Its plot follows a female hitchhiker en route to San Francisco who finds herself at the mercy of a backwoods Satanic cult in Pennsylvania who sacrifice young women in an attempt to resurrect their dead mother.

A group of children, along with an older woman they call Mama, arrive, and one of the boys, Abraham, knocks the girl unconscious.

Years later, teenaged Nancy Johnson runs away from her home after her stepfather Bert, a police officer, attempts to rape her.

While hitchhiking to her sister's home in San Francisco, she is picked up by two benevolent young men, Hank and Tom.

In the morning, Nancy goes for a walk, and returns to the campsite to witness two police officers, Luke and Abraham, arresting Hank and Tom, accusing them of murdering a local woman.

At the farmhouse, the family conduct a Black Mass at midnight and sacrifice Sharon, another local woman they have kidnapped, in the name of Satan.

Observing the mass from a cage, Nancy prays to God as they slit Sharon's throat before feeding her blood to their dead mother, attempting to resurrect her.

Luke and Abraham drive Sharon's body to a field the next morning and begin digging a shallow grave, an event witnessed by Bert, who stumbles upon the scene; he hears them discuss sacrificing Nancy and Gwen on Easter.

When Savini left to work on Knightriders (1981), Russo stepped in and finished the remaining special effects shots.

[3] Tom Writer of Cinefantastique noted: "John Russo, whose solo filmmaking efforts have never come close to equaling his collaborative work with George Romero on NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, deserves praise for this ambitious, low-budget film made in Pittsburgh.

"[13] The film was released on VHS by Vidmark Entertainment, and sold approximately $1 million worth of video cassettes.