Wissenschaftler versetzen Menschen in eine Scheinwelt, in der sie nach grausamen Wildwest-Gesetzen um ihr Überleben kämpfen müssen. Dieses Planspiel hat den Zweck, eine Elite für einen Krieg auszuwählen.

Five strangers awake, finding themselves with no memory in a world resembling the wild west. Their task is to become exempt from being killed - what the townspeople refer to as being "immortal" - by killing twenty of the other inhabitants of the town under the scrutiny of the sheriff (Jack Palance), otherwise they will spend their lives in slavery.