Late one evening, college student Michelle Mancini is decapitated by a Killer in the backseat of her car. Meanwhile, local Fictional location students Natalie Simon and Brenda Bates are recounted by their classmate, Parker, how Stanley Hall, an abandoned campus dormitory, was the site of a massacre in 1973. Paul Gardner, a journalism student, discredits it as an urban legend. News of Michelle's murder quickly spreads throughout the campus, but the dean Adams and campus police officer Reese seem determined to bury the story, much to Paul's frustration. Damon, a jokester fraternity member, attempts to console Natalie, who is notably disturbed by the murder, and they drive to a bluff. After Natalie rejects Damon's subsequent sexual advances, he goes outside to urinate, but is attacked by an assailant in a hooded parka who The Hook. Natalie flees on foot and returns to the campus, where she notifies Reese. However, upon returning to the area, Damon's car and body are gone.