The Return is a 1980 American science-fiction film directed by Greydon Clark and starring Jan-Michael Vincent, Cybill Shepherd, Martin Landau and Raymond Burr.

Twenty-five years later, the town's deputy marshal Wayne is investigating a strange case of cattle mutilations with few leads to follow.

Wayne stayed and became a police officer while Jennifer returned to California and worked for her father's company.

The mutilation case appears to be solved when the culprit is identified as a crazy old prospector hermit from the outskirts of town.

Claiming to be on a mission from the aliens, the hermit says that the mutilations have a purpose: he has been using a "knife" made of energy to excise parts of the cattle and teleport them into space using a device hidden in the cave behind his cabin.