When a circus sets up camp outside their small town, Amy and Paula are immediately drawn to its exotic allure. However, this is not your typical spectacle of acrobatics, wild animals and zany circus clowns. The two young women are surprised to find trapeze artists wearing nothing but thongs and tattoos, and an equestrian act with human females as ponies, complete with bridles, harness and tails fixed to rumps that bear the marks from a trainer's whip. Even the clowns have contrived to lose most of their clothing. Had this circus camped inside the town limits, it would have been shut down as an offense to the public morals in their small-minded community. But for the naivePaula and Amy, the unusual circus is a titillating adventure and they hunger to see more. After the main show, Amy and Paula are given a handbill for a special late-night performance that sounds too enticing to ignore: “Explicit and revealing enactments of the most depraved and terrifying human appetites. Witness the truly debauched excesses of famous emperors, kings and queens through history. Also presenting the unexpurgated reenactment of Scenes from the Inquisition.” Though the shocking performances are beyond the girls' wildest imaginings, they tap into secret sexual fantasies they both share. Bondage, whips and riding crops abound, and, as advertized, the reenactments portray the most depraved scenes of female ravagement for gawking eyes to relish. Little do the two realize that the mesmerizing ringmaster has a talent for hypnotism, and before the night is over, they will find themselves performing degrading acts under the man's skillful manipulation. After a long and bewildering night, Amy and Paula awaken in the morning with vague recollections of being dumped in a wagon. Kidnapped and bound, the two jostle about in a circus cart as they are carried off to a new life and the grueling training that life requires.
