In New York City in 1975, after serving only five years of a 30-year prison sentence, Carlito Brigante is freed on a legal technicality exploited by his lawyer, Dave Kleinfeld, infuriating the district attorney. Brigante returns to his old neighborhood of Spanish Harlem, where he reconnects with old associates. Although he vows that he is finished with crime, Brigante is persuaded to accompany his cousin Guajiro to a drug deal at a bar. Guajiro is betrayed and killed while Brigante is forced to shoot his way out. He takes Guajiro's money and uses it to buy into a nightclub, with the intent of saving $75,000 to retire to the Caribbean.
Aspiring comic book artist Josh Baker (Eric Roberts) meets a young woman named Cheryl (Janine Turner) on the streets of New York City, who proceeds to collapse and is rushed to a hospital by an ambulance. When Josh arrives at the hospital, he is shocked to find that there is no record of Cheryl ever being admitted and he soon learns another startling discovery, Cheryl's roommate also vanished after being picked up by the same ambulance. Convinced that there is some sort of conspiracy going on, Josh proceeds to investigate the disappearances, despite the overt disdain and discouragement from Lt. Spencer (James Earl Jones).
It has been five years since Terry (now known as Terrence) and his friend, Glen, accidentally opened up the Gate in Glen's back yard. Glen's family has moved away, and Terrence's broken family has grown worse. Still grieving over his mother's death, and with his dad wallowing in alcoholism, Terrence finds himself increasingly drawn to the evil portal and the power it possesses.