Synopsis:
Harassed by three red-necks in a truck stop cafe, MALLORY KNOX
responds with two fatal punches. Her husband MICKEY KNOX slices up
the third with his buck knife, then blows away the Cook and the
Waitress with slugs from his .45. Leaving a Pinball Cowboy alive to
tell the tale, the two killers kiss and drive off in their Coupe De
Ville. They have left a trail of 45 persons dead in their brief,
carnage-strewn career, which began when they offed Mallory's parents
for forbidding them to marry. Confined to prison for the past year,
the notorious couple are the subject of a TV profile by WAYNE GAYLE,
a commando journalist la Geraldo Rivera. Having killed five
inmates, eight guards and one psychiatrist, they have recently been
declared insane. DEWIGHT MCCLUSKY of the California Prison Board
assigns famous detective JACK SCAGNETTI to ride shotgun on their
transfer to an insane asylum, where the couple will be lobotomized.
Promising Mickey he will expose the relocation as an attempt to
shift blame away from the system, Wayne secures his cooperation for
a live mini-cam interview the night of the broadcast.
The journalist and his three-person crew screen a rough cut of the
footage assembled thus far. They have home movies of Mickey and
Mallory spliced in with photos of their victims, film of their
arrest, a massacre at a convenience store captured by a surveillance
camera, plus testimony from a surviving patrolman. Mickey acted as
his own counsel during the trial. JUDGE BURT STEINSMA remarks that
the defendant proved to be an excellent amateur attorney.
Bodybuilders SIMON and NORMAN HUN express their admiration for
Mickey's "edge," despite the fact that he chainsawed their legs
off. Clips from the movie Thrill Killers, Hollywood's
version of the Mickey and Mallory story, are shown. Director NEIL
POPE rationalizes the suicidal ending, while actress BUFFY defends
the film's violence. DR. REINGOLD discusses the magnetic appeal
which Mickey and Mallory seem to have on American youth. A wicked
twist to the story comes with the case of GRACE MULBERRY, the lone
survivor of a slumber party massacre. Intimidated by Mickey during
cross-examination, she ends up being stabbed to death with a
pencil. On the subject of transferring the prisoners to an insane
asylum, Dr. Reingold supports Wayne's contention that it points to a
failure within the system.
Arriving at the prison for the live interview, Wayne and his crew
set up equipment in an empty supply room. Superintendant PHIL
WULITZER has eight deputies stationed there, but for the sake of
intimacy Wayne negotiates him down to four. Elsewhere in the
facility, Scagnetti torments Mallory by vulgarly reminding her that
Mickey will never give her "the high hard one" again. She reacts by
breaking his nose. Mickey proves to be a wily subject, forcing
Wayne to use his ingenuity. The killer refers to his crime spree as
"an instant of purity." He describes the moment when he first
realized he was "a natural born killer." With Wulitzer distracted
by a riot, Mickey busts loose, killing the deputies and the
cameraman. He frees Mallory from her cell, killing Scagnetti with a
vengeance. Holding Wayne as a shield, the two lovers make good
their getaway in the news van. The last bit of cinema vérité has
Wayne recapitulating their escape before he, too, falls victim to a
shotgun blast.
