Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing), sentenced to death, asks for a priest and tells him his story. At the age of 10, he lost his father, and after his mother’s death, while still a teenager, he inherited his parents’ entire fortune and invited Professor Paul Kremp to the Swiss village where he was living at the time to pass on his knowledge, especially in the field of biology. Together, they conducted numerous experiments and even managed to revive a dog. As an adult, Frankenstein already knew that he would devote his life to science. He intends to create a living being from body parts and internal organs taken from corpses. Paul considers this project insane, but nevertheless helps Frankenstein under cover of night to remove the body of an executed man from the gallows, from which the baron later cuts off the head.

In the baron’s absence, his orphaned cousin Elizabeth moves into his house; she hopes to marry Frankenstein. The baron brings the hands of the recently deceased great sculptor Bandello: he wants to transplant them onto his future creation. At this stage, Paul finally withdraws from the project and advises Elizabeth to flee the house…