Lost Highway (film) - Plot

Plot

Fred Madison (Bill Pullman), a Los Angeles saxophonist, receives a message from an unknown man on the intercom of the front door of his house saying, "Dick Laurent is dead." When he looks out his window the streets outside his house are empty and faint police sirens are heard in the distance.

Fred then plays his saxophone at a nightclub that night, but his wife Renee (Patricia Arquette) does not join him. Fred calls his house during a break, but she does not answer. Arriving home later, Fred sees Renee asleep in bed and when he later asks her where she was, she tells him that she never left the house all evening. One night, after the two have sex, Fred sees Renee's face as that of a pale old man. The next morning, there is a mysterious package that arrives on the front doorstep containing a videotape of their home. As the days pass, more tapes arrive, showing the interior of their house and even shots of them in bed sleeping. Fred and Renee call the police, but the two detectives Al and Ed (John Roselius and Louis Eppolito) say that there's nothing they can do about it but agree to keep in touch.

That evening, Fred and Renee go out to a party held by Andy (Michael Massee), a band manager friend of Renee. There, Fred meets a Mystery Man (Robert Blake), wearing all black clothing who looks like the face Fred had seen on Renee some nights before, and he tells Fred that he is at his house right now. Fred phones his house and the voice of the Mystery Man answers while he's standing right in front of Fred. Fred walks away and asks Andy who the Mystery Man is and is told that he is a friend of Dick Laurent. Back home the next morning, another tape arrives and Fred watches it alone. To his horror it contains images of him killing Renee. He is then arrested for her murder. Tried, found guilty and sentenced to death, Fred is locked away on death row. Shortly after arriving, Fred is plagued by frequent headaches and is perplexed by strange visions of the Mystery Man, a burning cabin in the desert and a strange man driving down a dark highway.

One morning, during a routine check of the cells, the prison guards are shocked to find that the man in Fred's cell is not Fred. The man is discovered to be Pete Dayton (Balthazar Getty), a young auto mechanic. Since Pete has committed no crime, he is released into the care of his parents Bill and Candace (Gary Busey and Lucy Butler), a former motorcycle gang couple, and taken home to their house in Van Nuys; at the same time, Pete is being followed by two detectives named Hank and Lou (Carl Sundstrom and John Soiari) to find out why and how Pete ended up in Fred Madison's cell. Pete goes out that evening with his friends and his girlfriend Sheila (Natasha Gregson Wagner). The next day, Pete returns to work at the garage, where he is welcomed back by the owner Arnie (Richard Pryor) and veteran mechanic Phil (Jack Nance). Pete is called on by Mr. Eddy (Robert Loggia), a charming but hot-tempered gangster, to fix his Mercedes 6.9. Mr. Eddy takes Pete for a drive where Pete witnesses him wave a tailgater on, then ram into the tailgater's car, after which Mr. Eddy and his two cohorts attack and beat up the driver. Pete goes out that evening with Sheila, who questions him on his moody behavior; they have a brief fight, but end the night by having sex.

The next day, Mr. Eddy returns with his beautiful mistress, Alice Wakefield (Arquette in a dual role), and his Cadillac for Pete to repair. At the end of Pete's shift, Alice returns to the garage and invites him out for dinner. Soon, Pete and Alice begin a secret liaison, meeting at run-down motels every night. Alice begins to fear that Mr. Eddy suspects her and Pete of seeing each other and gets Pete to agree to a plan to steal money from her friend Andy so they can leave town. After being confronted by his worried parents and receiving a threatening visit from Mr. Eddy and his associates at the garage, Pete enters Andy's house through a door left unlocked by Alice and, while searching the house, discovers a projector playing a porn film featuring her. Pete ambushes Andy and accidentally kills him, and he and Alice escape with the money. Arriving at a cabin in the desert, Alice reveals to Pete that Mr. Eddy is actually a porn producer named Dick Laurent and he forced her to do the films. Alice then seduces Pete and says, "You'll never have me."

Pete suddenly transforms back into Fred Madison, who searches the desert cabin and meets the Mystery Man again with a video camera and tells Fred that Alice is actually Renee, and that if she said her name is Alice, then she is lying. Fred drives to the Lost Highway Hotel, where Mr. Eddy and Renee are having sex, and waits for Renee to exit the motel. After Renee leaves, Fred breaks into Mr. Eddy's room, grabs him and takes him away in his Mercedes to the desert, where Fred beats him up. The Mystery Man suddenly appears with a portable TV and shows Mr. Eddy that Fred knows he and Renee have been having an affair. The Mystery Man then shoots Mr. Eddy dead and whispers something to Fred. The Mystery Man disappears and Fred drives off in Mr. Eddy's Mercedes. In the final scene, Fred drives to his old house, buzzes the intercom and says "Dick Laurent is dead" — the message that he received earlier. The two detectives, Al and Ed, appear when they see Fred standing at the front door of his old house. Seeing the two detectives moving in to arrest him, Fred runs back to his car and drives off with the detectives in close pursuit. As it gets dark, Fred speeds down the highway pursued by the police.