Dr. Louis Creed, having just moved to Maine with his wife and two children, is heartbroken when he finds that his daughter's beloved cat has been hit by a truck and killed. Thankfully, a strange, elderly neighbor called Jud knows a secret that may spare the young girl's tears. He takes the dead cat to an ancient Indian burial ground that lies hidden in the surrounding hilltops; and when he buries the feline there, it comes back to life a few days later. But Louis can't be trusted with the secret and, despite strong warnings that something horrible will happen, he uses the power of the burial ground to bring his son back from the dead -- after the child is killed the same way the family cat was.