Jim Norman returns to his old hometown of
Liberty, Missouri after accepting a teaching job there. He moves back along with his wife, Sally, and their son, Scott. When Jim was nine, he had moved away from the small town with his parents after he had witnessed his older brother, Wayne, being murdered by a gang of
greasers during a mugging in a train tunnel in 1963. Three of the murderers — Richard, Vinnie, and David — were killed shortly afterward by an oncoming train, having parked their 1955
Chevrolet One-Fifty on the tracks. The fourth member, Carl, survived after bailing out of the car. After returning to his hometown, Jim starts having nightmares about his brother's murder. Soon afterward, three of his students are killed by the ghosts of his brother's murderers, and, their killers, Richard, Vinnie, and David return from the dead as students in Jim's class. The police are suspicious of Jim's proximity to the dead students. On the 27th anniversary of Wayne's murder, the revived killers challenge Jim to a confrontation. Shortly after, they make an attempt on his son's life with their car. Jim discovers Wayne's spirit is stuck in limbo while the matter of his murder is unsettled. It is revealed that when Jim was a boy, he had taken the murderers' car keys which led to their deaths. Jim goes to the Cemetery and finds the graves of the greasers. The three gang members appear, ominously telling Jim that the wreck survivor Carl must complete their revenge. Jim tracks down the now-adult Carl using a phone book. He forces him to return to the tunnel; however, Carl does not believe Jim and flees. The gang forcibly enters Jim's house, threatening Sally and Scott. However, Jim forces them to leave. He then takes Scott and Sally to a church, where the demonic gang cannot enter. Jim returns to his abandoned childhood home and finds the old car keys that he took on the day of his brother's murder. Carl reappears and apologizes for Wayne's death. He then states he is no longer afraid and is ready for the confrontation. However, as they leave the house, the gang forces Carl to leave with them. The greasers trick Jim's family into leaving the church; Scott and Sally are taken hostage by the gang to ensure Jim will go through with the reenactment. Jim returns to the train tunnel in which Wayne's murder took place. The greasers plan to kill Jim the same way they murdered Wayne and take Jim with them. However, Carl defies the other gang members and defends Jimmy. Enraged, Lawson stabs Carl to death. This allows Wayne to return from limbo. The gang members attempt to murder Wayne once again, but Jim distracts them by throwing the keys on the ground. As Jim rescues his family from the gang's car, a ghost train appears (in the form of the train that killed the gang members 27 years ago). Realizing this is the endgame, Jim taunts the gang leader: "It's all over, Lawson. Now you can go to hell!" Having recovered their keys, the gang attempts to escape in their car (again parked on the tracks). However, they are run over in their car by the ghost train, sending them back to Hell. The ghost train promptly disappears. Wayne is finally at peace and moves on to the afterlife. The movie ends with Jim, Sally, and Scott leaving the tunnel to return home. ==Cast==