Back on fifties TV, there were movies like this being played on weekend late night creature feature shows. They were mixed in with the monster movies like FRANKENSTEIN, DRACULA and THE WOLF MAN, so, I thought ones like this were boring compared to ones with actual monsters. But, this one is pretty damn good. The story goes like this... A kindly physician on death row for a mercy killing is allowed to experiment on a serum using a criminals' blood, but secretly tests it on himself! He gets a pardon, but finds out he's become a Jekyll-Hyde killer.
It stars Boris (VOODOO ISLAND) Karloff, Evelyn (AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS) Keyes, Bruce (THE COSMIC MAN) Bennett, Edward (DRACULA / FRANKENSTEIN) Van Sloan, Ben (MAN MADE MONSTER) Taggart, Pedro (THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS) de Cordoba and Wright (MISTER SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON) Kramer.
Following a botched mercy killing, Dr. John Garth is sentenced to be hanged for his part in the experiment, even after explaining that he was trying to help the victim...
The warden now thinks that the doctor's experiments may have a benefit for mankind, and allows him to work in the lab there. He gets an assistant and they get to work on the puzzle.
In the meantime, Dr. Garth has access to prisoner blood, so uses some on himself. It has side effects and the doctor is sent to the medical ward. After some time there, everyone notices that the doc now has the body of a very fit 40 year old!
But, other side effects are now in play. He has the blood of a killer in his veins and that starts bringing out his dark side!
The doctor kills his assistant and a guard, then passes out and cannot remember anything about the incident. The warden thinks the murders were done by an inmate, so...
The warden pardons the doctor and sends him home to his daughter. She's glad to see him, but, he seems distant and a little rough around the edges.
Then at a gathering of his friends, he tells them about the experiment and that he can reverse their aging, but, they want no part of it. The doctor gets pissed and the men leave after a verbal confrontation...
The doctor cannot help himself and goes to one friend's home and urges him to let him inject him with the serum. His friend finally agrees to the injection, but something goes wrong...
You can read all about it in the newspaper the next day!
Then, the doctor goes to another friend's house and tells him that he has murdered a number of people and wants to confess to him for the crimes... Well, it doesn't take long before his dark side takes over, and...
You can see that his friend George Wharton has also been murdered!
Back at home, the doc's daughter confronts him about the murders and he pulls a scarf out of a pocket and tightens it up...
The daughter faints from fright and the doctor clears his head, he leaves his home to wander around on a foggy night.
He goes back to the prison and demands to see the warden. The guard lets him in but the doctor pulls out his scarf and comes at the guard. Well, he's shot and when the warden gets there, the doctor tells him that he cane back because he wanted to be hanged for the murders, but a bullet will do... Join us again on Wednesday for more cool stuff, here at The Dungeon!!..
1 comment:
Mmm...a Columbia picture! Kenneth MacDonald from the Three Stooges shorts! Bruce Bennett from The Cosmic Man! Boris Karloff! And it's only 61 minutes long! I like it already!
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