- As a young child Jack the Ripper's daughter witnesses him kill her mother. As a young woman she carries on the murderous reign of her father. A psychiatrist tries to cure her with tragic consequences.
- The infant daughter of Jack the Ripper is witness to the brutal murder of her mother by her father. Fifteen years later she is a troubled young woman who is seemingly possessed by the spirit of her father. While in a trance she continues his murderous killing spree but has no recollection of the events afterwards. A sympathetic psychiatrist takes her in and is convinced he can cure her condition. Soon, however, he regrets his decision.—Kevin Steinhauer <K.Steinhauer@BoM.GOV.AU>
- East London in Victorian England. A group of men chase Jack the Ripper back to his house. His wife realises her husband is the serial killer so he stabs her, witnessed by his infant daughter Anna from her cot. Her father hugs her as she stares at the flickering lights from the fire.
At a séance the now grown-up Anna [Angharad Rees] assists her foster mother, the medium Mrs Golding [Dora Bryan], by pretending to be the voice of a spirit communicating with the dead child of a couple, Mr & Mrs Wilson [Barry Lowe & Elizabeth MacLennan]. However, she becomes upset midway through and stops speaking so the medium is forced to finish prematurely. As the guests prepare to leave, one of them, the sceptical Dr. Pritchard [Eric Porter], notices Anna's foot underneath a curtain and stands on it, revealing the hidden Anna. As they leave, Pritchard confides his disgust of charlatans like Mrs Golding to his son Michael [Keith Bell].
One of the other guests, a politician named Dysart [Derek Godfrey] does not leave but pays Mrs Golding for the services of Anna. From the street Pritchard sees their shadows through the curtains. When Dysart gives Anna a jeweled broach, the flickering reflections of light send her into a trance. Dysart becomes angry and attacks her. Mrs Golding enters to break up the quarrel but as she hugs and kisses Anna to comfort her, it reminds Anna of her father hugging her and she picks up a fire poker and stabs Mrs Golding. Dysart flees as Pritchard enters to investigate and finds Mrs Golding impaled to a door.
At the police station the police inspector [Norman Bird] interviews those people who were at the séance. He is puzzled because it would have taken a very strong person to impale Mrs Golding. He establishes that Mr & Mrs Wilson left first, followed by Pritchard and Michael, but no-one saw Dysart leave. Although Pritchard knows the truth, he saves Dysart's embarrassment by stating it could have been possible for Dysart to leave shortly afterwards without anyone seeing him and that he does not believe Dysart was the man he saw leaving after the murder.
At a railway station, Michael meets his blind fiancée Laura [Jane Merrow] and they return to the Pritchard's house.
Pritchard visits Anna in the police cells but she does not have any memory of the murder. Since Pritchard is a psychiatric doctor he arranges Anna's release to his care. He takes her home and to his late wife's room and instructs the maid Dolly [Marjie Lawrence] to look after her.
Pritchard introduces Anna to Michael and Laura before going to his study where Dysart is waiting. Pritchard explains he lied to save Dysart because it served him a purpose. Dysart explains he witnessed Anna killing Mrs Golding and that she was like a possessed being. Pritchard has studied Freud and believes she is schizophrenic and explains her brought her home so he can study her. He requests Dysart assist by finding out as much as he can about Anna's past. Dysart is concerned Anna may kill again but Pritchard blackmails him into helping by reminding him he could change his story to the police and put the suspicion back on Dysart.
That evening Pritchard attends a ball with Michael and Laura but Anna does not arrive. Dolly is still assisting Anna to get dressed but when she places a jeweled necklace around Anna's neck, the reflections send Anna into a trance again. When Dolly gives her a hug and kiss, Anna hears her father's voice and she cuts Dolly's throat with a broken piece of glass. Pritchard returns from the ball and finds Anna still in the trance with her bloodied hands still holding the necklace. He finds Dolly's body in the bathroom so takes Anna to his study where he gives her a sedative and straps her to a bed. He returns to the room to dispose of Dolly's body but is nearly caught in the act by the housekeeper Mrs. Bryant [Marjorie Rhodes].
Next day Pritchard meets Dysart for an update. To Pritchard's dismay, Dysart has not discovered anything about Anna's past and still thinks she is possessed. He insists Pritchard attend an interview with Queen Victoria's medium Madame Bullard [Margaret Rawlings].
The reflections from the chandelier in her room send Anna into another trance. She talks to Pritchard about the time of her mother's murder. He leaves her alone briefly and when he returns Anna has escaped. She walks through streets where prostitutes are working before one of them, Long Liz [Lynda Baron], takes pity on her and takes her into her home. When Liz gives Anna a hug and kiss Anna hears her father's voice again, picks up a handful of hat pins and stabs Liz in the eye. Pritchard is searching the streets for Anna as Liz staggers out and collapses in front of him. He finds Anna nearby and takes her home.
At a church Michael and Laura rehearse for their wedding attended also by Pritchard and Anna. Outside afterwards, Anna is worried about herself but Pritchard asks her to trust him.
Pritchard and Anna visit Madame Bullard. The reflections from Madame Bullard's spectacles send Anna into a trance. Madame Bullard detects a feeling of violence in Anna and has a vision of Anna's father murdering her mother. She sees it is Jack the Ripper but she can't tell Pritchard the true identity of the serial killer. Madame Bullard believes Anna is possessed by the spirit of her father and gives her a hug, but Anna stabs her with the frame of Madame Bullard's spectacles.
Pritchard and Anna return home where Dysart is waiting. They argue about whether Anna is really possessed by the spirit of Jack the Ripper. Pritchard puts Anna into hypnotic sleep then explains to Dysart he believes the flickering light sends Anna into a safe place that she associates with an escape from former brutalities. Dysart is concerned about her violence so Pritchard tries to convince him by reflecting light from the jeweled broach into her eyes again. Dysart is not convinced and thinks she should be hung for the murders.
After Dysart leaves Pritchard returns to Anna and apologises for failing her, kissing her in the process. She hears her father's voice and impales Pritchard with a sword. Anna leaves the house with Michael and Laura. Although seriously injured Pritchard manages to extract the sword. Anna and Laura go to St. Paul's Cathedral where they climb the steps to the whispering gallery. Pritchard takes a carriage to find Michael and they continue on to St. Paul's. Pritchard explains to Michael about Anna's condition. In the whispering gallery Anna is starting to realise what she has done and in despair asks for help but hears her father's voice saying she can't be helped now. Pritchard and Michael arrive and Michael rushes up the steps while Pritchard in his wounded state stays below. Pritchard sees Anna in the whispering gallery and starts calling to her. Laura tries to comfort Anna by hugging her which triggers Anna to start strangling Laura. However Pritchard's repeated calls to Anna to come to him break through to her and she jumps to her death from the whispering gallery balcony.
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