Dr. Julian Mater is suspended and gets his license revoked for performing experiments on dying patients in cellular regeneration. A couple of years later, he returns to the hospital that condemned his work to begin practicing his grizzly experiments once more.

A chess grandmaster is in a big tournament, and when his lover is found painted up and the blood drained out of her body he becomes a chief suspect. After he gets a call from the killer urging him to try and figure out the game, he cooperates with police and a psychologist to try and catch the killer, but doubts linger about the grandmaster's innocence as the string of grisly murders continues.