AllMovie

One of several Liberty productions picked up for release by Republic, The Crime of Dr. Crespi is a modern-dress adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's The Premature Burial. Erich Von Stroheim stars as brilliant surgeon Dr. Anton Crespi, who seeks revenge against Ross (John Bohn), the man who stole his sweetheart away. When Ross is brought into the hospital E.R. for a crucial operation, Crespi is handed a golden opportunity to get even. Ross seemingly dies on the operating table, but in fact Crespi has administered a powerful drug that places his old enemy in a deathlike trance. Fully conscious and aware of what is happening, Ross is buried alive, but not before Crespi has some fun taunting his helpless victim. Meanwhile, Crespi's associate Dr. Arnold suspects that something is amiss, and with the help of Dr. Thomas (Dwight "Renfield" Frye in a rare non-lunatic role) he exhumes Ross to perform an autopsy. The "corpse" quickly revives?and then??AAAAAH!!!!