David (Derrel Maury), a new student at Central High, meets Mark (
Andrew Stevens), an old friend whom he once helped out of a jam at their previous school. Mark tells David that the school can be like a country club for him if he befriends Bruce (Ray Underwood), Craig (
Steve Bond), and Paul (Damon Douglas), the
bullies who rule the school student body; Mark has become their somewhat reluctant accomplice. Over the next few days, David witnesses Bruce, Craig, and Paul torment the other students, including the scrawny Spoony; the overweight Oscar; Arthur, the school's hearing-impaired librarian; and Rodney, who drives a rundown car that is vandalized by the bullies. After David forcibly thwarts the trio's attempt to rape two female students, Mary and Jane, in an empty classroom, the bullies approach Mark and tell him he only has one more chance to talk David into minding his own business. Meanwhile, David has taken a liking to Mark's girlfriend, and that night when Mark catches David and Theresa having a naked frolic in the ocean, a dejected Mark tells the trio he couldn't make any headway with David. The three bullies decide to take matters into their own hands. Mark insists that he be kept out of whatever plans the trio has for David. One evening, David is repairing Rodney's car in his garage when the bullies appear and kick the jack out from under the vehicle. One of the wheels crushes David's right leg, crippling him. After being discharged from hospital, David takes revenge on the trio by arranging fatal "accidents": he electrocutes Bruce by sabotaging his
hang-glider to fly into a power line, tricks Craig into high-diving into an empty swimming pool, and pushes Paul's van off a cliff with Paul in it. The school changes after the bullies' deaths. At first the students support each other, but soon the formerly tormented students become bullies themselves, and try to form alliances with David to control the school. In due course more deaths occur: Arthur is killed when his hearing-aid malfunctions, Oscar's locker explodes when he opens it, and Rodney's car blows up when he starts the engine. While camping under a cliff, Spoony, Mary, and Jane find a box of dynamite but ignore it; when they return to their tent for a
threesome, an explosion causes a rockslide, killing them also. The police blame Spoony, Mary, and Jane for the carnage, but Mark is aware that David is responsible. David bluntly confirms this for his old friend, stating that he killed the bullies to give the tormented students a chance to be happy, but was so disgusted to see them turn into even worse people that he killed them as well. He also calls himself a "madman" while laughing mirthlessly. Mark tells Theresa they must prevent David from killing more people at the school dance with a bomb he has planted in the school basement. Realizing the only way to stop David is by playing on the last sympathies he has towards them, Mark and Theresa enter the gym where the dance is being held. David tells them to leave or they'll die, but they both tell him they're not going anywhere regardless of what that will mean for them. David begins to leave the school but then turns around and limps to the basement, where he removes the bomb. He takes the device outside to dismantle it but there isn't enough time and it blows up, killing him instantly and bringing everyone outside to see the fiery aftermath. To save David's reputation, Mark and Theresa agree to tell the police that Spoony, Mary, and Jane had planted the bomb, and that David had given his life to save everyone. ==Cast==