps trying to reach Alison while Stanley orchestrates the final sequence. Alison is recaptured and forced into Stanley's car during the ensuing chase.

In a cabin bathroom, Alison knocks Stanley into the tub and, in a tense moment, uses a hair dryer to threaten him with electrocution. The moment is interrupted by police arriving and a search for Stanley begins.

Police drag the lake tomorrow and reassure Alison that Stanley is dead, but the final image shows Stanley alive, reading a newspaper article about Cabin by the Lake's success. Alison and Paul begin a relationship, yet she remains haunted by nightmares of Stanley.