The Unearthly

Unscrupulous physician Dr. Loren Wright brings his troubled patient, Grace Thomas, to the home of Dr. Charles Conway and solicitously advises her to place herself in Conway's care. After Conway's assistant, Dr. Sharon Gilchrist, escorts Grace to her room, Conway chastises Wright for bringing Grace there, because Conway has instructed Wright not to bring him any patients with living relatives. Wright then reassures Conway that he will make Grace's disappearance look like a suicide. Later, Sharon and Conway examine Harry Jedrow, the latest patient in their experiment to extend youth and longevity, who is now in a cataleptic state as a result of the doctors' experiments. As Lobo, Conway's hulking, brutish assistant, tends to Jedrow, Conway tries to reassure the timid Grace, thus arousing Sharon's jealousy. That night, as Lobo prowls the grounds, he finds Lt. Mark Houston lurking in the bushes and takes him to Conway. Although Mark claims that he became lost while hitchhiking, Conway recognizes him from a picture in the newspaper that identifies him as wanted killer Frank Scott. Conway then offers him sanctuary from the police in exchange for agreeing to participate in the doctor's experiments. At breakfast the following morning, Mark meets fellow patients Danny Green, an angry, aggressive man, and Natalie Anders, who explains that she is there to recover from exhaustion. After breakfast, Conway informs Mark that he is involved in a research project that uses a new gland, which he dubs the "seventeenth gland," to prolong life and arrest aging. When Conway offers Mark eternal life, Mark refuses to participate in the project until Conway threatens to turn him over to the police. Later, Wright phones Conway to tell him that Jedrow's sister is asking about her brother. When Wright asks what he should tell her, Conway instructs him to say that Jedrow is dead. That afternoon, Conway compliments Natalie on being cured and then apprises her that her final treatment will be administered that night. At dinner, Mark asks about Natalie's absence and Sharon explains that Natalie has asked for a dinner tray to be delivered to her room. Later, as Conway entertains the others with a mournful organ concert, Lobo carries the drugged Natalie into the lab. Once the patients retire for the night, Sharon and Conway implant a new gland into Natalie's body. Meanwhile, Mark sneaks into Natalie's room, and upon discovering that she is missing, goes to warn Grace that Conway is a madman, but Grace refuses to listen to him. Having completed the operation, Sharon and Conway hook Natalie up to a machine and jolt her with a dose of radiation, then place her unconscious body into a dungeon-like cellar to await the results of the surgery. Eight hours later, they check on Natalie and find the body of a grotesque, disfigured woman, the remnants of another failed experiment. When Mark and Grace return from taking a walk that morning, Conway queries Grace about her conversation with Mark, then warns her to avoid Mark because he is dangerous. Observing their discussion, Sharon jealously demands that Conway leave Grace alone. That night, Mark sneaks into the cellar and finds the somnolent Jedrow. Hurrying upstairs, he tries to warn Grace that she is in danger, and when she refuses to believe him, he then takes her into the cellar, but Jedrow is no longer there. Peering into one of the rooms in search of Jedrow, they see Natalie's disfigured body. After advising the terrified Grace to return to her room and lock the door, Mark sees Lobo lugging a coffin strapped to his back. Mark follows Lobo and watches as he lowers the coffin into a grave. Just then, Danny tries to sneak out of the house, but after the guard dog barks at him, Danny slips back in and Lobo goes to investigate. In Lobo's absence, Mark pries open the coffin, after which Jedrow sits up and opens his eyes. Mark leaves just before Lobo comes back to finish burying the coffin. Mark then informs Danny about Conway's gruesome experiments and arranges for Danny to meet him and Grace in the living room late that evening. As they converge in the darkened living room, Conway, armed with a gun, suddenly switches on the lights. At gunpoint, Lobo orders Danny and Mark into the cellar while Sharon and Conway take Grace to the lab to complete their experiment. In the cellar, Danny tricks Lobo into lowering his guard, and although Mark gets the jump on him, Lobo shoots Danny. Danny insists that Mark leave him behind and, after locking Lobo in a cell, Mark hurries upstairs and bursts into Conway's office. Conway sets off a silent alarm to alert Sharon, who is in the lab with the unconscious Grace. Deducing that Mark is an undercover policeman, Conway cuts off the lights and flees. As Mark phones the sheriff to summon backup, Conway runs to his car, and discovering that it is locked, returns to the living room to retrieve his keys. Just then, Jedrow lumbers in holding a screwdriver in his hand and stabs Conway. Soon after, Capt. Reagan arrives with reinforcements and Mark explains that he pulled Jedrow out of the coffin when Lobo was not looking. After the police arrest Sharon, Mark revives Grace. Returning from searching the cellar, the officers announce that Danny has died, then lead Reagan back down to show him a cell jammed with Conway's deformed victims. After Reagan and the others go to arrest Wright, Mark kisses Grace.