Stripped to Kill 1987

On the gritty streets of Skid Row in Los Angeles, Cody, a police officer operating undercover, and Sergeant Heineman bear witness to a brutal act: a stripper named Angel is hurled from a bridge and set on fire. Their investigation pushes Cody to go deeper undercover, taking a post as a dancer at Rock Bottom, the club where the murdered woman worked. Despite not being a natural dancer, she wins the amateur night, and the club’s owner, Ray, offers her a job and a place in the lineup.

Inside Rock Bottom, Cody gradually earns the trust of the other dancers, forming bonds amid the rough atmosphere. Among them is Cinnamon, who has been let go by Ray due to an addiction to pills. The camaraderie is tight, but danger looms, and Cinnamon is eventually strangled to death by the killer with a metal cord, leaving the club shaken and the investigation with more questions than answers.

When Cody’s undercover role is discovered by her superiors, they order her to quit dancing, a demand she defies. This defiance strains the relationship with Heineman, who harbors romantic feelings for her and becomes torn between professional duties and personal loyalties. The tension between them escalates into a night of intimacy, followed by a morning after filled with arguments and unresolved conflicts that complicate the pursuit of the killer.

Parallel to the internal friction, Heineman pursues a set of suspects, including Roxanne, a dancer who happened to be Angel’s lover. He also suspects Pocket, a young man who seems perpetually present at the club. A confrontation reveals a harsher reality: Pocket is missing a hand and genitals from a war injury, deepening the mystery surrounding the killer’s identity.

Cody’s visit to Roxanne leads her to encounter Roxanne’s younger brother, Eric. While searching the apartment, she discovers a neighbor’s corpse. The twists unfold as Roxanne is revealed to be Eric, dressed in drag, having performed as his dead sister on stage with fake latex breasts. Eric explains that he killed Roxanne because he feared she would leave him for Angel. Heineman arrives during the confrontation, but Eric shoots him, forcing Cody to flee into a tense, escalating chase.

The pursuit drives them back to Rock Bottom, where Eric begins an indiscriminate shooting rampage. Cody douses Eric with gasoline, and when he tries to shoot her, he accidentally sets himself on fire. Heineman arrives, having survived the earlier gunshots thanks to a bulletproof vest. Cody, who realizes she’s been shot in the leg, clamps down on the fear and embraces Heineman, sharing a moment of relief as the immediate danger subsides.