A fifteen-year-old girl named Molly Stewart walks to a bus stop in Hollywood, California. A woman cleaning a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame greets her as “Angel.” At North Oak Prep, the private school Molly attends, a classmate named Wayne asks Molly on a date, but she claims that her mother, Margaret Stewart, thinks she is too young for romance. That night, dressed in a miniskirt, Molly joins the street life on Hollywood Boulevard working as a prostitute. Later, riding in a car with a middle-aged man, she tells him her name is “Angel” and correctly guesses he is an undercover police officer. He lets her out on a corner where a transvestite friend named Mae buys her an ice cream cone. Lt. Andrews, a police detective investigating the murders of several prostitutes, asks an officer named Collins to work with him on the case. Molly and Mae join two other prostitutes, Crystal and Lana, at a coffee shop, and discuss the impact the murders are having on business. Everyone returns to work, and Crystal flirts with a street performer named Yoyo Charlie before picking up a client. She takes the client back to her motel room, where he kills her, and commits necrophilia. At midnight, a former Western performer named Kit Carson escorts his friends, Molly and Mae, to their apartment building, and are greeted by their eccentric landlady, Solly Mosler. In the morning, Solly collects rent from Molly, who claims her invalid mother is resting in her bedroom. Later, at school, Molly spurns the advances of an athlete, Ric Sawyer. The school counselor, Patricia Allen, inquires why Molly does not participate in extracurricular activities despite being a top student. Molly responds that her mother had a stroke and she must return home immediately after school to care for her. Meanwhile, the coroner cleans up Crystal’s dismembered remains, and Lt. Andrews searches for clues. Mae informs Molly of their friend’s death and they join other members of the community at the motel. Lt. Andrews urges the prostitutes to work in pairs. That night, Lana unknowingly picks up the man who killed Crystal and takes him back to the motel. Later, Molly discovers Lana’s dead body. At the police station, Molly describes the killer to a sketch artist. In the morning, the executor of Kit’s estate tries to place the old cowboy in a retirement home. When Kit resists, Mae and Molly convince the man to leave. Kit tells his friends that he wants to go to the Actor’s Home when he is ready, so he can see actors Tom Mix and Hoot Gibson again. Mae and Molly remind Kit that those stars are long dead. Later, Lt. Andrews witnesses Molly board the North Oak Prep school bus and follows her to school, where she once again rebuffs Ric Sawyer. That night, in a pornographic movie theater, the killer causes a disturbance and is picked up by the police. Molly picks him out of a police lineup, but he grabs an officer’s gun, shoots his way out of the station, and escapes. Afterward, Lt. Andrews takes Molly to her apartment and reveals that he knows about her double-life. He asks to meet her mother and discovers an empty room. Molly explains that her father left nine years earlier, and her mother abandoned her three years ago. She has been on the street ever since, but believes her father will return one day. Lt. Andrews says he should turn her over to the juvenile authorities, but does not. Instead, he warns her to lock the door and stay off the streets. Meanwhile, the killer shaves his head with a straight razor. Molly buys a pistol and places money in the donation box at a church. Kit teaches her to shoot. That night, on the boulevard, Ric Sawyer and his buddies spot Molly working. They grab her and intend to force her to have sex with them, but she wields the gun and escapes. The next day at school, Molly overhears locker room gossip and discovers her secret is out. She is mortified when Wayne, the boy who asked her out earlier, offers her $23 for a “date.” Meanwhile, Ric tells Ms. Allen what he saw in Hollywood. She initially does not believe him, but finds the pistol when she searches Molly’s school locker. Molly flees and seeks out Lt. Andrews, who attempts to console her. Ms. Allen visits the apartment building, wanting to see Molly’s mother. Mae claims to be Margaret Stewart, but Ms. Allen sees through the lie. However, the two agree that they must do everything they can to get Molly off the streets. Meanwhile, outside, Officer Collins follows the killer after observing him impersonate a Hare Krishna member. Ms. Allen leaves and the killer goes to Molly’s apartment, where he brawls with Mae, before stabbing the transvestite. Solly finds Mae, who begs her to prevent Molly from seeing her this way. Lt. Andrews arrives and discovers Collins dead in the downstairs phone booth. Molly returns home, but Solly stops her before she enters the bedroom. Molly takes Solly’s handgun and heads out to the boulevard. Lt. Andrews pursues her and enlists Kit’s help. Dancing and chanting with the Hare Krishnas, the killer spots Molly and follows her with his switchblade. Yoyo Charlie warns Molly that the killer is behind her, and she turns and fires several shots, but the killer flees. Kit gets a ride from a motorcyclist, while Molly pursues the killer on foot. They chase the killer behind a theater, where he wounds Kit in the stomach. The killer runs away, but is cornered in an alley by Molly and Lt. Andrews. The killer grabs Molly and wounds Lt. Andrews in the shoulder. Kit appears and empties his six shooters into the killer. Lt. Andrews and Kit escort Molly from the alley.