Dr. Ralph Benson has successfully conducted experiments of suspended animation on lab animals but knows his work is useless until tested on human subjects. He takes the leap, but his patient dies and Benson flees the police, making him a fugitive wanted for murder. He hops a ship to New Zealand, but a fire leaves him and a handful of passengers stranded on a tropical island. Confined by the natives, Benson takes advantage of a medical emergency and assumes the title “God of Life” and makes the locals his slaves. He uses his position to continue his experiments, this time on his fellow castaways, with the exception of the lovely Patricia Wentworth, whom he intends to make his captive bride.

Lionel Atwill is up to no good in Mad Doctor of Market Street, this time playing a power-hungry mad scientist trying to conquer death. He is cold and self-serving as he abuses his knowledge of modern medicine to high position among the tribe. The rest of the characters are two-dimensional archetypes, including the handsome hero, the strong-willed woman, the tough-guy boxer and the daffy aunt. This really is Atwill’s show and he excels at playing a memorable villain. His scenes opposite Claire Dodd as Patricia are effective and full of menace.

Al Martin (Invisible Ghost) handles the writing duties and Joseph H. Lewis (So Dark the Night) directs as our plot moves from the titular Market Street to an ocean liner and finally to a remote island. All three settings are full of drama with the island hosting the bulk of the running time. Aside from a promising title and the villain being something of a mad scientist, this isn’t so much a horror movie as it is a thriller. Atwill made better pictures than this, but it is nice watching him chew some scenery.