After splitting up with the girl he loves and losing his menial job at the supermarket, punk rocker Otto (Emilio Esteves) meets a guy named Bud (Harry Dean Stanton) who offers $25 to bring his wife’s car back from “one bad place”. When a group of angry types start chasing Otto, he realizes that something is amiss here, and soon learns that Bud works as an expropriator, meaning he seizes cars from owners who, having bought the car on an installment plan, stop paying their dues.
When an anonymous source announces a $20,000 reward for the missing 1964 Chevrolet Malibu, it turns out that the true value is not the car itself, but something in its trunk. It’s something very hot, glowing brightly and killing anyone who touches it.