Divine ("Pink Flamingos," "Hairspray") portrays Dawn Davenport from her bad-girl youth as a go-go dancer on Baltimore's infamous Block to her death in the electric chair. Mary Vivian Pearce ("Pink Flamingos," "Desperate Living") and David Lochary ("Pink Flamingos," "The Diane Linkletter Story") co-star as crazed owners of a beauty-parlor who are convinced that "crime equals beauty," and they take Dawn under their wings, forcing her to mainline liquid eyeliner to enhance her appeal. Edith Massey ("Pink Flamingos," "Polyester") steals the film as Dawn's obsessive neighbor, Ida, who wants her nephew to be gay (because heterosexuals lead "sick and boring lives") and throws acid in Dawn's face when she marries him.