A Night to Dismember 1983

The Kent family of Woodmire Lake is tied to a chilling belief: they’re cursed, and that curse seems to drive a trail of murder and familicide through each generation. Bonnie Kent is among the first to fall, found hacked to death with an axe by her sister Susan; after committing the brutal act, Susan slips in the bathroom and falls onto the blade, killing herself. Later, Broderick Kent’s wife Lola Kent, Lola Kent, Cindy Boudreau is discovered murdered in her bathtub; he initially denies involvement, but soon confesses to the crime before taking his own life. Broderick’s niece Vicki Kent, Vicki Kent, Samantha Fox, is then revealed to have murdered two neighborhood boys in August 1981 and is sent away to an asylum.

Six years pass before Vicki is released, apparently having overcome the homicidal tendencies that plagued her. Her return unsettles her family—especially her brother Billy and sister Mary, who want her recommitted—while Adam and Blanche, her parents, struggle to help her readjust. Vicki tries to reconnect with her ex, Frankie, and is soon haunted by unsettling visions as she attempts to rebuild her life. One night, Frankie and his new girlfriend are murdered during a private moment; an unseen assailant decapitates Frankie and burns the head in the fireplace, a grisly act that shakes the household to its core.

Tension thickens as Vicki seeks out relatives, including Uncle Sebastian and Aunt Ann; Great-aunt Bea is staying with them as well. They turn her away, deeming her and her siblings dangerous and unsafe to be around. The next morning, Sebastian is murdered with a hatchet, and Ann is run down by a car. Bea is pursued inside the house and decapitated, her head wrapped in a cloth and stored away. Out by the lake, Vicki is chased by a pale, zombie-like figure that rises from the water, only to discover later that it is Billy trying to terrify her.

Vicki’s attempt to resurface socially continues as she tries to lure Tim O’Malley, a detective investigating the murders of Sebastian, Ann, and Bea, into a dangerous encounter by performing a striptease; the moment becomes a hallucinogenic fantasy of a sexual encounter between them. Billy, William Szarka, repeats his harassment with a Halloween mask, driving Vicki further toward the edge. Mary, meanwhile, has a nightmare in which her entire family turns on her and stabs her to death. The house’s electricity flickers out, and Adam, Saul Meth, goes to check the main breaker, only to be stabbed to death by an unseen assailant. Blanche is then brutally murdered in her bed, leaving the home soaked in fear and confusion.

Billy discovers his parents’ bodies and is later killed by Mary, who, convinced her family has conspired against her, strikes him down with a rock. Mary then experiences the lingering voices that echo through the house, a chorus of disembodied reminders that keep steering her thoughts toward madness. She retreats to the basement, but the voices continue to taunt her as she flees into the woods, seeking an escape from the relentless memories.

Detective O’Malley arrives at Woodmire Lake and uncovers the staggering carnage—Vicki stands among the corpses, her hands still dripping with blood, gripping a hatchet. In a desperate struggle, she fights back, but the detective overpowers her and strangles her to death. In a somber voiceover, O’Malley reads diaries from each family member, ultimately revealing a shocking truth: Mary committed all the murders for which Vicki had been blamed, including the two neighborhood boys’ deaths that led to Vicki’s confinement. As the tale closes, Mary leaves Woodmire Lake in a taxi and murders the taxi driver with a hatchet, a final act that seals the grim legacy of the Kent curse.