People are mysteriously disappearing near a remote Cornish village, where a scientist is experimenting with reviving the dead.

Plot Synopsis:
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DOCTOR BLOODS COFFIN-synopsis



A surgeon is operating on a patient. He removes the lid from a container, and inserting a syringe, fills it from the contents. Professor Luckman (Paul Hardtmuth) enters and warns the surgeon he must not carry out the experiment. It is revealed that the surgeon, Dr. Peter Blood (Kieron Moore), was the brilliant and vain student of the professor but wanted to carry the experiments on animals further by involving humans. Peter insists the professor wanted to see the experiment go further but needed his help and inspiration. Luckman tells him that no one has the right to kill another for any reason and for him to get out. Peter is warned that he will be reported to the police if not. He leaves reluctantly.

Peters father, Dr. Robert Blood (Ian Hunter), drives to work in the village of Porthcarron where a group of people have gathered. His nurse Linda Parker (Hazel Court) approaches the car and informs him that Hanson (John Ronane) is missing from the village and that Sgt. Cook (Kenneth J. Warren) wants to talk to him. He hands over the replaced supplies that were stolen from his office to Linda to carry in. As she enters the office, Peter is seen taking a bottle of glucose from the refrigerator. Because she almost caught him, he had to quickly hide behind a door. She enters and sees the fridge door left open. Looking around the office, she is unable to locate the bottle and goes outside to tell Dr. Robert, who announces the theft to the men discussing what has been happening. Peter watches from a window.

It is suggested that the supplies may be hidden in the old tin mines which spread for miles. George Beale (Andy Alston) is nominated to lead a search of the tunnels since he is most knowledgeable. Seeing them coming, Peter retreats to his new laboratory in the mine tunnel where one or more bodies are waiting on slabs. He connects the bottle of glucose to one of them. He then prepares a syringe and takes a bottle of chloroform and his container of curare (which causes paralysis) and goes to the home of George, rendering him unconscious and injecting him.The used syringe falls to the floor and breaks. In the lab, as Peter turns out the light to leave, we see George looking around, though unable to move.

The next morning Peter arrives at his fathers office and introduces himself to Linda. Once she realizes he is the son who was expected, she goes to announce him but is stopped by Peter who wants to surprise his father. Robert is seen playing chess with G.F. Morton (Gerald Lawson), the local undertaker. Peter knocks and enters and is greeted and introduced to Mr. Morton. Peter and his father discuss what Peter will likely do now and Morton leaves. Linda enters and announces Sgt. Cook wants to talk to them. Cook enters and is introduced to Peter. Cook produces the broken syringe and asks Dr. Robert to identify it and its contents. He announces the disappearance of George, saying it might be a kidnapping. Upon hearing that the culprit may be hiding in the tunnels, Peter offers to help search. He is careful to pick up the syringe so his fingerprints will be found but discounted since the police know he handled it.

Peter directs the men into one of the tunnels and goes with Sgt. Cook into another. Telling Cook to search one tunnel, Peter goes in the other (heading for his lab). Meanwhile George having regained some mobility crawls through the tunnel to escape.

Peter reaches the lab and sees that George is gone. He begins searching for him but is distracted by Cook who calls his name, causing him to miss seeing George. Having reached the connecting tunnel, Cook has summoned Peter, who reports he has seen nothing. They emerge and join the others who have also found nothing. Peter tells them they have covered every inch of the mines and goes to talk to Linda who is waiting in Dr. Roberts car. She tells him his father wants Peter to help identify what was in the syringe.

They drive back to the office with Peter driving hurriedly. Linda begins talking about the mines, saying she has never seen the inside of them. Noticing Peter is distracted, she accuses him of not paying attention. She tells him she has never been inside the mines, to which he replies she would likely get lost.

Dropping her off at her home, Peter drives to his fathers office. Meanwhile George is still crawling through the tunnels, trying to escape with all his might. That evening Peter rushes back to the mines to look for George.

By morning George has made it outside. Peter emerges and begins searching along the shoreline. Peter is just about to discover George, who suddenly rolls downhill and is unnoticed.

Returning to town, he passes Morton, who invites him to visit the mortuary again. He promises to do so and leaves.

Entering the office cautiously, Peter sees Linda in the next room and takes flowers from a vase, pretending he picked them for her. She remarks how they look just like the ones she picked this morning. She tells him to take the tray of coffee in to his father, who is in with Sgt. Cook.

Dr. Robert tells Peter he has only partially analyzed the compound and is unable to make any conclusion. Peter offers to take the sample to Plymouth Hospital for spectral analysis (hoping to give a false report) but is overruled by his father, who leaves right away with Cook walking him to his car. Peter asks for coffee and Linda comes back with a cup, serving it to him. She sees the container of curare and picks it up, asking what it is. Peter makes an awkward story about getting it from a witch doctor. When she asks what is in it, he puts his finger in and licks it, saying pure honey. She refuses to taste it, saying she is going to leave for the day.

Suddenly Cook rushes in, calling for Peter to accompany him. He explains that George has been found. Peter, asking if he is alive, gets together a kit and asks Linda to bring adrenaline. He fills a syringe with curare for an injection. Getting into the police car, they drive off.

On the way, Peter presses Cook for the condition of the patient. He wants to know what George said and if he recognized anyone. Cook says George was mumbling something but they couldnt understand what.

When they arrive on location, George is mumbling weakly. Peter gives him an injection, causing him to collapse and die. He tells Cook he will do a post-mortem at the mortuary.

George is laid out on a slab and Peter calls Morton from the other room. He tells Morton he is there to do a post-mortem and that no embalming must take place until after the autopsy is completed. Morton leaves and Peter prepares an injection of curare, giving it to George.

Peter and Linda spend some time together, walking along the hillsides and talking. He begins ranting about how his professor prevented him from completing an experiment on skin grafting and saying no one would stand in his way. Linda suggests that he contact Plymouth Hospital as his father would have him. He asks if she is trying to get rid of him, which she denies. He tells her he hadnt planned on meeting her and they kiss, lying down.

That night Peter returns to the morgue. Uncovering the body, we see that George is still alive but paralyzed. Peter goes quietly upstairs to where Morton is sleeping. Satisfied that Morton is sound asleep, Peter goes downstairs and prepares to operate. Meanwhile, Morton awakes and looks at his watch, going back to sleep.

Peter prepares for surgery, removing the heart as George is still conscious. Knocking over a metal pitcher, Peter realizes this may wake Morton. As Morton goes downstairs to investigate, he sees that George is still alive. Peter tells him to go back upstairs. An argument ensues and Morton is pushed back onto the stairwell and dies. Georges heart dies and Peter is angry. He takes out a body box and places both bodies inside.

The next morning Linda walks to work. Preparing the coffee, she calls upstairs to Peter. He walks in looking haggard and says he had to do the embalming himself and that Morton didnt show up. Lying down on a couch, he falls asleep from exhaustion.

The next day Peter drives to Linda (who has the day off) and picks her up. They drive to the mines and he encourages her to go in. After ranting about his boyhood mine fantasies he tells Linda that she must remain there for all eternity. Just as she is getting afraid, Tregaye (Fred Johnson) appears, saying he has been living there for some time. He shows them the way out.

Sgt. Cook enters the mortuary and looks around, going upstairs to Mortons quarters. Finding nothing significant he comes out just as Peter drives up to meet Linda. Cook asks what time Peter came to do post-mortem and is told 9:30 to quarter of 10. He wants to establish a time of the disappearance of Morton. Linda gets into the car and Cook tells him not to keep her waiting. As they drive past the mines, Tregaye is seen standing outside the entrance.

A graveside service for George is conducted with a priest, attended by several people who then file out solemnly. Cook offers Peter a ride, but he says he is waiting for Linda. She is seen visiting the grave of her late husband Steve Parker. As they walk back, Peter asks Linda about the death of her husband.

Tregaye is seen moving a wheelbarrow of dirt outside the mine when Peter approaches. He asks about working the mines and Tregaye says he still makes a meager living. Saying he might discover something valuable, he invites Peter to join him for some lunch.

Meanwhile, Dr. Robert returns and finds Peter in the local pub. Bragging about the facilities at Plymouth, he urges Peter to go when he has time. When asked about the test, Robert reveals it was curare. Peter remarks that he was just talking with Linda the other day about curare that a former student had given him. Suddenly Sgt. Cook interrupts, telling them that Tregaye was found dead at the mine with a gashed head. Peter goes to determine time and cause of death. Dr. Robert informs Cook that the test revealed curare. Linda is shown thinking about this news.

Peter is seen examining the body. Meanwhile Linda goes to the office library, looking for a book on poisons. Cook tells her he has it and is reading about curare. She takes the book and reads how it paralyzes when it reaches the bloodstream but is harmless when taken by mouth. Cook leaves to search the crime scene and Linda thinks about when Peter tasted of the curare (claiming it was honey).

Dr. Robert enters the mortuary and talks to Peter about the death of George. The certificate (filled out by Peter) claims death by heart malfunction. Robert says he knew George for years and that his heart was in good shape. Peter swears that no curare was found in Georges system and that the certificate is correct. Robert suggests that maybe Peter made a mistake and that he should intern for a year at Plymouth Hospital. Peter is angry, ranting about how no one will be patronizing and ordering him around and he must be free to conduct his experiments. Cook enters and asks for the report on Tregaye. When given the report, Cook notes that it was multiple fractures and Peter says he was dead about three hours when the body was examined. Cook asks about George, whether curare was found and is told no. Peter suggests a retesting at Plymouth, but Cook says no and thanks him.

The office phone rings and Linda answers, telling the caller that the doctor is not receiving calls this evening. She goes and tells Dr. Robert a lady called about her son. He is visibly upset about the conversation with Peter but gets up to go on call. She insists that he is too tired to go, suggesting that she will contact Peter.

Linda walks over to the mortuary and walks in to find Peter preparing to inject curare into a live Tregaye. Horrified, she notices the open bamboo curare container. She looks at Peter with a knowing look and he also returns a sinister look. When she goes to leave, he stops her and explains that he was on the brink in Vienna of a great discovery but was stopped by his professor. He tells her that Tregayes heart will be used to give life to someone else who is more valuable to society. She tells him that no one should have to die and that no one should play God and decide who is to live and die. He demands that he have the right to decide because he is a scientist. She tells him that Lucifer wanted all attention for himself and was damned for it. She says that Peter wants everyone to bow down to him and that any body raised to life would not be alive but an evil creation. He admits that he will call upon evil to accomplish his purpose. He tells Linda that she still loves Steve and thinks of him as still alive. Suddenly a noise is heard and Peter rushes in to find Tregaye having knocked the curare container to the floor. When he goes back, Linda has left and runs back to the office.

Peter takes the body to the mine. Sgt. Cook and Dr. Robert and Linda arrive at the mortuary to find it empty. Linda, finding the container on the floor, gives it to Cook, who tells Dr. Robert he will have to issue a warrant for Peters arrest.

Cook is seen phoning for help to set up roadblocks. Meanwhile Peter, who has disinterred Steve Parker, prepares to operate. He cuts out the living heart of Tregaye (who is seen clutching the wooden operating table in pain) and implants it into Steves corpse.

Linda is told to go home by Dr. Robert. She does. Meanwhile Peter tells the corpse (Paul Stockman) that he is Steve Parker. Repeating this, he commands the corpse to speak. When it answers Linda, Steve goes and fetches Linda and brings her to the mine to see his creation. Cook is seen calling a second time for reinforcements. He leaves the mortuary and, hearing some noises, he goes to Lindas, finding no one.

Peter takes Linda to see the now resurrected body of Steve, who turns to look at her. She screams and tells Peter he hasnt brought back Steve, he has created a monster from hell. All at once Steve approaches to choke Linda, but Peter intervenes. The corpse turns on Steve and a massive struggle ensues. Chemicals are spilled onto the ground and vapors begin to fill the cavern. When the struggle is over, Peter is dead and the corpse has collapsed.

Linda, who has escaped during the struggle, makes it outside and meets the search party and points the way for Cook and his men. Dr. Robert takes Linda away.

father son relationship|grave robber|god complex|reanimation|playing god|questions of morality|deception|accidental death|heart transplant|back from the dead|mad doctor|

Argentina: El abrazo del muerto
Belgium (French title): Le cadavre qui tue
Brazil: O Esquife do Morto-Vivo
Spain (poster title): El abrazo del muerto
Finland: Tri Bloodin ruumisarkku
Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title): Periplanomenos nekros
Italy: La bara del Dottor Sangue
Mexico: El abrazo del muerto
Portugal (pre-release title): O Abraço da Morte