This 1993 movie can be viewed from two different perspectives.  In one sense, it is the story of two amoral, thoughtless artists, the kind of people who give humanists a bad name.  They learn a lesson the hard way about the importance of moral behavior.  In another sense, the movie is an example of a horror story that, uncommonly enough, doesn't have any supernatural overtones.

The movie begins with a couple who both consider themselves to be avant guard artists.  Brian Kessler (David Duchovny of The X Files) is a writer with a fascination for serial killers.  In his opinion, "A serial killer is like a child.  He shouldn't be imprisoned, let alone executed....  Most of these poor people have chemical imbalances."  His dream is to write the definitive book on the mind of the serial killer.  For inspiration, he decides to take a cross country tour of the sites of serial murders.  He convinces his girlfriend Carrie to go with him.  

Carrie (Michelle Forbes) is a photographer who specializes in brutally explicit sexual themes.  (Of course, she stages all the photos.)  She is not interested in serial killers, but she wants to go with Brian to California so they can both get a new start, so she agrees to take photos for his book.  Neither of them has enough money to pay for the entire trip, so they advertise for passengers to share expenses.  

Their ad is answered by Early (Brad Pitt) and Adelle (Juliette Lewis), a poor-white-trash couple.  Unknown to Brian and Carrie at the time, Early is on parole and forbidden from leaving the state.  He has bigger problems than that, though, since he brutally murdered the landlord of his trailer park for demanding a rent payment.  Early is amused by Brian's book idea.  "How are you going to write a book about something you don't know nothing about?" he tells Brian.  As the trip proceeds, Early educates both Brian and Carrie by example.

The movie is notable for good acting.  The four main characters interact in a range of unexpected ways.  Carrie becomes a sympathetic friend to Adelle, while Brian seems mesmerized by Early.  Brad Pitt plays Early as temperamental and unpredictable, as he switches from being polite and crudely loyal toward friends to being brutally violent when threatened.  

As a horror story, the movie follows a conventional pattern.  There is no suggestion that there is a supernatural influence to Early's behavior, though.  The horror is supplied by Pitt's performance. The crucial part in the horror is not unearthly, but rather the actions of a person who is without any social  conscience.

The movie is rated R, and it has some violence but it has no explicit sexuality, except for some black and white photos.   It is available on video.