Richard Lawson

Ava's husband Dallas leaves her heartbroken as he abandons their marriage.

Released from prison, Stick meets up with a friend and joins him on a job delivering a bag. His friend gets killed in the setup. Stick gets away and is ready to forget all and see his daughter, but they won't forget. Ernest 'Stick' Stickley returns from prison, and very soon he gets involved with his old friend in a drug-running deal that goes sour. Hired by a rich investor, he tries to walk the line, but trouble follows him throughout as he tries to collect a debt and make up for lost time with his daughter. Stick also finds a new flame with a financial wiz and gets set to enjoy a new life, but Chucky and Nestor, the two hoods who owe him the debt, have other plans for Stick.

The movie opens with the borough of Richmond preparing for the concert of hometown girl turned star Ellen Aim. As the concert begins, bikers in black leathers ride into town. Inside the concert venue, the young and sexy Ellen Aim begins her performance, singing with the pounding of music and the backdrop of a light show. The shadowed figures of the motorcycle gang enter the crowd and push their way towards the stage. They wait there, watching the show, and waiting, unmoving as the crowd around them rolls like an ocean with the music. As the first set ends, the bikers charge the stage and grab Ellen Aim. The band and other members of the crowd fight to save her, but the bikers handle them with brutal efficiency. The gang makes it outside and ride away with a screaming Ellen in tow. It is pandemonium out in the streets. Reva Cody writes her brother Tom to come home. He is recently released from the army and boards a train. Reva is working in her diner when a gang of young preps bust in. Reva tells them to get lost, but they don't take kindly to that, threatening her and her joint. Tom is there. He stands up and takes off his jacket. The gang confronts him. He rather easily and comically punches out their leader and then uses a coat rack to take knock the rest of them out the front window. They scatter, and Tom takes their car. Reva is glad to have him back. Reva tells Tom about Ellen being kidnapped by the Bombers. He is mad that Ellen is dating her manager and that Reva thinks he should rescue her. He stomps off to the bar. There he meets McCoy, a tomboy and former soldier. McCoy asks to bunk with him since she doesn't have a place to stay. Tom offers her his sister's couch. Getting into bed, Tom looks at some old pictures he has of Ellen from when they dated. He thinks about her and changes his mind. The next day Tom finds a buddy who has some guns for him. Tom arrives at the diner to meet with Billy Fish, Ellen's manager and new boyfriend. Billy is a four-eyed geek in a bowtie who thinks money makes him better than everyone else. He has serious doubts about Tom's ability to rescue Ellen. Tom demands 10 grand as payment for the task. Billy is fine with that. Tom insists Billy accompany him because Billy knows his way around the Battery, which is where the Bombers are keeping Ellen. Billy refuses but ultimately relents because he needs Ellen back. McCoy asks to join since she needs the money. Billy tells her to take a walk. Perhaps amused by the obvious contempt the two have for each other, Tom agrees to let McCoy in for 10%. As a former motor pool worker, McCoy gets to drive. They hop in the car and take off for the battery. McCoy and Billy continue to verbally spar during the ride. At the Battery, a band is playing at a biker joint called Torchies while gals in black fishnet stockings dance the bar. The leader of the Bombers, Raven, goes into a room where Ellen is tied to the bed. Raven explains that he will let Ellen go after the two of them "fall in love for a little while." Ellen refuses his advances. He eventually leaves. Tom, McCoy and Billy are approaching Torchies. The plan is for Tom to enter Torchies topside while McCoy goes in the ground floor and makes her way up. Billy is to wait 15 minutes then pick them up. Tom gets into position on the roof across the street while McCoy makes her way inside the bar. McCoy runs into a biker who she talks into taking her upstairs. The biker enthusiastically takes her into a "party room" and then tries to get it on with her. She knocks him out with her pistol. She then busts into a room where the head Bombers, including Raven, are playing cards. She holds them at gunpoint. Tom is watching bikers perform jumps in front of the bar until he sees Ellen tied to a bed inside Torchies. He then starts shooting motorcycles, which burst into flame. When enough chaos ensues, Tom makes his way into Torchies. He quickly finds Ellen and cuts her loose. They run into McCoy and all three take the top way back outside. Billy shows up, and McCoy takes the wheel again as they get away. Tom tells them to meet him at the Grand Station underpass while he allays the Bombers. Tom continues disabling motorcycles and knocking bikers out. He gets on a motorcycle to ride away. Raven confronts him with threats. When Tom reminds Raven that he is armed, Raven tells Tom he can get guns, a lot of them. Raven promises Tom that he will be coming for him and Ellen. Tom rides off. McCoy, Billy and Ellen are waiting at the Grand Station underpass. Billy doesn't want to wait any longer, afraid that bikers or cops could show up. Ellen refuses to leave without Tom, since he rescued her. Billy informs Ellen that Tom is getting paid for his services, and that he isn't acting out of love for her. McCoy badgers Billy over the fact that Tom and Ellen dated. Tom shows up. He tells them they have to get on the move and ditch the car. Ellen asks to speak to him alone. She has a lot to say to him since it has been years since he left for the army. He has nothing to say to her. He is mad at her for shacking with Billy. She is mad at him for taking money to rescue her. They eventually leave, ditch the car, and walk their way through the next borough, which is heavy with people on the streets. One of the people they run into recognizes Ellen Aim and tags along as a big fan. Tom stops a bus trying to make its way through the crowd. The bus if for a band called the Sorels. Tom shows his gun and hijacks the bus. Everyone gets in. The bus is rolling towards the Richmond and everyone is finally getting along when the bus gets stopped by a road block set up by cops. Billy tries to talk and then bribe his way through the cops. It doesn't work. Tom holds the cops at gun point, and then he and McCoy make the entire road block lay in the road so they can discard their weapons. Tom then shoots up the police cars, and they all get back on the bus and take off. Now to be chased by the police, they have to ditch the bus. They do so and run to a train station to catch the train. They all arrive back at the police station in the Richmond. City folk stream into the station to see Ellen. Ellen says she wants to leave town and tells Tom that she hates him for taking money to rescue her. The Bombers' second in command shows up. The police chief goes to talk with Raven. Raven wants Tom Cody, and as long as they give him up, there will be no more trouble. Tom and McCoy are back in Reva's diner. Tom is obviously downcast. McCoy is angry because Tom is self-centered and hasn't given her any credit. She tells Reva that Tom is a jerk and storms off. Reva lights into Tom next for feeling sorry for himself because Ellen ditched him. Reva implies she only wanted Tom to rescue Ellen because Ellen was good for him. The police chief shows up and tells Tom that Raven wants to meet him tomorrow. He tells Tom that he should be on a train out of town tonight, and that if he doesn't leave, he'll arrest him right after arresting Raven. Tom goes to the hotel to visit Ellen and Billy. Billy pays Tom his money. Tom tells Ellen he once thought Ellen was worth rescuing without the money, but not anymore. He throws the money back at Billy and only takes what he promised for McCoy. He leaves. Billy laughs at Tom's stupidity for throwing 9 grand away, but Ellen goes after Tom. They meet outside in the rain and embrace. They are next seen in bed. Ellen advises Tom to leave town and says she will go with him. Tom meets McCoy back at the bar and reconciles with her. He asks her to accompany him and Ellen out of town that night. She agrees. All three are on the train when it comes to a stop. Tom moves to leave. Ellen says it isn't their stop yet. Tom knocks her out with a punch. He tells McCoy to make sure Ellen gets out of town. He goes to return to Richmond, but the returning train is out due to damage caused by the Bombers. Raven arrives with two henchmen as he told the police chief. The chief tells him that Tom and Ellen are gone and that he is under arrest. Raven blows a horn he brought with him and about forty bikers arrive with guns. City folk see the Bombers arrive and come streaming into the street with guns to help the police. Tom arrives just as things look ugly. Raven brought pick-axes of all things for them to fight hand-to-hand with. They fight. Tom eventually disarms Raven and tosses away his pick-axe so they can fight it out with their fists. A bloodied Tom eventually puts Raven down. The city folk point their guns at the Bombers. The Bombers grab Raven and ride out. The movie ends on another Ellen Aim concert. Tom is watching the Sorels, who now open for Ellen, backstage. Billy approaches him and tells him he won't get in the way. Tom tells Billy that he is better for Ellen. Tom finds Ellen. She knows he's leaving. He tells her he'll be there if she needs him again. They kiss, and he departs. Ellen goes onstage to begin her performance. Tom watches her from the entrance of the hall and then leaves near the end of the first song. Tom runs into McCoy who has the car Tom stole from the gang at the beginning of the movie. Tom gets in and they ride away.

In the suburban housing development of Cuesta Verde, California, the homes are modern and comfortable. Steve Freeling (Craig T. Nelson) is a successful real estate agent who works for a firm headed up by Teague (James Karen), a developer. Steve lives in one of the Cuesta Verde homes with his wife, Diane (JoBeth Williams), and their three children: teenage Dana (Dominique Dunne) and preteen youngsters Robbie (Oliver Robbins) and Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke). Strange events begin to occur when Carol Anne begins sleepwalking and carries on a seemingly one-sided conversation with a TV set that's turned on but has no signal. Soon thereafter her pet bird dies, and the family conducts a small burial service. Later that night, Carol Anne awakens again and talks to the television, while a spectral manifestation erupts from the television screen and enters the walls, causing an violent tremor that only the Freelings feel. As the family wakes up, Carol Anne mysteriously announces, "They're here." The next morning, drinking glasses inexplicably break at breakfast, and utensils bend by themselves. When Diane asks Carol Anne who she meant when she said "they're here," she answers, "The TV people." At first the ghosts play harmless tricks and amuse the mother, including moving and stacking the kitchen table chairs. Diane and Carol Anne discover an area in the kitchen where an unseen force will pull anything, including people, across the floor. When he arrives home from work, Diane convinces Steve the phenomenon is real by demonstrating it. He then announces that "Nobody's going' in the kitchen until I know what's happening." During a terrible thunderstorm, a gnarled tree outside the kids' bedroom window suddenly comes to life and grabs Robbie (Oliver Robins), Carol Anne's brother, through a window. However, this is merely a distraction used by the ghosts to get Carol Anne's parents to leave her alone. Using a force like a wind tunnel, they take Carol Anne through her bedroom closet into their dimension. Steve rescues Robbie, and the family believes that a tornado caused the trouble, until they realize that they can't find Carol Anne. They search the entire house including the pit for the new swimming pool until Robbie hears Carol Anne calling for her mother eerily through the TV. A traumatized Steve meets with a small group of parapsychologists from UC Irvine, stating that "We just want you to find our little girl." Dr. Lesh (Beatrice Straight), Ryan (Richard Lawson), and Marty (Martin Casella) are awestruck by the manifestations they witness. With the parapsychologists present, Steve shows them things they've never before seen. He opens the door to the children's room to reveal toys and other objects flying around by themselves and disembodied laughing voices reverberating throughout the room. Previously, Ryan described a Matchbox car taking seven hours to move seven feet, calling it "fantastic. Of course, this would never register on the naked eye." After they see the Freelings' house, they are all humbled. Over coffee (and a coffee urn that moves by itself), the parapsychologists explain to the Freelings the difference between a poltergeist and a haunting. They determine that indeed, it is a poltergeist they are experiencing. The group witnesses several paranormal episodes where they hear Carol Anne talking to Diane through the TV, see spirits, and hear the pounding footsteps of some terrible force, which subsequently injures Marty. Marty also suffers a terrifying hallucination where he seems to tear off his own face. The parapsychologists leave, with the exception of Ryan, admitting they need more help. Shaken and overwhelmed, Dana leaves to stay with friends. The Freelings also send Robbie to his grandmother's house for his safety. Later that day, Steve has a conversation with his boss, Teague, about a new housing project going up. They talk about how Steve's company has built over cemeteries in the past, even where the Freelings live now. Whenever the company needed land to build or expand housing communities, they'd move the cemeteries, coffins, headstones and all. Teague shows Steve a new housing development the company is building not far from where the Freelings live. As the two walk by a hillside cemetery, Teague tells Steve that he can have a new house right in that spot, with a large bay window overlooking the valley. Steve remarks that the house can't simply be built over a cemetery. Teague tells Steve that the company has moved whole cemeteries before: the coffins were dug up and moved, along with their headstones, to new locations nearby. Teague then reveals that much of Cuesta Verde was built on the location of one of these relocated cemeteries. Steve seems quite astonished at the news, stating that "that's sacrilegious." When the parapsychologists return, they bring a spiritual medium, Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein), a tiny woman who uses her psychic sensitivity to ascertain facts about the disturbances. Tangina tells them that Carol Anne is "alive and in this house." According to Tangina, the spirits haunting the home have left this life but have not gone into the spectral "Light." They are stuck in between dimensions, watching their loved ones grow up, but feeling alone, causing them to feel lonely and even angry. Carol Anne was born in the house and has strongest connection to it. At only 5 years old, she gives off her own life force that is as bright as the Light. It distracts and confuses the spirits, who think Carol Anne is their salvation. Hence, they have taken her. However, Tangina also warns everyone that a malevolent spirit also exists in the next dimension. It likes that the spirits are confused and lost, and uses Carol Anne as a distraction so they cannot move on into the Light. Tangina says "it lies to her and tells her things only a child can understand. To her, it simply is another child. To us, it is the Beast." They realize the entrance to the other dimension is through the children's bedroom closet. Tangina tests the dimensional portal with a few tennis balls that drop through the living room ceiling below the kids' closet. By tying a rope around a live person who can enter, and presumably exit the other side, with enough time to grab Carol Anne, they could bring her back. Tangina intends to be the one to go into the light, but Diane insists, saying that Carol Anne will only come to her mother. With the rope around her waist, Diane goes into the portal and Tangina coaxes the agonized spirits away from Carol Anne to the real Light. While Tangina is in her trance-like state telling the lost spirits to cross over into the Light, Steve panics and pulls on the rope, meeting the Beast face-to-face. Diane falls through the living room ceiling clutching Carol Anne and bearing new streaks of grey hair, presumably from fright; both Diane and Carol Anne are also covered in ectoplasm. After Steve revives both of them in the downstairs bathtub, Tangina pronounces that "this house is clean." Unfortunately, though the spirits have seemingly moved on, the Beast hasn't, and wants revenge. On their final night in the house, Steve leaves Diane alone with the children so he can go and talk to Teague, who presumably is trying to get Steve to reconsider leaving. While Robbie and Carol Anne are getting ready for bed, Robbie's clown doll comes to life and pulls him under the bed. Diane, relaxing in the master bedroom, hears her son's screaming voice and tries to investigate, but is pulled against the wall and ceiling by an unseen force. Robbie manages to rip the clown doll to pieces but a strange, mouth-like portal appears in Carol Anne's closet and attempts to suck the children in. Diane tries to get to her son and daughter but runs into the Beast itself, in the form of a snarling, skeletal demon. It blocks Carol Anne's and Robbie's door and lunges at her, causing her to fall down the stairs. Diane runs to the backyard to seek help from her next-door neighbors, but slips into the freshly-dug swimming pool. A rainstorm has filled it with rain and mud, and as Diane tries to escape, coffins begin erupting from the earth, releasing skeletal corpses into the pool. Her neighbors hear the commotion and arrive to help Diane out of the pool, but they refuse to enter the house with its windows now blazing with ghostly energy. Diane runs back into the house alone to get Robbie and Carol Anne. She finds Carol Anne and Robbie barely able to fight the energy that tries to suck them into the portal; they dangle from their bed frames, hanging on only by their hands, while their feet sway toward the closet door. Diane manages to pull them to safety and they run from the house. Coffins and bodies begin exploding out of the ground throughout the house. Steve pulls up in his car with Teague as a passenger, and they both see the dead bodies erupting from the ground. Steve recalls the earlier conversation he had with Teague, where Teague revealed that Cuesta Verde was built over the site of a relocated cemetery. It is now obvious that Teague never really relocated the cemetery, he simply built the housing development over top of the graves after moving only the headstones. Realizing this truth, Steve rebukes him in anger. Dana arrives in her boyfriend's car and is hysterical over what is happening to the house. The Freelings get into Steve's station wagon and they drive off. The Beast grows so angry that the house implodes through the portal into the other dimension as stunned neighbors (including Teague) look on. The weary family checks into a hotel for the night. Not wishing to tempt fate, Steve pushes the television set outside their room.