- Beth is a young woman who must struggle with being shunned by society for her past legacy, as well as developing a romance with a local fisherman, and then seeks protection by hiding out with a simple-minded hunchback.
- Back in the late 1800's, in a small fishing town on the Atlantic Coast, the people live as their ancestors did centuries before. A beautiful young woman who is known to have partaken in several orgies with various men of the town is burned as a witch shortly after the birth of her illegitimate daughter.
The woman's sister, Mary (Maggie Rogers), takes the child Beth, and brings her up very strictly. When Beth becomes a woman (Beth Porter) she is even more beautiful than her mother was. But all the people in town also consider her a witch and look at her with scorn. There are a few exceptions. First and foremost is Stephen (Robert Burgos), who is in love with Beth as she is with him. Second is Bella (Bryarly Lee), also a beautiful woman, who is really jealous of Beth because of Steven, but who hides her true feelings so Beth will confide in her about Steven. Third is the deaf and dumb hunchback called "The Dumb One" (Lee Forbes) who everyone in town ridicules, except Beth, who treats him kindly. Sometimes the men of the town beat The Dumb One for fun.
Beth and Stephen are having an affair. They want to marry but are afraid his mother (Esther Travers) will never consent because of Beth's background. Beth tells Bella about the affair and one night Bella secretly watches Beth and Stephen make love.
Stephen has to go to sea for a long hitch. Beth discovers she is pregnant but doesn't tell him. She is distraught and confides in Bella. Bella deliberately lets the secret out about the pregnancy which results in Mary viciously beating Beth and then throws her out of the house. The Dumb One takes Beth in. He delivers the baby but it is still-born. There is an accident at sea. Steven is brought back dead. Beth is completely broken up.
Meanwhile, Bella has been having affairs with many of the men in town. She agrees to have an orgy with three of them if they promise to rape Beth later. They gladly agree. Then Bella tells the townspeople that Beth is having orgies with The Dumb One and the three men. The women turn on Beth, beat her up and tie her in a sack. The Dumb One lets her out and takes her place. As the mob beats the Dumb One to death on the beach, Beth escapes from town for places unknown.
In the final scene, Marry confides to Bella that Bella and Beth were unidentical twins, but that she hid Bella because she felt only Beth had inherited the legacy curse from Mary's sister. Bella makes a wicked-looking smile and knows the small town is still not rid of the naked witch... meaning herself.
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