Blood Mania

Dr. Craig Cooper tends to Ridgeley Waterman at home while a shadowy blackmailer demands $50,000 for suppressing his illegal abortion history. The extortion adds pressure on Cooper, who is already financially strained by the looming 'tax' problems. This confrontation sets the stage for the dangerous entanglements to come.

Victoria, Waterman's daughter, repeatedly tries to seduce Cooper during house calls. After several attempts, the affair begins and deepens, giving Victoria a clandestine route to secure funds. The illicit relationship becomes a driving force behind later manipulations and betrayals.

Victoria murders her father with Cooper's help, and they arrange the death to look like a stroke. Cooper helps to minimize suspicion and keep their affair hidden. The act frees up the estate’s potential funds for Victoria to manipulate.

The family lawyer reads the will at Waterman's estate, and Gail returns from New York for the event. To Victoria's shock, Gail is named the primary beneficiary of the estate, while Victoria is left with only the house and a small allowance. The reading intensifies the infighting and desperation within the family.

Cooper learns that Gail has become a wealthy heiress and begins pursuing her romantically. Gail's status shift creates new power dynamics and further complicates the love triangle. Kate, who lives with Gail, watches the evolving relationship with unease.

Kate realizes that Gail and Cooper are involved and decides to leave, packing her belongings and returning to New York. The household atmosphere grows tenser as loyalties fracture and the motive to control the estate tightens. The departure removes a stabilizing presence and heightens the risk of exposure.

Gail returns home and offers to split the estate with Victoria, who refuses the compromise. Gail hints that she has already offered to help Cooper with his 'tax' issues, signaling that a wider conspiracy may be in play. The confrontation deepens Victoria's resentment and fuels future violence.

Victoria discovers the budding relationship between Gail and Cooper and erupts with jealousy and fury. The revelation confirms Victoria's fear of losing control over the estate and her lover. Tensions escalate as personal and financial motives collide.

In a fit of rage, Victoria bludgeons Gail to death with a lamp in the bathroom. Cooper returns and finds Gail's lifeless body, forcing him to confront the dangerous fallout of their affair. The murder marks a turning point, as both maintain the cover story to avoid exposure.

To hide the crime, Cooper helps transport Gail's body to the car trunk. They return to the house and pretend to console Victoria, keeping the truth buried for the moment. The couple's complicity deepens as they navigate the increasing risk of discovery.

Victoria embraces Cooper, but Gail's corpse stands behind the door and then collapses. The blackmailer is revealed, grinning in the doorway, while a painting on the wall shows Cooper with a skeleton draped across his arms. The scene exposes the web of crime and hints at a larger mechanism of guilt.

The closing moments suggest the blackmailer's orchestration of the cover-up and Cooper's deep-seated guilt. The imagery of the painting seals the sinister connection between sex, money, and murder. The ending leaves the true extent of blame and complicity ambiguous but unmistakably grim.