- A young girl whose mother had sold her soul to Satan when she was born is told by Satan that she must marry a fellow demon.
- A young girl who returns for her mothers furneral, is "adopted" by an older woman, who is member of a Satan-cult. The young girl escapes and meets a young man.—Erik Adelfred <eca_97gr@edu.ats.dk>
- A poorly-dressed middle-aged woman is shown praying in a Catholic church. After returning home, she takes a drink of whiskey and realizes she is not alone. Two men are standing there and she realizes they mean her harm. One of them addresses her as Alice and tells her they have come for her daughter. She says they can never have her. Then a shuffling, scraping sound is heard and the door opens, revealing a man on crutches whose face is not shown. He reminds Alice that he kept his promise to leave her alone twenty-one years ago but the time has now come for her to give up her daughter. Alice opens a drawer and takes out a revolver, but one of the men shoots her through the heart.
Alice's daughter, Diane Shaw, is at her funeral. Diane barely knew her mother as she was mostly away at school. After the brief graveside ceremony, the priest asks Diane if she needs a ride. Diane says no that she prefers to walk. As the priest walks away, a car drives up and a man and woman emerge. The woman introduces herself as Lilith Malone, a long-ago friend of Alice's. The man is Mr. Howard, Lilith's chauffeur and companion. He is mute but not deaf. Lilith is overbearing but friendly, telling Diane that she and Alice were best friends when they were young. She insists on Diane coming to stay with her for a few days. Diane is reluctant but finds herself giving in.
Lilith has a large, beautiful home. Diane is treated like a queen. Lilith gives her a ring that Alice had once given her for safekeeping. It has an unusual design, which Diane notices is in a painting depicting the devil. This hangs over the fireplace. Diane meets the Poole sisters, two elderly, somewhat batty woman who live next door. She can't understand why they, and Lilith, are so glad she is there. After a few days, she finds a photograph album containing pictures of herself as a child. Mr. Howard finds her with the album and takes it away, shaking his head in warning. At this point, Diane decides it is to move on. The priest who conducted Alice's service gives her the name of a young woman in his parish who is looking for a roommate. Diane questions him about Lilith but although he has heard gossip, he won't repeat it.
Lilith is furious at learning that Diane is leaving. This only reinforces Diane's desire to get away. She has come to find Lilith's attentions suffocating and overbearing. But Lilith exacts a promise that Diane will attend the gathering of her mother's old friends later in the month.
Diane's new roommate is Susan Sanford, an elementary school teacher. They hit it off and Susan takes Diane to a stable to meet her horse. But the animal rears and whinnies in fright when it catches sight of Diane. She can't understand this and neither can Susan. Later, while waiting for Susan at her school, Diane watches a child wander into the street. She tries to call out but is unable to. In the background, unnoticed by Diane, are the same two men who came to her mother's apartment. Luckily, Susan comes out and rescues the child.
Diane goes to meet with Judge Weatherby, who is handling her mother's estate. He is a warm, friendly man who greatly impresses Diane. He also uses crutches. To Diane's surprise, she has inherited $15,000. The judge explains that this is from a trust fund set up for her by her late father, who died soon after Diane's birth.
Lilith and Mr. Howard pay a call on Diane, who introduces them to Susan. Lilith notices a shelf of glass horse ornaments, some of them very fragile. Susan explains her lifelong interest in horses. Lilith smokes a custom-made cigarette which has that same strange emblem. She once more reminds Diane of the party in her honor. Susan cannot attend as she is helping the tenants upstairs move out.
The party is a disaster. Diane agrees to do a dance that originated with South American Indians. As she moves about the room, the guests begin chanting "Hail to Princess Diane." Lilith reveals that they are devil worshipers. Alice was one of them until she got religion and ran away. But she was pregnant with the devil's child. Now Diane must take her rightful place as head of the group. It cannot continue to exist without her. Diane is repelled by the entire idea and screams at them to leave her alone. She runs from the house and drives home, determined never to speak to Lilith again.
A new tenant, a handsome young man, has moved into the upstairs apartment. While moving a mattress, he collides with Diane and causes her to drop her packages. Later, he comes to the apartment to pick up Susan for a date. His name is Steve Stone and he is an architect. Diane has recently had a nightmare that Susan is in danger, but she does not suspect Steve. Late that night, the phone rings. It is Steve calling from a hospital. Susan is dead, trampled to death by her horse. She had insisted on taking Steve to the stable. Diane is grief-stricken and feels it is all her fault for not warning Susan. She also discovered that the glass horse ornaments on the shelf have been smashed.
Diane and Steve turn to one another after Susan's death. She confides in him what happened with Lilith and the group of devil worshipers. He vows to protect her should they bother her again. They begin dating and are soon in love. Steve takes Diane to meet his mother, who is warm and outgoing. He asks Diane to marry him and she agrees. They decide to get married in a little chapel near Mrs. Stone's house.
Diane asks Judge Weatherby to give her away. He cautions her about marrying someone she has only known a short time. Diane invites him to dinner to meet Steve, but an accident occurs. While going down the stairs, Judge Weatherby trips and is slightly injured. At this point, Diane decides that Lilith and her group are responsible for the Judge's accident and also for Susan's death. She runs upstairs to discuss it with Steve, but he isn't there. Then she notices one of Lilith's cigarette butts in the ashtray. Feeling very wrathful, she drives to Lilith's house.
Mr. Howard tries unsuccessfully to prevent Diane from coming inside. But she pushes past him to the room where Lilith and a few of her group are having cocktails. She accuses them of trying to murder Judge Weatherby, just as they murdered Susan. Now that they are apparently starting on Steve, Diane has had enough. She threatens to destroy them if they ever bother her and Steve again. As she leaves, she wonders how she could ever have been afraid of such pathetic people.
The wedding day is at hand and Diane is wearing a beautiful gown. Mrs. Stone tells her how glad she is that Diane is marrying her son. Judge Weatherby arrives and the ceremony begins. As Steve and Diane speak their vows, people begin filing into the chapel. After the ceremony is over, Diane turns around and sees Lilith and her entire group, wearing robes. Judge Weatherby's crutches are seen abandoned on a pew. Mrs. Stone is helped into a robe by the minister, who is similarly attired. Diane screams at Steve to protect her and notices, to her horror, that his eyes are flaming. She realizes that she has been duped. As the group advances on Diane, she falls to the floor. Judge Weatherby appears but he is the devil. He tells Diane to rise and greet her father. The movie ends here.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content