Peter Cushing

Daring British WWI fighter pilot James "Biggles" Bigglesworth and 1980s low-level business executive Jim Ferguson discover that they can time travel to each other's eras. They try to stop the Germans from changing the outcome of WWI. One minute the New Yorker advertising expert Jim Ferguson is at a business party -- the next he finds himself way back in 1917 in a plane fight during World War I. Mr. Raymond explains to him that he has a time-twin, to whom he's relocated in space and time whenever one of them is in trouble. So he has to help his twin, biplane pilot Biggles, in his attempt to destroy a German super weapon, that could win their war. Of course it's hard for Jim to explain his sudden disappearances to his fiance, Debbie.

An anthology of four short horror stories revolving around a mysterious antique shop owner and his antique pieces, each of which hides a deadly secret. Anthology film from Amicus adapted from four short stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes strung together about an antique dealer who owns a shop called Temptations Ltd. and the fate that befalls his customers who try to cheat him. Stories include "The Gate Crasher" with David Warner who frees an evil entity from an antique mirror, "An Act of Kindness" featuring Donald Pleasence, "The Elemental", and "The Door".

NOTE: Sequel to "Scars of Dracula" (1970). Hyde Park, London, 1872: A coach is seen on a road in the woods of Hyde Park. It is the 'final' confrontation of Professor Lawrence Van Helsing [Peter Cushing] and his arch enemy, the demon vampire Dracula [Christopher Lee], struggling on top while the frightened horses pull the driverless vehicle at high speed. The band around a leather strap securing the horses gives out, causing them to separate from the vehicle, and as Dracula hurls Van Helsing from the coach it crashes into a tree. A stranger (Christopher Neame) on horseback some distance away is catching up to the coach. An injured Van Helsing struggles to his feet. Dracula has been impaled on the exposed spoke of a wheel, but when their eyes meet he still lunges forward to continue the fight. Van Helsing pins Dracula to the ground until the makeshift stake destroys him and he turns to dust. Having completed his task, Van Helsing dies as the stranger arrives, approaches the pile of dust and gathers some in a vial, placing Draculas ring on his own finger. At the funeral for Van Helsing in the graveyard of St. Bartolph's Church, he digs a hole near the gravesite into which he pours some of the dust and uses the wheel spoke to seal it in. The time shifts to early on a Friday night in September 1972, a century later. Teenagers have crashed a party. Jessica Van Helsing (Stephanie Beacham) dances with her boyfriend Bob Tarrant (Philip Miller), while their friends Johnny Alucard (Christopher Neame), Laura Bellows (Caroline Munro), Joe Mitchum (William Ellis), Greg Puller (Michael Kitchen), Anna Bryant (Janet Key) and Gaynor Keating (Marsha Hunt) also enjoy the music of the band (Stoneground) they came to hear. Another teen is painting a group scene on a mirror, and two others make out beneath the buffet table as the homeowners, Charles (Michael Daly)--who is the honoree--and their staid guests look on. Charles tells his mother (Lally Bowers) that he invited only the band to his party and does not know anybody else there. Joe is mildly rude to her, she urges Charles to take action, and he calls the police. The group make bets as to how long it will take the police to arrive, planning to be gone one minute before then. Johnnythe descendent of the stranger from the pastguesses eight minutes because of heavy traffic, but Joe is sure they will arrive in four minutes. The sirens come at four and a half minutes, and the teens file out. Johnny picks up a prized figurine and teases the mother by passing it hand to hand before breaking it and making his exit. The teens under the table are the only ones discovered by the cops. The group gathers at the Cavern coffee bar, where Johnny suggests they try a black mass. He has the perfect location, as St. Bartolph's Church nearby is condemned, and that evening is an insignificant date on the satanic calendar. Jessica is leery, but the others encourage her to join them. At his apartment later, Johnny looks at his inherited ring and vial with the remaining vampire dust inside. Bob uses a carwash before he drives Jessica home, assuring her that they will probably wind up partying instead of trying to raise up Beelzebub. He asks if her grandfather, as an authority on demonology, could help, but she says he is an anthropologist and dismisses the notion. He kisses her and says he will pick her up for the midnight gathering. She enters the house and finds the housekeeper Mrs. Donnelly (Constance Luttrell) is away. She goes to the home library, pulls a book about black masses and sits to read it until her grandfather Lorrimer Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) appears. He asks why she is casually reading a serious scientific work. She dismisses the concept of black magic. He asks if she wants to go out to dinner with him, but she wants to go with her group instead, and she candidly assures him before she leaves that she is only indulging in being with people her own age and has dabbled in beer, but is not into drugs or sex. Putting the book away, Lorrimer looks at an image of Dracula displayed on the wall. Late that evening, Bob pulls up at the fenced-in church and finds a loosened plank for them to enter the churchyard. He comes upon the grave of Lawrence Van Helsing. He thinks somebody has played a prank, but Jessica says it is indeed the grave of her great grandfather. Its inscription "Requiescat in Pace Ultima" (rest in final peace) puzzles her. She also sees that the date is exactly one hundred years to the day after his death. Joe then jumps from behind a headstone in a mask and scares Jessica. Bob is furious, but Jessica assures him she is not deterred. They enter the church to find the group decked out in shrouds Johnny has provided, and Jessica and Bob join them. Joe activates a reel tape recorder which plays a soundtrack of eerie noises and drums, while they all sit at the edges of a satanic circle on the floor and sway to the music (and to any drugs they have taken) as the aura around them takes hold. Johnny encourages them from the altar, reciting summonses to satanic entities as the tape plays out of its reel but the noises continue. Johnny mentions Dracula, and the ground around the spoke in the graveyard moves. He then calls Jessica to help him perform a baptism of blood ceremony, but she refuses. Laura excitedly volunteers. Johnny carries her to the altar and sets a chalice on her chest, pours the remaining ashes from the vial into it and slices his wrist, adding his own blood to reconstitute it. The concoction liquefies, swells and overflows the chalice. Laura screams and jumps off the altar covered in blood, but then finds she is unable to move from the circle. The others flee. Jessica wants to help Laura, but Bob pulls her to the car and they leave. Johnny proceeds to the graveyard and withdraws the spoke, a heavy mist pours out and swirls into a pillar to reshape into the revived Dracula. Johnny says he summoned Dracula, who replies it was his will as he raises his hand to show his reclaimed ring. He enters the church and bites Laura, draining her blood and claiming her as his first victim. As Bob drops Jessica at home, he rejects what they saw, saying they will all surely meet at the Cavern as usual. The group, minus Laura and Johnny, convene at the coffee bar, saying that the event could not have been real. Johnny arrives with the clothes they left behind and tells them he took Laura to the train to see her parents in Ramsgate. Gaynor says they live in Watford, but Johnny insists he is right. He uses a fake blood capsule in a water carafe to show that the ceremony was, in his words, hokum, and says Laura was in on the stunt. When the others leave, he offers Jessica a ticket to a must-see concert, but she refuses and goes away with Bob, so he invites Gaynor instead and takes her back to his place. Several young boys are playing with a ball and kick it by accident into the churchyard. They find the loose plank, enter to find the ball and come upon the mutilated body of Laura in a pile of debris. The police surgeon (Artro Morris), the detective sergeant (David Andrews) and Inspector Murray (Michael Coles) of Scotland Yard confer at the crime scene. The surgeon notes that the body was drained of blood. Jessica tells Bob she is sure Johnny is lying about where Laura went, but Bob urges her to forget it. Murray and the sergeant have identified Laura from arrest record fingerprints, and discuss the dark implications of the case. As they check her file, they see Jessica among the list of her friends. They remember that her grandfather worked with them on a blackmail case with elements of witchcraft, and decide to enlist his help again while trying to find out how Jessica might be involved. They visit Van Helsing at home and discuss vampires, the occult and supernatural phenomena when they bring up the fact that Jessica is slightly linked to the case. Outside Bob is dropping Jessica off and they see the police vehicle. Jessica tries to slip past, but Lorrimer calls her into the study to talk to the police. Though she tries to be flippant and evasive, once she learns that Laura is dead, she breaks down and admits that she and her group were at the church, details what happened, and says that the group is with Joe Mitchum. Murray tells Lorrimer she is involved but he is not sure she is implicated. Outside, he tells the sergeant to accompany him to visit Joe, where there will likely be drugs and, therefore, an opportunity to detain and talk to the others in the group. After they leave, Lorrimer finds Jessica with the phone to warn Joe about the pending police visit, and he dissuades her. He learns that Johnny Alucard, whose name was not on the police list, mysteriously insinuated himself into her group and took leadership. At his apartment, Johnny offers Gaynor a smoke and puts on a record; later they kiss and she soon falls into a stupor. He helps her into his car and drives back to the church to bring her to Dracula. In his study. Lorrimer writes the name Alucard on a piece of paper, reveals it is Dracula backwards, and concludes Johnny is a disciple. The count drains Gaynor of her blood, but he wants Johnny to bring him Jessica. Asleep in bed, Jessica tosses and frets as she has a nightmare in which she seems to witness what happens to Gaynor, and she awakens screaming. Lorrimer helps her settle back to sleep, assuring her the nightmare is over, but she replies that she doubts it. Johnny demands to be granted immortality, and Dracula reminds him that he was chosen to help destroy the Van Helsing family through Jessica. Johnny says vampirism would make it easier to find her and begs to be turned, assuring the count he will get rid of Gaynor afterward. Dracula grips Johnny by the shoulder as he turns his head for the fatal bite. Lorrimer takes out a bible, a silver knife, and a cross which he places around the neck of the sleeping Jessica. Johnny dumps the body of Gaynor out of the car to fall into the river. Later he spots a woman leaving a laundromat and he smiles, revealing fangs, and exits the vehicle. In the morning, Van Helsing goes to Sunday services at a local church and fills a vessel with holy water. Later Murray informs Van Helsing that Gaynor was found dead in Hyde Park. She was not mutilated as significantly as Laura. He also says a woman named Marjorie Baines was discovered. Lorrimer guesses correctly that her body only had two neck punctures, but Murray admits he does not know what he is dealing with. Van Helsing says Dracula had been in London before and could have returned. A phone call comes, informing Murray that the detained group members were bailed out by their parents and accompanying lawyers. Lorrimer says they might be safer in jail, but then assures Murray that he sees a pattern leading back to Johnny, and he can help crack the case, so Murray says he will officially attribute the deaths to a criminally insane killer and asks what to do next. Van Helsing recommends removing the police presence from the church so Dracula can reach his resting place, and to notify him if Johnny is located. Then he mentions possibly making use of the Cavern, but Murray says the police will be shutting the coffee bar down due to suspected drug activity. Bob goes to the Cavern and finds it closed with a police guard in front, so he sneaks in the back entrance to find Johnny, who says he has been waiting for him. Lorrimer walks to St. Bartolph's, finds the loose plank, and leaves. At the house, Mrs. Donnelly finds Bob at the door. He tells Jessica that Johnny has been arrested at the Cavern and the police want her to come join the others to add her statement. She goes with him through the back entrance of the bar to find nobody there until Johnny comes out of hiding. She sees that he is a vampire, then turns to Bob to find he is undead as well. Johnny removes her cross, burning his hand, and Bob is prepared to bite her, but Johnny says the Master wants her, and Jessica faints. When Lorrimer calls in to Mrs. Donnelly, she informs him that Jessica has gone to the Cavern. In a panic, Lorrimer runs there and finds the cross on the floor. He rushes out and nearly collides with Anna in her car. She called his home, spoke to Mrs. Donnelly and wants to help, being the only one in the group alive who has visited Johnny at his apartment. Lorrimer asks her for the address. At the apartment Johnny has a coffin in his living room and is packing a bag with candles and a folding knife when Van Helsing arrives. Johnny goads him, asking if he will give the bride, Jessica, away, and they struggle as the sun begins to rise. Van Helsing wraps the cross around the bible and tosses it into the coffin. Johnny retrieves the knife and slashes Lorrimer in the arm, but a shaft of sunlight reflected in a mirror hits him and he shrinks back, so Lorrimer uses the mirror to repel Johnny. Backing upstairs into his bathroom, Johnny accidentally releases the skylight window shade, flooding the room with sunlight. He falls into the bathtub and grabs the faucet lever, turning it on, and the running water paralyses him. Lorrimer tries to get him to talk, but as Johnny succumbs he says Lorrimer will never find Jessica. Murray and the sergeant arrive. Lorrimer says Dracula has Jessica and asks for one hour at the church as the sun sets with no police, and Murray agrees. The sergeant recommends Lorrimer visit the hospital for his bleeding arm, and Murray says they will follow other leads and visit the church later. A weak and bandaged Lorrimer returns to St. Bartolph's to find Bob has been destroyed by sunlight in the churchyard. Jessica is on the altar inside the church. She is in a trance and will not awaken until Dracula summons her. Lorrimer whispers to her and returns the cross to her neck, hiding it in her bodice, promising he will not be away for long. In the churchyard he digs an immense hole and fills it with handmade upright stakes resembling crosses, covering the trap with grasses. At dusk, Dracula appears and awakens Jessica. When she sits up, the cross appears, and the count cautiously removes it, causing his hand to smolder. Before he can bite Jessica, Van Helsing appears, urging him to remember the past encounter. Recognizing his enemy, Dracula challenges Van Helsing, pursues him upstairs and corners him, but Lorrimer produces the silver knife and stabs him in the heart. The count tumbles over the ledge to the floor below and hypnotically summons Jessica to his side for help. Though Lorrimer yells to Jessica to stop, by the time he reaches the ground floor she has removed the knife and the chase resumes. Lorrimer runs outside, stumbling at the trap, and some of the covering gives way. As Dracula reaches its edge and spots the trap, Lorrimer produces the vial of holy water and, with a quick blessing, flings the water at him, which burns the vampire like acid. Dracula loses his balance, slips on the ledge and falls, landing full body onto the stakes. He lunges back at Van Helsing but is pinned prone and helpless. Lorrimer picks up the shovel and pushes down on the vampire. The stakes impale him through the back and seal his doom as Jessica screams under his fading thrall. Lorrimer watches as the body disintegrates into dust, and Jessica rushes into his arms in time to witness the phenomenon. Lorrimer puts his coat around her shoulders, she sees Bob lying dead nearby and nearly collapses, but Van Helsing assures her gently, "Requiescat in pace ultima," as she sobs in his comforting arms and they turn for home. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.]

Baron Frankenstein, with the aid of a young doctor and his fiancée, kidnaps the mentally sick Dr. Brandt in order to perform the first brain transplant operation. Baron Frankenstein travels to a new town to meet Dr. Brandt with whom his has been corresponding and with whom he had hoped to collaborate. He arrives however to learn that Brandt is in a mental institution, having lost his mind completely. He takes a room in a boarding house run by the pretty young Anna who just happens to be engaged to Karl, a doctor who works at the asylum where Dr. Brandt is being kept. When Frankenstein learns that Karl has been stealing drugs, he blackmails him and Anna to work as his assistants. He is desperate to learn a secret that Brandt was going to share with him and kidnaps him with the intent of extracting that secret by transplanting his brain into another body. —garykmcd Baron Frankenstein is once again working with illegal medical experiments - brain transplants to keep the most brilliant minds working in new bodies. He has just finished decapitating a physician for his work when a burglar, fleeing a patrolling officer, accidentally lets himself into the baron's lab. The robber is horrified to see the head and flees to tell the police. Frankenstein knows this location is no longer viable and changes to a new city. He forces a young doctor, Karl, and his fiancee Anna to assist him after he catches Karl smuggling drugs from the mental institution where he works for Anna's ailing mother. First, the baron wishes to rescue his fellow researcher, Dr. Brant, who is a patient at the mental institution. He is desperate to learn Brant's secret about preserving brains. Brant is nabbed but is in bad physical shape having suffered a heart attack. He needs a new body immediately. So, the baron eliminates the asylum director, Professor Richter, whose body he can utilize. A nosy police inspector starts to put clues together about missing medical equipment and people who have vanished. His officers nearly stumble on Frankenstein's lab but miss it. When Brant awakes by himself in his new body, he is not thrilled. Neither is his wife when he calls on her. She had already seen his original body in a hidden grave. —Garon Smith

London Inspector Quennell [Peter Cushing] is investigating the deaths of several men found on the heaths. The only witness is said to be insane, raving about a huge creature with wings and horrible eyes, and all of the bodies have been drained of blood and badly scratched. Quennell wonders if the attacker might have been a large eagle and seeks out information from his old friend, Professor Karl Mallinger [Robert Flemyng], an entomologist at the university. Mallinger doubts that an eagle could be responsible for the deaths. What he fails to tell Quennell is that his experiments have transformed his daughter Clare [Wanda Ventham] into a giant, blood-sucking, death's-head moth. When the moth attacks Frederick Britewell [William Wilde], a naturalist just returned from Africa with numerous specimens of moths he has collected for Dr Mallinger, Quennell stumbles upon Britewell's dying body just in time to hear him mysteriously whisper "death's-head." Quennell also finds some peculiar scales around the body in the bushes. Dr Mallinger, who denies ever seeing Britewell before, agrees to try and identify the scales. Quennell returns home to pick up his daugher Meg [Vanessa Howard]. Upon their return, Quennell learns that Britewell was a guest of Dr Mallinger's. His suspicions arisen, Quennell rushes to Mallinger's house only to find the butler dead, several of the mysterious scales lying around, and the house closed up and vacated. After interviewing the maids, who tell him of Mallinger's sudden departure, Quennell learns that Mallinger has moved to the country and he and his daughter follow, taking rooms at a local inn. There, he meets Mr Warrender [John Paul] and his bug-collecting son William [David Griffin], both on a fishing holiday. Meg and William take a liking to each other, and Meg accompanies William on his bug-collecting trips, one of which takes him to the old Miles house, where Mallinger and his daughter have taken up residence and Mallinger is continuing his efforts to create another big death's-head moth as a mate for Clare. Unfortunately, galvanism hasn't worked to awaken the moth, so they hypnotize Meg and transfuse some of her blood into it. On one of his bug-collecting trips, William captures what he thinks is a death's-head moth. When Quennell hears the word "death's-head", he makes the connection to Britewell's dying words. When Warrender and William dredge up the body of Clem Withers [Simon Cain], the gardener at the old Miles house, Quennell puts two and two together. In the meantime, Mallinger has suddenly realized the evilness of his creations and destroyed the male moth. Enraged, Clare turns into mothform and kills her father. William takes his moth to get a confirmed identification from Mallinger, but he is attacked by Clare. Quennell builds a bonfire. Clare flies into it and is burned to a crisp. [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl.]

A carnival sideshow, Dr. Diablo's Torture Garden, pulls people in for the admission price of 2'6. The barker cries, "All in fun; no harm done". A group of five people are drawn in and fill beneath a chandelier with purple cloth festoons and shown the usual array of waxwork horrors - a prisoner in a spiked cage, a condemned person getting her head chopped off by an executioner, two styles of torture racks. Dr. Diablo tells his audience, "There is no end to man's humanity to man. Now I am going to show you death. Thousands of volts will sear every nerve in his body." The grand finale is an alleged murderer executed via the electric chair. Dr. Diablo indicates this is the conclusion of the regular sideshow but continues with an offer to see some real Torture Garden horrors. It will cost an additional 5 pounds. All five customers opt to continue. They are taken to a chamber occupied a figure of Atropos, the Greek goddess of fate and destiny. She holds in one hand strands of the Skein of Life. Each colored thread is a human life. In the other hand are the Shears of Fate. Atropos has the ability to reveal to each of them the ultimate horror that is hidden inside them. The primordial monstrosities that lurk beneath the surface of the mind. Diablo invites his guests to approach and concentrate on the Shears. Tale 1 - Enoch: The first participant to do so is Colin Williams. He has come to visit his dying Uncle Roger, already anticipating his inheritance to cover a few thousand pounds of financial obligations. He is met at the door by the somber nurse Nora Tucker. She indicates that his uncle advised her of his expected arrival but cautions him that Roger's heart is very weak. If there is trouble, he is to contact Dr. Silversmith. She then climbs on her bicycle and rides off. Colin greets his uncle who remarks that it has been three years since his last visit. He predicts that his time is short and that Colin is his only living relative. Colin admits to currently being in a fix financially. Roger scolds that he was not invited to visit about money. He admonishes him to mend his ways, find a job. A life based on these principles is the greatest legacy that he can leave with him. Colin assures him that he has learned his lessons. He has a job promised to him as soon as he clears up a few thousand pounds of obligations. Roger tells him that's out of the question. Colin queries him about his fortune. He reminds Roger that he has been on his own for 30 years without any visible source of income. He asks how he pays his bills. Roger replies that it's none of his business. Colin reveals that he has asked about Roger in the village. They told him that payment is always in cash - gold coins to be exact. He reminds Roger that the cottage was derelict until he renovated it. Did it belong to a witch? Roger says it belonged to a harmless, old, eccentric woman. Colin asks if she was a miser with a hidden hoard of gold that you discovered. He wants to know where the money is hidden. He begins to choke his uncle to underscore his desperation. Uncle Roger starts coughing, having trouble catching his breath. He requests Colin bring his medicine quickly. Colin grabs it off the mantle but withholds it, just out of grasp. "Tell me where the gold coins are," he repeats. When his uncle reaches for the glass, Colin rudely pushes the wheelchair away with his foot. Roger tries in vain to stand. The medicine glass is knocked away. Roger falls and quits breathing. Colin is upset that he can no longer force his uncle to reveal the coin's location. He calls the doctor who pronounces him dead. The body is removed in a coffin. Dr. Silversmith queries Colin as to the time-line of his uncle's death. He politely asks if Colin will mind spending the night alone in his uncle's cottage. Colin begins searching everywhere. (The camera angle reveals a trap door hidden by the bed.) He spots the trap door when he pulls up the mattress on the bed. Upon opening it, he sees a steep stairway with cobwebs hanging from the floor beams. At the bottom of it is a dirt floor with a shovel nearby. He immediately sets to digging, eventually unearthing a wooden box. Colin pries the box open with the shovel. A cat scurries out. Still remaining in the box is a skeleton with a smoldering spot at the top of the spine where there is no skull. Colin reburies the box. The cat sits atop the mantle as Colin tries to sleep on the couch. It hops to the wheelchair and stares at Colin who says, "Yes, I can hear you. Your name is Balthazar." The cat answers in Colin's mind, "You've come to stay with me, to serve me as did your uncle. I will reward you for things you must do for me. Your uncle grew ungrateful, buried me away in darkness. Now I'm free and I'm hungry." The outside door opens and the cat exits. Colin follows him and finds a man sleeping in the hay of the barn. Balthazar tells him to use the handy pitchfork on the man. Colin protests briefly, but complies. Colin awakes in the morning and examines the trap door again. He goes down the stairs on the cat's prompting and digs up a small chest of gold coins. He has some dreadful thoughts about being led to the coins. He rushes to the barn and finds the bloody remains of the tramp whose head is missing. He returns to bury the chest in guilt. The cat drops some coins on the stair as his reward. Next, the cat tells Colin he must kill nurse Tucker when she returns. Colin refuses at first but then says he'll do it. She comes in, alarmed at finding the body in the barn. He approaches her with the shovel. Colin is outside getting ready to load a chest bearing both the tramp's and the nurse's headless bodies. The constable arrives to ask about a tramp that was reported in the area. Colin disavows any knowledge of it. Unfortunately, the constable notices blood leaking from the trunk. The doctor visits Colin in his jail cell to ask why the two murders. Colin responds with, "Balthazar. He's inside my head. I've got to obey him or he starts scratching and clawing. Both bodies in the trunk have no heads. It's what he feeds on when hungry. Don't leave me. He'll come back!" The doctor leaves and Colin spots the cat up on the cell's window sill. He calls the guard for help. The guard finds nothing there and leaves. Shortly, a scream is heard. Colin's headless body is in the cell with the cat at the door. The Shears snip as Colin returns from his trance. He is surprised that so much time passed during his vision. Dr. Diablo delivers a theory that the past, the present, and the future are all but different aspects of the same memory. Tale 2 - Terror over Hollywood: Aspiring actress Carla Hayes shares an apartment with her friend Millie. Millie is getting ready for an important date with Mike Charles, a producer with connections into Hollywood's A-listers. Carla, being self-motivated, offers to iron Millie's dress while she showers. While Millie is in the shower, she intentionally leaves the iron sitting on Millie's fancy dress, ruining it. Millie is crestfallen when she discovers the "accident". She moans that she went without lunches for a month to buy the ruined dress. Carla conveniently offers to greet Mike and relay the news that she has the flu. Thus, she has maneuvers herself into going out for a fancy dinner. At the restaurant, she notices leading man Bruce Benton sitting at a table with producer Eddie Storm. Bruce quietly hopes that Mike has not seen him - no such luck. Mike approaches Bruce to see if he has any positive news on his proposal. The answer is no. Eddie takes Mike off to discuss the issue while Bruce orders a drink for Carla who has seated herself at the table. Carla expresses how big a fan she is of Bruce's work, gushing forth about several titles. In response to her enthusiasm, he offers her a second-lead role as a sister in his current production. Meanwhile, Mike is getting as drunk as he is angry. He swears to get even with the "finks". Carla mentions that the Top 10 stars never seem to age. She also notes that he is not eating his dinner as she works through her own. He makes a light-hearted excuse. The bartender tells Eddie that Mike is threatening to reveal their secret. Eddie has the bartender drive Mike home, use some knock-out drops, and leave him unconscious in the car as it idles in a closed garage. The next morning, Millie reads Carla a news article about Mike's death from carbon monoxide poisoning. Carla tells Millie about her potential movie role. When Carla meets up with Bruce the next time, he says he has had an extra scene written for her. Carla presents him with a fancy watch. He insists she can't afford presents like this. At the end of the day's shooting, Carla exclaims, "I'm beat. Where do you get all your energy?" She hopes he will take her to dinner, but he begs off. Carla is trying on a hat as Eddie Storm comes in to tell her that Bruce is not right for her. She goes with Bruce where two of the worst hoodlums in town accost them. She watches as Bruce takes a bullet in the forehead and falls to the ground. Eddie reassures her that he will be okay. At the Sunset Rest Sanatorium, Doc Heim emerges from the operating room and confirms that Bruce is doing fine. Carla is positive that she saw him dead. She tells Eddie that she needs to talk to him. When she queries him for the truth, he indicates that Bruce had some gambling debts that got him in trouble. The person she saw shot dead was a double. Carla counters this explanation with some information she has dug up on her own from the newspaper morgue. She read clippings about Eddie's terrible boating accident in 1944 at Newport Beach in which his skull and chest were crushed. He answers that he was rushed to the clinic where Dr. Heim saved him. Carla tells him she is seeing Bruce tonight. Later, Bruce calls the studio gate and request that Dr. Heim be sent to Stage G when he arrives. On set, she sees he is wearing the watch that was supposedly on the double that was shot. In shock, she grabs Bruce's face affectionately to declare she is in love with him. Bruce pulls back. Some of his facial skin has pulled off revealing an underlying layer of metal. Suddenly, Carla understands. The Top 10 immortals of the screen never age. Their brains have been encased in synthetic bodies. They are cyborgs! Bruce indicates that he lives on applause and fame. He also confides in her that Mike wanted to be one of us, but he lost his temper and threatened to reveal their secret, so he was eliminated. Bruce then indicates that Carla could be one of them, a member of the Top 10. He asks Dr. Heim how soon could he operate. Carla is seen at an event with a crowd of fans pushing and shoving to see her, a major star, up close. One of the fans remarks that Carla is a living doll. Carla's trance is broken and Dr. Diablo chortles that this is a warning to can-be's. Tale 3 - Mr. Steinway: As Dorothy Endicott focuses on the shears, she begins to hear Beethoven's Für Elise being played. She is at the door of Leo Winston's apartment. When she rings the bell, the door is answered by Maxine Chambers, his manager. Maxine insists that Leo must rehearse today and won't have much time to spare for the interview she has planned. Dorothy enters the room where Leo is practicing. She gushes over his playing. Interpreting her reactions as a deep love for music, he suggests that she had better meet Euterpe, his piano that was named for the Greek muse of music. He adds that the piano was a gift from his mother. Leo sits down and begins to play Schumann's Traumerei for her. He invites her to have dinner with him. At dinner, he confesses that he is attracted to her. His piano, however, has picked up on this and is jealous, making him commit too many mistakes while he is playing. Manager Maxine tells Dorothy that she needs to stop pursuing a relationship with Leo, that it will ruin his career. Leo, however, claims, "I love her and she loves me. For the first time in my life, I am truly happy." Later, Leo, struggling with the piano, slumps over the keyboard. Dorothy, who has been listening at the door, enters. She presents him with a framed photo of herself. Leo tells her they have been invited to an 8 o'clock party. Dorothy sits at the piano and puts her hands on the keys. The piano slams the cover down in an attempt to injure her. She suggests they have a drink to relax. Dorothy asks Leo, acting like he is in a trance, what is wrong. When he says nothing is the matter, she presses for the truth. He reluctantly announces that Euterpe resents her. "She is trying to protect me from you interference." The piano has smashed the framed photo of Dorothy on the floor. She tells Leo he needs to cancel his upcoming tour. Maxine rebuts with, "You're smothering him." She accuses her of just wanting to be the wife of a famous pianist. The next time Dorothy arrives at the apartment, she hears music coming from the piano. Leo opens the door. Dorothy realizes he could not move that fast from the piano to the door. When she says she heard music, Leo replies that he was not play, that it was Euterpe herself. Dorothy is getting panicky. She insists that Euterpe is just a piano, not something with a life of its own. She entreats Leo to go away together with her to clear his mind. He says he asked Maxine to cancel his tour. They agree that they will leave tonight and kiss. Dorothy leaves to pack. Upon Dorothy's return, Euterpe starts playing Chopin's Funeral March. When she tries to exit the studio, the piano chases her. As she stands in front of the window, the piano charges, pushing her out. She falls to the sidewalk far below. Euterpe is now playing a sweet melody. Dorothy's trance ends. Tale 4 - The Man Who Collected Poe: Pipe smoking Ronald Wyatt enters his trance at an exhibit of rare books. What he is most interested in are early American editions of works by Edgar Allen Poe. They are from the collection of Lancelot Canning, Esq. One of the volumes is a first edition for which only six copies are known to exist. Wyatt is introduced to Canning and asks if it is for sale, indicating that he would be willing to pay a handsome price. The answer is no. Canning gives Wyatt a card with an invitation to visit him when back in the U.S. Wyatt does just that, coming to see Canning's collection at his museum-like home in Maryland. He is shown, for example, the cravat that Poe wore for his last lecture and his flute in a glass bell jar. He offers Wyatt a drink as he tells of his grandfather and father before him being avid Poe fans. He mentions that collecting can become a mania. Wyatt encourages Canning to drink more so that he might take advantage of him. Canning invites Wyatt to see the collectibles in his basement, mentioning that what he is about to see must remain a secret. He indicates no one has been down there since his father died. With lighted candles, the two start down. Wyatt is astonished to find unpublished Poe manuscripts! He begs Canning to part with one for his collection. The answer is again, "No." Wyatt spots a decorative box. As he tries to open it, Canning stops him, promising to tell him about it when they return upstairs. Wyatt holds one of the unpublished works to the light and is mystified to find it written on watermarked paper that is dated 1966. He insists Canning explain how that can be, vowing to break his promise of silence if he is not told. Canning opens the box saying it held Poe's ashes. The box, however, is empty. Canning continues by saying that his grandfather was an occultist who reanimated the dust. Thus, Poe is still alive. Canning suggests they go back upstairs, but Wyatt wants to know what another key opens. He snatches the key and heads for a door. Canning interferes, but Wyatt clobbers him with a candlestick. When Wyatt opens the door, he finds a chamber with a pentagram on the floor with a goat's head design in the middle. As he enters, the door closes on its own behind him. There, in a chair, is the figure of Edgar Allen Poe, himself. Poe says, "Want to help me release my new works? I made a deal with the Devil. I can only be released by replacing me with another living soul. Another way is by subjecting the other soul to fire. You must tell me about the unknown beyond death. You are trapped. You'll be the best subject for my last Poe story." Wyatt wakes from his trance. "Who are you?" he asks. Dr. Diablo says that he simply provides excursions into the mind. Gordon Roberts, the fifth member of the spectator party, accuses Dr. Diablo of being demented. He grabs the Shears of Fate and stabs Dr. Diablo in the chest. The others rush away in horror. When they are gone, Gordon and Dr. Diablo start chuckling, congratulating each other on their performance. It was all a ruse to get the others to leave quickly. But Wyatt has stayed hidden just around the corner. He reappears and also commends their performance. He asks Dr. Diabolo if he wants to make a deal between the two of them. It seems like the right time. Before leaving, he reaches forward to light a cigarette for the doctor using the same lighter he borrowed in his vision. Dr. Diablo, whose back has been turned, faces the camera. He has horns sprouting from his forehead, revealing himself to indeed be Satan.

A collector comes into possession of the skull of the Marquis de Sade and learns it is possessed by an evil spirit. A collector of esoterica, Dr. Maitland, buys an unusual skull from his ordinary source of artifacts. The skull is what remains of marquis De Sade. Much too soon he discovers how the skull affects him: by turning him into a frenzied killer.

A man's body has been laid out in a cabin in the woods. While the deceased's relatives go to fetch a priest, a body snatcher steals the body, observed by a young girl who then runs off screaming into the woods where she bumps into Baron Frankenstein [Peter Cushing]. The Baron and the thief take the body to the Baron's laboratory where the Baron cuts out the dead man's heart and places it in a tank of fluid. The priest [James Maxwell] takes the young girl with him to identify the body snatcher and locate the residence of the Baron. The Baron and his assistant Hans [Sandor Elès] start the laboratory equipment which is connected to the heart. As it generates electricity the heart starts to beat. The priest bursts in and starts to destroy the equipment, including the tank with the heart. Frustrated that his work has been destroyed, the Baron relocates with Hans back to the village of Karlstaad and the Baron's castle which has been badly neglected since the last time he was there. The Baron explains to Hans he is researching the life force within people and how he once harnessed the electrical force of a storm to generate enough power to bring a person he had created to life in his laboratory at the castle. In a flashback, the Baron is seen bringing the heavily bandaged creature [Kiwi Kingston] to life. He spends time observing the creature's behaviour in his laboratory; how it reacts to fire and food. One morning when the Baron awakes the creature has escaped. The Baron follows and finds it killing sheep for food. A police officer [Duncan Lamont] and some villagers chase them and shoot the creature as it tries to escape. The baron is arrested and forced to leave. He explains that people destroy what they don't believe and what they are afraid of. The Baron and Hans go into Karlstaad where a carnival in taking place and they are able to move freely wearing masks so the Baron won't be recognised. In a bar the Baron sees the Burgomaster [David Hutcheson] and the police officer who shot the creature, who is now chief of police. The Baron sees the Burgomaster is wearing something of his and starts to make a fuss, but when the police recognise him they leave in a hurry. They escape to a tent where Zoltan [Peter Woodthorpe] the hypnotist is performing his show. He enlists the help of the Baron and Hans as volunteers but the police come in and break up the show claiming Zoltan does not have a licence to perform. The Baron flees and forces his way into the Burgomaster's house and accuses him of stealing the Baron's belongings. The police chief arrives to arrest the Baron, but the Baron escapes out of the bedroom window and back into the carnival crowd where he meets Hans. They escape up into the mountains since it is the only place they will be safe. A young dumb beggar woman [Katy Wild] sees them and takes them to a cave where they can rest and shelter from a storm. In a part of the cave, the Baron finds the body of the creature, preserved in the ice of a glacier. They thaw it out and carry it back to the castle and the beggar girl goes with them. The Baron and Hans prepare the laboratory equipment to revive the creature. The storm intensifies and they switch on the electrical power to give life back to the creature. However, despite it brief movements, the creature is unresponsive. The Baron believes its brain was damaged when it was shot. Although he repaired it, he is unsure why the creature is now so unresponsive so he asks Zoltan for help. Zoltan is preparing to leave Karlstaad but the Baron convinces him to come to the castle and try to hypnotise the creature. When Zoltan manages to wake the creature up, it attacks them and the Baron and Hans have to subdue it with chloroform. The Baron wants to continue his research on the creature but Zoltan wants to put it in a show. He demonstrates that the creature will not obey the Baron, it will only obey him. Zoltan wants a partnership with the Baron and Hans, to which the Baron has no choice now but to agree. Zoltan commands the creature to go into the village at night to steal gold for him. The creature returns with several gold ornaments but was seen by a villager who reports what he saw to the police. Zoltan commands the creature to punish the Burgomaster and the chief of police. The creature breaks into the Burgomaster's house and attacks him, beating him to death. It then goes to the police station and kills the chief of police. When the creature returns and Zoltan sees the blood on its hands, he says he did not mean it to kill them. He tries to make his escape with the gold but is caught by the Baron and thrown out of the castle, not before threatening to kill the Baron. The beggar girl attends to the creatures wounds but Zoltan commands the creature from outside to let him back in. The creature attacks the Baron with a metal stake but the Baron repels it with fire from an oil lamp. When Zoltan commands it to go back, the creature kills him with the metal stake instead. The police arrive and arrest the Baron for the murders of Zoltan, the Burgomaster and the chief of police. The girl and the creature escape back to the mountain cave, followed by Hans who brings them back to the castle once everyone else has left. While the Baron is in a police cell, the villagers group together to hunt down the creature. The Baron manages to escape by knocking out the guard with chloroform and rushes back to the castle. The girl gives the creature some wine, sending it into a rage. It staggers around the laboratory destroying the equipment despite the Baron's efforts to stop it. Fires break out but the Baron barricades the door to stop it escaping, trapping himself inside with it. As the beggar girl and Hans run away from the castle, an explosion destroys it.

Prologue: "Transylvania...land of dark forests, dread mountains, and black unfathomed lakes. Still the home of magic and devilry as the 19th C draws to its close. Count Dracula, monarch of all vampires, is dead, but his disciples live on to spread the cult and corrupt the world." Marianne Danielle [Yvonne Monlaur] is a student teacher on her way from Paris to the Lady's Academy at Bachstadt. When the coach makes an unexpected stop before reaching the Academy and then leaves without Mlle Danielle while she is getting a meal at the local inn, she is forced to secure lodging for the night. Unfortunately, the inn is full. That is, until the Baroness von Meinster [Martita Hunt] appears and offers lodging for the night at her castle. Suddenly, the innkeeper has a room, but Marianne decides to take up the Baroness's hospitality and goes to the castle. As she prepares herself for dinner, Marianne looks out the balcony window and sees a young man on the balcony below. Thinking that the baroness, the servant Greta [Freda Jackson], and herself are the only ones at the castle, she wonders who the young (and handsome) man might be. The baroness confesses that it is her son, the Baron von Meinster [David Peel], who is suffering from an undisclosed illness. Later, as Marianne prepares to sleep, she again looks out the window and sees the young man, this time walking on the ledge of his balcony. Certain that he is about to jump to his death, she calls out to him. She runs downstairs to his room and learns that he could not be contemplating a jump for he is imprisoned in his room by an anklechain. Horrified, Marianne rifles through the baroness's desk in search of the key, which she tosses to the baron. The next morning, Marianne is found lying in the forest by Dr van Helsing [Peter Cushing] who accompanies her to the school, even vouching for her when the schoolmaster accuses her of being tardy. On the way, however, they first stop at the inn where a young girl is lying in state with two piercing wounds on her neck. Ever the quintessial vampire hunter, Dr van Helsing immediately recognizes the nature of the bites and realizes that Marianne is also in jeopardy. While Marianne is being shown around by student teacher Gina [Andree Melly], van Helsing returns to the inn where he finds the local priest and the father of the dead girl arguing over her burial in the churchyard. That night, van Helsing watches over the dead girl's grave. He finds Greta lying on it, calling to her. The dead girl works her way to the surface but, before van Helsing can stake her, she changes into a bat and escapes. Van Helsing pays a visit to the castle, hoping to encounter the baron, but instead he faces the baroness, now a vampire, thanks to her loving son. To release her, van Helsing drives a stake through her heart. Meanwhile, Marianne is making her way at the school. She has a caller...the owner of the school, none other than the Baron Meinster, and he asks her hand in marriage. Everything sounds dreamy until the baron shows up in Gina's bedroom, seduces her, and turns her into a vampire. The baron and his two brides are holing up at the old windmill, so van Helsing pays them a visit. A fight follows in which van Helsing is bitten by the baron. To rid himself of the curse, van Helsing cauterizes the marks on his neck with a hot branding iron. While van Helsing recoups, the baron fetches Marianne. Again, a fight breaks out, van Helsing sprinkles the baron with holy water, and the baron kicks over a grate of burning coals, causing the mill to catch on fire. As the baron tries to flee, van Helsing leaps on the windmill and moves it just enough to form the shadow of a cross on the ground below, trapping the baron and destroying him. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl]

Title and Credits are shown over a painting of Baskerville Hall on a hill top during a storm. A narrator tells us, "Know then the legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles. Sir Hugo a wild, profane and godless man; An evil man, in truth for there was with him a certain ugly and cruel humor that made his name a byword in the county." A drunken party is underway and a servant is tortured by Sir Hugo (David Oxley). The servant's daughter is the prize, but she has left the house. Furious, Sir Hugo sets the hounds on her trail, "The hounds: Let loose the pack!" The servant girl escapes on the estate, Sir Hugo gives chase and both hear the loud baying of a hound. The girl takes refuge in the old abbey ruins, but Sir Hugo finds her. In a fit of rage, he stabs her with a dagger. He hears the hound. It attacks and kills him. "And so, the curse of Sir Hugo came upon the Baskervilles in the shape of a hound from Hell, forever to bring misfortune to the Baskerville family. Therefore, take heed and beware the moor in those dark hours when evil is exalted else you will surely meet the hound of Hell, the hound of the Baskervilles." Dr. Mortimer (Francis De Wolff) reads this last passage to Sherlock Holmes (Peter Cushing) at his Baker street residence. Holmes is unimpressed and Dr. Mortimer is perturbed. Holmes asks the real reason for his visit. "The body of Sir Charles Baskerville discovered on Dartmoor early today," Dr. Mortimer reads from a local newspaper. Sir Charles was found by a servant, Barrymore, near the abbey ruins up on a hill not far from Baskerville Hall. The coroner's inquest ruled it heart failure. Dr. Mortimer's desire is to have Holmes investigate the matter because he thinks Sir Henry is in danger. Holmes agrees to see Sir Henry at his hotel the next day. Dr. Watson (Andre Morell) sees Dr. Mortimer out. Sir Henry Baskerville (Christopher Lee) is dressing in his hotel room. Holmes and Watson arrive, but Sir Henry mistakes them for hotel employees that have come to investigate a missing boot. Dr. Mortimer arrives amid the confusion and makes introductions. Sir Henry makes it clear he intends to occupy Baskerville Hall. Dr. Mortimer reluctantly tells Holmes the estate is worth about one million pounds. The will details bequests, including one thousand pounds for the Barrymores, and Dr. Mortimer is to receive forty thousand pounds. Holmes tells Sir Henry that, "I must impress upon you that I believe your life to be in considerable danger." Holmes also tells him that he is unable to leave London at the moment, but he will be sending Dr. Watson along to Dartmoor. Before anyone leaves, the first attempt on Sir Henry happens. A poisonous tarantula is hidden in a boot and crawls up near Sir Henry's head, but Holmes dispatches it. Sir Henry, Watson and Dr. Mortimer arrive in Dartmoor. Dr. Mortimer exits the cart for a short walk home. Before he walks away Perkins, the cart driver (Sam Kydd) suggests that Dr. Mortimer not walk alone. He tells him there has been a prison escape and a man named Selden, sentenced to life imprisonment is out on the moors. Sir Henry and Watson proceed to Baskerville Hall while Dr. Mortimer walks home. They are met at the Hall by Barrymore (John Le Mesurier). He gives the new master a tour of the house, and shows him a portrait of Sir Hugo. He tells him of the legend. Sir Henry notices a missing portrait, another of Sir Hugo. He is told it disappeared a few months ago. Watson is at the table finishing his meal. Sir Henry offers a toast, but Mrs. Barrymore (Helen Goss), visibly upset drops her glass then excuses herself. Dr. Watson asks Barrymore about the death of Sir Charles, as he found the body. Dr. Watson asks Barrymore if he believes in the legend of the hound. Barrymore tells Dr. Watson that he has heard the terrible howl. Dr. Watson is awakened in the night to the sound of a woman moaning. He investigates but finds nothing. The next morning the local Vicar, Bishop Frankland (Miles Malleson) stops to ask Sir Henry for a donation to the church. He is invited in for a glass of sherry. Sir Henry asks Mrs. Barrymore to donate an old suit to the jumble sale. Dr. Watson stops at the Grimpen Post Office to get a telegram from Holmes. It reminds Watson, "Under no circumstances allow Sir Henry to venture on the moor alone at night." Dr. Watson walks back to Baskerville Hall through the moor. He encounters Stapleton (Ewen Solon) who warns the doctor he was about to step into a trap. Stapleton also warns Watson to stick to the trail, lest he fall into the Grimpen Mire. Along the walk he encounters Cecile Stapleton (Maria Landi). Watson asks her if he is on the right path to Baskerville Hall. She bolts without answering, and Watson follows her but he falls into the mire. Stapleton rescues him, Cecile returns and helps. The Stapletons, father and daughter, return Dr. Watson to Baskerville Hall. Watson and Stapleton go into the house, and Cecile remains in the cart outside. They don't know Sir Henry is out riding his horse. Sir Henry arrives and talks to Cecile. She is very rude to Sir Henry. She runs away and when confronted, she kisses Sir Henry. That evening after everyone else has gone to bed, Sir Henry is joined by Dr. Watson. They see a light under the door of an unoccupied room. A candle burns near a window. Sir Henry notices a light out on the moor--a signal. Dr. Watson and Sir Henry investigate outside and find the source of the light. They find Selden (Michael Mulcaster), the escaped convict. They give chase and hear the hound. Sir Henry suffers a mild heart attack. Dr. Watson helps him back to the hall. Dr. Mortimer examines Sir Henry and orders bed rest. Dr. Watson wants Mortimer to stay and watch Sir Henry while he returns to the moor. Watson goes to the abbey ruins and encounters Holmes asking, "Why have you left Sir Henry alone?" Holmes tells Watson he has been in Devon for the whole time gathering information from Selden. "Selden told me all he had seen since hes been hiding." They hear the hound in the distance and run to investigate. Holmes notices Dr. Mortimer left Baskerville Hall. They hear a man scream and rush to investigate. They spot a man they believe to be Sir Henry dead. Holmes and Watson return to Baskerville Hall to get help to move the body. They see a light under the door of the signal room. Inside the room is Sir Henry reading a book. Sir Henry asks, "Who was it Holmes? Who was the poor devil that died instead of me?" Holmes deduces it was Selden, "Selden had on the suit you were wearing when we met in London." The next morning, Holmes and Watson return to the site of the death of Selden. They go to the abbey ruins and there they find blood on a stone and a dagger. Barrymore finds Selden's body, which had been moved from the night before. His body has been mutilated. "Some revolting sacrificial rite has been performed," Holmes notes. At the Hall, Holmes confronts Mrs. Barrymore and extracts the confession she was aiding her brother, Selden. She gave him food and Sir Henry's clothes and used the candle as a signal. Holmes pays a visit on the Bishop to inquire about a missing spider. Holmes knows the Bishop is regarded as the highest living authority on the study of rare spiders. He asks about the genus Theraphosa--tarantula. Bishop Frankland finally admits he is missing a tarantula and volunteers his visitor list, which included Dr. Mortimer and the Stapletons. Sir Henry stops at the Stapleton cottage. He lets himself in when no one answers his knock. Cecile appears and asks, "Why did you come here?" Stapleton is out and Cecile tells Sir Henry he is invited for dinner. She tells Sir Henry she is Spanish and her mother is dead. Her father returned to farm, but the property is no good. Sir Henry is in love with Cecile. Stapleton walks in and sees his daughter and Sir Henry being intimate. They sit and have a drink. Holmes and Watson meet with and confront Dr. Mortimer. They suspect he may have had a hand in the strange circumstances surrounding the death of Sir Charles and the attempts on Sir Henry. They ask about an old tin mine on the property. Mortimer tells Holmes that Stapleton may be more help as it is under his land. Holmes insists in seeing the mine, and insists that Dr. Mortimer accompany him. Holmes shows Mortimer the dagger that was used on Selden and the same as Sir Hugo used to kill the servant girl centuries earlier. Stapleton, Dr. Mortimer, and Holmes explore the old tin mine. Watson stays above. It is dank and water seeps through from the mire above. Holmes is looking for bones. While Stapleton and Mortimer chock the wheels of an old mining cart, Holmes explores deeper. He tells the two men, "We won't need to go any further, I've found what I came down for." They hear the hound howling. The cart runs down the rails, hits a support beam and causes a cave in, trapping Holmes. They dig for a while, but after two hours they stop. As it turns out, Holmes is waiting in the cart. He hurt his leg. Back at Baskerville Hall, Sir Henry invites Holmes and Watson to join him for dinner at the Stapletons. Holmes is very rude to Sir Henry. This is his plan--he wants Sir Henry to leave without them. The dagger is missing and Holmes has learned that Sir Hugo's hands were webbed, like Stapleton's hands. It turns out Stapleton is next in line for the Baskerville fortune. Holmes and Watson head for the abbey ruins where Sir Henry and Cecile have gone. She is leading Sir Henry to her father, the hound, and certain death. Fortunately Holmes and Watson hear Cecile's plan as she tells Sir Henry he will die. The hound appears and leaps on Sir Henry. It begins to maul him. Stapleton attacks Watson as he tries to shoot the hound. They scuffle briefly but Watson manages to shoot Stapleton. Holmes shoots the hound which turns on Stapleton. Cecile retrieves the dagger and tries to finish Sir Henry off, but Holmes intervenes. Cecile escapes. Holmes and Watson help Sir Henry to his feet and show him the dead dog. The dog was kept in the mine, starved for weeks, given the scent and turned loose. His missing boot was the scent. Cecile still running slips into the mire and is pulled under. Back in London Holmes and Watson admire a gift sent by Sir Henry. It is the missing portrait of Sir Hugo, showing his deformed hand, as a souvenir Holmes can add to his collection. Sir Henry also included a check for a very generous amount. Watson asks Holmes about what clue was the key. Holmes quips that, "the missing boot put me on the scent." We close with Holmes and Watson having tea.

1860 and Baron Frankenstein [Peter Cushing] is to be executed for the murders his creature committed. The Baron is taken from his prison cell to the guillotine but a scuffle is heard before the blade drops... In a bar, two drunk grave robbers Fritz [Lionel Jeffries] and Kurt [Michael Ripper] talk about a potential job. Kurt is reluctant at first but agrees when he hears the price. They open the grave of Baron Frankenstein but inside the coffin is the priest from the execution. Frankenstein appears, causing Fritz to suffer a fatal heart attack in shock. The Baron and his partially paralysed and deformed assistant Karl [Oscar Quitak] bury Fritz in the open grave. Three years later and Baron Frankenstein is now practising as a medical doctor called Dr. Stein in Carlsbruck but is not a member of the town's medical council. The council are not happy about this so they send a delegation to try to persuade him to join or to stop him practising. Stein is working in his overcrowded hospital ward full of sick patients when the council delegation arrives. He refuses to join them, saying the council only exists to eliminate competition and he has succeeded alone. Doctor Hans Kleve [Francis Matthews] is waiting for Stein when he returns to his office from the ward. He recognises Stein as Baron Frankenstein and negotiates to work with and learn from him in exchange for his silence about the Baron's former indiscretions. Stein agrees and takes Kleve to his laboratory and introduces him to Karl. In the laboratory are various body parts that Stein has removed from patients in his hospital ward. Stein demonstrates how disembodied eyes and a hand connected to a remote brain react to a flame. Also in the laboratory is a chimpanzee into which Stein has transplanted the brain of a orangutan. In another preservation tank, Stein shows Kleve a complete man [Michael Gwynn] constructed from various body parts. The only thing missing is a live brain. Karl helped Stein escape the guillotine and has agreed to donate his brain in return for the new body. Back at the hospital, Margaret [Eunice Gayson], the daughter of the president of the medical council, arrives at the ward to work with Stein and Kleve as a compromise to allow Stein to keep his hospital open. That night in the laboratory, Stein and Kleve perform the operation on Karl and transplant his brain into the new body. During the operation the creature becomes highly agitated and they have to subdue it until the brain becomes used to the new body. They move Karl to the hospital but are seen by the hospital porter who confides in Margaret about Stein's activities. The next day Margaret visits Karl and releases him from his straps because he is uncomfortable. The hospital assistant talks to Kleve about changes in animals. This prompts Kleve to start wondering if a brain may react differently in a different body. Kleve returns to the laboratory where he and Stein discuss the chimpanzee which has started eating meat since its brain transplant. Karl escapes from his room at the hospital via the window and returns to the laboratory that night after Stein and Kleve have left. He finds his old body and throws it into a furnace but is overheard by the janitor [George Woodbridge] who comes to investigate. At first the janitor thinks the chimpanzee is making the noise, but as Karl tries to leave he accidentally starts up lab equipment connected to another complete body in a glass tank. The janitor fights with Karl and although Karl is meek to start with he soon becomes angry and kills the janitor. Stein and Kleve go to Karl's room to find him gone. They rush back to the laboratory and find the janitor's body and the burnt remains of Karl's old body. Stein tells Kleve to return to the hospital and continue as normal. Margaret finds Karl hiding in her stables so goes to the hospital to fetch Kleve. Meanwhile, Karl is struggling to control his new body in the stable and when Margaret and Kleve return, Karl has gone. That night, Stein and Kleve search for Karl. Karl murders a girl as his cannibal tendencies start to develop. Stein and Kleve go to Margaret's house and the now disfigured Karl breaks in and implores Frankenstein to help him. One of the other house guests, Dr Molke [Arnold Diamond], sees this and reports Frankenstein to the medical council. Stein and Kleve attend the medical council where Stein denies he is Baron Frankenstein and suggests they obtain proof. The medical council open the Baron's grave again and find the priest's body. Back in the hospital ward, none of the patients want to be treated by the man they now believe to be Frankenstein. The patients all attack Frankenstein but before they kill him Kleve arrives and takes him to the laboratory to tend to his injuries. However, Frankenstein is mortally wounded so Kleve transplants his brain from his disfigured and mutilated body into a new one. A police inspector and the medical council members arrive at the laboratory to arrest Frankenstein but Kleve shows them Frankenstein's old body and they leave, believing Frankenstein to now be dead. Frankenstein and Kleve relocate to Harley Street in London where Frankenstein resumes practising medicine under the name Dr Franck.

May 3, 1885: Jonathan Harker [John Van Eyssen] goes to Castle Dracula with a job as librarian. Harker writes in his diary that his purpose is to end Dracula's "reign of terror". A woman he meets in castle [Valerie Gaunt] asks him to help her escape, but the woman turns out to be a vampire. She attempts to bite Harker, but Dracula [Christopher Lee] intervenes. The next morning, Harker finds marks on his neck and knows he must act fast. He hides his diary at a crossroads, goes to the crypt, stakes the woman vampire, but Dracula wakes up. Days later Van Helsing [Peter Cushing] arrives at Klausenberg Inn; asking after Harker. The innkeeper's wife Inga [Barbara Archer] gives him Harker's dairy. Van Helsing goes to Dracula's castle where he sees a funeral coach leaving. He finds Harker lying in a coffin and stakes him. Weeks later, in Karlstadt, Van Helsing informs Arthur [Michael Gough] and Mina [Melissa Stribbing] Holmwood of Harker's death. Harker's fiancee, Lucy Holmwood [Carol Marsh], is ill and is being treated for anemia by Dr Seward [Charles Lloyd Pack]. When alone, Lucy opens her window and lets in Dracula. Mina seeks advice from Van Helsing who examines Lucy, sees marks on her neck, and instructs Mina not to open windows and to use garlic, but the maid Gerda [Olga Dickie] removes the garlic and opens the windows. The next morning, Lucy is dead. Van Helsing gives Harker's diary to Arthur to read. That evening, policemen bring home the maid's child Tania [Janine Faye] who reports seeing Lucy. Later that night, Van Helsing and Arthur go to Lucy's tomb. Van Helsing suggests that this is Dracula's revenge for the woman Harker staked. Van Helsing and Arthur go to the douane at Ingstadt to see where Dracula's coffin was bound (49 Frederichstrasse in Karlstadt). Meanwhile Mina gets a note to meet "Arthur" at 49 Frederichstrasse. Van Helsing and Arthur go to that address (it's a funeral home) and find Dracula's coffin gone. They go home just as Mina arrives from a "morning walk". Arthur gives Mina a cross to wear but it burns her hand and they know Dracula has gotten to her. They watch the house all night but Dracula gets in somehow and drinks from Mina. She receives a blood transfusion from Arthur, after which Van Helsing suggests that Arthur have a glass of wine. However, Gerda refuses to go down to wine cellar because Mina has forbidden her to do so. Turns out that Dracula is there. Dracula escapes and takes Mina to his castle. Van Helsing and Arthur follow. Dracula sees dawn approaching and stops from burying Mina. Van Helsing follows him into the castle. Dracula attempts to kill Van Helsing, but Van Helsing leaps onto some curtains, tearing them down and letting in sunlight. Dracula starts to deteriorate. Van Helsing grabs two candlesticks and makes a cross out of them. Dracula turns to dust; Mina is released. [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl]

The movie opens with text over a red background that reads, "More than a hundred years ago, in a mountain village in Switzerland, lived a man whose strange experiments with the dead have since become legend. The legend is still told with horror the world over...It is the legend of..." A clever segway into the title: The Curse of Frankenstein. Credits follow. A man on horseback approaches a prison in the mountains along a narrow pathway. A church bell chimes the hour as a man opens the gate for the rider. He is a priest (Alex Gallier). He is escorted by the Warder (Michael Mulcaster) to see Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing). The warder explains that the prisoner is dangerous. The Baron wishes to see the priest because he thinks he can trust the man with his story. He starts his story, "I suppose it was when I was a boy at school. I always had a brilliant intellect. When my mother died, I inherited the Frankenstein fortune." The Young Baron (Melvyn Hayes) is escorting his extended family out of his house after his mother died. His uncle (Raymond Ray) leads the family delegation. Aunt Sophie (Noel Hood) and her daughter, young Elizabeth (Sally Walsh) stay behind. Aunt Sophie wants reassurance her allowance will continue uninterrupted. After confirming the money will continue, Victor quickly escorts the two relatives out the door. As they are leaving, a dapper gentleman in a brown top hat arrives. Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart) walks into the house and presents himself to the new, but very young, Baron. He had corresponded with the Baron for a tutor. Initially he thinks there must be some mistake or a joke, but Victor explains the tutoring is for himself and he is serious. The two hit it off immediately. After two years, "I learned all he had to teach, but we went on together probing into the unknown, investigating, recording, searching, always searching until gradually the sweep of our research began to assume a single direction and to this aim we finally turned all our energies. It took us years of unrelenting work to discover what we were seeking." With chemical and electrical apparatus they were able to restore life to a dead puppy. Paul sees the possibilities of their discovery. He notes, "If we could delay or prolong the period in which the body is apparently dead while the heart is alive wed have a living body with only the barest life-spark present. That what that would mean when it came to performing major surgery!" Paul wants to write up their findings and present it at a medical conference within a month. Victor expresses his opposition because he wants to experiment further and does not want to share the secret, not yet at least. He proposes the next step. Rather than just restore life, he wants to create life from the beginning. He tells Paul, "We must build up our own creature, and built it up from nothing. We must create a human beinga perfect human." Paul disagrees, "What you're saying is nonsense, a revolt against nature. Such a thing could only end in evil." Victor persuades Paul to continue the work. He proposes to obtain a body, and knows a highwayman was hanged for his crimes and suggests they retrieve it. They take a horse and cart and cut down the body and return it to their lab. Paul notes that half the head has been eaten away. Victor quickly cuts the head off, explaining it is of no use. He dumps it into a vat of acid in the storage room next door. They remove the old clothes, wrap the body in bandages and place it in a large, glass tank. Now Paul voices his objection to the whole exercise, "I don't think we should continue with this." Victor tells Paul he will be leaving for a while but does not explain where or why. Justine the maid (Valerie Gaunt) carries refreshments into the living room and asks Paul if the Baron has returned. She answers the door, expecting that Victor has returned. To her disappointment it is not the Baron but a woman who tells her she was expected and needs help with her luggage. Elizabeth (Hazel Court) is the Baron's cousin and we learn later his fiancée. She mistakes Paul for the Baron. Victor arrives home in an excited state calling for Paul. He is not surprised to see Elizabeth. He and Paul rush off to the lab upstairs leaving Elizabeth annoyed and confused. Victor unwraps something from a small black bag. He proudly displays two hands, cut off at the wrist. He explains they are Bardello's hands--the hands of the world's greatest sculptor. Paul voices his objection to exposing Elizabeth to the experiment. He tells Victor, "While you were away, I decided I could not continue with this experiment." He tries to convince Victor to stop, but he is unsuccessful. Victor remains in the lab and will graft the new hands on by himself. Paul goes downstairs and tries to convince Elizabeth to leave. In this he is also unsuccessful, mainly because he will not explain the nature of the experiment or the danger. She explains she is to be Victor's wife. Outside the lab, Victor and Justine embrace and kiss. Victor is just toying with the maid. She believes she will be his wife, but Victor tells her that Elizabeth is to be his wife. The next morning Victor prepares to leave on another trip. Elizabeth talks to him about the household accounts and possibly assisting in other ways. Victor pays a visit to the Municipal Charnel House and buys a pair of human eyes. Victor takes them home to examine them when Paul asks to see him. He reiterates his refusal to help Victor with his work. Victor proudly shows Paul how far he has gone on his own. Paul turns away from the tank with revulsion and exclaims, "It's horrible!" Victor tells Paul that once a genius brain is obtained and installed the creature will take on a benevolent face. When asked where the brain will come from, Victor replies, "I'll get it." Victor and Elizabeth are in the living room entertaining a visitor. Professor Bernstein (Paul Hardtmuth) accepted an invitation from the Baron for dinner and to spend the night. The professor tells Victor that discoveries can be mishandled. Paul enters the room and is introduced to the distinguished professor. Victor escorts the old man upstairs to his room. At the top of the stairs Victor shows him a painting, maneuvering the old man closer to the bannister, which gives way. Victor pushes the old man through and down to his death. Professor Bernstein is given a burial at the Baron's expense and in his family vault. Later that evening the Baron retrieves Bernstein's brain. He carefully places the jar in his bag and prepares to leave the vault. Paul arrives, expecting to find Victor and accuses him of murder. Paul intends to stop Victor from using the brain, and tells him so. They briefly struggle over the bag and the jar is broken. Paul calls on Elizabeth in her room and again begs her to leave. He explains he only stays to ensure her safety. In the lab, Victor is picking pieces of glass out of the brain, trying to salvage it. He puts the brain into the skull and prepares to revive his newly finished creature. He starts the chemical and electrical equipment as an electrical storm brews outside. Paul is upstairs in his room preparing for bed. As the tank empties, Victor goes to Paul's room and again asks for help. He admits, "That apparatus was constructed for dual operation. You know that. I thought I could work it myself, but I can't." But Paul gleefully replies, "I'm delighted." A lightning bolt starts the electrical components and the body in the empty tank begins to breathe. Victor promises that after the experiment is completed he will dispose of the body. Paul reluctantly agrees to help. Victor returns to the lab and hears glass breaking. He unlocks the lab door and standing there is the creature. It pulls away the bandages covering its head to reveal a scarred and hideous face (Christopher Lee). One eye is blue, the other brown, and it stares at its creator with hate. It grabs Victor and chokes him. Only Paul's quick action saves Victor. He breaks a chair over the thing's head. The creature stumbles and falls to the floor. Paul demands the creature be destroyed as Victor straps it down to a table. Victor tells Paul he will operate on the brain the next morning and try to correct its homicidal tendencies. But the next morning the lab is a shambles and the window broken. The creature has broken free and escaped. Victor and Paul search the countryside for the creature. An old blind man (Fred Johnson) and his grandson (Claude Kingston) are out in the woods for a stroll. The old man sits and the grandson goes down to the lake shore to pick mushrooms. The creature encounters the old man. After a brief exchange he kills the old man. The grandson returns to where he left his grandfather. Victor and Paul find signs and follow it into the woods. They find it, and Paul shoots the creature through the eye. The creature falls and is pronounced dead. They bury it in place and return to the house. Paul goes to the lab and tells Victor he is leaving. With the creature dead, he no longer needs to stay and protect Elizabeth. But Paul doesn't know Victor dug his creation up and returned its lifeless body back to the lab. Victor stares at his creature hanging in the store room and promises, "I'll give you life again." Victor is dressed and tells Justine she can serve dinner. Justine reminds Victor of his promise to marry her. Her trump card is the revelation she is pregnant with his child. He does not believe he is the father, but Justine informs the master that Elizabeth will believe her. She adds that she will go to the authorities regarding the experiment. He fires the maid and orders that she leave the next morning. That night Justine goes up to the lab to get the proof she will need for the authorities. Victor leaves the lab door unlocked and Justine enters for a look. She enters the storage room and finds the revived creature. When she tries to flee, Victor locks her in, knowing his homicidal creation will kill her. It does. A week later, Victor and Elizabeth are having breakfast. Elizabeth inquires about Justine. Victor lies and tells her, "I expect some village lothario eloped with her." They discuss the wedding plans. Elizabeth reveals she invited Paul. Instead of being angry, Victor casually informs her he hopes Paul comes. He says that he has something to show Paul. It is the eve of the wedding, and a reception at the Baron's home is underway. The Burgomaster (Andrew Leigh) is enjoying the laced punch and practicing his speech. His wife (Ann Blake) reproaches her drunk husband and they leave for home. When all the guests have left, Victor announces he will be working in the lab. Elizabeth is disappointed and tells her future husband. Paul does not attend the reception, but does come later that evening. Elizabeth tells Paul to go surprise Victor. Victor is preparing a plate of flood when Paul knocks on the lab door. Victor invites his old tutor into the lab. He leads him to the storage room. Paul is shocked to discover the creature chained to the wall and showing signs of brain surgery. Victor orders the creature onto its feet. It struggles but stands, then sits when ordered. Paul chides the Baron about the creature's lack of perfection, but Victor reminds Paul, "There you see the result of your handiwork as much as mine...but you damaged it. You put a bullet in the wretched thing. This is your fault, Paul." Paul exits the lab, promising to go to the authorities and have them destroy the creature. Victor chases after him. He leaves the lab door unlocked and Elizabeth enters the lab. The creature breaks its chains. Elizabeth enters the storage room and sees the vat of acid. The creature gets out onto the roof. Victor and Paul see it and Paul goes to the village for help. Elizabeth goes outside to explore a noise she heard. Victor grabs a pistol and goes out to the roof. Firing at the creature he hits Elizabeth, then the creature. Only wounded, the creature approaches Victor. A well-aimed toss of an oil lamp sets the creature ablaze. The creature falls through the skylight and straight into the acid filled vat below. We return to the prison, and the priest still listening to the story now finished. Victor concludes, "My life's work destroyed. Destroyed in a moment. And by the same hand that gave it life." Paul comes to visit Victor at the prison. Elizabeth was only wounded and recovers. She is also at the prison, but stays in the waiting area. Victor begs Paul to tell the priest about the creature and to verify the story, but Paul denies it. He does accuse Victor of murdering Justine. Victor claims it was the creature who murdered the maid. The priest leaves the cell. Victor tries to kill Paul, but the jailer prevents it. Paul leaves the cell and returns to talk to Elizabeth. He takes her home. Victor is led to his execution. The last scene is of a guillotine, seen in silhouette, and the credits roll.

In WW2 London, a writer falls in love with the wife of a British civil servant but both men suspect her of infidelity with yet another man. In war-torn London, Maurice Bendrix (Van Johnson) falls in love with neighbor Sarah Miles (Deborah Kerr). They begin an illicit romance behind Sarah's husband's back. While war does not last forever, neither does love in this existentialist tale. —Robert Bole <rjbmbv@teleport.com>

During King Arthur's time, a sword maker wishes to win Lady Linet's heart but first he must become a noble knight. As a blacksmith John can't hope to win the hand of Linet, daughter of the Earl of Yeonil. Off he goes to prove himself a noble knight. He makes himself a suit of armor with a winged chicken helmet and runs around fighting for King Arthur as the Black Knight. Evil doings include plots by visiting kings and a Druid sacrificial ceremony at Stonehenge. —Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu> Young swordsmith John secretly becomes the Black Knight to help out King Arthur when Saracens and Cornish men plot to take over the country by mounting raids dressed up as Vikings. However, his thoughts are not only on the protection of England when the good lady Linet becomes threatened. —Jeremy Perkins {J-26}