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.
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