Bizarre mad scientist/asylum movie is oddly vampire-lite. Worth it to see Donald Wolfit chew the scenery though.

Doctor is wrongly sentenced to prison for attempting blood transfusions before science has advanced enough to see that as more than quackery. He ends up at an asylum where Dr. Callistratus is attempting similar experiments on his prisoners. Callistratus however is conducting said experiments because he is an executed criminal brought back to life by a heart transplant, and needs frequent blood transfusions to live!

Title is definitely a misnomer, and probably an attempt to ride Hammer's coattails, That's a shame, as this is a rather good and ambitious film that deserves a bit more credit than it has received. Certainly it's one of the first British films with gore elements. This resulted in many censorship cuts, a fact painfully obvious in current prints. Wolfit makes the most (and then some) of his part, but the honours go to Maddern's pathetically dignified, albeit murderous hunchback.

15 October 2011: original screencaps
05 October 2013: uncredited roles added and other minor revisions