Villain(s)  Deranged criminal

Actor(s):  Michael Gough, June Cunningham, Graham Curnow, Shirley Anne Field

Brief Description  Horrors of the Black Museum (1959) is a British psychological horror and exploitation film directed by Arthur Crabtree. It stars Michael Gough as Edmond Bancroft, a megalomaniacal crime writer who hypnotizes his vulnerable assistant, Rick, to commit a series of gruesome murders in London to provide authentic material for his sensationalist books and newspaper columns.

Plot:
The story takes place in a terror-stricken London where Scotland Yard is utterly baffled by a wave of bizarre, motiveless homicides. The only person who seems to stay ahead of the investigation is Edmond Bancroft (played with theatrical malice by Michael Gough). Bancroft is a highly successful, arrogant crime journalist and thriller author who publicly mocks the police for their incompetence. In secret, Bancroft is the criminal mastermind behind every single atrocity. He orchestrates the violence specifically to manufacture sensational front-page material for his articles and upcoming books. Beneath his home, Bancroft maintains a private "Black Museum". This hidden warehouse is modeled after Scotland Yard's real crime museum but is packed with operational torture devices, guillotines, acid vats, and custom-made instruments of execution.

Bancroft does not commit the physical murders himself. He suffers from a degenerative condition affecting his hands and relies on his naive, timid assistant, Rick (Graham Curnow). By using a combination of mind-altering drugs and intense hypnosis, Bancroft transforms Rick into a mindless, obedient killer. Rick carries out the executions with no memory of his actions afterward. The status quo shatters when Rick falls in love with a young woman named Angela (Shirley Anne Field). She accidentally discovers the secret museum and convinces Rick to seek independence. Infuriated by the threat to his secrets and fueled by deep misogyny, Bancroft commands a hypnotized Rick to eliminate Angela. This ultimate act of betrayal unravels Rick’s mental conditioning, leading to a frantic, violent showdown at a local funfair where the truth is exposed to Scotland Yard.