In Los Angeles, California, Brenda, a tough high school student, hangs out on Hollywood Boulevard with her younger sister, Heather, and girl friends Rachel, Stella, Francine, Stevie, and Maria. Since her father’s death, Brenda has become more devoted and protective of Heather, who is a deaf. Cruising down the street in a convertible, Jake, Vince, Red, and Fargo, who are a drug-dealing gang known as the Scars, deliberately startle the girls at an intersection, nearly hitting Heather. Annoyed by the hoodlums, later that night Brenda and her girl friends confiscate the gang’s convertible after noticing it parked unattended on the street. As the Scars attempt to chase them, the girls drive away laughing. They leave the car in an alley and dump garbage on it. When the gang finds the vehicle, Jake, the leader, screams in fury. Later, at high school, Principal Underwood confronts the Scars when he sees them on campus intimidating a student and warns Vince, who attends the school, about associating with the thugs. Inside the school gymnasium, Heather waits for Brenda to finish showering after dance class. Finding the younger sister alone, the gang corners her and drags her to the men’s restroom where Jake orders Vince, Red, and Fargo to sexually assault her. Vince is reluctant, but Jake forces him to participate in the rape. Meanwhile, Brenda is detained in the women’s locker room after engaging in a fight with Cindy, a fellow student who accuses Brenda of enticing her boyfriend. The two women are taken to the principal’s office, and Underwood states that Brenda gives him “nothing but grief.” When Brenda and her girl friends finally return to the gymnasium, they find Heather beaten and lying naked on the floor. At the hospital, Brenda and her mother are distraught as Heather struggles to survive. Later, Brenda meets her girl friends at the local nightclub and tells them they must take revenge on the attackers, since the school and the police are inept. Vince is upset about the rape and wants to avoid the Scars, but Jake bullies him into hanging out with the gang. The Scars arrive at the nightclub and grope Francine, who is getting married to Richie soon and is pregnant with his baby. When Richie intervenes, a fight ensues and Francine cuts Jake with a knife. At school, Brenda is suspended after getting into another fight with Cindy. That same day, Francine picks up her wedding dress and is on her way to meet Brenda and the other girls when the Scars intercept her. Despite Vince’s pleas not to her hurt her, Jake is overcome by rage and throws Francine off a bridge, killing her. Vince runs from the gang and arrives at the hospital to apologize to Heather, who remains unconscious. As he confesses at her bedside, Brenda enters and confronts him. Vince flees, while Brenda returns home and contemplates her revenge against the gang. First, she visits Vince at home and threatens him with a knife. She becomes more enraged when he informs her about Francine’s murder, and forces him to reveal the Scars’ location. At a military supply store, Brenda picks up weapons before continuing to the gang’s warehouse hideout. She booby-traps the place, then lures Red and Fargo into the building, while Jake is away. After killing Fargo with a crossbow, Brenda watches as Red is impaled in her bear claw trap. Meanwhile, Jake corners Vince in an alley and runs him over with his car. Arriving at the warehouse, Jake opens the loading dock door and finds his friends’ dead bodies on display. Out of sight, Brenda calls out that Jake is next. As he shoots into the darkness, she fires arrows into his thighs. He pulls out the arrows, then walks into a trap that leaves him hanging upside down from a gate. Brenda prepares to torture him with a knife when he swings the gate, knocking her down. Jake breaks free and approaches Brenda, but she picks up the knife and stabs him. Despite his injuries, Jake pursues Brenda into a hardware store. There, she throws paint on him and sets him on fire using her cigarette lighter. Police arrive as Brenda watches Jake burn. Sometime later, Heather has recovered and accompanies Brenda to the cemetery. Brenda is still shaken by the violence, and Heather helps her place flowers on Francine’s grave.