Who were they?


At the end of this film, a number a guys are found under the floor beneath the casket. Are these the victims who were kept alive by the junkie assistant, or were they the "lost souls" of the victims? Any idea?

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It appears they were part of the doctor's experiments so he must've brought them back from the dead.

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The movie probably intended them to be "zombies" brought from the dead or something of the like, but after viewing it I fancy this interpretation:

1. Bela Lugosi talks about paranoia, and mentions how it gives people the idea that they are out to get him, and that it can turn people to a life of crime.
2. Bela Lugosi specifically says that the doctor is schizophrenic.
3. The nurse is shown being stand offish toward her boyfriend.

With all of those in mind, I think that a large part of the second half of the film didn't happen. The doctor is schizophrenic and thinks he is bringing the victims back to life, and Bela Lugosi (being paranoid) accepts this as people are "out to get him". The last scene with the nurse being the "good wife" didn't happen at all.

Oh, and I often find myself confused by the ends of posts until I realize I'm reading a signature.

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It appears they were part of the doctor's experiments so he must've brought them back from the dead.


[indeed]





When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

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I just assumed they were zombies of the victims, though their part in the film was quite minimal.

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No zombies at all. The doctor finds a way to cure them and keep them alive. It's not clear why he keep them in the basement, maybe waiting for a revenge (as it finally happens). The last scene just prove they're 100% human beings.

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Cure for death=reanimating corpses=turning into zombies. Only these early ones didn't eat people. Silly plot device.

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Actually the seemed to be eating flesh when they surrounded someone. Many people have noticed that this may have beaten NOTLD to the punch by about 25 years!

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Your theory of "that last half didn't really happen" is bull imo. This was a typical of that era quickie, not to be confused w/modern film having convoluted mind fock twists and lengthy production processes.

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I think that it was just a trick to give the impression that the cellar prisoners were zombies. Especially when they silently move on Wagner who has been dropped down there to join them. But their true status is revealed at the end when one of the prisoners gets married. The character called Richard Dennison.

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