The Body Snatcher

source: The Body Snatcher

A film directed by Robert Wise, starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi and based on a story by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Body Snatcher had all the ingredients to be great. And it was. It is very well-made, the attention to detail is authentic and very striking and it is shot in a way that really enhances the atmosphere, the use of shadows, gloomy cobbled streets and the lighting also add much. The music score is softly suspenseful with the ability to be chilling and emotional when called for. The dialogue has a fair bit of talk but is very literate and intelligent and develops its two main characters to the extent that they're much more complex than they seem to be. The supporting characters are not as interesting but are written better than other films of the same genre, whether before, during or after. The story is pitch-perfect in pace, it's very sedate but it complimented brilliantly with the atmosphere and I actually think any other type of pacing would not have worked anywhere near as effectively. People may say that there isn't much horror, while billed as a horror in some way I saw it more of a film that relied more on atmosphere and suspense than all else; this worked wonders because the scene with Karloff following the girl(I don't think I have seen that type of scene done so chillingly on film) and the ending are genuinely creepy and the atmosphere is ominous but in a restrained way. The subplot with the crippled girl didn't bother me at all, I for one found it touching and the girl was played with real sincerity. Robert Wise's imaginative direction really does help, as do the performances. Russell Wade is a little too much of a drip for my tastes but the supporting roles are played well on the believe, and Bela Lugosi still gives a sinister turn despite limited screen time. The two leads dominate though, Henry Daniell has a juicy role which he plays with intensity and sympathy but it's the magnificently evil performance of Boris Karloff that really does it for me, one of his finest ever performances easily. All in all, brilliant. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Story takes place in 1831 Edinburgh. Dr. MacFarlane (Henry Daniell) is a medical teacher/doctor. He's hired unscrupulous John Gray (Boris Karloff) to dig up dead bodies so he can use them to teach his students. But Gray starts killing people to meet his quota... OK--this is literate and atmospheric and well-directed by Robert Wise. But, with the exception of two scenes, this just isn't scary. There are endless talky sequences which people droning on which are very dull (even at this short running time). There's also a gratuitous subplot involving a little girl who can't walk. Performances help a little. Daniell always played the evil villain well and this is no exception. Karloff however is exceptional. He obviously relishes the role and gives it his all--he's the main reason I kept watching. Poor Bela Lugosi just has a minor role. He's good but doesn't have much to do. Russell Wade is truly dreadful as MacFarlane's assistant. He's tall, handsome...and utterly bland. Still--as I said there ARE two stand-out sequences that work: one where Karloff follows a street singer (Donna Lee) and the ending which is very gruesome and scary...but it's too little too late. This gets a 7 just for Karloff and Daniell. Otherwise it's pretty dull.

This movie has already been given an excellent review for IMDb. I agree that this is Boris Karloff's finest screen performance as an actor, not to take anything away from his classic Frankenstein's monster portrayal. And it is tragic that Bela Lugosi's character is almost a cameo since this was the last time Karloff and Lugosi appeared together on the screen. I also agree that Henry Daniell is one of the few actors of the period who could shine in a role opposite Karloff without Karloff running away with the show. I would, however, like to add that the relationship between Karloff and Daniell is a key to the entire movie and Val Lewton knowingly focuses on this part of Robert Louis Stevenson's nightmare tale. There are many stages of our lives that we would like to forget and we don't like living reminders haunting us about those stages. The strange relationship between the doctor and the murderer points clearly that there is a fine line between good and evil and it is very easy to cross that line when we are tempted to do so for fame, fortune, or any other vainglorious desire. The final scene in "Body Snatcher" is one of the scariest scenes ever captured on film. I won't give it away for those who have not seen the movie. Just get ready to have the coach ride of your life.

I have rarely seen a film in which one actor dominates the scenery so much. Boris Karloff as Cabman Gray, who delivers dead bodies to a doctor for illegal dissecting purposes, is a delight to see and, above all, to hear. The first encounter with the doctors new assistant („My fee is as usual: 10 pounds"), the accidental meeting with the doctor and the assistant at the inn (he stabs a knife into a piece of bread and says to the youngster „Toddy'd like to do that all over my body"), the wonderful dialogue with Joseph (one of the doctor's employees; played by Bela Lugosi), who tries to blackmail him („Well, Joseph, you shall have money. Why should you not?") are just three examples. The eerie atmosphere of the film (a trademark of all Lewton thrillers) is much heightened by Karloff's sinister appearance. Definitely an extraordinary performance in an outstanding film.

The Body Snatcher is set 'In Edinburgh, In 1831' where a young medical student named Donald Fettes (Russell Wade) tells his teacher Dr. Wolfe McFarlane (Henry Daniell) that he can no longer afford to continue his studies. McFarlane sees great potential in Fettes so makes him his assistant, gives him living quarters & a basic wage. However Fettes is disturbed when one of his duties is to take delivery of a corpse used for dissection from a sinister man named John Gray (Boris Karloff) who steals bodies from graveyards to supply McFarlane. Fettes is unhappy with McFarlane's ethics but carries on regardless, meanwhile a young girl named Georgina Marsh (Sharyn Moffett) who has a spinal injury that prevents her from walking is brought to the attention of McFarlane by her Mother (Rita Corday) who asks for his help as a surgeon. At first he refuses but is blackmailed by Gray to perform the operation, McFarlane needs more bodies to experiment on & Gray is happy to oblige... Directed by Robert Wise I thought The Body snatcher was OK at best & overall didn't do that much for me. The script by Philip MacDonald & legendary producer Val Lewton as Carlos Keith is based on a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson & is far more interested in characterisation, sub plots & psychological horror rather than monsters, blood, violence & more traditional horror themes. I personally felt the film was a little disjointed with various sub plots coming & going like the girl with a spinal injury who comes & goes, the fact that Gray murders someone for McFarlane is barely mentioned, a bit where someone tries to blackmail Gray lasts for about five minutes & then ignored & Gray's grave robbing activities are barely touched upon either. The script also lays on the moral messages with Gray almost turning into the good guy as he wants to cure the girl while McFarlane doesn't, Gray resorts to murder & blackmail to achieve this but we are asked to choose between the two, the person who we root for. Medical ethics are also explored as McFarlane complains about not having enough dead bodies to teach his students with & what he does will benefit mankind in the long run. The Body Snatcher spends a long time developing it's character's & does a fine job too, you get to know them quite well before the end. The film moves along at a nice pace & at under 80 minutes at least it's short. The climax indicates something supernatural may have happened which is strangely at odds with the rest of the film. Director Wise manages to create a fair amount of atmosphere with some nice period sets & production design, especially the medical school & it's gruesome usage. Forget about any blood or gore as that's not what The Body Snatcher is about. Technically The Body Snatcher is good, the black and white photography is fine as is the music, production values & as a whole it's a well made film throughout. The acting is good from everyone & Karloff does indeed play his role perfectly. Fellow horror star Bela Lugosi turns up briefly in a small role as Joseph the servant. A lot of people seem to like The Body Snatcher & to be honest I can't really see why, it's far from a bad film but ultimately it bored me a bit & the worst thing a film can do is bore me as all I ask for is to be entertained. If your a die hard horror or Karloff fan than The Body Snatcher is well worth a look but for everyone else I wouldn't be quite so quick to recommend it.

Boris Karloff and Henry Daniell. Henry Daniell usually plays a stuffy villain as this time his stuffiness is shifted toward being a gifted physician named Dr. Wolfe 'Toddy' MacFarlane who desperately needs cadavers for the training of his students. That's where John Gray - Boris Karloff - comes in. Stevenson's story is a comment on the times. Daniell and Karloff are constantly at each other in very believable situations both verbally and physically. Karloff's character seems to be devoid of feelings while Daniell's is increasingly being painted into a corner. John Gray constantly annoys Dr. MacFarlane by calling him Toddy ALL the time in that incredibly sinister Karloff lisp that has a slightly insincere smile to him. Karloff is a master of evil and Daniell plays off of him to perfection. Karloff also calls Dr. Donald Fettes by his last name which gets on the doctor's nerves as well. Pay particular attention to the final X-Files style psychological ending that makes modern slash and gore films look like drivel. This film noir horror flick is every bit as good as the best movie versions of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde by Stevenson.

In 1831, in Edinburgh, the prominent doctor and professor Dr. Wolfe 'Toddy' MacFarlane (Henry Daniell) buys corpses for his studies and classes of anatomy from the notorious cabman John Gray (Boris Karloff), who is also a body snatcher. When his talented student Donald Fettes (Russell Wade) tells that he will quit medical school since his family cannot afford to support him, MacFarlane hires him as his assistant to permit Fettes to proceed his studies. Fettes meets a little girl that cannot walk anymore due to a coach accident, and he tries to convince Dr. MacFarlane to operate her but the doctor is reluctant. Soon Fettes discovers that Dr. MacFarlane has a secret from his past and Gray blackmails him. When Fettes learns how Gray obtains the corpses for Dr. MacFarlane, he has an inner conflict and does not want to continue as Dr. MacFarlane's protégée. But isn't it too late? "The Body Snatcher" is a dark and gloomy horror tale with a creepy story about ethic in medicine, or how far a doctor should go in his researches. Boris Karloff has a magnificent performance, maybe the best I have ever seen of this actor. The direction of Robert Wise is sharp and the cinematography in black and white is impressive. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "O Túmulo Vazio" ("The Empty Grave")

A sinister coach driver John Gray (Boris Karloff) supplies corpses for Dr. Wolfe MacFarlane (Henry Daniell) and his assistant Donald Fettes (Russel Wade), but things start going pair shape when Dr. Wolfe finds out more about where these corpses are coming from, as supplies are running short and he tries to get rid of Gray, who doesn't share his buddy's (or Toddy's) thoughts. Another thing on their minds is that a mother of a young girl with a bad vertebra that's getting worse asks Dr. Wolfe for his help, but he refuses at first. But with the constant bugging from assistant Fettes, he finally goes ahead with the operation. The more I watch this film, the better it seems to get! Val Lewton's "The Body Snatcher", which is set in the year 1831, Edinburgh - is an excellently well-handled thriller that holds SUCH great performances from the likes of Boris Karloff, Henry Daniell, Russel Wade, Edith Atwater and Bela Lugosi. What shines and drives the film other than its performances - is the intelligent screenplay and hypnotic atmosphere and setting that reeks of death and coldness. The foggy, empty and dark streets of Edinburgh during the night have an approaching sense of menace, especially when Karloff is on screen. An impressive Boris Karloff as John Gray the Cabman evokes such tension and depth. He always makes his presence distinguishable, with the scenes he's in being the most interesting. His appearance and body language has some unsettling effect - in a captivating way. His performance in my opinion is up there with the likes of "The Mummy" and "Bride Of Frankenstein". I read a lot positive remarks towards Karloff's performance, but IMHO Henry Daniell was equally as good. He's great as the troubled Dr. Wolfe, who is haunted by Gray. You could say he was the backbone of the film. When these two shared the screen, is when the fireworks certainly occurred. Russel Wade is quite sympathetic in his role, as the reluctant assistant who gets drawn into Dr. Wolfe's mess. Edith Atwater delivers a sound performance and there's basically a neat cameo role by Bela Lugosi. I wasn't bored, but for some people it might be a tad too slow and real talkative, as what this film thrives on, is its vivid literature, well-rounded characters and potently gripping confrontations, especially between Wolfe and Gray. The story has its moments of psychological suspense that steadily develops into a thrilling and powerful finale (that has the usual thunderstorm evident). The way the final lines of dialogue were set up in that sequence is truly unnerving. Also throw in elements of greed, guilt and pride and how it gets the better of people. So there is a moral to all of this. Sudden shocks and jolts fill the film, but definitely not cheap ones. Mostly the deaths are implied, though there is great use of sound in those situations eg. The sound of a horse trotting. It's very effective! It isn't stylish or spirited directing by Robert Wise, but to cap it off, he achieves a downright inventive and believable movie piece. My only small complaint is that it could've been a much darker film, but it's the lightness of the sub-plot about the crippled girl that "slightly" spoilt it. Was it trying for an innocent point of view?Nonetheless, it's still my favourite Lewton/Karloff film, to date. "Never get rid of me!"

A later Val Lewton film, from his costume picture period, The Body Snatcher, from a Robert Louis Stevenson story, directed by Robert Wise, is a fine if somewhat moralistic and sentimental horror tale. It lacks the alogical, almost surreal qualities of Lewton's earlier movies, where much is left unexplained, even inexplicable, and a great deal happens off-screen; and even then one can't be sure of what really occurred, as events are often related anecdotally, or merely suggested. In his first few horror exercises Lewton cared as much for gentility as fright, often basing his stories on legends and superstitions, as much of their power came from the vagueness of reality, and the capacity our imaginations have for creating and even shaping our experiences. By the time The Body Snatcher came around Lewton was moving somewhat closer to mainstream horror. Legends still matter, and the feeling of the dead hand of the past on the present as a Lewton theme is very much alive. In this film it is the notorious case of the grave-robbing Burke and Hare of 19th century Edinburgh, and their effect on a distinguished physician who has continued to do business with one of their former confederates. As the decent-minded but less than morally fastidious doctor, Henry Daniell is outstanding, and surprisingly sympathetic; and he has here perhaps his longest and most sustained role in a movie. He certainly has more screen time than in any other picture I've seen him in. Top-billed Boris Karloff gives Dr. Daniell more than a run for his money as the grave robbing, yet intelligent, observant and not altogether evil cab-man Gray. Karloff's performance is physical as much as anything else, as he uses his body here more eloquently than in any other part outside the Frankenstein series. He knows how and where to stand in relation to others, managing, as always, to look taller than he really is. With his big hat, scarf and long coat, he seems to have walked out of a Dickens novel. Karloff's performance reminds me of how much acting has as much to do with body language as anything else; and that there is a degree of posing,--not fakery--but standing still and letting a character project from the way an actor holds himself as from speech or facial expression. The movie itself falls just a bit short of being great by it less than brilliant script and the enforced sentimentality of the subplot about a crippled girl. I agree that this was a good idea, and could have made the film all the more powerful, but the scenes around her are stilted, and the actress who plays the girl is none too convincing. It was a good try, though, and almost works, especially in her last scene, but the writing and staging were a little off. I can't help but respect Lewton and Wise's intentions, but they overreached themselves, and I feel bad about it. The climax in the carriage with the corpse, however, and the ghostly repetition of "never get rid of me!" is still impressive, and saves the film in the end.