Corridors of Blood

1958 86 min ★ 6.2 Drama, Horror, Crime

In 1840s London, Dr. Thomas Bolton [Boris Karloff] dares to dream the unthinkable: experimenting with anesthesia gases to make surgery pain-free. While doing so, his demonstration before a panel of his peers ends in a horrific mishap with his patient awakening under the knife; he is forced to leave his position in disgrace. To complicate matters, he becomes addicted to his own chemical experiments and gets involved with a criminal gang led by Black Ben [Francis de Wolff], and a ruthless killer Resurrection Joe [Christopher Lee]. Unfortunately, this shady partnership leads Dr. Bolton to further ruin, culminating in his unwitting participation in murder — for which he becomes the first victim of a blackmail scheme.

Cast

Boris Karloff

Dr. Thomas Bolton

Betta St. John

Susan

Christopher Lee

Resurrection Joe

Finlay Currie

Supt. Charles Matheson

Adrienne Corri

Rachel

Francis de Wolff

Black Ben

Francis Matthews

Jonathan Bolton

Frank Pettingell

Mr. Blount

Basil Dignam

Hospital Chairman

Nigel Green

Insp. Donovan

Details

Director

Robert Day

Screenplay

Jean Scott Rogers

Tagline

"Tops in Terror!"

Status

Released

Original Language

EN

Budget

$37,500

Revenue

$51,500

Production

Producers Associates, Amalgamated Productions

Reviews

T

talisencrw

May 3, 2016

★ 8/10

A lot of fun watching two great horror icons together like Boris Karloff and Sir Christopher Lee. I'm so glad The Criterion Collection bothered putting this foursome out in their 'Monsters and Madmen' boxed set. Such a guilty pleasure to behold, in its intriguing period-piece script of a well-meaning doctor trying to discover anesthesia yet getting drug-addicted in the process. Great stuff.

J

John Chard

November 7, 2019

★ 6/10

I'm so close to surgery without pain. Dr. Thomas Bolton is one of London's top surgeons, brilliant and fast, he is however constantly troubled by the amount of pain his patients go through, for this be a time before anaesthesia. Painstakingly working on a formula to put patients to sleep during surgery, Bolton is convinced he has found a breakthrough, but upon trialling it in front of the boar...