A man's body wrapped in a shroud is shoved into a Transylvania grave in 1874. An executioner (Milton Reid) drives a stake through its heart. Immediately afterward, Carl (Victor Maddern), who is severely physically disabled, emerges from hiding and kills the gravedigger (Otto Diamant). Carl summons a drunken doctor (Cameron Hall (actor)) to perform a heart transplant on the body, then murders the doctor.