Dean Allen is a clean-cut carpenter in east Texas, a young man who always follows the rules. Dean befriends a newcomer, Robert Pogue, a butcher who never met a rule he couldn't break. Dean is drawn to Robert's fun-loving nature, and the two become best friends. Although only 17, Dean meets and marries Janice, who is five years his senior. But when Janice begins an affair with Robert, the two best friends turn on each other--a showdown that will end in gruesome death.