Voodoo Man (1944)
A doctor uses the souls of kidnapped women to try and resurrect his wife.
Genre
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Detailed Synopsis
Alice is driving at night when she stops at a gas station and honks her car horn. Nicholas tells Sam he will go and Alice asks him if she is on the right road to Twin Falls. He gives her directions and warns her of a possible detour sign and she thanks him and drives off. Nicholas goes back inside and tells Sam he can close up for the night. Nicholas then calls Dr. Marlowe and tells him a lone woman is heading in his direction. A bush parts and Toby and Grego run and place a road closed barrier in the middle of the road. Someone flips a switch and suddenly Alice's car stalls. Toby and Grego then grab her and take her with them.
The next day, a newspaper article documents a third case of a missing woman along Laurel Road. At the offices of Banner Motion Picture Company, Ralph's boss tells him about the news article concerning the missing girls and mentions it might be a good story for a horror picture. Ralph stops at the same gas station as Alice did and asks for six gallons of gasoline from Sam. Ralph gets out of his car while Sam checks his water and oil and when Ralph gets back in he starts his car and leaves before Sam can tell him he hasn't filled his tank. Sally arrives at the gas station and honks her horn and Nicholas goes outside and tells her the same thing he told Alice when Sally asks him if she is on the right path to Twin Falls. Nicholas then calls Dr. Marlowe and tells him Sally is heading in his direction. Ralph flags down Sally and he asks her for a ride and she agrees to take him to the nearest gas station on her way. She tells Ralph she is to be the maid of honor for her cousin Betty's wedding and after unknowingly insulting Ralph, he tells her he is the man marrying Betty. They come across the road closed sign and take the detour and Dr. Marlowe flips the switch and Sally's car stalls. Ralph goes to check the battery and Dr. Marlowe, who is watching Ralph and Sally through a television set, tells Toby and Grego to wait. Ralph tells Sally he sees a house and will ask them for some help and walks off and Dr. Marlowe tells Toby and Grego to grab Sally and bring her to him. They then grab Sally and take her into a secret tunnel. Ralph knocks on the house door and the Housekeeper tells him Dr. Marlowe is not in and then slams the door on him. Sally is brought before Dr. Marlowe and he hypnotizes her after telling her he needs her. He takes her and introduces her to Mrs. Marlowe who is sitting motionless in a chair and he tells Sally, Mrs. Marlowe is dead, but he is working to bring her back. Dr. Marlowe then orders Sally to go into the basement and she screams. Ralph finds Sally gone and walks back to the road.
Ralph gets to Mrs. Benton's and tells Betty, Sally abandoned him after picking him up. Mrs. Benton looks at the clock and suggests they call the police and report Sally missing and tells Betty and Ralph about the missing women. Dr. Marlowe, Nicholas, Toby, Grego and the Housekeeper get prepared for a voodoo ritual. Dr. Marlowe then has Toby get the Zombies and the Housekeeper get Mrs. Marlowe. Dr. Marlowe then gets Sally and brings her to the ceremony and has her sit in a chair. He places Mrs. Marlowe in the chair opposite Sally and Nicholas chants to Frambona while Dr. Marlowe says from mind to mind and from soul to body over and over again. As he repeats life to death, Sally falls back into her chair, while Mrs. Marlowe exhibits flickers of life, before falling back to death. Ralph and Betty go to the Sheriff's office and tell the Sheriff about Sally missing and tell him where he last saw her. The Sheriff wakes up the Deputy and tells him they have work to do and the Deputy complains his wife wont like him being out so late. They arrive at Dr. Marlowe's residence and the Sheriff tells the Deputy to search for Sally or her car while he rings the doorbell. Dr. Marlowe answers the door and offers a drink to the Sheriff. While Dr. Marlowe is getting a drink, the Sheriff starts looking around the area. Dr. Marlowe comes back with some Sherry and the Sheriff asks him if knows about a detour sign in the area, but Dr. Marlowe feigns ignorance. Nicholas calls Dr. Marlowe, and he tells Nicholas he is busy with the Sheriff. The Sheriff then leaves. Toby goes to check on the Zombies and lets Sally out of her cell and he pets her hair. Toby hears Dr. Marlowe and puts Sally back into her cell, but forgets to close the door and she escapes. Dr. Marlowe tells Toby to bring Sally to try to revive Mrs. Marlowe again and Toby and Grego find her missing. Dr. Marlowe orders Toby to find Sally and he and Grego run away to look for Sally.
As the Sheriff and Deputy are driving back to the station, they see Sally walking down the middle of the road and pick her up. They take her to the Benton home and tell them how they found her. Toby tells Dr. Marlowe where Sally is. As the Sheriff and Deputy are leaving, Dr. Marlowe shows up at Mrs. Benton's home and offers to examine Sally. While they are staring at Sally, Betty mentions to Ralph that she looks like a Zombie. Dr. Marlowe examines Sally and advises Mrs. Benton to let Sally rest and not to take her to a hospital. After he leaves, Betty and Ralph talk about how she reacted when she saw Dr. Marlowe. Dr. Marlowe calls Nicholas and Nicholas uses one of Sally's earrings in a ritual to make her stand up and return to Dr. Marlowe's house. Betty goes to check on Sally and notices her missing and she and Ralph get into his car and go looking for her. They go to Dr. Marlowe's residence and he asks them what happened. He shows them a painting of Mrs. Marlowe and after Betty tells him she is beautiful, he tells her she reminds him of Mrs. Marlowe. As Dr. Marlowe is talking to the Sheriff's office, Betty sees Mrs. Marlowe walk down the stairs and nods towards Ralph to look. The Housekeeper grabs Mrs. Marlowe and then takes her away. Betty and Ralph leave and Dr. Marlowe looks at a glove he stole from Betty and calls Nicholas to come over.
Betty and Ralph talk at a diner and discuss seeing Mrs. Marlowe and how she was dressed similar to Sally when she was found. Nicholas chants over Betty's glove and as Ralph goes to call the Sheriff, Betty gets up and leaves the diner. Ralph tells the Sheriff about Mrs. Marlowe and how she was wearing the same dress as Sally and the Sheriff says he will be right over. Ralph notices Betty is gone and when he sees the car is gone catches a ride with a guy parked outside the diner. Betty arrives at Dr. Marlowe's residence and is brought to Dr. Marlowe by Toby and Grego who tells them to bring the Zombies. Ralph finds the abandoned car and tells the driver from the diner to call the Sheriff and tell him to go to the Marlowe residence. The Zombies are brought into the ritual room and Betty is sat across from Mrs. Marlowe. Dr. Marlow repeats the chant from before and as Ralph enters the room he is knocked unconscious by Grego. The Sheriff and Deputy arrive and break into the residence. Mrs. Marlowe comes back to life, but falls back dead after the Sheriff shoots and kills Dr. Marlowe who threatened him with a sword. Sally wakes up and she leaves with Betty and Ralph. Ralph goes back to his boss with Betty and drops off a script her wrote about his experience before leaving with Betty on their honeymoon.