An investigative reporter stumbles onto an artist that has made a pact to come back after his death to sculpt a statue of a demon using human blood and clay. Once the demon is awakened he will be granted immortality.
A newspaper publisher listens to the personal tapes of investigative reporter David Norliss, who has disappeared during an investigation. The tapes tell the story of that investigation, involving a recent widow whose late husband has been seen working in his private studio. As Norliss and the widow investigate, they unravel a plot involving Voodoo and the walking dead.—balkaster
Writer David Norliss [Roy Thinnes], who has been working on a book debunking thesupernatural, hasn't been seen or heard from in over a week, so hispublisher, Sanford T Evans [Don Porter], pays a visit to David's house in SanFrancisco. David is not there, but Sanford does find the first page of hismanuscript in the typewriter and a pile of tapes on his desk. Sanford popsthe tape marked "1" into the recorder and begins to listen to the storyabout how David became involved with the widow of sculptor James Cort andthe strange events that subsequently took place.
On the recommendation of her sister Marsha Sterns [Michele Carey], Ellen Cort [Angie Dickinson] contactedDavid Norliss the day after a terrifying incident in which she came uponher dead husband James [Nick Dimitri] in his studio. What he was doing, she didn't know, butshe did watch him easily kill their German shepherd as if batting at afly. She shot him, but the police could not find his body nor any of hisblood, and Sheriff Hartley [Claude Akins] refuses to believe it was her husband. However,Ellen is certain about what she saw and thinks it may involve the occult.She explains to David how, when her husband learned that he had incurablePick's disease, he made a deal with an occultist named Madame Jeckiel [Vonetta McGee] whoclaimed to be able to cure illness and even grant immortality. To seal thedeal, Jeckiel gave James a ring holding the Osiris scarab. Ellen has noidea what the agreement involved, but she did see to it that her husbandwas buried with the ring on his finger, as per his request.
That night, a young woman is murdered in Carmel, near Ellen's house.The autopsy reveals that her body was totally drained of blood. SheriffHartley warns everyone involved not to talk about it, but by the timeDavid makes it down to Carmel, the whole town seems to be a-buzz. Davidvisits Mme Jeckiel who warns him to stay away from Cort's studio, in facthis entire estate, "because it is now the House of Sargoth". Of course,the first thing David does is go snooping in the studio. Everything seemsto be in order until he and Ellen notice a statue that wasn't therebefore. It's a statue of a demon, and it appears to be a work in progress.Even the clay is still damp, so David takes a sample of it for analysis.
Suddenly, James Cort bursts through the door and leaps at them. Davidand Ellen attempt to get away, but Cort pursues them to the car. Davidgets the car going just as Cort rips off the passenger door, but theysucceed in escaping. David drives straight to the police station wherethey show the car to Sheriff Hartley, who agrees to accompany them back tothe Cort estate and search for Cort. When they find Cort's coffin empty,Hartley concludes that someone has taken the body but recommends thatEllen move to a motel in Carmel for her own safety. That night, Ellen's sister Marsha returns from a trip to New York and, finding no one at the estate, takes a room at a nearby motel. Asshe's getting ready for bed, James Cort crashes through a window andattacks her. When the motel manager knocks on the door to see why she'sscreaming, he is knocked sideways by Cort barreling out of the room withMarsha in his arms. The manager calls the sheriff, who gives him the samewarning not to talk about what happened until they can find Marsha.
The next day, David telephones Ellen with the news that he's locatedblueprints of the studio and discovered underground tunnels where hethinks Cort may be hiding. He's also gotten back the chemical analysis ofthe clay and learned that it is 40% human blood. He presumes that Cort iskilling people and using their blood in the clay, but for what purpose?While David drives to Carmel, Ellen is visited by Mme Jeckiel, who tellsher about the deal with her husband. In return for the Osiris scarab,which allows him to rise from dead, Cort must sculpt a statue of the demonSargoth. When finished, the statue will provide a material body forSargoth. Jeckiel means to find Cort's body before nightfall and remove thering from his finger, thus preventing Sargoth from entering this world.Ellen leaves a note for David at her motel, and she and Jeckiel go to thestudio to search for Cort in the tunnels.
It is almost sundown when Ellen and Jeckiel find Cort's body lying ina coffin. Jeckiel attempts to remove the ring from his finger, but Cortsuddenly awakens and kills her. In running away, Ellen stumbles onMarsha's body. Just then, David catches up with Ellen, and they head forthe studio where they find that the statue is almost completed. Davidpulls out a beaker of blood and pours a circle around the statue,explaining that medieval alchemy says that a blood circle on fire willprevent anything from getting out of the circle.
Just as David completes the blood circle, they hear a sound. Theyhide as Cort enters the studio. He goes directly to the statue andcompletes it, then drops on his knees and chants. Just as the statue ofSargoth comes to life, David lights the blood circle, trapping both Cortand Sargoth [Bob Schott] inside. The studio goes up in flames. Later, when SheriffHartley has the ashes searched, only James Cort's bones are found. Of thedemon Sargoth, they find nothing.
Tape 1 has come to a finish. Sanford places tape 2 into the recorderand asks himself whether this tape will tell what happened to both Sargothand David Norliss. It begins, "It was a rainy afternoon when I receivedthe letter..." [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.]
