The Man Who Turned to Stone (1957)

Jory and his followers stay immortal by siphoning off the life forces of others. If they don't get renewed, they petrify.

Director:

László Kardos

Writer:

Bernard Gordon

Stars:

Victor Jory, William Hudson, Charlotte Austin

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Victor Jory	...	Dr. Murdock
William Hudson	...	Dr. Jess Rogers
Charlotte Austin	...	Carol Adams
Jean Willes	...	Tracy
Ann Doran	...	Mrs. Ford
Paul Cavanagh	...	Cooper
George Lynn	...	Dr. Freneau
Victor Varconi	...	Dr. Myer
Friedrich von Ledebur	...	Eric (as Frederick Ledebur)
Tina Carver	...	Big Marge Collins
Barbara Wilson	...	Anna Sherman

Storyline

A group of 18th-century scientists, led by Dr. Murdock, have remained young after all these centuries by using electricity to suck the life out of young women. If one of the scientists misses a treatment, his skin hardens to the toughness of stone. A female prisoner discovers why so many of her fellow inmates are disappearing, and attempts to stop them with the aid of a prison psychiatrist.

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Plot Keywords:

psychiatrist | social worker heroine | experiment gone wrong | bound and gagged | blood draining | 

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Taglines:

Human or inhuman? No woman is safe...!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

March 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Het tuchthuis van de angst

Company Credits

Production Co:

Clover Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

71 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Columbia Pictures released this film on a double bill with Zombies of Mora Tau with the tag line: "Warning - This is the Most Shocking Horror Bill Ever Shown!"

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Connections

Featured in Monsterama Sci-Fi Late Night Creature Feature Show Vol. 1 (1996)

User Reviews

The Man Who Turned to Stone (1957) **1/2

**1/2 out of ****

Even though I don't care much for the term, this 1950s B horror is a favorite "guilty pleasure" of mine. It's has an enjoyably weird premise, even if it's loaded with plot holes and requires a heaping suspension of disbelief. A detention center for women is experiencing an unusually high rate of random heart attack deaths by healthy young inmates. It turns out that the newest staff of eccentric middle-agers now running the prison are actually centuries-old people who kidnap the girls, and then drain their life forces in order to keep themselves from aging further. The problem is, if they miss their latest energy boosts, they start to turn into stone. A kindly social worker (Charlotte Austin, later in FRANKENSTEIN 1970) and psychiatrist William Hudson (the bad hubby of ATTACK OF THE FIFTY FT. WOMAN) investigate the strange occurrences. Victor Jory is suitably creepy as the head villain. This has some disturbing moments considering its era, and is just offbeat enough to remain interesting, if not a good movie.