After cheating death by surviving being both stabbed and shot, psychotic killer Jerry (Terry O'Quinn) is placed in a mental institution, but he soon murders his doctor and escapes. Taking on a dead man's identity, he moves to an upscale neighborhood in Los Angeles and sets his sights on local woman Carol (Meg Foster), slowly winning her heart. Carol's son, Todd (Jonathan Brandis), grows suspicious of his mom's new lover, however, and tensions reach the boiling point at the couple's wedding.