After clashing with the studio system over his last film, Big Trouble in Little China (1986), genre director John Carpenter returned to low-budget horror and complete creative control with this intriguing attempt at intellectual chills. Donald Pleasence stars as Father Loomis, a Catholic priest charged with investigating a book, key and other cryptic clues left behind by a fellow priest who passed away. In the basement of a decaying Los Angles church, Loomis finds a cylinder that seems to be holding a green energy force inside. A physics professor, Edward Birack (Victor Wong), is intrigued by Loomis' discovery and brings a team of grad students to the church for a weekend study and analysis session. They learn that the energy is the son of Satan, preparing to unlock himself and bring his evil father back from an other-dimensional prison. As an army of possessed vagrants (led by Alice Cooper) assemble outside the church to prevent anyone from leaving, the team members begin having the same dream, which turns out to be a horrific transmission from the future.