Despite the title, there really are no vampires in this film. However, despite this, it is still a scary film--sort of like a film in the same vein as THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM. Here, the horrible monster is a very human one.
When the film begins, a man (Dr. Callistratus) is being impaled in the grave. Apparently, he had done something rather nasty and was getting his just reward. However, as the body is about to be buried, a goofy-eyed hunchback attacks the grave digger and takes the body to a drunk doctor who performs a heart transplant--a pretty good feat for the 1800s! Later, you find that the dead man was indeed revived and changed his identity--making himself the warden of a prison for the criminally insane. Unfortunately, the most insane aspect of this "institution" are the staff who beat the prisoners and the doctor that performs vivisection on the prisoners.
Soon, another doctor is wrongly convicted of killing one of his patients and the most damning evidence is a letter from the doctor's mentor saying that they should "throw the book at the doc". Oddly, instead of the usual penal colony, the guy is sent to the mental institution and becomes the unwilling assistant to Callistratus. Later, exactly why he was needed by Callistratus comes to light as well as the diabolical way that the madman is running the place.
There's a lot more to the movie than this and there is a plot element involving blood--but remember, there are no vampires in this one. In many ways, the fact that a supposedly "normal" man would commit many acts of horror and torture is probably a lot scarier than if Callistrautus HAD been a true vampire. For lovers of the genre, this is good stuff. Others might wince at the blood and horror--this is NOT a film for the kiddies!
When the film begins, a man (Dr. Callistratus) is being impaled in the grave. Apparently, he had done something rather nasty and was getting his just reward. However, as the body is about to be buried, a goofy-eyed hunchback attacks the grave digger and takes the body to a drunk doctor who performs a heart transplant--a pretty good feat for the 1800s! Later, you find that the dead man was indeed revived and changed his identity--making himself the warden of a prison for the criminally insane. Unfortunately, the most insane aspect of this "institution" are the staff who beat the prisoners and the doctor that performs vivisection on the prisoners.
Soon, another doctor is wrongly convicted of killing one of his patients and the most damning evidence is a letter from the doctor's mentor saying that they should "throw the book at the doc". Oddly, instead of the usual penal colony, the guy is sent to the mental institution and becomes the unwilling assistant to Callistratus. Later, exactly why he was needed by Callistratus comes to light as well as the diabolical way that the madman is running the place.
There's a lot more to the movie than this and there is a plot element involving blood--but remember, there are no vampires in this one. In many ways, the fact that a supposedly "normal" man would commit many acts of horror and torture is probably a lot scarier than if Callistrautus HAD been a true vampire. For lovers of the genre, this is good stuff. Others might wince at the blood and horror--this is NOT a film for the kiddies!