The Brotherhood of Satan

Widowed Ben Holden, his young daughter K. T., and his girlfriend Nicky set out on a road trip through the California desert. They bond on the long drive, establishing their relationships and the sense of normal life before danger arrives. The opening sequence grounds the story in a remote, sunlit landscape.

They spot a smoldering demolished car along a sharp highway corner and two human remains. Ben drives to the nearest town, Hillsboro, to report the incident, hoping for help and answers. The eerie find foreshadows a larger menace spreading through the area.

In Hillsboro, Sheriff Pete attacks Ben, while the town's residents observe from their windows in fearful silence. Pete releases Ben and the family, who flee into the desert night. The town's mistrust and hostility hint at a secret driving the terrifying events.

That night, the town is on edge as 26 residents die violently in the past three days and several children vanish. Pete, deputy Tobey, and Dr. Duncan drive to the wreckage to learn what happened, discovering the two adult drivers killed and Timmy missing. The town's fear escalates into something primal.

Ben is startled by a young girl appearing in the road and crashes his car. With nowhere to go, the family begins trudging back toward Hillsboro on foot. The encounter leaves them vulnerable and on the run from an unseen danger.

That night, Ed Meadows and his wife Mildred are inexplicably killed in their home after one of their daughter's dolls seems to come to life. The grisly sight hints at a malevolent force at work in the town and foreshadows the ritual to come.

At the Barry house overlooking the town, Dr. Duncan gathers the elderly residents and reveals they are a coven of witches worshiping Satan. They resume a ceremony, preparing for a ritual that requires children to serve as vessels. The atmosphere thickens with occult danger.

Ed's son Stuart and daughter Phyllis join a group of children escorted to the Barry house. Inside, the kids become part of a ritualized procession, slowly drawn into the coven's occult plan. The town's children are the focal point of the impending transference of souls.

Ben, Nicky, and K. T. reach the Meadows home and find Ed and Mildred's corpses scattered in the house. The family, seeking shelter, is welcomed to stay at Pete's home, while Dr. Duncan makes an unannounced visit and Father Jack starts his late-night research.

Father Jack, Hillsboro's Catholic priest, stays up late studying occult lore and notices a disturbing preponderance of children in the literature surrounding devil worship. He begins to connect the dots, suspecting a town-wide supernatural influence. His curiosity sets up the confrontation to come.

The next morning, Nicky experiences a nightmare that unsettles the trio. Ben decides they should leave town, and Peter allows them to borrow his car, but a flat tire strands them at the edge of town. The delay increases the peril and the kids' disappearance becomes more imminent.

K. T. vanishes from the backseat during the escape attempt. She later joins the town's children gathered at the Barry house, where they play with toys and murals of dead children and cloaked figures. Father Jack warns Ben and Nicky that the witches have kidnapped K. T. to use in a Satanic ritual.

Mike discovers his son Joey wandering in a trance in the woods and chases after him. They are attacked by an armored rider on horseback, who decapitates Joey; Mike flees to warn others. Father Jack witnesses the act and abandons the scene to report to Pete, Ben, and Tobey.

Dr. Duncan proceeds with the ritual, gathering a child for each coven member and entreating Satan to transfer the witches' souls into the youngsters. The coven's ceremony reaches a fever pitch as adults hurry toward the Barry house.

Ben, Pete, Tobey, and Father Jack reach the Barry house and burst in as the ceremony ends. The witches have perished, and their souls have transferred into the children, including K. T., who stands among dolls resembling coven members and stares silently. The sudden turn leaves the trio to confront a town where innocence has become a conduit for evil.