Dr. Emmanuel Droz, a Mephistophelean neurologist and inventor has discovered the secret to bringing the dead back to life. Carried away by a devouring, but unrequited passion, he wants to be united forever with the woman he loves, the beautiful singer Malvina van Stille. In order to carry out his evil plot, he kills and kidnaps her, and keeps her in a state of apparent death.
Droz employs a piano tuner, Felisberto, to overhaul his instruments, automatons operated by the tides that mysteriously govern the rhythm of life in the Villa Azucena, Droz’s remote property beside the ocean. Felisberto slowly learns of the doctor’s true intentions: to stage a “diabolical opera” that will seal Malvina’s fate. He secretly decides to save her, only to find that he too is caught in the trap of Droz’s perverse world.