In England in 1865, Sir Edward Markham (Alistair Williamson) is kept locked up in his room by his brother Julian (Vincent Price). Sir Edward is severely disfigured from an African Voodoo ceremony performed on him because he was involved in a transgression against the natives, and his brother feels deeply guilty about the incident.
Sir Edward plots to escape his room by faking his death. He is aided by the crooked family lawyer Trench (Peter Arne), who hires a witchdoctor named N’Galo (Harry Baird) to put Sir Edward in a death-like trance. Julian finds him in this state and puts him in a coffin. But he is disturbed by the man’s horrendous appearance and wants to find another body for the open-casket funeral. Trench and N’Galo murder the landlord, Tom Hacket (Maxwell Shaw) and use him. After the wake, they dump the body in the river and Julian buries Sir Edward. Now freed of his responsibilities, Julian then marries Elizabeth (Hilary Dwyer).
Sir Edward is dug up by graverobbers and delivered to Doctor Newhartt (Christopher Lee) for experimentation. The doctor opens the coffin to find Sir Edward alive. Knowing that the doctor is using illegally exhumed bodies, Sir Edward blackmails the doctor into sheltering him. Sir Edward dons a crimson hood and begins a killing spree. First to die is Trench’s assistant Norton (Carl Rigg), when he does not reveal N’Galo’s whereabouts. Sir Edward, mysterious in his hood, romances Newhartt’s maid Sally (Sally Gerson). She is fired and then hired by Julian. Searching for Trench, Sir Edward kills a prostitute named Heidi (Uta Levka). The police are now looking for a killer in a crimson hood.
Julian is suspicious. He confronts Trench, who tells him the truth about Sir Edward’s supposed death. Sir Edward kills Trench and learns the whereabouts of N’Galo. Sir Edward thinks N’Galo may be able to cure his disfigurement, but he learns that he was actually punished by the Africans for Julian’s crime—killing a village child. N’Galo cannot cure Sir Edward and they fight. Then he fatally wounds Doctor Newhartt and heads off to get his brother. Julian hears about this and finds Doctor Newhartt near death. Sir Edward arrives at Julian’s house and is rejected by Sally, who has heard of his murders. Julian arrives and chases him with a doubled-barrelled shotgun. Sally sees Sir Edward’s face and screams. Julian shoots him and as he dies, he bites Julian on the hand. Back in his coffin, Sir Edward is resurrected by N’Galo, but he is deep underground. His disease has been passed to Julian, who is now disfigured.
The film was directed by Gordon Hessler, loosely based on an Edgar Allan Poe short story written in 1844. The screenplay was begun by Lawrence Huntington, but he died eleven days into production and it was finished by Christopher Wicking. Michael Reeves began directing but fell ill and Gordon Hessler replaced him. It was the first time that Vincent Price and Christopher Lee appeared together, but they were only on screen together about half a minute. Because it was sympathetic to Africans, the film was banned in Texas. The score was written by Harry Robinson, who later did many Hammer pictures.
Alistair Williamson was the lead but his voice was dubbed and his face hidden for most of the movie. The film was a success and paved the way for Scream and Scream Again and Cry of the Banshee. Price was criticized for overacting but was still well-reviewed. As usual, the violence was toned down for release. Price and Lee were complimented, as was the camerawork, but critics considered it somewhat slow and dull. Audience score on Rotten Tomatoes was 37% positive but 60% positive by critics.