Bob (William Bates) and his girlfriend Shirley (Pat Barrington) go in search of a cemetery to inspire Bob for writing his next horror story.
After they crash their car they wander into the graveyard and encounter the dancing dead – a full moon spectacle overseen by the ruler of the dark, The Emperor (Criswell).
The couple are spotted and taken prisoner, tied to stakes and forced to watch a series of erotic dances performed by the damned souls of various perfidious females while they await their fate.
The Princess of the Dark, a.k.a. The Black Ghoul (Fawn Silver) wants to execute Shirley but The Emperor keeps putting it off.
One after another, a group of pro strippers ranging from dreadful to pretty darn good (Rene de Beau) dance about interminably to music that often verges on the comical. They’re supposed to be expressing their evil lives but besides a cat costume or a cutaway to a badly matched shot of a snake, nothing makes the slightest sense.
A few years farther down the road from his better-known Ed Wood efforts, Criswell is now puffy and bloated-looking. His weird curl of white hair sits neatly on his forehead, making him look like a senior citizen kewpie doll.
Fawn Silver reads her lame “As you desire master” lines wearing a costume reminiscent of Lily Munster. The Mummy and Wolfman have terrible rented costumes and add unfunny comic relief.
The production may be cheap but it’s not the disaster that most of Wood’s films were. Not a single gravestone falls over, not even once.
Bob William Bates
Shirley
Pat Barrington The Emperor
Criswell The Black Ghoul
Fawn Silver Wolfman/Giant
John Andrews The Mummy
Louis Ojena Hawaiian Dance
Mickey Jines Skeleton Dance
Barbara Nordin Indian Dance
Bunny Glaser Slave Dance
Nadejda Dobrev Street Walker Dance
Coleen O’Brien Cat Dance
Texas Starr Fluff Dance
Rene De Beau Mexican Dance
Stephanie Jones Zombie Dance
Dene Starnes
The couple are spotted and taken prisoner, tied to stakes and forced to watch a series of erotic dances performed by the damned souls of various perfidious females while they await their fate.
