After serving 40 years in a prison mental ward, Coffin Joe (José Mojica Marins) is released to the streets of modern-day São Paulo.

Immediately after his release, Coffin Joe renews his lifelong obsession to sire a male child with a woman whom he perceives to be of exceptional qualities capable of continuing his bloodline, which he feels to be "superior" above all others.

After being released from the prison mental ward, Coffin Joe is greeted at the gate by his old and loyal servant Bruno (Rui Rezende), who takes him to a secluded basement below a favela in São Paulo.

As well as Bruno, the hideout is populated by four fanatics who are obsessed with Coffin Joe's history and ideas, and have been waiting and preparing for his arrival in order that they may faithfully serve him.

After questioning their motives and testing their loyalty, Coffin Joe immediately orders the followers to begin kidnapping women so he can renew his murderous quest for "the continuation of the blood", his lifelong obsession to find who he determines to be a perfect woman who will bear him a son.

Greatly disturbed, Joe sends his followers to quickly kidnap several more women and proceeds to torture them through sadistic ordeals to test their endurance and willingness to succumb to his perceived superiority.