cynthia nelson (mariette hartley), a teacher at the local orphanage, talks with a pastor while watching the sun set before getting ready for a fundraising costume party. cynthia mentions the "santa ana winds" which the pastor states are an evil omen. one of the orphans, tommy (philip frame), wanders into the nearby cemetery where he faintly hears a voice ordering "rise, rise; it is time." tommy initially dismisses it, but as he stops to rest, vampire women rise from their graves. seeing this, tommy tries to escape the cemetery only to run into the clutches of count yorga (robert quarry), who is waiting for them.