Secluded from the world, in XIX century rural Romania, a widow and mother of three must defend what's left of her family, at all costs, from an old family friend turned foe. Based on one of the best-known Romanian folk tales (The Goat and Her Three Kids by Ion Creanga), this film aims to unveil the true nature of the famed bedtime story and to treat the audience to a different perspective, one that offers a glimpse of what the tragedy looks like beyond the happy songs and affable characters.
凯撒（爱德华·罗宾逊 Edward G. Robinson 饰）和乔伊（道格拉斯·范朋克 Douglas Fairbanks Jr. 饰）是相识多年的老友。他们一个想要成为人尽皆知的江洋大盗，另一个却厌倦了打打杀杀的日子，想要追逐内心里成为一名舞者的梦想，两位好友就此走上了截然不同的人生道路。 凯撒加入了大佬维托里（Stanley Fields 饰）所领导的黑帮之中，随着时间的推移，他在组织里的地位越来越高。然而，凯瑟却并不满足于扮演一个马仔的角色，他设计杀死了维多利，取代了他的位子。那边厢，乔伊亦为成为舞者而努力着，某日，他邂逅了一位名为奥尔加（格伦达·法瑞尔 Glenda Farrell 饰）的脱衣舞女郎，就此坠入了情网。
The film opens with a narrated disclaimer over footage of an opening coffin. The narrator explains that the film's climax is so terrifying that it may kill the viewer, and reassures the audience that if they die of fright while watching the film, they will receive a free burial service, and it closes on the casket which has a card inside reading Reserved for You.[1] Newlyweds Jenni (Peggy Webber) and Eric (John Hudson) move into Eric's palatial country home. Jenni is Eric's second wife; his first wife Marion died when she accidentally slipped and hit her head on the edge of a decorative pond on the estate. At the home they meet Eric's friends, the Reverend Snow (Russ Conway) and his wife (Toni Johnson), as well as Mickey (Alex Nicol), the developmentally disabled gardener. Eric privately mentions to the Snows that Jenni spent time in an asylum following the sudden death of both her parents, and Mrs. Snow reveals that Jenni is very wealthy. Jenni is disturbed both by Mickey's belief that Marion's ghost wanders the estate and by Marion's self-portrait inside the house, which Jenni believes resembles her mother. When she begins to hear unexplained screaming noises and see skulls around her house, she believes that Marion is haunting her. Though Eric speculates to Jenni that Mickey, who was a childhood friend of Marion and thus dislikes Jenni, may be behind the trickery, Jenni worries that she is going insane. Eric then suggests to remove Marion's self-portrait from the home. Eric and Jenni take the painting outside and burn it. While they clean up the remains of the painting, a skull emerges from the ashes. While Jenni panics at the sight of the skull, Eric denies that the skull is there. Jenni faints and Eric withdraws the skull and hides it, revealing that he was responsible for the trickery all along in an effort to get hold of her wealth. Believing she has finally lost her sanity, Jenni resolves to be committed. She tells Eric that the entire property will be meticulously searched for the skull as a last resort. Before Eric can retrieve it, Mickey secretly steals the skull and brings it to the Reverend, revealing Eric's plans. That night, Eric prepares to murder Jenni and stage it as a suicide. Jenni sees Marion's ghost in Mickey's greenhouse and flees back to the house. When she enters, Eric begins throttling her. The ghost then appears and chases Eric outside and about the property; it finally corners and attacks him, drowning him in the decorative pond. After Jenni regains consciousness, the Snows arrive. Mrs. Snow comforts a hysterical Jenni and the Reverend discovers Eric's body in the pond. Some undisclosed time later, Jenni and the Snows depart from the house. Reverend Snow declares whether or not Marion's death was an accident will remain a mystery.
