Our grainy little ditty of devils, demons and bad audio dubbing begins with the credits rolling over the mechanisms of a clock about to strike midnight. The creepy theme gives you the impression that time is running out on someone. (Hopefully not the viewer.)

The film proper starts in the thick of it. Dave (Edward Connell) is running away from something. He is shouting for Susan and we get a glimpse of some bloodied legs (and I guess that’s her.) He continues to run and makes it to a highway. He tries to flag down a car but realizes too late that no one is driving it.

The possessed car hits him and he rolls to the side of the road. It circles back to finish the job but another car pulls up - this time with concerned motorists, who rush to Dave’s aid. The stealth car roars off.

Jump ahead and we find that Dave has been institutionalized as a near catatonic. He'll only speaks of evil things, that are after him, and turns violent when anyone tries to take away a silver cross that they found with him after the incident.

A slow news day brings a reporter in for an interview. It was one year ago that Dave was found along the roadside. They also found three other bodies in the same area, a baffling murder mystery that has never been solved. The reporter asks Dave a few questions but he is unresponsive. The scribe then shows him a picture of Dr. Waterman (Fritz Leiber), "sort of a weirdo professor from the University" and the patient reacts violently to it.

Orderlies quickly subdue him. Having struck out with the patient, the reporter turns to his doctor. The Puh-sychiatrist plays a tape recording of his first session with Dave after he was brought in. 

Uh-oh, flashback.

- - - -

Dave receives a call from Dr. Waterman, who wants him to come to his mountain cabin to see his wonderful discovery. Dave invites his buddy, Jim, along. Jim (Frank Boers Jr.) (better known today as Frank Bonner. Yep, Herb Tarlek, sales manager of WKRP, sans his plaid coat and pants) decides to turn it into a picnic excursion and invites along his girlfriend, Vicki (Robin Christopher), and Susan (Barbara Hewitt), as a blind date for Dave.

Dave isn’t sure if this is a good idea because Waterman didn’t sound quite right over the phone. Jim assures him that everything will be fine, which leads us to a traveling sequence which bears an eerie resemblance to the beginning of Manos: The Hands of Fate. (So much so that I kept expecting Torgo to show up.) 

The road abruptly ends, so they have to hike the rest of the way to the cabin. They arrive but find it in shambles. Jim thinks something must have exploded inside until Dave points out that the building is caved in not blown up.

A park ranger startles them. He introduces himself as Mr. Asmodeous (Jack Woods) (the films writer and director. And if it isn’t obvious enough, his character is evil. Evil! Eeeeeeevvillllllllll!!!!!). He tells them Waterman has gone back to town.

Since they’re there anyway, the group decides to go ahead with the picnic. While looking for a good spot, Vicki spies a medieval castle along the cliffs. Dave doesn’t remember it being there from previous trips, so they hold off on the picnic to go and explore it.

They pass a cave where a strange cackling emanates from the darkness within. Curiosity gets the better of them and they investigate. While Jim and Dave build torches, Vicki finds some giant, cloven footprints. Dave assures everyone that it’s probably just a hoax.

They enter the cave and promptly get separated. Vicki finds a skeleton first, then a cackling old hermit second. She screams for the others who manage to find her in the dark. (It was so dark, I thought it was a Fred Williamson action sequence ala Night Journey.) The crazy old coot gives them a book then kicks them out of his cave.

Okay, Waterman’s cabin is destroyed, there is no sign of him and a maniacal old hermit gives you a strange book that is locked shut. So what’s the next thing you’d do? Obviously, you have a picnic.

The girls set up the spread so they can eat. Jim manages to pry the lock off the book. It is an old tome of ancient writings, symbols and pictures of demons. It also reeks of sulfur. (Plot point!) The girls encourage the boys to put the book away and eat so they can go on and explore the castle. 

While they eat, Dave is able to translate some of the Latin phrases but it sounds like gibberish. Susan realizes that he is saying the Lord’s Prayer backwards, and makes him stop. Dave complies.

They finish eating and head for the castle, with the book in tow. Watermen appears, out of nowhere, steals the book and runs off. Dave tells the girls to stay put while he and Jim give chase. They catch up to him in a shallow creek. Dave tackles him, too hard, and accidentally kills him. Dave is pretty shook up about it as they drag the body to shore. They decide to head back to town and inform the police.

They start back but Dave’s conscious can’t let him leave Waterman lying in the mud. But when they return to the creek, the body is gone. They are completely baffled and are surprised again by Asmodeous' sudden appearance. 

Jim tries to tell the ranger what happened but Dave sabotages the truth, covering up the existence of the book. Jim does manage to tell him about the crazy hermit. Asmodeous warns them to stay away from the cave and to clear out of the area. Dave says they were just leaving. Asmodeous rides off. Once he's out of earshot, Jim and Dave argue about not telling him the truth.

Meanwhile, the girls are getting worried. Vicki wants to go and look for them but Susan thinks they should stay put. They compromise and split up. Asmodeous pops up, with black smudges under his eyes, and contorts his face with malicious intent. (See! He’s evil. Evil! Eeeeeevvvviillllll!!!)

He molests Susan but only seems interested in snicker-snagging all over her face. (Translation: Holding her down and drooling evil drool all over her face.) He wants to take it further and starts to take her blouse off. But this uncovers a silver cross she’s wearing and it frightens him off.

The others quickly find Susan but she can’t remember what happened. Dave and Jim fill them in on Waterman's disappearing body. Susan finds some papers with Waterman’s name on them in the book. She gives them to Dave who reads them aloud to the others. 

Uh-oh, flashback within a flashback.

- - - -

- - - -

The book is a collection of spells and curses. Waterman found it and decided to try it out using "scientific principles". (Leave it to a scientist to take a book of demon spells and treat it like VCR installation instructions. Sorry, Liz, that was a cheap shot.) He managed to conjure up a squid like monster but found he couldn’t control it. It was this creature that destroyed his cabin. (Let’s see, turn to 16-B: Troubleshooting. If monster will not behave - adjust the tracking. Is the monster plugged in?)

- - - -

- - - -

Thus endeth quickly the flashback within a flashback.

Dave runs out of notes, and they leave no clue as to Waterman’s whereabouts. It's suggested that maybe he’s at the castle, so they'll look for him there. The only problem is, the castle has now disappeared, too.

It's finally starting to sink in that strange things are afoot, and Vicki is ready to get the hell out of there. (Ah, the voice of reason.) Dave wants a closer look at where the castle was. (Ah, the voice of a moron!) He uses Waterman’s notes to show the girls some holy talismans, that can ward off evil, like Susan’s cross. Jim constructs them out of willow branches for the others to wear. The boys leave the book with the girls and begin to scale the cliff.

Back at the old hermit’s cave, Asmodeous conjures up another monster. (It resembles a gorilla whose cloven feet were responsible for the footprints found earlier.) He calls for the book but the old man says he doesn’t have it.

Jim and Dave reach the point where the castle was and are startled to find some kind of dimensional rift. They throw rocks into it - that disappear into nothingness. (Jim sees a profit potential in this disappearing act so we know he won’t be around for very much longer.) Suddenly, they hear the girls screaming.

The gorilla monster has chased the old man out of the cave and finally caught him. The beast bashes him against a tree. The girls witness this and scream in terror. It hears them and notices that Susan has the book and goes after her.

Jim and Dave distract it, by throwing rocks, allowing the girls to escape into a narrow crevice. It appears to be more interested in getting the book then getting at them. They quickly look for a branch to make a spear out of. Jim finds one and uses his knife to carve it into a pointed stick. (Thus joining the ranks of heroes who’ve slain Claymation monsters: Jason, Perseus, Sinbad and Herb Tarlik.)

Actually, it was Dave who dispatches the beast with the spear. (A little too easily I’m afraid to report.) Jim recognizes it as one of the demons from the book. Dave assumes it’s one of Waterman’s "experiments" gone horribly wrong. It's settled. It's time to head into town and find the police.

Dave and the girls take the book and head for the car. Jim heads for the picnic spot for his camera to get a picture of the dead monster, so they can prove their story to the authorities. No one notices that Vicki accidentally loses her talisman.

Jim finds his camera in pieces and is jumped by the black-eyed Asmodeous. Jim wards him off with his talisman. The demon puts some seductive thoughts, of money and women, into Jim’s head and tries to strike a bargain for the book.

As the rest of the group marches on, Susan loses her cross, too, and flashes back to Asmodeous’s attack. With her holy protection gone, the evil he drooled on her takes over and she attacks Vicki. Dave wrestles her off and manages to break the spell with his talisman.

The girls are at the breaking point. Susan remembers everything and tells them about Asmodeous' attack. Dave finds her cross and gives it back. Vicki wants to go and find Jim; but Dave thinks they should stick together. (What? You don’t want to split up again?) 

Jim finally catches up with them and warns that there’s something wrong with the park ranger. They already know that. Dave had a genius attack, remembering that Asmodeous is another name for Satan. (Well, DUH!) Almost on cue - Asmodeous conjures up another monster, this time a large ogre. (A non-animated effect that uses an actor in a caveman outfit and some really good forced perspective.)

Jim steals the book away and tries to give it to the monster, looking to cash in with the devil. But Asmodeous is done dealing. The monster knocks Dave silly and chases Jim into the dimensional rift. Jim tries to get back out but the ogre has a hold of him. The others try and pull him out but it’s no use. Jim gives them the book back, then disappears into the void.

Dave gives the book to the girls and tells them to head for the car. He crosses over into the red tinted dimension to try and save his friend. Jim is in there but Asmodeous finds him first. (Not only is he the devil, he’s also a doppelganger.) He assumes Jim’s form and calls for Dave.

Dave finds Evil Jim and helps him up. He subtly crushes Dave’s talisman in the process and asks where the book is. Dave says the girls have it as they head back out of the rift. (Good Jim dies just out of eyesight.) Back in the real world, Evil Jim states that they have to stop the girls. Dave says there is no hurry; because he forgot to give them the car keys. (Gah! This is guy is such an idiot.)

Dave quickly realizes that he isn’t dealing with the real Jim. He whips out his talisman but it's busted so it doesn't work. So he'll have to settle it the old fashioned way, with fisticuffs, but the demon is too much for him and knocks him out. Evil Jim reverts to Asmodeous, then quickly transforms into a flying demon and soars after the girls. (Another animation effect that looks pretty good until you notice its big chicken feet!)

It quickly catches and kills Vicki. Susan circles back, finds Dave and tries to wake him up. The demon swoops down and plucks her up. The monster savages Susan and then drops her. Dave wakes up and swats at the demon, with the book, while making his way towards her. 

She’s still alive. He grabs her cross and drives the monster off. They flee into the woods with the demon right behind them. Since Jim has the cross, Susan begins to have bad thoughts again and starts to succumb. They make it to a cemetery as the demon circles in for the kill.

They hide behind a tombstone. The demon closes in but it explodes in flames when it strikes the grave. The tombstone is adorned with a large stone cross. They’re safe; but only for a moment as the ground begins to shake. Dave calls for Susan and we see her bloodied legs.  

Uh-oh, I think we’ve lapped ourselves.

A giant ghostly apparition appears, and condemns Dave, saying, that in one year and one day he will die. (Another creepy, well done effect.) Dave runs and makes it to a highway...

But this is where we came in.

- - - -

Back at the hospital, the reporter stops the Puh-sychiatrist. This was old news that came out, when the story broke, over a year ago. It was a year and one day ago, precisely, the doctor points out. (Uh-oh.) Back in his cell, as he's wrestled into a straightjacket, Dave screams for his cross.

The reporter has it. And as he leaves, he passes a woman going into the hospital. They exchange glances and we see it is a black-eyed Susan, with a wicked smile on her face. The film ends with her walking in while the haunting voice of Dave cries, "Where’s my cross?"

CREEPY!

The end?

To find out, brave souls, press on to: Part II