The film revolves around the last two survivors of a vampiric shapeshifting species that feed on the life force of human female virgins.

Charles Brady and his mother/lover Mary are sleepwalkers, nomadic shapeshifting energy vampires who feed off the lifeforce of virgin women.

Charles and Mary live in Travis, a small Indiana town, having recently fled Bodega Bay, California, after draining and killing a young girl there.

When Charles resumes feeding off Tanya, the deputy's cat, Clovis, enraged by his master’s death, violently scratches him in the face and chest.

Clovis and a small number of other cats begin to gather outside, only kept at bay by the leghold traps the Sleepwalkers have set.

The cats that have been gathering around their house, led by Clovis, jump on Mary and claw and bite her until she bursts into flames and dies.

Tanya hugs Clovis, her savior, as the other cats depart, leaving Mary's body lying ablaze on her former driveway.

[8] British horror critic Alan Jones gave the film a scathing review in the Radio Times, saying that "Garris tries to inject life into the pathetic script... but this underdeveloped material is so poor he's constantly fighting a losing battle.

From the daft prologue set in Bodega Bay where Hitchcock filmed The Birds to the soggy moggy climax, this is absurdly unscary and confusingly dull.

"[10] In April 2020, on his Post Mortem podcast during a listener Q&A session with Joe Russo, Garris confirmed that there was discussion from Columbia Pictures about a sequel, saying in full, "There was a little bit of talk.