| Director | John Hough |
|---|---|
| Genre | thriller film |
| Runtime | 92 min |
| Country | United Kingdom |
Ziggy, an English boy, spends the summer in Malta with his adult sister, Pippa, at their grandfather's lighthouse. To ease his boredom, Ziggy invents a fantasy world of adventure. In doing so, he acquires a reputation as the family's worst liar. One day, Pippa drives to town with Ziggy to join crowds welcoming a visiting African dignitary. As Pippa makes the acquaintance of a young tourist named Tom, Ziggy slips away to seek a better view of the festivities. Suddenly, the dignitary's open-top car is fired upon and all occupants are killed. Ziggy is the only spectator to eyeball the perpetrators, one of whom wears a policeman's uniform. Realizing the boy has caught them in the act, the assassins chase Ziggy all over town but fail to catch him. Meantime, Pippa and Tom locate Ziggy at the town's edge. While returning to the lighthouse, he tells his sister what he witnessed, but neither she nor Tom believes him. Later, a Malta TV broadcast informs viewers that martial law has been declared and a curfew issued, so Tom stays overnight with Ziggy, Pippa, and Grandfather.
As the evening progresses, Grandfather discovers Ziggy might be telling the truth when police mysteriously show up to check on who is staying at the lighthouse. Ziggy panics and runs off. Once in town, he hides out with Ann-Marie, a young girl friend. In trying to help Ziggy, she breaks curfew and is picked up by police. She is later slain by the assassin's brother, also a renegade cop. The killers spot Ziggy and chase him into the catacombs beneath a church. They kill a priest who has offered sanctuary to the boy, but Ziggy manages to escape again.
Back at the lighthouse, Pippa, Tom, and Grandfather set out into the dark night in Pippa's car to locate the boy. After reaching town, they eventually find Ziggy hiding under a table in the dead priest's church. Meanwhile, the uniformed assassin spots their car and shoots at the house. Grandpa and Tom devise Molotov cocktails using paraffin lamps filled with brandy. Grandpa's continuous bombardment keeps the uniformed villains at bay while Pippa, Tom, and Ziggy slip out and beat a path for Pippa's vehicle. A car chase ensues into the early morning hours. As they approach the rocky coast, the assassin uses his police cruiser to ram Pippa's car off the road. He succeeds in toppling the car onto its side, but as he pushes it towards a cliff's edge, Grandpa and the Chief of Police arrive just in time to shoot the assassin, whose cruiser falls over the cliff and into the water below.