为了解决外科手术带来的痛苦,十九世纪四十年代伦敦的Thomas Bolton医生致力研究一种基于鸦片的麻醉药,不久他因此染上了毒瘾。为了使实验能够进行下去同时满足毒瘾,他不得不面对利用他签名出售尸体的谋杀犯。In an effort to relieve the suffering of surgery patients, Dr. Thomas Bolton painstakingly develops an opium-based anesthetic, to which he gradually becomes addicted. In order to provide a continual supply of chemicals to continue his experiments and support his addiction, he falls in with a den of murderers who use his signature to sell cadavers to the local hospital.