The exploits of two similarly monstrous multiple murderers' are shown in this German crime drama, produced by Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film group. The first murderer's exploits are based on a true story and recounts events which happened in the dark times of the 1920s. It was during that time that a man who worked as a police informant in the railyards seduced and murdered at least 25 young boys, butchered them, and sold their meat on the black market. The second tale depicts another man doing much the same thing during the hungry times of the late '40s. Each gruesome tale is depicted without cinematic editorializing, perhaps because the actions of the murderers are sufficiently repellent that they do not require explicit disapproval from the filmmaker.