Devon Adams and his friend Jamal Quezaire take a bold leap into the world of urban legends by staging a fake monster sighting, which they record and share online, hoping to garner a hefty viewership. Eager to expand their reach, Devon envisions transforming their escapades into a show dedicated to hunting down authentic monsters, dubbing it The Monster Project. To kick things off, he posts an ad on Craigslist, inviting anyone claiming to be a real monster in Los Angeles to get in touch.
Meanwhile, Jamal's roommate, Bryan Jay, who is on the path to recovery from addiction, documents a sobriety video for his parents, interrupted only briefly by his friend Murielle Zuker, whom he secretly admires. Seeking more depths for their project, Devon and Jamal venture onto a Navajo reservation, where they cross paths with Steven Flores, a police officer who identifies as a skinwalker. Unfortunately, a low camera battery means that Jamal misses recording their unique meeting, but Steven eagerly agrees to be part of Devon's film.
Back at Jamal’s apartment, Devon encounters Bryan again, leading to an awkward situation with Murielle, who shares a past with him that was left unresolved. Soon after, a tattoo artist named Shayne Eastin messages Devon and Jamal, claiming to be a vampire and negotiating an interview in exchange for a vial of blood. The trio persuades Bryan into giving a blood sample, and they later drop it off at a designated spot in the park, only for the vial to mysteriously disappear. Cautiously, Bryan warns Devon about the potential danger of delving deeper into this macabre world.
That very night, Jamal is awakened by a loud knock; it turns out to be a DVD from an Asian woman named Shiori Ideta, who claims to be under the influence of the demon Baphomet. The chaotic events continue when, at Bryan's birthday party, Devon resolves to apologize to him for past remarks regarding his addiction, and even offers him a role as a production assistant on The Monster Project.
As tensions rise, Devon proposes a job to Murielle as a director for their project, aligning with her career aspirations. After the guests leave, things heat up between Bryan and Murielle when she unexpectedly kisses him yet retreats swiftly, leading to Bryan's outburst of frustration. In the days that follow, Devon, Jamal, Murielle, and Bryan arrive at a hauntingly old mansion for a night of interviews amidst a lunar eclipse. The property caretaker, Richard, reveals its dark history tied to satanic rituals from the 1960s, which only adds to the mounting suspense when strange happenings unfold.
As night falls, the crew encounters unsettling supernatural occurrences while preparing for their interviews with the alleged monsters. During Steven's interview, he chillingly explains the process of becoming a skinwalker, which involves a harrowing pact with evil forces. Shayla's seductive presence compels Bryan to ask her questions during her interview, leading to her revealing that she tasted drugs from his blood, triggering his anger and causing a rift.
Amidst the chaos, Shiori's confession about living with "the bad man" since birth escalates to madness as the power in the house fails and the entity Steven transforms into a skinwalker, setting the stage for horror. Jamal comes to a disturbing realization about his friends when Bryan, reversing his earlier position, returns to face the horror, only to find Jamal fatally wounded.
The tension crescendos as Shayla, in vampire form, bites Murielle. The group musters the courage to confront their evolving realities, but not without facing the impending doom from Steven’s relentless pursuit. As they find themselves trapped, the stakes rise dramatically, culminating in dark visions for Bryan and devastating confrontations with their demons—both literal and metaphorical.
In a nightmarish finale, alliances shift, and sacrifices become inevitable as the occult ritual unfolds, plunging Devon into a deeper grip of darkness led by Richard, the mansion's caretaker. The house becomes the epicenter of chaos, with Bryan's agonizing fate hanging in the balance as darkness truly descends, when Richard declares his nefarious intentions for the night. The adventure spirals into sheer horror as the veil between reality and the supernatural begins to tear apart, leading to a climax that leaves the audience gasping in anticipation of the descent into hell.
