Quarry is a mysterious, articulate stranger who draws a cult like following of local hippies. Rather than showing them peace and love, he has more sinister plans for them, as he is a vampire.
On a deserted beach somewhere near Topanga Canyon in southern California,a surfer comes upon a coffin-shaped box that has just washed ashore. When heopens the box, he is aghast at what he sees. He doesn't have time tocontemplate it, however, before he is strangled by a tall, zombielike man witha misshapen face and an afro hairdo. Barbado [La Sesne Hilton] wordlessly drags the coffin to apickup truck, loads it in the bed, and drives into Topanga. Meanwhile, MonkReynolds [William Jordan], his girlfriend Esslin [Betty Anne Rees], and the half dozen members of his motorcyclegang are also tooling into Topanga on their motorbikes. Watching them arehippies Rona Ashby [Brenda Dickson-Weinberg] and her boyfriend, Pico [Bill Ewing].
When Monk starts hassling Pop [John Fiedler], a serape-clad, aging hippie over the priceof his necklaces at his sidewalk display, Pico comes between Pop and Monk. Afew kung fu chops later, and it is obvious that Pico has the upper hand...untilthe "heat" suddenly appears. Monk and Pico run for the trees, Esslin and Ronaright behind them. Now partners in crime, Pico and Rona invite Monk and Esslinto come home with them for dinner. Home is an enormous house on a cliffoverlooking the beach. A dozen or so hippies live there, communal style, wherethey indulge in the arts, smoke a lot of pot, and sing angstful folk songsabout how a man without a dream is like a willow floating on a stream or apiece of driftwood rotting on a lonely shore. After an evening of drinking wineand passing the bong, Monk goes outside to take a whizz and comes upon an emptycoffin hidden in the trees. When he comes face-to-face with Barbado, he takes afew steps backwards and falls down the hill.
A storm suddenly erupts, and the lights go off in the house. A windowblows open, and the wind extinguishes all the candles. By the time the candlesare relit, a stranger has joined them. He sits in the shadows, but it is easyto see that he is tall, bearded, with long dark hair and piercing eyes. He iswearing sandals and is dressed like a maharishi. He speaks with an air ofauthority about "being alive" and finding "a spark to ignite the fuel within."When he claps his hands and the lights come back on, everyone is duallyimpressed. The stranger introduces himself as Khorda. When invited to stay fordinner, Khorda admonishes the unwholesomeness of their food, the filthycondition of their house, and the importance of cleansing their blood andeating living food. Only then, he says, will they come alive and be deservingof their purpose. When Khorda rises to leave, the hippies beg him to staybecause they dig what he has to say and want to hear more. When he finally doestake his leave, Khorda walks toward the door but, rather than go through it,his body simply fades into nothingness. Groovy, man!
The next day, the hippies clean house and stock up on bottled water andorganic food. In the evening, they sit around the fireplace and listenspellbound to Khorda speak about flowers and eternity. The only one notgrooving on Khorda is Monk. He tells Khorda pointblank that he doesn't buy hissweet talk and the way he has moved in and taken over the commune. Furthermore,he's going into town to buy some steak and whiskey, he says, and he wantsEsslin to be ready to split when he gets back. They're going to cut out andblow this joint, he says. Esslin, however, has no desire to leave. When Khordaasks to speak to her alone, she willingly goes to him. When Khorda challengesher to settle for more in her life, she asks him to show her. When Khordakisses her, she kisses him back. Then she notices that Khorda is not reflectedin her bedroom mirror and starts to freak out. When Khorda sinks his fangs inher neck, she begins to scream. By the time Monk gets back to pick up Esslin,it's too late. Khorda attacks Monk, too.
Meanwhile, Esslin's and Monk's screams have carried to the bathrooms wherethe hippies are getting ready for bed. When they try to leave the bathrooms toinvestigate, they find that they are locked in. When the doors finally unlockand they amass in the hallway wondering what happened, they see Esslin dancingto Barbado's conga drum while Khorda watches. Silence overtakes them and, likezombies, they are drawn into the dance...all except for Pico and Rona. Pico hasrealized that something strange is going on. He convinces Rona that they haveto leave. Best to leave separately, he says, so that they are not noticed.Slowly, they make their way upstairs to get their stuff, but Kirk [Bobby "Boris" Pickett] interceptsRona and tries to put the bite on her, and Esslin intercepts Pico. When Esslinbares her fangs at Pico, he runs away, ending up in a cavern of undergroundtunnels where he is apprehended by Barbado and chained by the wrists to theceiling. Rona also makes it into the tunnels, but when she tries to free Pico,she is carried away by Barbado.
Khorda joins Pico and attempts to talk him into joining with the secret ofeternity, that is, after giving him a pep talk about the things he has seen inhis long life -- the Aramaeans, Julius Csesar, the Crusades, Attila, Bonaparte,Stalin, Hitler. Pico refuses and, when Khorda walks away, Pico works his wristsfree of the chains and attempts to make his way out of the tunnels. He ends upin a room containing a coffin in which he is horrifed to find Khorda. Picoslams the lid closed and backs up, his hand landing in a bowl of leeches whichhe has to pry off before he is confronted again by Barbado. Pico draws a crosson Barbado's cheek using the blood from his hands, Barbado sinks to the groundin pain, and Pico runs out the door, making his way to Pop's. When he asks Popfor help, however, Pop doesn't believe a word Pico says and merely gives him atranquilizer and tells him to sleep it off.
Pop changes his mind, however, when he finds that his dog has beenvampirized, Monk's body is discovered on the bluff overlooking the beach, andtwo of the girls from the commune are seen walking zombielike down the streetand wearing necklaces that Pop recognizes as being Druid blood ritual designsworn for protection by novice vampires who must venture out during thedaylight. That night, Pico and Pop, accompanied by a policeman and a homocidedetective, pay a visit to the commune to ask questions about Monk's death. Ofcourse, Khorda denies knowing anything about it. When the detective askswhether Rona is being held against her will, Rona appears and denies it. WhenPico tells how Barbado tied him up and then tries to show the bruises on hiswrists, Khorda's gaze makes them mysteriously disappear.
Pico and Pop return to Pop's house and scour his library for informationabout vampires. Pop finds a book that talks about an "incubation period"between the time a person is bitten by a vampire and actually turns into one.Because it doesn't say how long the incubation is, Pop agrees that they have toact immediately before it's too late. They sneak into the commune via theunderground tunnels. As they get closer to the interior, they hear chanting.Some sort of ritual is taking place, and it looks like Rona is entranced andabout to be sacrificed to the Unholy. As Pico and Pop watch from a balcony,Khorda bites Rona's neck and fills a cup with her blood, which he then proceedsto drink.
Just then, Pico and Pop are grabbed by Barbado, but Pico breaks free andleaps over the balcony. He tries to wake up Rona, but she is unresponsive. Onceagain, Khorda extends a welcome to Pico and asks him to join the group ineternity. Once again, Pico refuses, so Khorda sics the vampire hippies on him.Suddenly, a clock is heard chiming 5 AM, and Khorda heads for his coffin,leaving Pico to the vampires. Pico eludes them and runs back down into thetunnels, Barbado in pursuit. Pico grabs a knife from a pile of tools and ropesit to a door handle. When Barbado comes running after him, Pico slams the doorshut, and the knife impales Barbado. Next, he fashions a stake from a pole ofwood and goes looking for Khorda's coffin.
Pico finds the room that holds Khorda's coffin and thrusts the stake rightthrough the top. A groan is heard. When Pico opens the coffin to peek at hishandiwork, horror of horrors, he has staked Pop through the heart. Khorda stepsout of the shadows, laughing maniacally. Pico tosses the bowl of leeches atKhorda, and a half dozen or so leeches attach themselves to Khorda's face.Khorda pulls them off, his face now dripping with blood. Khorda advances onPico but, instead, falls on the stake and is destroyed. PIco races upstairs tosave Rona, and finds that all of the vampire hippies have turned to dust,leaving Rona lying alone on the altar. As Pico leans over Rona, telling herthat she is going to be alright, Rona also crumbles to dust. Pico screams.
