The Revenge of Frankenstein

In 1860, Baron Victor Frankenstein faces execution by guillotine. He escapes death by substituting the priest's death and burial as his own, aided by a hunchback named Karl. This daring ruse sets the stage for his continued experiments.

Three years after his escape, Victor operates under the alias Doctor Stein and becomes a successful physician in Carlsbrück. He tends to the wealthy while also serving patients at a paupers' hospital. Hans Kleve, a junior medical council member, recognizes him and seeks an apprenticeship, setting the stage for renewed collaboration.

Victor continues the old experiments by transplanting a living brain into a new body, aiming for a capable host rather than a cobbled-together creature. The deformed Karl volunteers his brain to gain a healthy body, lured by Margaret Conrad, the hospital's new assistant. The plan braids science with ambition as Hans supports the project.

The transplant succeeds, giving Karl a healthy body. Hans mentions Karl’s upcoming medical sensation, which alarms Karl. He wins Margaret's sympathy, prompting her to help him gain freedom.

Hans notes that the chimpanzee into which Victor had transplanted the orangutan brain ate its mate, foreshadowing dangers of the experiments. He worries about Karl, but Victor brushes off the concerns.

Karl bolts from the hospital and hides in Victor's laboratory. He burns his preserved hunchback body, signaling a desperate bid to sever his deformity and escape capture.

Karl is confronted by a drunken janitor who mistakes him for a burglar but ends up killing the intruder. The incident drives Karl further into hiding as Victor and Hans search for him.

The next morning, Margaret discovers Karl in her aunt's stable. He experiences weakness in his arm and leg as Hans and Margaret prepare to help him. When they arrive, Karl is gone, continuing the mystery of his whereabouts.

During a final attempt to seek help, Karl redevelops his deformities and begs Victor for assistance, using his real name Frankenstein. He collapses and dies, underscoring the tragic limits of the experiment.

Victor defies the medical council by denying that Frankenstein is alive. The council opens his supposed grave, finds only the priest's body, and concludes that the real Frankenstein remains at large.

At the hospital, patients attack Victor in a frenzy. Hans rushes his dying mentor to the lab, and the police arrive to arrest Victor. When Hans reveals Victor's dead body, the authorities depart, believing the case is settled.

Hans transplants Victor's brain into a new body prepared to resemble him. The procedure effectively creates a fresh host for Victor's consciousness, who will operate as Doctor Franck.

Sometime later in London, Hans assists Victor, now calling himself Doctor Franck, as he welcomes a new flow of patients. The new identity marks a shift from the Carlsbrück experiments to a broader medical spectacle. The cycle of life, death, and reinvention closes the timeline.