Summaries

Synopsis

Tom Nixon leads The Nixon Gang an assembly of unique characters that includes Claude Sweet Tooth Barbee, Frank Blockey Jackson and Goody Spotswood. One of their partners, Slap Jack Davis, has been jailed for a train robbery the gang committed where bags of gold coins were stolen. Jack is working a prison chain gang and is the only one who knows the location of the hidden gold.A plan is made to rescue Jack in which Goody assists his fellow gang members secret themselves in holes in the desert. The gang awaits daylight and Jacks chain gang to come near. Goody, meanwhile, bumps into a church group learning they have plenty of wealth.When Jacks chain gang comes near his buried compatriots, the gang jumps out killing a guard and rescuing Jack. With Jacks liberation, the violence and strange happenings truly commence.First, the gang saves a young boy, Willie Carson, from a travelling salesman who was abusing poor Willie. Willie has some skills with a knife so the gang adopts him. Willie also carries around a ventriloquists doll, which seems to entertain some of the gang.The gang, needing money, decides to rob the church group Goody had discovered while awaiting Jacks rescue. Rather than a peaceful robbery, the gang ends up shooting it out with the churchgoers, killing two and putting the towns Sheriff Everheart and Deputy Peak on their trail. During the robbery, Jack incurs a bullet wound to the foot. When the gang is escaping, they also lose the coins theyve stolen when a bullet tears open the bag allowing the coins to fall out. Sheriff Everheart sends Martin the messenger boy to notifying neighboring Sheriff of Kerrville, Sheriff Eagan of the robbery. Next the gang comes across a strange serial killing couple Rudy and Ivy Goebel. The Goebels drug, kill and steal from their victims. Living in an old shack that reads Lodgers Welcome, Rudys preferred method of obtaining peoples jewelry is to cut their fingers off. With his latest victim subdued, Rudy becomes enraged at Ivys questions and slams her head into a table rendering her unconscious. Throwing Ivys body into a root cellar we learn Rudy has a young son who is kept bound in the same location. Rudy attempts to poison the gang on his own but is caught and killed by a groggy Sweet. Before dying however, Rudy manages to cut off Jacks ring finger. The gang then departs, hanging Rudys body from a tree and burning it. The gang is not aware of the young boy left in the root cellar.Capturing Martin the messenger boy, the gang hopes to stay hidden while the law passes them by. During the night, Sweet begins to hear a strange bell-like ringing in the dark, an omen of things to come. S weets feelings begin to cause the gang to unravel a bit. In the morning, the gang awakens to find Tom dead and Martin the messenger boy gone. The gang continues to doubt each other but assumes, because they cant find any injury, Tom has died naturally.Sheriff Everheart forms a posse and continues pursuit. The gang next comes across a family of four comprised of a young bell-carrying boy, Denton Wilberforce, and his teenage sister, Mary. Portraying themselves as cattle traders, the Wilberforce family allows the gang to stay overnight. It is during this period we see the terribly dark side of Block who turns out to be a pedophilic killer. Having raped killed and mutilated her body by biting it; Block is about to be shot by Marys father William but Sweet kills William instead. Elizabeth, Williams wife, runs but Sweet does not permit her to be killed. Upon getting ready to leave, the gang discovers one of their horses has been mutilated. Recognizing the mutilation was caused by an animal with two legs, Sweet orders Denton left for his mothers return. Sweet also states he believes the mutilation to have been done by a rogue Indian. The scene fades with Denton overlooking the mutilation.Next the gang visits The Lacy, a saloon, where Sweet catches the eye of a pretty prostitute, Pearl. Pearl is seeking a new life and decides the outlaw trail might suffice. Meanwhile, the gang robs a second prostitute, Fat Snatch, who is wetting young Willies pickle. Snatch escapes and warns the Bud the Bartender she is being robbed. Block, who has refused to enter a den of sin, knocks out Bud as he exits in pursuit of the gang. A local unnamed saloon sheriff attempts to follow as well but Willie fully commits to the criminal lifestyle by downing the saloon sheriff with a well-thrown knife. Strangely, sheriff Eagan arrives next and finishes off the wounded saloon sheriff with a bullet. As the gang beds down for the night, another bell-like ringing spooks Sweet. This time, the sound is actually Pearl arriving having followed the gang. Pearl sells her assets to the gang and gets acquainted with Sweet Tooths history. Pearl appears unusually interested in Sweets bracelet. Upon sleeping, Sweet dreams of a weird attacker with glowing eyes. He awakens in fear. Goody does not trust Pearl and expresses his concern to Sweet Tooth.The gang finds themselves staying at a hotel in the town of Bastrop where Sheriff Everheart is also renting a room. Sweet kidnaps the Porter, dressing in the Porters clothes and warns his gang of the Sheriffs presence. Pearl continues to probe Sweet regarding the gangs hidden gold. Sweet reveals that the gang is aware of the hidden gold but that only he has the map. The gang departs early in the morning, leaving a note for the Sheriff that he just missed them. The gang continues its criminal activities with the law in close pursuit.That evening, the gang is sitting around a campfire discussing what they will do with their riches when Sweet hears the bell-like sound again. Sweet fires in the dark but the gang cannot detect anything. The gang goes to bed and awakens to find the map and Pearl gone. Further, Jack is deathly ill. Eager to go after Pearl, Sweet pulls the blanket off young Willie finding him dead. Willies face has been mutilated and there is a strange circular yellow mark on his right bicep. Goody tries to blame Pearl but Sweet still believes it is a renegade Indian. Sweet goes to find a doctor for Jack and locates Dr. Pepperdine (Michael Berryman) who cleans Jacks foot wound like a rifle bore. Pepperdine says Jack must stay off his foot for at least one week or face gangrene. Sweet demands an alternative, knowing Pearl has stolen the map. Pepperdine says amputation is only other option to which Sweet agrees. Jack pleads for his foot and an argument ensures. Through the argument, the gangs identity and actions are revealed to Pepperdine. Knowing their secrets are out, Block hits Pepperdine with a rock but does not kill him. Pepperdine finds his way back to La Grange and alerts Sheriff Everheart. Everheart attempts to form a posse when Pearl steps out from the crowd offering to reveal where the gang is. Pearl identifies herself as Ruby. Meanwhile, the gang is overlooking a rape in progress and feels the perpetrator is the renegade whose been stalking them. Block pulls out a long range rifle and hits the renegade, wounding him. The gang approaches and Sweet kills the renegade saying, this is for Willie. With information provided by Ruby, Everheart is closing in. Everheart believes Ruby wants part of the reward not knowing she has the map to the gold.The gang again beds down for the night and awakens to find Goody now dead. He too has been mutilated and the weird yellow mark appears on his neck. Panic is setting in but Sweet is determined to find the gold stash emptying his gun into the woods and cursing.The gang travels as fast as they can but exhausts their horses. Upon stopping, they decide not to build a fire. Block leaves the group to go relieve himself. Sweet and Jack sit back-to-back facing into the dark when they hear Block cry out. Sweet searches for Block but is unable to find him. Shooting blindly into the dark, Sweet finds his way back to Jack and they continue sitting back-to-back attempting to face the unseen threat.In the morning Sweet finds Block, face removed with the yellow mark on his butt cheek. While standing over Block, Sheriff Everheart and Deputy Peak arrive, approaching Sweet from behind. Jack starts shooting at the Sheriff, killing Peak. A running gunfight ensues with Everheart chasing Sweet and Jack. Sweet and Jack try to hide in a barn but are burned out by Everheart. As they escape, Everheart manages to hit Jack with one round. Sweet then stops his horse, taking careful aim, and finishes Everheart off with a shot to the head. Sweet tries to help Jack by digging out the bullet but Jack is losing consciousness. Jack tells Sweet how to retrieve the hidden gold before passing out. Sweet cocks his revolver, falls asleep and starts having a similar dream as before. In this dream however, the strange glowing eyed man stalks Jack cutting his throat. When Sweet awakens, Jack is dying, his neck cut and tongue pulled through the slice. Sweet kills Jack to relieve him from his suffering. Sweet then fakes that hes committed suicide falling back onto the ground. A weird bell like music starts playing and a young, pale boy approaches Sweet who is lying on the ground. As the kid nears, Sweet pulls his gun on the kid. The kid strikes Sweet in the arm with a needle like tool and Sweet grabs the kid by the neck shooting him in the head. The kid appears to be Rudy Goebels son who was trapped in Rudys root cellar. Sweet, delusional from poison, wanders the beach in search of the well. Sweet is then unexpectedly struck with a bullet from the arriving Sheriff Eagan. Sweet manages to shoot Eagan in the neck then making it to the well where the gold is hidden. Sweet pulls up the gold but then passes out. When he awakens, Sweet sees another young boy standing over him. The boy is wearing a bell that tinkles similarly to the sound Sweet kept hearing at night. Sweets arm reveals the same yellow mark as suffered by his fellow gang members and the boy begins pushing the gold back into the well. On a horse nearby is the boy Sweet had killed earlier, obviously a twin. The rope that was tied to the gold bags is wrapped around Sweet and as the boys pushes the gold bags back into the well, the weight drags Sweet in with it. Sweet, still alive in the bottom of the well, lights a match. He finds himself lying next to a mutilated Pearl. A photograph falls on Sweet. Sweet looks at it revealing Rudy Goebel standing behind twin boys. Sweet moans Twins. Sweet screams as the boy leads the horse carrying his twin brother away from the well and into a storm. A bell tinkles.