When executive Bill Compton's (Dennis Patrick) daughter, Melissa (Susan Sarandon), overdoses at the house of her drug-dealer boyfriend, Compton flies into a rage and kills the dealer. He tries to make it look like a robbery gone wrong but, in a bar afterward, confesses his crime to a stranger named Joe (Peter Boyle). Joe is a hippie-hater and approves of Compton's actions. Moreover, when Melissa goes missing, he helps Compton track her down in the hope of killing a few hippies himself.