Asphyx, The (1972)

aka’s: Spirit Of The Dead/The Horror Of Death

Hugo (Robert Stephens) is a brilliant turn-of-the-century scientist-loved who is respected by his family and friends and admired by his colleagues. But he is a man quickly becoming obsessed with a curious and frightening question… what is the mysterious apparition found in the photographs of his dying subjects? Hugo brings to a family boating party his newest invention, a motion picture camera. The party quickly turns into a disaster as he captures on film the tragic drowning of his wife and son. When the film is replayed later, the same ghost-like presence appears. It flies towards his son and vanishes inside his dying body. Has Hugo discovered The Asphyx, the spirit of the dead described in Greek mythology? A spirit which lives in constant agony, not finding rest until it takes possession of a human body? Could the spirit, if captured, become the key to immortality? Hugo is compelled to find the answers. It then becomes an obsession, with disastrous results. Also stars Robert Powell and Jane Lapotaire.