Upon return from a mysterious trip to Africa, "Julian" (Vincent Price) has to keep his elder brother "Sir Edward" (Alister Williamson) locked in a suite at the top of their country pile. A visit from "Trench" (Peter Arne) gives us some idea of just how dangerous the man is, but also suggests that the two may be colluding on the man's escape. Before any of that can happen, though, "Sir Edward" is found dead in his room. His brother has a problem. He cannot allow his disfigured brother to lie for people to see, yet it is the inalienable custom - so he tells "Trench" and his witch-doctor friend "N'Galo" (Harry Baird) to find a solution. Fortunately, nobody in the village seems to notice that the stunt-double body they provided bore no resemblance to the deceased - nor to his brother - and so the problem appears to have been solved. Thing is, though, local doctor "Neuhartt" (Christopher Lee) has engaged the services of some bodysnatchers to enable him to further his research. Yep, two and two go together with a district shock for all to follow. It takes quite a while to get up an head of steam, this, but the last half hour is actually quite watchable as things come to a rushed, but quite entertaining, denouement. Lee only features sparingly, but often enough to add a bit of extra richness to what is essentially a single hander from the adequate Price doing what he does best with the Poe short story. Not great, no - but it has elements of mysticism, black magic and grave robbing - what's not to like?
