- A man travels to another city for his sister's funeral to try to find out why she killed herself. He discovers that she is actually a vampire and returns from the dead to take revenge on her family.
- Brother and sister, Mark [Greg Braddock] and Nina [Lisa Milano] Gray, grew up together in Monterrey, California and used to play around an old, abandoned church near their home. Even back then, there were stories about the church once being inhabited by renegade priests and nuns turned devil worshippers and about children being sacrificed to Satan during Black Masses. Mark has since grown up and moved to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. Nina stayed in Monterrey and became a writer. It's been two years since Mark has visited his sister, and he's now been called back to Monterrey to attend her funeral. Nina just killed herself by slitting her wrists. Mark cannot fathom any reason why Nina would off herself like that. At the funeral, Mark is consoled by the attending priest, Father Dakin [Ray Myles], who offers him whatever help he might need before returning to Hollywood. What Mark doesn't know is that Dakin was there when Nina slit her wrists, that Dakin is actually a 200 year old vampire, and that Nina's death was the first step in a ritual covenant with a grim purpose that will eventually involve Mark.
Mark decides to stick around Monterrey for another week or so in order to tie up loose ends, visit Aunt Lilian, and see whether he can discover what might have been bothering Nina so much that she killed herself. First stop is Nina's house, where Mark is appalled at the sight of Nina's bedroom. There is blood everywhere. On top of that, the scene is being investigated by police lieutenant Steve Scott, who confesses to Mark that, in his opinion, Nina's death was not a suicide. Not only does the blood-splattered scene NOT look like the result of a suicide, but Nina is missing the third finger on her left hand and her body was completely drained of blood. Lt Scott also tells Mark about a nearby family that was recently butchered, including two children. Found in their hands were pieces of a black cloth that the police lab dated as being 200 years old! Something isn't adding up here.
Mark's second stop is to visit Aunt Lilian, currently bedridden with an undisclosed illness. Lilian admits that she's seen Nina only twice since Mark left. Nina seemed to be obsessed with her book, Lilian says, and was regularly visiting the old church, even looking forward to her visits, which doesn't jive with Mark's memory of how afraid of the church Nina used to be when she was a child. Nina was almost finished writing the book, Lilian also says, but Mark can't remember seeing it anywhere in Nina's house. Meanwhile, back at the church, Nina has reawakened as a vampire, and Fr Dakin is sending her forth to keep up the second part of the covenant. Nina must now kill every member of her family. To that end, Nina kills Aunt Lilian as well as Lilian's housekeeper.
After a little rooting around, Mark has found Nina's manuscript entitled "High Satanic Rites" and read it from beginning to end. It talks about how the Satan-worshipping nuns would cut off the third fingers of their left hands, the fingers on which they wore rings of celibacy, as a symbolic gesture of their denouncement of God and acceptance of Satan as their lord and master. It concludes with a description of the ritual offering of two children, ages 3 and 5, upon Satan's black altar. Upset by the vile nature of Nina's writings, Mark pays a visit to Jean Holt, an old girlfriend and Nina's assistant on the writing project. Jean explains that she was involved with the writing of the book only at the beginning but admits that she, too, was becoming concerned about Nina's ability to describe in lurid detail events that happened over 150 years ago.
In consideration of all that he has learned about the old church and Nina's fascination with it, Mark decides to drive out there. While looking around in the crypt, he is surprised to see Fr Dakin. Dakin explains that he often visits the crypt, as he loves it as much as Nina did and, in fact, he has himself become somewhat of an expert on its history. He tells Mark how, 150 years ago, Satan appeared to a group of nuns in this very crypt. Mark is suspicious enough that he asks Lt Scott to check on Fr Dakin. When Jean discovers a painting of Nina that has suddenly been altered to make Nina look like a vampire, Jean and Lt Scott both agree that Mark should leave Monterrey. His curiosity whetted, however, Mark intends to keep searching for the answer as to what was going on with Nina.
In the meantime, while awaiting Aunt Lilian's funeral the next day, Mark and Jean decide to spend the night at Lilian's cottage (Mark and Jean have renewed their old relationship). As they relax in front of a fire, Jean is spooked by Nina's face in a window, but Mark can find nothing outside. Then Mark gets a telephone call from Lt Scott informing him that there is no Fr Dakin in northern California. However, there once was a Fr Daken who was the priest at the old church, but he died 150 years ago! Lt Scott decides to check out this old church. He makes his way into the crypt where he finds an empty coffin and is attacked by several zombie-like vampires and impaled on dozens of stakes.
The next day, Mark attends Lilian's funeral, but Jean begs off and stays behind. In Mark's absence, Jean is attacked and bitten by Nina. When Mark returns, Jean informs him that Fr Dakin will explain to him everything about Nina's death and leads him into the crypt of the old church. There, waiting for him are Nina and Fr Dakin. Dakin informs Mark that, this very night, Satan intends to rise from hell and perform the marriage rite that will unite Mark and Nina in unholy wedlock and produce a horribly deformed child who will rule at Satan's side. Mark wants nothing to do with this and tries to drive off, but Satan causes his car to crash. Covered in blood, Mark is wed to his sister. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl]
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