Flavia and Fabio's bodies are discovered on the dockside in Venice. She drowned, and he was assassinated by a massive set of scissors. Marzia, Flavia's best friend, is questioned by the police, setting off a chain of murders. A prostitute is stabbed in the crotch; Marzia's lover is shot in the kneecaps and then doused in petrol and set on fire; and Marzia herself is tied to a kitchen table and dismembered before being placed in a refrigerator. Meanwhile, prolonged flashbacks indicate that Fabio derives bizarre pleasure from coercing his young wife into horrible sexual activities...