After years of research, Dr. James Houghton and Dr. Charles McCamber have discovered how to bring the dead back to life with their new breakthrough invention, the Scanning Molecular Reorganizer. But, the process seems to be deeply flawed; the first revival, a middle-aged victim of a heart attack, lives only a day and suffers horribly before passing away again. They get a second chance when Houghton is killed by a mugger outside the lab and McCamber, using the SMR, brings him back to life. Houghton is torn between making amends with his long-neglected family and exacting revenge on his killer. He may, however, have more time than he knows and more trouble than he bargained for.