Writer: Jean Scott Rogers
Composer: Buxton Orr
Starring: Boris Karloff, Betta St. John, Christopher Lee, Finlay Currie, Adrienne Corri, Francis De Wolff, Francis Matthews, Nigel Green, Desmond Llewelyn
More info: IMDb
Tagline: Tops in Terror!
Plot: Dr. Thomas Bolton fights for the use of anesthetic in surgery and uses himself as a guinea pig, but soon finds himself addicted.
My rating: 7/10
Will I watch it again? No.
The posters and trailer portray this as a horror movie. It has horror elements but it's not a horror movie. It's a pseudo-biography about the doctor who discovered anesthesia. I doubt there's much fact in it but that's the gist of the film. There are other sub-plots are added like Burke & Hare-like characters who kill and sell the bodies to hospitals and a romance (of sorts) threadline. The performances are well done. Karloff presents such a sympathetic character that I was genuinely concerned when he was taken advantage of and headed down a dark and dangerous path. The picture looks great and it checks off all of the boxes needed for a quality production but despite the horror setting/elements (plus the subpar scar makeup on Christopher Lee's Resurrection Joe), most of the film is dramatic and feels a bit slow. Nevertheless, it's a good movie.
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