- Unbalanced tattoo artist Karl Kinsky grows obsessed with Maddy, a model he meets when he's hired for a photo shoot. As Karl's obsession grows, he determines that Maddy should bear his mark forever.
- Karl Kinsky, an unbalanced tattoo artist, becomes dangerously obsessed with Maddy, a model he meets when he's hired to paint temporary tattoos on a group of women for a photo shoot. As his obsession grows, Kinsky becomes increasingly determined that Maddy should bear his "mark" ... forever.—Eugene Kim <genekim@concentric.net>
- In Tokyo, Japan, United States serviceman Karl Kinsky (Bruce Dern) watches a ceremonial parade featuring men whose bodies are tattooed. Karl has his arms and back tattooed, and eventually opens a tattoo shop in Hoboken, New Jersey. Two teenage girls request tattoos, but Karl refuses to work on minors.
That night, as he stops at a newsstand to admire a magazine featuring a model named Maddy (Maud Adams), the teenagers proposition him, but Karl is not interested. He stops at a diner, where the owner, George (Anthony Mannino), takes messages for him since he does not have a telephone. His sister, Doris (Patrica Roe), calls with news of their father's death, and Karl leaves for his family home in Ocean City, New Jersey for the funeral. Standing over the casket, Karl remembers his father's verbal abuse. Doris agrees to let their mother live with her in Detroit, but asks Karl to sell their parents' house.
Later, Sandra Benson (Rikke Borge), representing New Fashion magazine, wants to hire Karl to paint temporary tattoos on models for a fashion shoot featuring bathing suits. Karl hesitates, insisting he is not a makeup man, but he reluctantly agrees. He is provided with photographs of the models, including Maddy, and designs vibrant tattoos for each woman.
At the fashion shoot, Maddy apologizes for arriving late as she admires Karl's designs. After the photography session, Maddy returns to the dressing room with her boyfriend, Buddy (John Getz). As she showers off the temporary tattoos, Karl overhears their argument about Buddy's schedule as a musician. After Buddy's departure, Maddy asks Karl to take her to dinner.
At the restaurant, when Maddy starts to order a drink, Karl insists that she tell him her preference so he can place the order for her. Albert, an inebriated acquaintance, joins Maddy and makes fun of Karl's work. When Albert caresses Maddy's arm, Karl orders the drunk to leave and threatens to kill him. The maître d' does not want trouble, so Maddy and Karl leave. She admits Karl scares her, but asks him to take her home because she is frightened of being alone in the parking garage. Maddy invites Karl in, but he has to catch a train, and promises to visit her at work the next day. On his way home, Karl visits a pornographic shop, enters a booth, and pays to direct a woman as she undresses on the other side of the glass.
The next day, Karl visits Maddy in Central Park, and she accepts his offer to cook Japanese food for her at his apartment above his tattoo shop. That night, as she admires his artwork, Karl refers to tattoos as "the mark" of identification and belonging. Over dinner, he criticizes Buddy, insisting that her boyfriend's public displays of affection are vulgar. Karl defines love as a protective shield, but Maddy suggests Karl's attitude is old-fashioned. When she touches his arm, Karl wonders if she is asking to have sex with him, and claims that requires an exclusive commitment. Surprised, Maddy uses a curse word to refer to casual sex, which infuriates Karl. He orders her to leave, but as Maddy gets into a taxi, Karl begs for another chance. She finally agrees to meet him at a museum on Sunday. However, Sandra greets Karl outside the museum to tell him that Maddy left for a job on the West Coast and, because Karl does not have a telephone, Maddy asked her to deliver the news.
Later, Maddy is in bed with Buddy when Karl telephones their apartment. He hangs up without speaking when Buddy answers. The following night, Karl sneaks into Maddy's building and knocks on her door. Buddy answers and insists Maddy is out of town. He also comments that she revealed Karl would not perform sexually, but if Karl gets "fixed up," Maddy might give him another chance. Later, Karl leaves a message on Maddy's answering machine that she should not confide in anyone else, and must trust him because he will help her. Karl shows his family home to a couple, but angers the buyers when he changes his mind and refuses to sell. He tells his sister that he is waiting for a better offer, and informs her that he is going on vacation.
Late at night, Maddy asks Buddy and his band to leave their apartment because she cannot sleep. Moments later, the doorbell rings and she thinks it is a musician who forgot his jacket, but Karl is at the door and renders her unconscious. He drugs her, packs a suitcase, and brings Maddy to his seaside home. He places her on a table in his makeshift tattoo studio, opens her robe, and begins tattooing the unconscious woman. Later, she awakens and is horrified to find her back, shoulders and chest are covered with real tattoos. She threatens to kill him and smashes a mirror, then tries to escape but he blocks her. After she faints in shock, he sweeps up the broken mirror, but misses a large fragment under the bed.
Later, Karl drugs Maddy again and continues to tattoo her body. In the morning, she attempts to escape, but finds every avenue is blocked, and Karl locks her in a closet. When he feeds her dinner, Maddy attempts to stab him, but he overpowers her. Karl wonders if Maddy is worthy of his mark and stabs the wall in frustration. Maddy pretends she had not understood his deep commitment, but is now a willing participant. Later, after he leaves her alone on the tattoo table, she opens her eyes to discover him watching through a peephole in the doorway. Karl orders her to masturbate and she complies, but then rushes to the door and confronts him, claiming he will not make her a freak, too. She wonders why he will not touch her, but Karl claims his body is not committed yet. She huddles on her bedroom floor, and notices the shard of glass.
In the morning, Karl is surprised that she has made breakfast for them. Later, she notices the figurine of a Japanese man with a woman kneeling at his feet, and suggests that position might be more comfortable for the tattooing process. Alone, she arranges cushions on the floor, and hides the shard within her reach under an area rug. Later, as he lies next to Maddy and tattoos, her body goes into contractions. Admitting he worked on her solar plexus too long, Karl rises to get a cool cloth and finds the glass shard. Not realizing Maddy placed it there, Karl worries that she could have cut herself because he was careless in cleaning up the glass. She cries hopelessly as he confesses she is the only person he has ever loved.
A few days later later, Karl lays his tattoo pen on the floor, and announces he is finished. While she examines her tattoos, Karl takes off his robe, revealing his tattooed torso. As they have sex, Maddy screams, grabs the tattoo pen, and stabs Karl to death with it.
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