Plot summary

Title and credits roll over the eponymous faceless man, a stony relic of the destruction of the city of Pompeii in 79 A.D. He is reclining on a marble slab in a museum. The opening shot is a scene of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. with narration, "79 years after the birth of Christ, the city of Pompeii ceased to exist. Destroyed by a mountain of seething hell known as Vesuvius. On a quiet August afternoon, almost 2000 years ago, the volcano erupted, the Earth shook, day became night, birds fell dead from the sky, fish died as the oceans boiled, and the people of Pompeii perished under an avalanche of volcanic ash and stone, burned, suffocated, crushed." At the Pompeii dig a laborer is working in a trench. Dirt moves above him and a gold jewelry box falls into the trench below. A stony hand pushes its way out of the ground. The same day a team uncovers the body. It is destined for the Museo di Pompeii in Naples. A car drives up to the museum (Griffith Park Observatory in Los Angeles). Dr. Paul Mallon (Richard Anderson) walks up the steps and is greeted by Dr. Carlo Fiorillo (Luis Van Rooten) at the door. Dr. Fiorillo tells Paul of the discovery at the dig. He suspects it may still harbor life.The body is being transported to the museum. On the way the stony figure reaches out from its wooden packing crate. Dr. Fiorillo asks Paul to do some tests when it arrives. Next to arrive at the museum are Maria Fiorillo (Adele Mara) and Dr. Enricco Ricci (Gar Moore). Maria is the daughter of Dr. Fiorillo. Enricco tells Maria he wishes her father had called someone other than Paul to assist. Maria had been an item with Paul earlier, and Enricco is jealous. In the display room, Dr. Fiorillo tells his daughter, Paul and Enricco about the simultaneous discovery of the gold jewel box and its contents with that of the stony figure. The bronze medallion was sent to Dr. Emanuel, a specialist in ancient languages. The inscription on the medallion was in Etruscan. In the truck, the stony body frees itself from the crate. It attacks and kills the driver, Tony (uncredited). The phone rings. Dr. Fiorillo is informed that the truck crashed and Tony, the driver, was killed. They drive out to the scene of the accident. Dr. Fiorillo and Enricco examine the stony body for damage as Tony's body is loaded into an ambulance. Paul and Maria examine the damaged truck. They are asked not to touch anything by the investigating police officer. Dr. Emanuel (Felix Locher) drives up to the accident scene. Walking over to see Dr. Emanuel, Paul informs Maria that he is engaged to be married. Maria was unaware of this and asks her name. Paul tells Maria his fiancée is an artist and her name is Tina Enright. Dr. Emanuel tells Dr. Fiorillo that he has translated the inscription on the medallion, but wants to discuss his findings in private, not in front of the police. At the museum, Emanuel explains the meaning of the inscription, and that one death will not be all. The inscription by Quintillus Aurelius contains a curse warning anyone who, "Stands between me and what is mine shall perish." Paul and Maria voice their skepticism. The stony body of Quintillus (Bob Bryant) is wheeled in by Enricco Ricci. A preliminary examination by Paul shows blood on one of the hands. Paul tells Dr. Emanuel that he doesn't believe in the curse, that it killed Tony, or that it is alive.Paul pays a visit to his fiancée, Tina Enright (Elaine Edwards) at her apartment. Tina has been painting. A dream she had the night before was the inspiration for the bound figure of a Roman slave. She dreamed of the excavation and the driver's death. Tina demands to see the stony body since Paul has to return to the museum to answer some more questions by the police. The contents of the jewel box are now displayed next to the body of Quintillus in the museum. Police Inspector Renaldi (Jan Arvan) is present and questions Dr. Fiorillo, Maria and Enricco. He informs the scientists that Tony was murdered, but that the stony body on display is not a suspect. Paul and Tina arrive at the museum. Tina stares at the body with a mixture of fright and fascination. Rinaldi suspects the trench digger may be involved and is worth questioning. Tina tells her story to Dr. Fiorillo and the others. Tina asks Dr. Fiorillo permission to sketch the stony remains, but is told no, not until Paul finishes his examination.Tina is home in bed and having nightmares of Quintillus. She dresses and, disobeying orders, enters the museum after hours. She sits in the display room and begins her sketching. Quintillus moves slowly. At first Tina does not notice his subtle movements, but she is increasingly uneasy in his presence. A guard continues his after-hours rounds. Quintillus sits up, then hops down off his marble slab, and walks towards Tina. She screams, which gets the attention of the guard. She faints as the guard enters the room. He fires his revolver at Quintillus with no effect. Quintillus strikes the guard, knocking him into and breaking the display case holding the jewel collection. Quintillus walks to the broken case and retrieves a brooch. He pins it on Tina's chest. The commotion stirs Dr. Fiorillo and his daughter from their beds. They have sleeping quarters at the museum. They enter the room and find both bodies. The guard is dead, but Tina is alive and in shock.Dr. Fiorillo finds a book that shows a picture of a Roman matron wearing a similar brooch. Paul still expresses his skepticism. Dr. Fiorillo tells Paul to take Tina home. Paul and Maria take Tina home and put her to bed. They return to the museum. In the display room, Paul, Maria, and Dr. Fiorillo try an experiment. Dr. Fiorillo places the brooch on the floor near Quintillus. They watch in fascination as Quintillus comes to life, leave his slab, and retrieve the brooch. It walks towards the scientists. Paul picks up an axe and strikes Quintillus, but the blows have no effect on it. The stony figure pushes Paul to the floor, breaks through the display room doors, and walks out of the museum. Paul suspects Quintillus is on his way to Tina's apartment. They notice the police to go to Tina's apartment. Tina is at home sleeping fitfully. The police arrive at Tina's apartment. Instinct draws Quintillus to Tina's apartment. Dr. Fiorillo, Maria, and Paul arrive at Tina's apartment, but remain outside. Quintillus arrives and breaks in. He makes his way to Tina's rooms. Tina is awake and hears the door breaking. She screams when she sees Quintillus. She runs along the corridors and manages to get trapped in the basement of her own building. Quintillus is right behind her, but before he can grab her he collapses to the floor and goes stiff. Tina confesses to Paul she had another dream that Quintillus was after her.Dr. Emanuel arrives at the museum the next day. He is carrying two books. The museum is closed and locked, but Dr. Fiorillo lets him inside. Quintillus is now bound with canvas straps. Dr. Emanuel has a theory about how Quintillus is able to live and move. Emanuel asks Paul to review two books on Egyptian alchemy before he performs his next series of tests on the body of Quintillus. Dr. Fiorillo warns Tina that something Emanuel has found she may find disturbing. Tina remembers Quintillus pinning the brooch on her. Dr. Emanuel asks Tina to come to his home to talk, but he wants to stop on the way and visit the Cove of the Blind Fisherman. He is interested in her reaction to the location. This was the exit route for those fleeing the volcano in 79 A.D. They walk to the water's edge, and Tina starts to recollect a 2000 year old memory. They get back in Emanuel's car and drive away.Paul and Dr. Fiorillo are working in the lab. They discover a chemical used in mummification by the Egyptians. They speculate Quintillus was saturated in the chemical and the heat of the volcanic explosion may be the cause of his life force. At his home, Dr. Emanuel has hypnotized Tina and through regression has recorded her comments. He plays the tape for Paul. Tina recounts her past life as the daughter of a Roman Senator. She senses doom and the curse placed on her family by the slave Quintillus Aurelius. Quintillus threatened to escape and take Lucilla Helena as his wife. Then the volcano erupts and her house is destroyed. Dr. Emanuel shows Paul a bust of a female figure. It looks exactly like Tina, but is one of a well-documented daughter of a Roman aristocrat. Paul is still incredulous of the story, but he tells Dr. Fiorillo he intends to move Tina from Italy tonight. Dr. Emanuel speculates that Tina will only be free when the curse is broken. Paul drives over to Tina's apartment. When he arrives he finds her gone, but the painting of Quintillus has been altered. It now shows a knife cutting the bonds. At the museum, Tina is there holding a knife. She has cut the canvas bonds on Quintillus. Enricco is in the display room, but he doesn't see Tina. He responds to a noise, then sees Quintillus walk towards him. He fires his gun at the stone figure, but to no avail. Quintillus strangles him with his stony hands. Paul arrives, sees the commotion, and tries to assist. He is thrown to the floor. Quintillus picks Tina up in his arms and walks out of the museum. Dr. Fiorillo and Maria drive up and notice the front door open. They find Paul and Enricco on the floor. Paul is still unconscious, but will be fine. Enricco requires hospitalization. Paul wakes and tells Renaldi, Dr. Fiorillo and Maria that Tina was present in the museum. Dr. Fiorillo proposes that radiation in the ground kept Quintillus alive, and X-rays gave him mobility. Renaldi orders his police force to search Naples for Quintillus and Tina.Quintillus is carrying Tina to the sea, and in his mind safety from the erupting volcano. The hospital calls and lets Maria know that Enricco will recover. A shepherd sees Quintillus and reports the sighting to the police. Police units are dispatched to the Cove of the Blind Fisherman. They arrive and try to save Tina but are concerned about firing their weapons. They are concerned a bullet will strike Tina. When Quintillus puts Tina down on the beach, they fire, but bullets have no effect on the stony creature. Quintillus directs his rage at two officers, then picks Tina back up in his arms, and walks into the surf. The corrosive sea water acts like acid and his body begins to dissolve into powder. Paul jumps into the surf and rescues Tina. He carries her up onto the beach. Tina comes out of her trance and asks why they are at the beach. She does not remember anything. The narrator (uncredited Morris Ankrum) tells us, "The strange narrative of Quintillus Aurelius ended her in the quiet waters of the Bay of Naples. The story is finished, and perhaps Quintillus Aurelius has found the true Lucilla Helena where mortal men don't walk and time is eternal." We close with a shot of the body of Quintillus on his marble slab in the museum.