In 1973, two half-brothers (Carl and Wayne) and another man (George) escape from a prison in Maryland, picking up their teenage brother Billy and heading south on a murderous spree.

Carl is seemingly the most intelligent of the group and assumes the responsibility of leader, while his older half-brother Wayne is a mindless killer, his only interest being to murder any potential witnesses with little care or thought.

[2] Fuller sold the screenplay to SC Entertainment,[3] a Toronto-based production company, who specialize in low-budget, little-known Canadian films.

[4] It was planned that Fuller would direct the movie in addition to writing the screenplay, however after one week of principal photography he was fired and replaced by Graeme Campbell[5] on one day's notice.

[5] Shortly before filming was completed, Henry Thomas and his mother Carolyn expressed concern about the changes in direction and also script alterations after Fuller's departure.

[3] Film-makers opted to keep the horror of the murders to a minimum by ensuring the brutality was occurring off-screen, yet leaving the viewer in no doubt as to what was happening.

[12] Strong criticism was conveyed by Todd Sussman, writing for The Miami News, who described the movie as "uninspiring", "dreary" and with dull acting with "no redeeming value".