John Harrington (Stephen Forsyth) is a handsome, 30-year-old man who in a voice-over narration, claims to suffer from Oedipus complex. He is also impotent and feels compelled to murder young women wearing bridal gowns to remember details of a traumatic event that twisted his mind as a child. Harrington lives in a spacious villa outside Paris, France where he's the manager of a bridal dress factory which is managed by his older wife Mildred (Laura Betti). Despite the image he puts upon himself, Harrington relies on Mildred for emotional and financial support. On one particular morning, the ill-matched couple engaged in a verbal sparring match at the breakfast table. Harrington brings up talk of divorce. But Mildred will hear none of that. After walking away from the argument, Harrington retreats into his office, where he meets Helen Wood (Dagmar Lassander), who has come to apply for the job "vacated" by one of the models who has mysteriously disappeared. Harrington is impressed by her intelligence and beauty, so he hires her on the spot.