Stage Fright 1987

Late at night, a theatre troupe rehearses a musical about the fictional mass murderer Night Owl. Peter, a domineering director, refuses to let anyone leave. When actress Alicia sprains her ankle, she and castmate Betty sneak out for medical help at a nearby mental hospital. There, Betty notices Irving Wallace, a former actor driven insane who previously went on a killing spree. Unseen, Wallace murders an attendant with a syringe and hides in the trunk of Betty’s car.

Back at the theatre, Peter fires Alicia for leaving. Outside, Wallace kills Betty with a pickaxe to the mouth. Alicia finds the body and alerts the police, who station officers outside. Peter seizes the tragedy to rewrite the play with Wallace as the villain and demands the troupe stay to rehearse. Corinne secretly hides the theatre’s exit key on Peter’s instructions.

Wallace dons the owl costume and begins stalking the cast. Mistaken identities and confusion lead to multiple deaths: Corinne is strangled and stabbed, Ferrari is stabbed and hung, and Mark is killed when Wallace drills through a door. Peter and Danny witness Mark’s death and stick together. Onstage, Peter spots the killer on the catwalks but accidentally axes Brett, who is bound in the spare owl costume. Wallace then kills Sybil and Danny, injures Laurel and attacks Peter, severing his arm with a chainsaw before decapitating him with an axe.

Alicia regains consciousness to find a wounded Laurel hiding in the showers, but Wallace soon finishes her off. Alone, Alicia searches for the missing key, discovering Wallace has arranged the troupe’s bodies around the stage, feathered like part of the set. She retrieves the key and fends him off with a fire extinguisher before escaping to the catwalks. After a final struggle involving fire, she manages to flee the theatre and report to the police.

The next morning, Alicia returns for her watch. Security guard Willy notices the loaded gun she had found the night before and remarks he would have shot Wallace between the eyes. Newspapers report eight victims, but Wallace should be the ninth. Suddenly, a scarred Wallace lunges at Alicia, only to be shot in the head by Willy. Shaken, Alicia leaves the theatre, while Wallace smirks at the camera, implying he has survived.