The Being
In the fictional town of Pottsville, Idaho citizens begin disappearing. Young Michael Smith, son of Marge Smith (Dorothy Malone) is the first to vanish. A young man is decapitated while fleeing from an unseen assailant, and patrons in a drive-in theater are brutally murdered inside their vehicles. At each scene a pile of green slime is found. Wanting to get to the bottom of the disappearances but afraid that the publicity might damage the town’s potato business, Mayor Gordon Lane (José Ferrer) hires Chemical safety engineer Garcon Jones (Martin Landau) to investigate. Also investigating the disappearances is Detective Mortimer Lutz (Bill Osco), who senses that something terrible has befallen the town.
Meanwhile, more and more people disappear, with a puddle of green slime found at each site. With this new string of disappearances Lutz begins to suspect that Jones knows more than he is willing to tell. His suspicions grow when he is attacked by something monstrous while at home, with Lutz barely managing to escape from his attacker. Lutz confronts Jones about the incident but is told that there is nothing wrong in the area. The following night while Lutz his waitress girlfriend Laurie (Marianne Gordon) home they are suddenly attacked by a hideous creature. After holing themselves inside a diner they manage to lock it inside a freezer. The couple then contacts Mayor Lane, however when he arrives they discover that the creature has vanished, leaving behind a puddle of green slime.
In light of this recent attack, Lutz confronts Jones again who then admits that a highly radioactive creature is responsible. It’s revealed that the town is home to one of 2,000 nuclear dump sites in the U.S. and the creature (who is implied to be young Michael Smith) is the resulting mutation due to repeated exposure to the site’s radioactive materials. The mutant, while intelligent, is completely psychotic and sensitive to light and is inactive during the day. Arming themselves with shotguns the two eventually manage to track the creature down to an abandoned warehouse where they are stalked by the hungry mutant. Jones is soon attacked and disemboweled by the creature, leaving Lutz alone to fend off the creature. Donning a gas mask, Lutz attempts to kill the creature with poison gas but it seems unfazed by the poisonous fumes and tosses Lutz around like a ragdoll. As the creature advances Lutz manages to toss a beaker of acid into the creature’s face momentarily stunning it. Taking advantage of the creature’s distraction, Lutz grabs a nearby axe and hacks the creature to death, ending the creature's reign of terror. However a new mutation is seen bursting from the ground as the credits roll.
cult, revenge