A small town West Texas cop starts a sado-masochistic relationship with a sultry hooker. This, though, is a prelude to a series of killings as the town has its dirty secrets and the psychotic copper his own childhood traumas to cope with.
This is not the first film adapted from the work of pulp crime fiction writer Jim Thompson, but this stylish, downbeat, violent, noirish, period piece, serial killer movie is one of the best.