After the events of The Wolf Man and Ghost of Frankenstein, a duo of graverobbers break into the Talbot family crypt to rob the grave of Larry Talbot (the "Wolf Man" (Lon Chaney, Jr.)), of valuables buried with him, on the night of a full moon. During the grave robbery, the graverobbers remove the Wolfsbane buried with him and he is awakened from death by the full moon shining down on his uncovered body, and kills one of them. Seeking a cure for the curse that causes him to transform into a werewolf with every full moon, Talbot leaves Britain and goes to the remains of Frankenstein's castle, as he hopes to find there the notes of Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein so he might learn how to permanently end his own life through scientific means.
The prologue is set in Nazi Germany during the final days of World War II. A Kriegsmarine Officer, flanked by three Commandos, barges into the laboratory of a Dr. Riesendorf with orders to seize the immortal heart of the Frankenstein Monster, on which Riesendorf is busy experimenting. The heart is summarily transported by U-Boat to be passed off to their Japanese allies via the Atlantic. In the Indian Ocean, off the Maldives, the U-Boat meets up with a Japanese Imperial Navy submarine to make the exchange. They are sighted by an Allied Forces scout plane and bombed, but not before the Kriegsmarine pass the heart (contained in a locked chest) to the Japanese, who take it back to Hiroshima for further experimentation. But just as the experiments are about to begin, Hiroshima is bombed by the Allied Forces, and the heart and the experiments vanish in the atomic fireball.
The film takes place on an undisclosed island on a foggy, winter day. Victor Frankenstein and his bride, Elizabeth, are set to be married by a priest who is rowed in on a small raft. But all is not well on the day of these young lovers’ wedding: The ceremony is clearly being conducted in secret, and Victor and Elizabeth are under the protection of seven well-armed mercenaries. All parties soon find themselves being stalked by a seemingly supernatural enemy of great physical strength that dwells in the woods surrounding the small chapel...a monster who kills with swiftness and purpose. As the slaughter escalates and the characters begin to die one by one at the hands of this mysterious Creature, Victor is forced to confess the unholy crimes he committed that has placed himself and the others in this deadly predicament. Meanwhile, as each character faces certain death, the beast’s ultimate target reveals itself not to be Victor, but his bride.
During World War II, Russian soldiers on a reconnaissance mission receive a distress call that would lead them further into Germany. The message seems to repeat without any response to their queries, and at the same time that they begin to receive the message, they lose radio contact with their command. Although the others are dubious about the existence of other Russians in the area, Sgt. Novikov orders them to investigate. Dmitri, a Soviet propagandist who is filming the mission, interviews the soldiers and documents the proceedings. As they draw closer to the designated coordinates, Dmitri takes an interest in and films several odd occurrences, such as unexplained dead Nazis, a burnt convent full of massacred nuns and strange machinery. When the soldiers arrive at their destination, they find an abandoned church guarded by an undead person with metal implants; the film calls these creatures zombots in the credits. The zombot kills Sgt. Novikov, and, after they destroy the zombot, Sergei takes charge. The hotheaded Vassili challenges his authority, but the others back Sergei.
Castle Frankenstein has been empty for years and the local council is planning to repossess it, when the Frankenstein family return, seeking to find hidden treasure, and to re-animate the Frankenstein monster.
Victor Frankenstein (played by Barret Oliver) is a young boy who creates movies starring his dog, Sparky (a Bull Terrier, whose name is a play on the use of electricity in the film). After Sparky is hit by a car, Victor learns at school about electrical impulses in muscles and is inspired to bring his pet back to life. He creates elaborate machines which bring down a bolt of lightning that revives the dog. While Victor is pleased, his neighbors are terrified by the animal, and when the Frankensteins decide to introduce the revitalized Sparky to them they become angry and terrified.
Young filmmaker and scientist Victor Frankenstein lives with his parents, Edward and Susan Frankenstein, and his beloved dog, Sparky, in the quiet town of New Holland. Victor's intelligence is recognized by his classmates at school, his somber next-door neighbor, Elsa Van Helsing, mischievous, Igor-like Edgar "E" Gore, obese and gullible Bob, overconfident Toshiaki, creepy Nassor, and an eccentric girl nicknamed Weird Girl, but communicates little with them due to his relationship with his dog. Concerned with his son's isolation, Victor's father encourages him to take up baseball and make achievements outside of science. Victor hits a home run at his first game, but Sparky, pursuing the ball, is struck by a car and killed.
In 2009, the super-wealthy achieve immortality by hiring "bonejackers", mercenaries equipped with time travel devices, to snatch people from the past, just prior to the moment of their deaths, for use as substitute bodies. Those who escape are known as "freejacks" and are considered less than human under the law. In this dystopian future, most people suffer from poor physical health as a result of rampant drug use and environmental pollution, making them unattractive as replacement bodies.
The peaceful people of Gandahar are suddenly attacked by an army of automatons known as the Men of Metal, who march through the villages and kidnap their victims by turning them to stone. The resulting statues are collected and then transferred to their base. At the capital city of Jasper, the Council of Women orders Sylvain to investigate. On his journey, he encounters the Deformed, a race of mutant beings who were accidentally created via genetic experimentation by Gandahar’s scientists. Despite their resentment, they are also threatened by the Men of Metal and offer to help Sylvain.
Dr. Alex Harris (Fritz Weaver) is the developer of Proteus IV, an extremely advanced and autonomous artificial intelligence program. Proteus is so powerful that only a few days after going online, it develops a groundbreaking treatment for leukemia. Harris, a brilliant scientist, has modified his own home to be run by voice activated computers. Unfortunately, his obsession with computers has caused Harris to be estranged from his wife, Susan (Julie Christie).
Through her stepsister Claire Clairmont (Miriam Cyr), Mary Godwin (Natasha Richardson) and her future husband Percy Shelley (Julian Sands) came to know Lord Byron (Gabriel Byrne). During the summer of 1816, Lord Byron invited them to stay for a while at Villa Diodati in Switzerland. There they met Byron's physician friend, Dr. John Polidori (Timothy Spall). On June 16th, while a storm raged outside, the five of them amused themselves by telling ghost stories and revealing private skeletons. From Mary's previous experience of miscarriage came the desire to raise her child from the dead, which led to the creation of the Frankenstein monster. From Polidori's homosexuality, suicidal thoughts, and fascination with vampires came the story "The Vampyre".
On the surface of Mars, the Mars Rover is destroyed by an unknown source from the planet itself. Astronomer George Herbert (Howell) and his wife Felicity (Van Wyk Loots) are packing for a trip to Washington D.C. to celebrate their 10-year wedding anniversary. George's son Alex tries to spot Mars through his telescope, but actually discovers a meteorite entering Earth's atmosphere. George is called to work about the incident, and his wife and son leave early for Washington without him. As he drives to work, a crashing meteorite disrupts all technology in the area. An alien "walker" emerges from the meteorite and massacres the witnesses with a Heat-Ray, George barely escaping with his life. George decides to meet with his younger brother Matt in Hopewell before moving on to D.C., leaving as the aliens destroy his hometown.