Terror from the Year 5000

Professor Howard Erling and his assistant Victor build a machine on Howard's Florida island estate that can transport small objects from the future. They conduct initial experiments by sending objects through the machine, sparking curiosity about its capabilities. Howard halts the work due to concerns over energy consumption and the need for verification from other professionals.

Howard's team sends a small statue to the year 5200 A.D., and archeologist Bob Hedges examines it. Bob discovers the statue is radioactive and attempts to contact Howard for more information, eventually traveling to Florida to investigate in person. Claire Erling, Howard's daughter, admits she sent the statue to verify her father’s work.

Claire follows Bob from the airport to the estate and reveals she sent the statue to accelerate verification. She and Bob then pilot a motorboat to the island, where they notice the power drain from Howard’s lab causes the boat’s motor to die. Howard welcomes Bob, but Victor shows resentment, suspecting Bob’s intentions threaten their work.

Victor removes two metal suitcases from Howard’s guest room and throws them into the pond. Bob later finds one suitcase with a small animal's body inside during a swim, raising suspicion about Victor’s secret activities. Howard demonstrates the machine’s ability to send objects from the future, including a coin with the words 'save us' in Greek engraved on it.

Howard and Bob experiment with sending items through the machine, eventually submitting Bob’s fraternity key. The key results in a future coin, and a subsequent experiment produces a human form from the future, which Victor manages to send back, suffering a radiation burn in the process. Tensions rise as the dangers of their experiments become apparent.

Victor’s health deteriorates from radiation burns, and he secretly increases the machine’s power. He visits a hospital and later returns to the island drunk, breaking into the lab to work at high power levels again. His reckless actions cause concern among Howard, Bob, and Claire.

Victor inadvertently activates the machine at high power, bringing a human from the future who knocks him out. Howard finds Victor dazed and calls for medical help. Meanwhile, the future traveler explores the island, kills Angelo, and causes chaos as she attempts to bring Victor into the future.

The time traveler creates a faceless replica of the nurse, infiltrates the house, and hypnotizes Victor. Howard and Bob discover her radiation-scarred face when Claire exposes her identity. They also find the body of the real nurse and a mutated cat in the pond caused by the experiments.

The traveler attempts to take Victor to the future, but Claire attacks her, revealing her scars. Howard and Bob arrive to find Victor defending Claire. The traveler and Victor tumble into the machine, resulting in their electrocution and deaths. Their bodies are recovered after a chaotic confrontation.

With Victor and the future traveler dead, Howard and Bob consider the implications of their actions. They debate whether to travel to the future or focus on preventing such a future from occurring. Howard convinces them that changing the present is the key to avoiding a bleak future.