In rural Florida, white trash JD, his wife Rita and their mate John murder a bus driver so they can kidnap five high-school students and demand $250,000 ransom per head. The kids are held captive end constantly threatened by JD and wife in their miserable swamp home in alligator country. The brothers Glenn (a cocky, dumb but popular jock captain) and Bruce (nice and bright) Kirkland and Dexter Martin, neglected son of a penniless Newyorker and the class's boxing-ball, must overcome or at least control their strife to deal with JD's envy-driven abuse. The girls must play in to his adulterous appetite. The ransom is questionable, so a matter of anguish for the parents. Several family secrets play a crucial part in the outcome.