- A family man and a mob witness hunt for a hit-man who has mistakenly kidnapped the family man's son.
- Gangster boss Vincent Luca shall appear in court to account for his crimes - but he has a man at the police who tells him names and locations of the witnesses, so he can kill them all - but one: In the last hit, the professional killer gets into the wrong house. When the owner Mark Collins comes home, he finds his pregnant wife unconscious in the kitchen, his friend dead in the living room and his son kidnapped. The police officer wants Luca to believe he has the real witness' son and sends Collins into prison. But he manages to escape and takes things into his own hands.—Tom Zoerner <Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de>
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Tom Mitchum (Charles Napier) interrupts the interment of a priest by smashing the coffin open with a shovel and tearing open the corpse's chest. The mortified mourners watch in disbelief as he takes six kilos of cocaine from the cleric's chest cavity. Tom and his partner, Jared Riley (Jere Burns), arrest undertakers Frank "Frankie" DeSalvo (Leo Rossi) and Abe Fasio (Jack Andreozzi), and explain to the officiating priest that the corpse is now state evidence.
At a federal courthouse, mafia kingpin Vic Luca (Rip Torn) steps out of a hearing to tell reporters there is no such thing as "The Mafia." He issues a challenge for Mitchum to prove otherwise. A reporter points out that three witnesses, all of whom were key to the prosecution, have gone missing, but Luca downplays the matter by saying that they may be shy. He orders his lawyer, Gravenstein (Ken Lerner), to buy off the Federal judge, then gets word that Mitchum has arrested Frank and Abe. Luca calls hit man Chris Caleek (Lance Henriksen) to put a contract on the two men. That night, Caleek breaks into a jail, massacres the guards and two agents, and assassinates Abe.
Frankie and his son, Frank Jr., are brought to a suburban safe house across the street from where Jack Collins (Jan-Michael Vincent) lives with his wife, Sandy (Harriet Hall), and son, Kenny. Later that day, Brian Armstrong (Harold Sylvester), Jack's former army friend, visits and Sandy tells him she is pregnant with her second child. Jack leaves to get some cement and Brian and Kenny practice martial arts. When they go inside, the door slams and a loosened house number swings upside down, changing the six to a nine. Caleek arrives, and mistaking the Collin's house for the place Frankie is being held, breaks into the home and knocks Sandy unconscious. Brian sees this from outside, leaps through a window and attacks Caleek. After a brutal fight, Caleek shoots Brian dead. Upon arriving home, Jack screams, attracting Tom and his partner Jared from across the street. Sandy is rushed to the hospital.
Tom orders a policeman to book Jack after he talks to his wife. He explains to Jared at that as long as Vic Luca thinks he has Frank Jr., Frankie will be too scared to testify. He suggests they keep Jack from the media until after the trial the next day.
At the hospital, Jack Collins learns that Sandy has lost their baby. He overhears police talking about booking him and discovers they are hiding Frankie at the Starlite Hotel. Jack beats up the cops and steals their keys.
After returning home to get a gun, Jack makes his way to the Starlite. He slips through a bathroom window and hides in a shower until Frankie comes in. Thinking Jack is Vic Luca's hit-man, Frankie assures Jack that he is not going to talk. Once Jack gets Frankie into his car, he demands the undertaker help him get his son Kenny back. Frankie convinces Jack they cannot go directly to Vic Luca or he will kill Kenny. He takes Jack to his father's pizzeria, only to find Vic Luca's men have already killed him. Frankie tells Jack he will help him get his son only if Jack helps him kill Vic. They are spotted by two of Vic's goons and duck into a laser tag arena. The players are unaware that a real gunfight is underway. Jack guns down one of Vic Luca's men, and shoots the second in the leg. The goon tells Jack that Caleek has Kenny at his shoe store. Frankie thanks the man before killing him.
The next morning, Jack and Frankie stake out Caleek's store, but the assassin spots them and slips out the back, and drives off. Jack follows him to Vic's home. Caleek gets out of his car and shoots out Jack's tires. Vic's men take Frankie and Jack prisoner, but before they can be dragged inside, Tom, Jared, and a squad of FBI agents arrive. Frankie agrees to testify if they let Jack go.
Jack obtains Caleek's address, and finds himself at a junkyard where he sees Caleek untying Kenny. Jack screams for Caleek to drop his weapon, but the killer uses Kenny as a shield. After a running gunfight, Caleek tosses Kenny into a car and drives off. Jack gets into Caleek's truck and they race through the streets of Los Angeles, causing automobile accidents in their wake.
Meanwhile, Frankie avoids answering any of the prosecutor's questions in court. During a recess, Frankie tells Vic he grabbed the wrong kid. Vic refuses to believe Frankie. In court, Vic's lawyer, Gravenstein, keeps interrupting Frankie's testimony with objections until the judge yells that Vic is "scum and should have been in jail twenty years ago." Gravenstein asks for a mistrial. Mitchum tells Frankie he is free to go, then gives him his car keys and tells the criminal to look under the car seat. Frankie does what he is told and finds a loaded pistol. He hears a police radio broadcast that Jack has chased Caleek onto a parking garage roof.
Caleek ends the chase by crashing into Jack's truck. Still holding Kenny, Caleek opens fire pinning Jack down. Frankie arrives just as Kenny breaks free. He tosses his pistol to Jack, who fires six rounds into Caleek's chest. Jack and Frankie get Kenny into the truck, but as they drive down the garage ramp, Caleek jumps down from an overpass. Jack shakes Caleek loose, then runs him over, but Caleek grabs the truck undercarriage and holds on. Jack speeds out the parking entrance, impaling Caleek on the driveway spikes.
Later, Tom and Jared leave the courthouse after the judge officially declares a mistrial. Vic Luca gloats that he knows Tom Mitchum is dying of cancer and Luca will dance on his grave. Mitchum then pulls his gun and shoots Luca.
Arriving home after Brian's funeral, Frankie and his son go their separate ways from the Collins', but not before Frankie vows to go straight and also comments that he would have liked to have met Brian.
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