It is believed that
the indictment is only one of a series
to be handed down as the result of
a special grand jury investigation.
Graverobbing in Texas
is this hour's top news story.
An informant led officers of the Muerto
County Sheriff's Department to a cemetery
just outside the small rural Texas
community of Newt early this morning.
Officers there discovered
what appeared to be a grisly work of art,
the remains of a badly decomposed body
wired to a large monument.
A second body was found in a ditch
near the perimeter of the cemetery.
Subsequent investigation has revealed
at least a dozen empty crypts,
and it's feared more will turn up
as the probe continues.
Deputies report that in some instances,
only parts of a corpse had been removed,
the head or in some cases
the extremities removed,
the remainder of the corpse left intact.
Evidence indicates the robberies
have occurred over a period of time.
Sheriff Jesus Maldonado refused
to give details of the ghoulish case
and said only that
he did have strong evidence
linking the crime to elements
outside the state.
Area residents have reportedly converged
on the cemetery,
fearing the remains of relatives
have been removed.
No suspects are in custody, as
the investigation at the scene continues.
Oil storage units
continue to burn out of control
at the huge Texaco refinery
near the Texas-Louisiana border.
Three storage units exploded
into flames during the night,
killing at least three workers
and injuring a dozen more.
Fire-fighting units in three Texas cities
continue to battle the holocaust,
in an effort to confine 40-foot flames.
Smoke from the fire is visible to Houston
residents some 60 miles to the south.
Health officials in San Francisco
reluctantly admit
they may have a cholera epidemic
on their hands.
Some 40 cases of the highly infectious
disease have been confirmed.
...is responsible for spread of the disease.
Houston police are puzzled over
an outbreak of violence
apparently touched off by a suicide.
A young man, reportedly angered by a
local television blackout of a sports event,
jumped from the tenth-story window
of his apartment.
A second man allegedly threatened to
leap to his death from the same window,
but was restrained by police.
Witnesses to the incident
reportedly heard the man jump...
She offered no explanation for the attack.
The lieutenant was treated for minor
wounds at the hospital and released.
A 16-story building under construction
in downtown Atlanta collapsed today,
killing at least 29 persons.
The engineering firm responsible for
the structural design of the building
could offer no explanation for the collapse.
The construction firm says
there's no logical reason for the collapse
and suspects sabotage.
Police in Gary, Indiana,
have been unable to identify
the bodies of a young man and woman...
...stab wounds
and their features carved away.
The man's genitals had been removed,
and police first identified the victims
as two women.
OK?
Franklin!
Ah!
- Are you OK?
- I was... Shit.
OK.
This heat is just driving me crazy.
I don't know if I can take much more.
Listen, the condition of retrogradation
is contrary or inharmonious to
the regular direction
of actual movement in the zodiac
and is, in that respect, evil.
Hence, when malefic planets
are in retrograde -
and Saturn's malefic, OK? -
their maleficence is increased.
Have you been doing
those word power columns?
It just means that Saturn's a bad influence.
It's just particularly a bad influence now
because it's in retrograde.
- You believe that stuff she's hawking me?
- I don't know.
My granddaddy's buried here.
Did anything happen to him?
- What's your granddaddy's name?
- That big feller
at the stand with that flashlight in his hand,
that's the sheriff.
You tell him your granddaddy's
buried in there.
- He'll let you in.
- Thank you.
I'm gonna run off with your girl a minute.
Honey, I'll get you the sheriff.
Let us through.
This girl's granddaddy's buried here.
Been in there the whole time,
unbeknownst to Clyde.
Clyde didn't know, either.
They didn't know why...
Things happen hereabout
they don't tell about.
I see things.
You see, they say
it's just an old man talking.
You laugh at an old man.
There's them that laughs and knows better.
They're sure. The man said they
could tell if the grave had been dug up.
Franklin, don't worry. I saw it myself.
It didn't look dug up to me.
- Oh, what's that?
- What smells?
What is that stench?
Roll up the window.
Hey, that's the old slaughterhouse.
That's where Grandpa used to
sell his cattle.
We got an uncle that works at one of
those places outside of Ft. Worth.
That's where they kill them. They bash
them in the head with a sledgehammer.
- That's awful.
- It usually wouldn't kill 'em on the first lick.
They'd start squealing and freaking out,
and they'd have to bash 'em three times.
They'd skin them sometimes
before they were even dead.
That's horrible.
People shouldn't kill animals for food.
They don't do it like that anymore.
Now they got this big gun that shoots
a bolt into their skull, then retracts it.
It's just boom! It goes boom!
And boom!
Franklin, I like meat.
Please change the subject.
- Boom!
- That's terrible. It's still going on.
Oh, man, it's hot in here.
- Hitchhiker.
- Should we pick him up?
- Yeah. He'll asphyxiate out there.
- What does he look like?
Son of a bitch is gonna
smell like a slaughterhouse.
Oh, give the guy a break.
He can sit by Franklin.
- What do you want to do?
- He's weird-looking.
- Pick him up, man.
- No!
Well, I think we just picked up Dracula.
- Where you headed, man?
- South.
You work at that place?
Oh, no.
- How did you get stuck way out here?
- I was at the slaughterhouse.
- My uncle works for the slaughterhouse.
- My brother worked there.
My-my grandfather too.
My family's always been in meat.
A whole family of Draculas.
Hey, man, did you go
in that slaughter room?
Where they shoot the cattle
with that big air gun?
- Oh, that-that-that gun's no good.
- I was in there once with my uncle.
The old way with a sledge.
See, that was better.
They died better that way.
How come? I thought the gun was better.
Oh, no, no.
With the new way,
the people are put out of jobs.
You do that?
Look.
- I was the killer.
- Damn.
- Let me see them.
- They don't send the heads away.
- You took these, huh?
- Yeah.
Franklin.
See, they make head cheese.
They...
they take the head,
and they boil it,
except for the tongue,
and they scrape all the flesh
away from the bone.
They use everything.
They don't throw nothing way.
They use the jowls
and the muscles and the eyes
and ligaments and everything.
- Oh.
- Look at this.
The nose and the gums and all the flesh,
and they boil it down into a big jelly of fat.
Wow. I didn't know
that's what was in that stuff.
It's really good. You like it?
Oh, yeah, sure, I like it.
It's good.
It sounds horrible.
Could we talk about something else?
You'd like it
if you didn't know what was in it.
I wouldn't,
and I wish you'd stop talking about it.
Oh.
Come on, you're making everybody sick.
Oh, all right.
What are you doing?
Hey, man, put that knife up.
Oh!
Oh, come on.
Oh! What are you doing to yourself?
Oh, my God!
Why are you doing that?
Put that away.
I have this knife.
Put that away, too.
- It's a good knife.
- I'm sure it is, man.
Fold it up.
Hey, you took my picture.
Hey, you-you could take me to my house.
I live right off this road.
Well, I don't know, man.
We're in pretty much of a hurry.
- How close is it?
- It's real close.
Well, couldn't you just walk?
I mean, if it's so close.
Yeah, you could have dinner with us.
You like head cheese?
My brother makes it real good. You'll like it.
I think you better push on now.
Don't you, Jerry?
Yeah, I'm sorry.
It didn't turn out so good.
- It's a nice picture. You can pay me now.
- Huh?
Two dollars. It's a good picture.
No, man.
Franklin, give him back the damn picture.
- He tried to sell him that picture.
- You're kidding?
No, I'm serious.
What are you doing?
Hey, Jerry, pull us over!
Hey, man, what's up?
What are you doing?
Get out.
Oh, my God.
Oh, I'm about half ready to call a cop.
That's the last goddamn hitchhiker
I ever pick up.
Hey, listen to Franklin's horoscope.
Oh, Sally.
"Travel in the country,
long-range plans
"and upsetting persons around you
"could make this a disturbing
and unpredictable day.
The events in the world are not
doing much either to cheer one up."
- That's just perfect.
- Franklin, I think that will be all right.
And now read Sally's.
She's a Capricorn.
Oh, no.
Capricorn's ruled by Saturn.
"There are moments when we cannot
believe that what is happening is true.
Pinch yourself
and you may find out that it is."
Everybody out.
Hurry up, so we can get home.
Here comes somebody.
How are you?
Would you fill her up, please?
I got no gas.
- You're out of gas?
- My tank's empty.
The transport won't be here
until late this afternoon,
maybe not even until tomorrow morning.
Hey, do you know where
the old Franklin place is?
- The old Franklin place?
- Yeah.
It's an old two-story rock house on a hill.
I think you have to turn on that road
back there, but I'm not real sure.
Yeah, maybe I seen something like that
up that way.
Well, now look, you boys don't want
to go messing around no old house.
Those things is dangerous.
You're liable to get hurt.
We'll be careful.
You don't want to go fooling around
with other folks' property.
Some folks don't like it,
and they don't mind showing you.
- Oh, my father owns it.
- That's your daddy's place, huh?
Yeah.
Look, I got some good barbeque here.
Why don't you fellas
stick around here a while?
That transport will be by in a little while.
Well, you want to get
some barbeque?
Them girls, now, they don't want to
go messing around an old house.
It's best you stick around here.
We should've asked
if there's another gas station around.
Don't you think he would've told us
if there was?
Man, it wouldn't hurt to ask, you know?
OK, I'll go ask.
I knew the hell we should've
stopped back there for gas.
- Press it.
- I'm pulling it down.
- There.
- You think this place has room service?
Franklin, you maniac,
you're tearing up the van.
Um, yeah, I just started doing that.
Hey, I bet that's some of that guy's blood.
Look at that. Look at that.
- You think that's blood?
- Yeah, I guess so.
Oh, that's blood, all right.
And that guy cut the hell out of himself.
You think you could do that to yourself?
- I'm not crazy.
- Yeah, yeah.
It takes something, though, I mean just
to do that to yourself like he did. God!
Hey, you think I said something
made him mad?
- Well, what?
- Franklin, you're crazier than he was.
Hey, I got us some barbeque.
- Newt's the closest place to get gas.
- Aw.
Aren't we going out to Grandpa's place?
There's a creek. You could go swimming.
Let's go.
Come on, Sally.
We're going to Grandpa's place.
Let's go!
Hey, that guy smeared blood
all over the van.
- Like he was trying to write something.
- What'd he do?
Did he write something on the van?
Let me see your knife.
Thank you.
Franklin, if we run out of gas
before we get back to that station,
you're towing us back in your chair.
Hey, you think that guy's
just trying to scare us
by, you know,
blowing up my picture like that?
Oh, I wish they hadn't
let the place fall apart.
It looks like the birth place
of Bela Lugosi.
- I'm scared.
- I'll help you with that.
- See that window over there?
- That's strange.
Hey, watch my arms.
Watch out.
- Be straight. Come on. Hey.
- I'll get you from here.
I want to see that smear
that guy made.
- Oh, man.
- Weird. I wonder if that means something.
It's the mark of Zorro.
He's going to get you.
- Come on.
- Why don't you wash it off?
I want to show you the inside.
- Jerry!
- OK.
Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute.
- Come on, Kirk.
- Here, man, you wash it off.
You don't think that guy would try
and follow us?
What for?
Where's my knife? Kirk?
It looks like it must've been a nursery.
This is my room. I got to stay here one time
when I was eight years old.
- Right after my grandmother died.
- What happened?
- What happened to my grandmother?
- Yeah. She died.
- What do you think of the wallpaper?
- It's seen better days.
These animals used to talk me to sleep
when I was little.
Look at the zebras.
I had these fascination for the zebras.
Sally!
Sally!
Hee-hee-hee-hee, hee-hee-hee-hee.
Hee-hee-hee-hee.
Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee.
Come on, Franklin.
It's gonna be a fun trip.
If I have any more fun today,
I don't think I'm going to be able to take it.
Aah! Ah!
- Hey, Franklin.
- Hey, Franklin. What's wrong?
You said there was a swimming hole
around here?
Yeah.
Well, Pam and I would like to go swimming,
man.
Uh, there used to be a trail
down between those two old sheds.
Come on, we'll find it.
- Are Jerry and Sally going?
- No. We'll see you in an hour or so.
Yeah.
We'll see you in about an hour or so.
Sally?
Sally!
Zero in the world.
Just shoot him
and put us out of our misery.
- Snakes and spiders!
- Stop it!
And scorpions! Man-eating lizards.
- Kirk, help. Kirk!
- Ow. Ow.
Oh.
Crap.
This must be it.
Oh, are you OK?
How the hell did Franklin
ever get down here, anyway?
Somebody must've carried him
when he was little.
Franklin never was little.
Gasoline.
I can leave him my guitar, give him a
couple bucks. We're coming back anyway.
I can pick up my guitar, give him a couple
more dollars and bring him some gas.
They don't want your guitar.
They won't want to sell us gas.
Let's just go back now.
Hey, come here.
Come here and look at this.
- A generator.
- What?
A generator! For electricity.
Hey, hello in there! Is anybody here?
Hello, is anybody home?
I got something for you.
Ah!
Ooh!
Let's go!
Hello?
- Hey, Pam, come look at this.
- What? No!
Hello?
Is anybody home?
Hello?
Hey, Pam.
Hello?
Kirk?
Kirk!
Kirk?
Kirk.
Kirk?
Kirk?
Oh! Oh, God!
Kirk! Kirk!
He's gonna get you, Franklin.
- You don't think it means anything?
- We'll protect you.
- I'll bet it's about me.
- He's gonna kill you, Franklin.
- It probably doesn't mean anything, huh?
- You worry too much.
He couldn't find us anyway.
I mean, he doesn't even know our names.
I gave him your name.
I told him where you live.
I even gave him your zip code.
He's gonna kill you.
Jerry.
- What are you doing?
- I can't find my knife.
That knife won't do you any good.
He likes that knife.
When did you have it last?
Well, I didn't have it last.
You had it last.
I gave it to you. Remember?
What did you do with it?
I don't know.
Didn't I give it back to you?
No. I didn't have it
when I got out of the van.
- You just never gave it back to me.
- All right, I'll look for it.
I think I'll walk down to the creek
before it gets too dark. How do I get there?
Well, there's a trail down there
between them two old sheds.
- Can I go, too?
- I think you'd better stay here.
All right.
I can't find it.
Are you mad at me?
No, I'm not mad at you.
You really are mad, huh?
Oh, I don't blame you.
I'm...
Kirk!
You really didn't want me to come,
did you?
Oh, Franklin, I'm just tired.
It's been a long day.
Sally, did you believe in all that stuff
that Pam was telling about
Saturn and retrograde and all that?
I don't know.
Everything means something, I guess.
Yeah.
You don't think that guy
would try and follow us, do you?
Well, I mean, there's no way
that he could follow us.
He's probably afraid Kirk will kill him.
Sally?
What now?
Nothing.
Never mind.
Kirk!
Hello?
Is anybody home?
Excuse me, I'm looking for some friends.
Hello?
Is anybody here?
Damn.
Kirk?
Are you guys in there?
Hey, guys, quit playing games.
Quit goofing on me.
Pam, is that you?
OK, you guys.
Come on out. Come on!
Kirk?
They must be lost.
They don't have a flashlight or anything.
If they're not back in a minute,
we've got to go look for them.
Well, what if we get lost, too?
Sally, we ought to go to that gas station
and get help.
I'm not leaving here without Jerry.
Jerry!
Jerry!
Jerry!
Jerry!
- Jerry!
- Jerry!
Hey!
They'll probably be back in a minute or so.
Sally, we ought to go to that gas station.
Sally?
I think we ought to go.
Are the keys in the van?
- Could I see the flashlight for a minute?
- What for?
Let me see the flashlight. I'll go
look for them. You don't have to go.
Sally, don't go.
I don't think that's a good idea.
I don't think you ought to go.
I'm going to honk the horn one more time.
- Just give me the flashlight.
- No.
Now, I'm gonna honk the horn,
and we're gonna wait a minute,
and then if they don't come, we'll go.
All right?
Sally, they took the keys.
We don't have any keys.
They took the keys with them.
Stop it! Stop it!
Stop it! Franklin!
- Jerry took the keys with him!
- Give me that flashlight!
No, Sally, we can't go! Look, what if
they came back and we weren't here?
- Give me that flashlight!
- No, I've got to take the flashlight.
- I'm gonna go look for them.
- All right, all right, I'll go with you.
No, Sally. Come on, I'll go with you,
but I'm gonna keep the flashlight.
- Give me the flashlight!
- Look, I'll go with you.
I can't push you down that hill!
Sally, look, I know. Oh!
- I'll go with you, but I'm going to hold...
- Never mind, I'll just go without it.
All right, all right. Sally, wait!
Sally, wait a minute! I'm coming with you.
Sally? Hold up a minute now.
All right, let's go.
Let's go. I'll go with you.
Sally, I can't keep up with you.
Sally?
Sally, wait a minute.
Hold up.
Jerry!
Jerry!
Jerry!
Jerry!
Wait.
- I thought I heard something.
- There's a light.
- Yeah?
- Yes.
Oh, it looks like a house.
Well, come on, push.
Come on, push.
Push down. There.
- It's a house.
- Yeah? I can't see it very well.
Oh, Franklin, this is impossible.
Come on, Sally.
Get back and push down.
This is impossible.
I hear something out there.
Look.
- Hey, Jerry!
- Jerry!
Jerry!
Sally, I hear something.
Stop. Stop.
Somebody, please!
Help!
Help me, please!
Somebody, help me!
Help!
Please! Please! Please help me!
Please!
Help! Help me!
Help!
Help! Help!
Help!
Help! Help me!
Help me! Oh, God!
Help, help!
Close the door. Help me.
Whoa, there, whoa, whoa.
- Come over here.
- Somebody's trying to kill me.
Help, help...
Calm down. You're all right, you're OK.
- Oh, now, take it easy.
- Call the police.
- He might come.
- Now, what happened?
- He... he... he killed...
- Now, now, take it easy.
He killed Franklin.
I don't know. Call the police!
- Take it easy.
- And Jerry.
I... I don't-I don't know
what happened to the others.
There's nobody out there now.
Come on. Come on now, take it easy.
Come on, take it easy.
- Oh, please.
- What happened?
Please. Call the police.
There's no phone here.
We... we have to drive over to Childress.
Yeah, yeah.
Now, you take it easy.
Take it easy now. I'll get the truck.
- Now, now, take it easy. Take it easy.
- Don't go.
Take it easy.
Weather is expected to
be warm to partly cloudy tomorrow
with no chance of precipitation.
The high today will be in the upper 90s
and a low tonight of 81 degrees.
Current temperature is 96 with winds
out the southeast at three miles a hour.
Humidity 98,
barometer is at 29.9 and rising.
Acting on a tip,
the Muerto County sheriff's office
began an investigation early this morning
in the Muerto County Cemetery
opening crypts where there was
evidence of tampering.
The sheriff's deputies found a reported
dozen coffins robbed of their contents.
According to the sheriff,
there were cadavers in which the heads
and extremities were removed,
and others in which only a hand or foot
had been removed.
Maldonado has information
linking the robberies
to a large and well-organized
West Coast jewel theft ring
but declined to suggest any reason
for them to mutilate the cadavers.
- What are you doing?
- You ain't got no need to worry.
No!
You just cooperate, young lady,
and we'll have no trouble.
- Now, listen...
- What do you want?
Now, there's no need to do that.
Nobody's going to hurt you.
No!
No! No! No!
Had to lock up and get the lights.
Cost of electricity is enough to
drive a man out of business.
Uh, I hope you're not
too uncomfortable down there.
You got nothing to worry about. You just
take it easy, and we'll be there soon.
Now, now, now, now.
There's no need to do that, no.
We'll be over this in a bit.
Hang on.
Halfwits.
Little coon shits.
Come here, you nap-haired idiot!
- Where have you been?
- I've been out on the road.
You damn fool,
you almost got caught over at Duke's.
No, no, they didn't see me.
They don't know nothing.
I told you to stay away from that graveyard!
I told you and I told you,
I told you never to leave your brother alone,
you...
Get in there and get that girl out of the car.
Come on, get her out of the car.
Get her out of there.
Hopefully your brother
didn't let any of those kids get away.
Get her in there.
We'll have the whole county out here.
Don't you got any self-respect?
Look what your brother did to the door!
He's got no pride in his home?
Get her in there.
You've been a fool, you!
You better get them other kids.
Where are they, huh?
You're a damn fool, you.
Oh!
I thought you was in a hurry.
Where are the kids?
Where are they? Show me!
- None of 'em get away?
- Uh-uh-uh.
- Are you sure?
- Uh-huh.
You...
You damn fool! You ruined the door!
Hey, you did good. She's a nice girl.
You nitwit, get upstairs
and get your grandpa.
Now, now, young lady,
you just take it easy there now.
Look, we'll fix you some supper
in a few minutes. Huh?
Get back in there!
Get in there!
Now, you just take it easy.
Take it easy.
We'll have you something to eat
right away.
Hey.
Hey, Leatherface.
Give me a hand with Grandpa.
Careful.
Look, Grandpa, look, look.
Here, here!
Shut up!
Quiet!
You act like a pack of hounds.
We were just having fun.
You think this is a party?
Please.
You can make them stop.
No, he can't.
Shut your mouths.
Can't be helped, young lady.
- Oh, please, you can't let them kill me.
- Shut up.
Don't pay him no mind.
You like this face?
You're crazy!
You've got to make them stop!
Please!
He's nothing. He's just the cook.
Shut up, you bitch hog.
Me and Leatherface do all the work.
He don't like it.
Ain't that right?
You're just the cook!
Shut your mouth!
You don't understand nothing.
I understand you ain't nothing.
Me and him do all the work!
I just can't take no pleasure in killing.
Well, there's just some things you got
to do. Don't mean you have to like it.
Oh, please. Please.
What do you want?
I'll do anything. Anything.
I'll do... I'll do anything you want.
Don't need to torture the poor girl.
You just shut up! Remember you're just
the cook, and me and him will handle this.
Then get on with it.
I won't have this.
We ain't in no hurry
because you ain't going no place.
No.
You hear me?
It might hurt you, but it don't mean much.
No sense in waiting.
I got to open up the room.
I been... I been thinking about
letting Grandpa have some fun.
You always said he's the best.
He's the best, all right.
Let's let him have a whack. Hey, Grandpa,
we going to let you have this one.
Just let him have a whack.
Now, you just hush.
It won't hurt none.
Why, old Grandpa is the best killer
there ever was.
Why, it never took more than one lick,
they say.
Why, he did 60 in five minutes once.
They say he could've done more
if the hook and pull gang
could've gotten the beeves
out of the way faster.
Now, now, don't you cry none.
Old Grandpa's the best.
It won't hurt a bit.
No! No!
No! No!
No! Oh, please don't!
Please! Please! Please don't!
No, no! No!
No!
Hit her, Grandpa!
Hit her, Grandpa!
Hit her! Come on, Grandpa.
Hit her!
Hit that bitch.
Hit her, Grandpa!
Come on!
Come on, Grandpa, hit that bitch.
Careful there. Come on, Grandpa.
Get her Grandpa, get her.
Go ahead, go ahead! Get her!
Come on.
- Give me the hammer. I'll get her.
- Get her, get her, Grandpa.
- Give me that hammer.
- Hit her, hit her, Grandpa.
- I'll kill her. Let me get her.
- Hit the bitch.
Help!
Help!
Go!
Go