Public Domain Horror Theater: Burlesque Dancers and the Mad Scientists Who Love Them

Dementia Squad Law:

For every mad scientist there must be an equal and opposite burlesque dancer.

This flick starts with a chick, a dancer, being jilted by a guy. Distraught, she drives her car down an embankment and ends up in an accident that scars her for life. Or is it for life?

A mysterious scientist, hearing of her plight, sends his lovely assistant to tell the chick that there's hope, and so she goes to his mysterious house to undergo the mysterious treatment. Which works...for a while...

The mad scientist's just a schoolboy at heart, and soon falls for his lovely patient. Unfortunately he finds that her treatment is not permanent, and the scars start coming back in some wonderful special effects transformation scenes. He realizes that he needs to kill young women to steal their life essence to restore her beauty, natch. In the world of mad scientists, beautiful women are the earth's most valuable natural resource. He has too much of a conscience to do kill, but turns to mad science for the solution and puts it to the test tube. He whips up a concoction that turns him into a soulless monster to make it all go easier. It also gives him fangs and quite a bushy bushy hairdo.

Meanwhile, she is tired of being cooped up despite his promises he will let her go after a final treament. The man who jilted her has been missing her and drowning his sorrows in other dancers, but now comes to realize she's alive. There is then some cat and mouse as the police go question the mad scientist, leading to a climax in a greenhouse. He just wanted to be loved!

It's a gothic science fiction romance/melodrama with much to recommend it, though it's not as exciting as some I've watched recently and some parts drag. A lot of the drama is oddly compelling, however. Here's the trailer. Interestingly, this includes a scene of her dancing. The copy I watched did not.