When on-the-lam crook Richard (Lionel Stander) and his injured partner-in-crime, Albie (Jack MacGowran), seek shelter in a remote castle by the sea, they find themselves confronted by the owners -- George (Donald Pleasence), an eccentric and weak retiree, and his oversexed wife, Teresa (Françoise Dorléac). Richard seizes control of the castle, but, as the criminals are pulled further into the isolated world of the strange couple, a volatile test of wills ensues.