| Director | Bob Brooks |
|---|---|
| Budget | $5 million |
| Box office | $860,472 |
Tattoo artist Karl Kinsky is approached to create temporary tattoos for swimsuit models on a photoshoot by renowned photographer Halsey. Initially apprehensive, Kinsky agrees after seeing photographs of one of the models, Maddy, who arrives late to the photoshoot but expresses admiration for Kinsky's arm tattoos and recognizes their Japanese influence.
After the shoot, Kinsky jealously eavesdrops on Maddy and her flirtatious boyfriend, jazz musician Buddy, whose relationship is strained because of Buddy's odd work hours. Maddy invites Kinsky to dinner, where he awkwardly asserts his dominance towards the maître d′, and then threatens to kill Maddy's ex-boyfriend Albert for using profanity and drunkenly flirting with her. Maddy invites Kinsky back to her apartment, but he says he has to catch the last train home. Instead, he goes to a sex show, where he aggressively speaks to a performer.
The next day, Kinsky surprises Maddy in Central Park with flowers and invites her to his apartment for dinner, where she admires his tattoo equipment and artwork. Kinsky explains his theory that women who get tattoos, which he calls "the mark", do so out of a desire to belong. When Kinsky tells Maddy she deserves better than Buddy, she calls him "old-fashioned", but begins to makes a pass at him, which Kinsky rejects, citing a need for commitment. Kinsky kicks Maddy out of his apartment for using profanity, but he follows her and insists they see each other again. After Maddy agrees to meet him at a Japanese art exhibition, Kinksy repeatedly calls and berates Maddy from a telephone booth. When she asks him to stop, he returns to his apartment and intently watches her modeling tape.
On the day of the exhibition, Maddy sends her friend Sandra to tell Kinsky that Maddy is out of town, and to ask him to return her modeling tapes. He visits Maddy's apartment, where he is told the same thing by Buddy. That night, Maddy kicks out Buddy and his band for keeping her awake. She is then visited by Kinsky, who incapacitates her with a chloroform-soaked rag. She awakens the next morning to find her chest, shoulders and back have been tattooed with floral patterns; when Kinsky tells her he is not finished tattooing her, she faints. The next day, when the tattoos have been partially colored in, Maddy makes a failed escape attempt, after which Kinsky makes her call Buddy at knifepoint to tell him she will not be coming home. As Kinsky becomes increasing violent, Maddy agrees to "wear the mark" in exchange for her safety.
Nearly finished with the tattoo, Kinsky stops and makes Maddy masturbate while he watches from another room, similarly to the peep show he visited earlier, and he orgasms as she begins weeping. Maddy berates him for not "being a man" and having sex with her instead. After Maddy plans to kill Kinksy with a shard of glass from the mirror, but is discovered, she seemingly resigns herself to allow Kinsky to continue expanding the tattoos over her entire body. When Kinsky announces he is finished, he undresses them both and begins to rape Maddy, who grabs the tattoo gun and plunges it into Kinsky's neck. Kinsky dies draped across Maddy's lap while she strokes his hair and stares off into the distance.