It follows two sisters operating an inn in the Louisiana bayou, whose dark secrets come to light after the arrival of a male guest.

Lucy Bonnard, a young woman with a history of mental illness, helps her older sister, Charlotte, operate the Willows, an inn at their familial plantation in the Louisiana bayou.

The sexually-frustrated Lucy is unsuccessfully courted by Etienne LeViolette, her childhood friend who now works as a handyman for the sisters.

Late one night, Matt Rutledge, a congressional aide from Washington, D. C., arrives at the inn as a guest, and soon finds himself attracted to Lucy.

When a storm causes a power outage, Lucy entertains the guests by telling a ghost story about Jud Nevins, a man who disappeared in the bayou years ago.

That night, as Lucy sleeps, an unseen assailant spies on her from a hole in the attic floor, and later lurks downstairs while Mrs. Bettelheim has a snack in the kitchen.

Lucy, rattled by her disturbing memory, sees a man wearing Jud's jacket and baseball cap outside, and runs after him.

Matt attempts to drown Lucy in the swamp, but a number of hands emerge from beneath, pulling him under and killing him.

[3] Benjamin Mouton was recommended for the role of Etienne to director Bill Condon by talent agent Bryan Lourd.

[1] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times panned the film as "such a silly and contrived piece of Southern Gothic nonsense that it deserves to end up on the lower half of the bill with that other piece of bayou bilge, Shy People," adding that "Condon, who is also making his feature directorial debut, compounds a lack of originality by taking his material too seriously.