The Sadist

Three high school teachers Ed, Doris and Carl drive through Antelope Valley toward Los Angeles when their Chevrolet Bel Air breaks down. They pull off to a gas station and junkyard to inspect the car. Ed determines the fuel pump needs replacement, setting the plan for the next steps.

Doris and Carl search the junkyard for the owner to obtain parts or help, but no one is found. The group begins to realize they may be stranded. Ed confirms the car won’t be fixed quickly without the owner’s cooperation.

Carl finds a warm meal set for four inside a house at the junkyard, yet nobody is there. The trio grows uneasy as the odd quiet hints at danger. They start to worry about their situation.

Charlie Tibbs, armed with a Colt .45, and his semi-mute girlfriend Judy show up, revealing they have been killing their way west from Arizona. They threaten to steal the Bel Air and move on once Ed finishes the repairs. The teachers realize they are dealing with dangerous criminals.

Charlie demands that Ed finish repairing the car and warns that a failure to cooperate will mean trouble. He intends to steal the car and leave with Judy, forcing the threesome to comply. The group becomes captive as the car repair drags on.

Charlie and Judy torment Ed, Doris and Carl with verbal abuse and physical intimidation. Doris calls Charlie an inhuman monster; he rips her dress and smacks her, then forces Carl to kneel and plead for his life while Charlie finishes a soda. He shoots Carl in the head when the act ends.

Ed questions how many shots Charlie has left, and Charlie reveals two reloads, then calmly reloads as taunts continue. The tension escalates as the criminals maintain control over Ed and Doris. The danger feels immediate as the gun remains loaded with lethal potential.

Doris hears a motor and thinks the police are arriving, but Charlie grows paranoid. He forces Ed to hide in the car trunk while Judy holds Doris at knifepoint. Two police bicycles arrive, and after a tense moment Charlie shoots both officers.

Charlie continues to coerce Ed to fix the car while he and Judy switch to a romantic moment, listening to updates from the baseball game on the radio. Ed formulates a plan to run Charlie over with the car, but the plan is compromised by the criminals’ hold over them. The sense of doom grows as the game’s broadcast becomes a grim background.

Doris attempts to drive, but the plan falters; Ed sprays gasoline into Charlie's eyes, temporarily blinding him. In the ensuing chaos, Charlie shoots and kills Judy, leaving him furious and focused on killing Ed and Doris.

Doris and Ed manage a narrow escape, but Charlie corners Ed and shoots him with a cop’s gun after his own weapon runs dry. Charlie steals Ed's car and gives chase to Doris as they flee into the desert night.

The car Ed was fixing repeatedly stalls as Charlie closes in, and the baseball game broadcast continues on the radio in the background. Doris seeks shelter in a distant stone cottage as the pursuit intensifies.

Doris, forced to hide, is discovered by Charlie but escapes again as she darts through the unfinished walls of a nearby house. Charlie falls into a rattlesnake pit and is killed, ending his menacing pursuit.

The film ends with Doris traumatized, listening to the baseball game on the radio before turning away and wandering up the desert trail. The danger has passed, but the encounter leaves her haunted by the experience.