During a live punk-rock New Year's Eve TV programme, the presenter gets a phone call from a psycho calling himself "Evil" saying that when New Year's strikes in each US time zone, he will murder someone.

A naive young woman moves from the South to stay with her aunt and uncle in Compton. As an outsider, she struggles at first to find her footing, but soon falls into the middle of a community of rebellious youth. She soon becomes more and more aware of the social injustices of the big city.