After his son is set upon by a scarecrow that seems to have come alive, farmer Jack Taggart Sr. (Ray Wise) and his son, Jack Taggart Jr. (Luke Edwards), go looking for an explanation. Meanwhile, a bus carrying high-school students breaks down nearby, and a creature known as the Creeper (Jonathan Breck) starts a killing spree. The elder Taggart soon realizes that the killings and the attack on his son are connected, and, after alerting the community to be on guard, he aims to pummel the Creeper.