A young boy, facing impending surgery on his eyes to try to stave off blindness, wanders his quiet London neighborhood. The only problem is he believes that a slasher is stalking blind women.

Axel Heyst lives on a secluded island near the Dutch East Indies port of Surabaya. The year is 1913. While on personal business to the port, he visits the hotel owned by racist German Schomberg. An all-woman orchestra plays in the hotel each night, and orchestra owner, San Giacomo agrees to "sell" one of the girls, Alma, to Schomberg. She asks Heyst to save her from the villains and they escape to his island and live there with native servant Wang. Schomberg points sinister Mr. Jones and his two fellow bandits to that island, saying that the fortune lies ahead of them there.