Gang of Roses

The film starts off with Left Eye Watkins (Bobby Brown) and his gang attempting to bully Sheriff Shoeshine Michel (Louis Mandylor) into giving them the chest of gold and unlimited access to women. They take deputy badges so they won't be seen as law breakers. A female member of the gang, Lil' Susie (Charity Hill), is extremely enthusiastic about the women and sets out to rape a can-can girl in the middle of town. While resisting, the can-can cuts Lil' Susie under her left eye. Angry, Lil' Susie shoots her dead in the middle of the road.

The can-can girl happens to be Sally (Licia Shearer), the sister of Rachel (Monica Calhoun), a reformed bad girl. Rachel, who has a newfound faith in God, receives a visit from Jake, who has brought her sister's body to her for burial. He proceeds to tell Rachel, who is mourning, that her sister put up a fight and cut her killer on her face. At Sally's burial, Rachel vows revenge and asks the Lord for forgiveness. Pulling out her old gang attire, Rachel sets out on her quest to gather her posse and accomplish her mission for vengeance. She heads toward Flatridge. En route, she rounds up her former gang members: Chastity (Lil' Kim), who is asleep while her lover, Johnny Handsome (Glenn Plummer), robs her. She catches him before he can make his escape, and he points her gun at her. He calls for back up, and Lou enters, pointing his gun at Chastity. She kills them both; Maria (LisaRaye), who is known for carrying knives and loving money and gold, is challenged to a knife fight by a man who claims to be the fastest knife thrower. Maria tells him to count out, and as he does, promptly on three, Maria swiftly hurls her freshly sharpened knife, impaling the challenger in his right shoulder; Zang Li (Marie Matiko), a bounty hunter, walks into a saloon, surveying the scene. She spots her target and heads over to his table. She addresses him in Chinese, and the wanted man and his comrades scoff at her. He reminds her that she is outnumbered. Zang shoots and kills them. Back in Flatridge, a mysterious person enters the room Chastity was in, removing their hat, and long black hair spills down from under it, revealing the mysterious person to be a woman. Dubbed the "Black Haired Woman," she (Macy Gray) observes the two corpses lying on the floor, and she picks up Chastity's pistol.

The Gang is back at Rachel's house, and the four discuss Rachel's departure from the gang, which Maria harbors a bit of resentment towards her for leaving. Rachel explains why she left, and informs them of her sister's murder, and discusses a plan of attack. Maria and Zang, looking for gold, jewelry, and a bounty, turn to Chastity, who informs the gang about a rumor of a chest of gold buried somewhere in Flatridge. She tells them that no-one knows where it's buried. Rachel becomes disenchanted and leaves the table. She heads outside, preparing herself to leave and finish the mission on her own, but Chastity talks her out of it. Maria and Zang come outside and decide to join the fight. The four leave to pick up their last member, Kim (Stacey Dash). With a noose around her neck, Kim stands on the gallows as the judge sentences her to death by hanging. When asked if she has any last words, Kim hurls a string of obscenities and spits in his direction as the judge orders her gagged. The floor drops from beneath her, and she begins to asphyxiate, but a gun shot rings out, severing the noose. Jessie Lee (Mario Van Peebles) wishes the girls luck and gallops off. The gang shoots their way free and flee. Once at their camp, Kim angrily declares that she is going back to get her revenge, but Zang stops her. In Flatridge, Left Eye and his gang become grave diggers, pulling up old coffins to locate the chest, due to the sheriff telling them the chest of gold is buried in one of them. They find nothing.

The Gang are camped out in front of a fire, recounting Kim's rescue. Rachel goes to study her Bible under a tree, while Kim and Chastity engage in a fake gun fight, both declaring they were the fastest on the draw. In the morning, they ride out to Flatridge. Reaching the town, the Gang observe the stares they receive from the townspeople. They come looking for Left Eye, who wears a patch over one eye. The Gang wonders if he's got a good left eye or a good right eye. They enter the saloon, noting that all the men are wearing eye patches, either over their left or right eye. While at the bar, Chastity meets Babyface Malone (Jean-Claude La Marre), and the two have a flirty conversation. The Gang, not seeing Left Eye, soon leaves the saloon, Kim reluctant. The next morning sees Left Eye and his gang digging up more graves, while the Gang spies on them. Left Eye's bandits finds a map. The Gang, preparing to leave for Flatridge, discover Chastity is missing. Unbeknownst to them, Chastity stayed back in Flatridge, having met up with Malone. She warns him that she's not very good with break-ups. Malone gives her a gold necklace, and the two have sex.

Back at the sheriff's office, Left Eye and his bandits are upset, because there was no chest of gold, but a map, and it is only half of the map, and declares the sheriff either knows where it is or knows the person who knows where the other half is. He denies this, and Left Eye, enraged, pulls out his pistol and shoots off the sheriff's right index finger, while the goons hold him down. After they leave, Lil Susie punches the sheriff, knocking him unconscious. Rachel, heading toward the sheriff's office, observes Lil Susie walking out, and the two face each other, with Rachel noticing the scar under Lil Susie's left eye. Lil Susie, disgusted at Rachel's stare, asks if there's a problem. Rachel says no, and Lil Susie walks past, chest bumping Rachel. When Rachel steps into the office, she notices the sheriff unconscious, and while standing at his desk, she hears a noise and pulls her gun out, realizing it's Zang. At the Inn, the Gang is in their room, discussing why Left Eye is targeting the sheriff. They conclude that he's somehow involved. Kim is anxious to go on a shooting spree, and Maria asks for more time to find the map. Rachel sides with Maria.

The next day, the Gang enters the saloon, and Maria observes a game of poker with a considerable amount of money at stake. She immediately walks to the table, sits, and is dealt a hand. Meanwhile, both Zang and Rachel notice that all the men are wearing deputy badges. At the poker table, Maria antes up the stakes, and the challenger follows suit. Maria ups the stakes one more time, and it's time to see their hands. The challenger lays his hand on the table, and reaches to claim the reward. Maria stops him, laying down the winning hand: four of a kind, all queens. The challenger immediately becomes enraged and the three men stand up, pulling their guns. Maria secretly reaches for her knife, but before she can throw it, Kim fires a shot, killing the challenger. An all-out gun fight ensues, leaving the Gang exposed. They kill the men and make their escape. Meanwhile, Left Eye and his main crew have moved on to searching in wells to find either the map or the chest, but are unlucky in finding either one. Suddenly, one of their members appears, breathless, and inform them of their gang being shot to death by a group of women. Left Eye and the others leave immediately. Back at the Inn, the Gang is having a heated discussion about Kim straying from the plan; Maria is upset about losing her winnings, and Chastity is devastated to find out Malone is part of Left Eye's bandits. Unbeknownst to them, Malone and a few other members are creeping up the stairs, preparing to ambush and kill the Gang. Guns drawn, they test the doorknob and find it isn't locked. On Malone's order, they kick in the door, but find the room empty. As the Gang rides out, they unknowingly pass by the Black-Haired Woman, who dismounts and walks into the saloon the girls were at earlier. After downing her drink, she questions the bartender about knowing who Chastity is. He claims he doesn't know, and the Black-Haired Woman offers payment for his information.

At the camp, Rachel and Kim have a heated argument. Kim walks back to her belongings and discovers an item of hers is missing. She hops on her horse and rides back to Flatridge's Inn to retrieve it. She arrives there at dawn, while most of the town is still asleep. She climbs up to the room they stayed in and finds her possession under one of the pillows. As she leaves, Kim catches the voice of the sheriff, who is in the next room with three other women, and learns of his involvement. As she's eavesdropping, she is unaware that she's being watched. Suddenly a shot rings out, and Kim falls beneath the sheriff's window, gravely injured. The sheriff, hearing the shot, grabs his shotgun and heads to the window. As he looks out, he sees Kim, and scans the area for the killer. He sees the Black-Haired Woman, who immediately disappears. Back at the camp, Rachel, who has always had a rule that "nobody gets hurt" when the Gang committed robberies, has a nightmare about the last bank robbery that took an innocent person's life. She suddenly hears a horse galloping and quickly rises to see who it is. Rachel realizes it's Kim, who is slumped on the back of the horse. The Gang pull her off and try to keep her alive. Kim attempts to warn them about the sheriff's involvement, but succumbs to her injuries. The Gang bury her and hold a funeral service, and Rachel sings "Amazing Grace." Chastity questions why Kim went back, and Rachel tells the Gang that Kim lost her mother (who was gang raped and killed) at age 7. The property (a pocket watch) that Kim retrieved was the only thing she had that belonged to her mother. The Gang decide it's time to take their revenge, and they head out toward town.

The Gang reach Flatridge at dawn. After prayer, Rachel, Chastity, and Zang go after Left Eye and his bandits, while Maria goes after the sheriff. She finds him in the stable, packing up his belongings, getting ready to make his escape. Maria threatens to kill him unless he tells her where the other half of the map is. Unbuttoning his shirt, the sheriff reveals the other half of the map, which was drawn on his chest. Maria quickly studies the map, then kills the sheriff. At the Inn, Georgy (Jacinto Riddick), who was asleep, hears the shot and quickly leaps out of his bed and grabs his pistol. He sticks his head out of the window, looking to see if he spots someone, when he hears a click behind him. He slides his head inside and turns around, but before he can shoot, Zang kills him. Chastity and Maria kick in the door to the sheriff's office and kill everybody in the room. A gun fight starts, and Chastity, who is distracted (and distraught) at seeing Malone shoot at her friends, is shot and gravely injured. Malone picks Chastity up and carries her behind a stack of barrels, mourning her as she dies. Maria, passing by, sees Malone next to Chastity's body, and believing he killed her, she shoots him. Malone dies on top of Chastity. Meanwhile, Lil Susie reports to Left Eye that the sheriff is missing. Left Eye gives the order to shoot everyone. Rachel appears behind them and commands them to drop their guns. Lil Susie complies and is taken hostage, but Left Eye keeps his, intending to shoot Rachel. Before he can draw his pistol, Rachel, declaring she knows they killed her sister, shoots and kills Left Eye. She releases Lil Susie, who begs for her life. Rachel shows no mercy and kills her.

At the campsite, the Gang buries Chastity, then heads to the well to dig up the chest of gold. Watching them, the Black-Haired Woman feels vindicated, believing Chastity shot and killed her sister during the last bank robbery. She leaves, never finding out that it was the sheriff who killed her sister. The Gang, having collected the gold, ride off for the next adventure.

• Monica Calhoun as Rachel
• Stacey Dash as Kim
• LisaRaye as Maria
• Marie Matiko as Zang Li
• Lil' Kim as Chastity
• Chrystale Wilson as Charlie
• Bobby Brown as Left Eye Watkins
• Louis Mandylor as Sheriff Shoeshine Michel
• Jacinto Taras Riddick as Georgy Simone
• Charity Hill as Little Suzie
• Glenn Plummer as Johnny Handsome
• Macy Gray as Black Haired Woman
• Mario Van Peebles as Jessie Lee

• Gang of Roses at IMDb
• Gang of Roses at AllMovie
• Gang of Roses at Rotten Tomatoes