Alone in the Dark

In Springfield, Dr. Leo Bain runs an experimental mental institution where the inmates have a relative freedom inside. When his Dr. Harry Merton moves to Philadelphia to another hospital, Dr. Dan Potter is invited by Dr. Bain to be the substituted for Dr. Merton. He moves with his wife Nell Potter and daughter Lyla Potter to an isolated old house and begins to work in the institution. Soon he learns that on the third floor, live the dangerous inmates Frank Hawkes, who was a former military that has become paranoid after being POW; the arson Byron 'Preacher' Sutcliff; the fat pedophile Ronald 'Fatty' Elster; and the shy serial-killer John "the Bleeder" Skaggs, who never shows his face and bleeds when he kills. The calm inmate Ray Curtis supervises the quartet on the floor, and warns Dr. Potter that they believe he killed Dr. Merton and they want to kill him. Dr. Potter welcomes his sister Toni Potter, who had a nervous breakdown, to spend a week with his family and him. When there is a blackout in the town, Frank, Byron, Fatty and Bleeder escape from the facility. They find the town being looted by the residents, and they rob weapons and clothes from a department store. When they leave the store, Bleeder kills the driver of a van and flees by foot. The other three inmates drive the van to escape from the havoc. Tony convinces Nell to go to a protest against the nuclear power plant in Springfield, and they are arrested. They befriend Tom Smith in the cell and he lets Nell call her husband to ask the babysitter Bunky to go to her house. When they are released, they learn that Fatty was in the house and played with Lyla, and Dr. Potter summoned the police. Tony invites Tom to have dinner with the family and Dr. Potter invites also Detective Burnett to have dinner with them. But soon they hear strange noises around the house and they have a night of panic.