The plot concerns a Soviet scientist named Joseph Jaworsky (Tor Johnson), who defects and flees to a Nevada Test Site called Yucca Flats, only to be turned into a mindless monster by atomic radiation, stalking the desert.

When he wanders in range of an American nuclear test, the bewildered Russian is transformed by it into a mindless beast with an uncontrollable urge to kill.

He proceeds to murder a couple in their car on a nearby road, prompting pursuit from police officers Jim Archer and Joe Dobson.

After stopping at a service station, the family's two young sons wander off into the surrounding desert where they eventually encounter and escape from the mutated Javorsky.

[7] The first scene in the film is the strangulation murder of a woman (played by Lanell Cado) who has just stepped out of a shower, by a man whose face is never shown; it is implied that the killer raped her corpse.

Some prints (such as the one used for the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode) were edited to show the woman clothed for the duration of the scene (running 81 seconds), with the only nudity being a brief flash of the breast as she towels herself in front of a mirror.

"[16] On his website Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings, Dave Sindelar panned the film's "maddening" voice-over narration, editing, and apparent lack of a real storyline.

[17] TV Guide awarded the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, writing, "In an honest attempt to make a brief protest picture, the producers apparently didn't have enough money to accord this any sort of production value.

It was released by Alpha Video on November 18, 2003, and by Image Entertainment on December 30, 2003, as a part of a double feature with Mesa of Lost Women (1953).

In 2010, The Beast of Yucca Flats was released three separate times by TNT Media Group and Echo Bridge Home Entertainment.

[20] In 1995, the television comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000 featured The Beast of Yucca Flats, helping the film develop a cult status.