It is 1989 in Texas and Richard Dane (Michael C. Hall), a small business owner, shoots and kills a night time  intruder into his home.  The intruder’s father Russel (Sam Shepard), himself an ex-convict, comes to town and threatens Richard’s  young son,Jordan (Brogan Hall).  Things get even darker and weirder as Richard will not leave well enough alone when he perceives falsehood..  Eventually, he and Russel team up with the latter’s Korean war buddy, Jim Bob (Don Johnson), a flamboyant, capable private detective (and pig farmer), to confront evil.

Based upon a novel of the same title by Joe R. Lansdale (which I have not read), director Jim Mickle has crafted an effective thriller and displays artistry.  There are a number of night scenes which give this film a noir-ish feel to a degree.  What is more striking, though, and makes this thriller deeper than  most, is that, as the climactic confrontation draws closer, the three main protagonists’ individual characteristics become less important and the men become almost symbolic (though the film is no allegory) in a fight against wickedness. This is accomplished without romanticization.  The simplicity and understatedness of the last shot, given all the violence and drama that precedes it, is as unexpected as it is praiseworthy.