★ 9 / 10
Grave robbing is one thing, but murder is
John Chard
Grave robbing is one thing, but murder is quite another. Dr. MacFarlane and John Gray share a murky past, but just what is this hold that the lurching Gray has…
Grave robbing is one thing, but murder is quite another.
Dr. MacFarlane and John Gray share a murky past, but just what is this hold that the lurching Gray has over the eminent Doctor?. Based on a Robert Louis Stevenson short story, The Body Snatcher contains tight direction from Mr Versatile, Robert Wise - all the classy Gothicism one comes to expect from producer Val Lewton - and a stunningly effective performance from Boris Karloff. The piece neatly puts itself out as a kind of sequel to the infamous story of Burke & Hare, where here our main protagonists are clouded over by a link to the dastardly duo who purloined cadavers for cash in the 1820s.
What stands out with this picture is the wonderful pacing, nothing is rushed to try and jolt fear into the viewer, it's sedate and framed in a marvellous Gothic texture by the makers. The core story line is of course one of great distaste, but this is a medical quandary in the name of research that makes for a thought provoking narrative. We are put into a position very early on where we so want to see a young girl cured of her ills, and thus this axis of the film is neatly surrounded by the lurking horror that begins to unfold. You have to suggest that this is great writing from Stevenson, Lewton & MacDonald.
Boris Karloff is Gray, a large shuffling man who is the body snatcher of the title, he be a smirking and well spoken Gent, which really shouldn't be scary, and yet Karloff manages to chill the blood in every scene that he is in. Henry Daniell is MacFarlane, a very emotive performance as the character is twisted by his pursuit of medical achievements whilst having Gray's looming presence constantly hovering over him. Rounding out the cast with thespian effect is Russell Wade as protégé in waiting, Donald Fettes, Bela Lugosi (a classic horror fans dream comes real in one great sequence with Karloff) as Joseph, and Edith Atwater as loyal love interest Meg Camden.
However, the actors all play second fiddle to the makers' work here. Gloomy cobbled streets come shining to the fore, Gray's hovel like abode is cloaked in dark shadows with the odd flicker of fire light, while the stone surrounds come across as monolithic structures. Some great sequences as well, a particular one uses the characters' shadows to tell the story under the watchful gaze of Gray's cat, and then the final reel, which is mood personified and perfectly puts closure on this fine piece of fevered Gothic work. Highly recommended. 8/10
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★ 8 / 10
One of my favorite Val Lewtons
AlsExGal
This is unlike some of the other Val Lewton mystery/horror films from the 1940s in that it is a classic Gothic horror tale with a classic Gothic horror topic -…
This is unlike some of the other Val Lewton mystery/horror films from the 1940s in that it is a classic Gothic horror tale with a classic Gothic horror topic - 19th century grave robbing for the purpose of medical research. There's no wartime engineer married to a mysterious and troubled woman who is afraid she'll turn into a leopard if sexually aroused in THIS Lewton film! But I digress.Dr. MacFarlane (Henry Daniells) is a famous surgeon and medical school professor in Edinburgh. He gives a job to medical school student Donald Fettes because, otherwise, Fettes will have to leave school because he can't afford tuition and his living expenses, and MacFarlane thinks Fettes has the makings of a fine doctor. But, among other things, the job involves the intake of cadavers for dissection. And those bodies are the product of graverobbing by cabman John Gray (Boris Karloff). Of course the graverobbing is bad enough, but it soon escalates to murder on the part of Gray. And MacFarlane really can't do much about Gray who turns up at his home and lab unwanted and at all hours just to torment him. That's because of a secret of MacFarlane's that Gray has been keeping all of these years since MacFarlane was in medical school. Complications ensue.Very atmospheric, this is the e creepiest I've ever seen Karloff. Such a versatile actor he was. Hard to believe he also portrayed the amiable Mr. Wong. Henry Daniell actually played a sympathetic character here with Karloff so effectively menacing him. With a terrifying final scene that some say was censored in England, I'd highly recommend this one.
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