Charles Dexter Wards wife enlists the help of a private detective to find out what her husband is up to in a remote cabin owned by his family for centuries. Thehusband is a chemical engineer| and the smells from his experiments (and the delivery of what appear to be human remains at all hours) are beginning to arouse theattention of neighbors and local law enforcement officials. When the detective and wife find a diary of the husbands ancestor from 1771| and reports of gruesomemurders in the area begin to surface| they begin to suspect that some very unnatural experiments are being conducted in the old house. Based on an H.P. Lovecraft著名电影网站INDIEWIRE则评价道：“有史以来最佳奇幻电影之一，触动人心的故事，富有魅力的角色，炫酷夺目的视效，以及无穷无尽的趣味性让这部电影注定成为经典。