Rathbone is MAD! He'll do anything to save his wife from the coma she's been in for 8 months. So if he has to experiment with a few other people, with the aid of an Indian drug, well, why not? (After all, he is SIR JOEL, so presumably he can get away with a lot.) Rudley is the condemned prisoner, a surgeon, he picks to help him. Tamiroff is the provider of victims, and he is entertaining, as always. Of the other big names, Lugosi in his final full film plays a mute, and Chaney is a sub-human. Carradine at least gets to speak as a madman who believes the Crusades are still going on. Tor Johnson has a bit of a better role. Of the women, the rather attractive Phyllis Stanley is the doctor's devoted henchman, while Patricia Blair is his assistant--the daughter of the sub-human Chaney! So many complications. Not the schlock it is billed to be, this is a well-directed film with a nicely unhinged ending that is worth waiting for. ( )