The read
It runs a compact 1h 22m.
Synopsis
In 19th century England, a noted brain surgeon rescues a former student from being hanged on a false conviction for murder, and spirits him away to an ancient, repurposed abbey far in the countryside. There, he connives his pupil into assisting him in mapping the functions of the various parts of the human brain, using living subjects who are under a terrible animation-suspending drug called "black sleep". Subsequently, the student, along with the daughter of one of the subjects, discover that most of these subjects have survived but are being kept in a dungeon-like cellar, in various stages of physical and mental derangement...
Ratings
IMDb6/10
45 audience votes
Key crew
- Reginald Le BorgDirector
- John C. HigginsScreenplay
- Les BaxterOriginal Music Composer
Cast
- Basil RathboneSir Joel Cadman
- Herbert RudleyDr. Gordon Ramsay
- Patricia BlairLaurie Munroe
- Akim TamiroffOdo the Gypsy
- Phyllis StanleyDaphne
- Lon Chaney Jr.Dr. Munroe, aka Mungo
- Bela LugosiCasimir
- John CarradineBohemund
- George SawayaSailor-Subject
- Tor JohnsonMr. Curry
- Sally YarnellFemale Subject
- Peter GordonSgt. Steele
Stills
Themes
experimentenglandmad doctorbrain surgeonsuspended animation