The Doctor and the Devils (1985) YTS

Reviewed by Ian S 5 / 10

Good cast but didn't hit the heights of

Good cast but didn't hit the heights of some previous versions of the same story. Average.

Reviewed by R T 8 / 10

For all intents and purposes, "The Doctor and

For all intents and purposes, "The Doctor and the Devils" is a Hammer horror film. It might be produced by comedian Mel Brooks and his Brooksfilms imprint, but all signs point to this being made by the British house of terror had it been conceived during the 1960s or 1970s. A strong English cast directed by Freddie Francis while surrounded by a period piece atmosphere completes the successful formula for such a film. Thomas Rock (Timothy Dalton) is a young anatomy professor who feels his hands are tied to make new discoveries for the advancement of science. Rigid moral laws of the day limit him to the amount of cadavers he can research on. He receives the rotting bodies of a few hanged criminals every year to work with. Rock needs fresher specimens to work with, and two grave robbers (Jonathan Pryce and Stephen Rea) will do what it takes to provide fresher corpses for the professor - at a hefty cost. "The Doctor and the Devils" is rated R for sex and nudity, violence and gore, profanity, alcohol and smoking, and frightening and intense scenes. The sex scenes take place in a brothel where the prostitutes work. There's brief upper nudity in one part that takes place in the house of ill repute. The blood and guts are about the same amount you would expect from a Hammer horror film of the 1970s. Director Freddie Francis is no stranger to English horror films set in 1800's England. He helmed many a Hammer movie and uses the same ingredients to put together "The Doctor and the Devils." Screenwriters Dylan Thomas and Ronald Harwood takes the Burke and Hare tale and puts his own spin on it. www.ersink.com

Reviewed by CKB 7 / 10

This is more a period mood piece rather

This is more a period mood piece rather than a horror film, and as such is beautifully directed by Freddie Francis, a first-rate cinematographer who became unfortunately typecast as a horror director making Hammer films in the 1960s. The Doctor and the Devils is his serious effort to bring to life Welsh poet Dylan Thomas' screenplay about the infamous Burke and Hare murders of the 1820's, and Thomas' dialogue is especially eloquent for Dr. Knox (here renamed Rock), who unquestioningly purchased the murderers' victims for anatomical study. Francis photographs the film with a monochromatic gloom in keeping with its grim subject matter, drawing the viewer into this dreary 19th-century urban world. The British cast is first-rate, and includes actors on the brink of becoming famous, such as Jonathan Pryce (who made Brazil that same year), and Patrick Stewart (soon to become Jean-Luc Picard on TV's Star Trek: The Next Generation). Pryce's performance as the psychopathic murderer is particularly brilliant.

The Doctor and the Devils

1985

Action / Crime / Drama / History / Horror

The Doctor and the Devils

1985

Action / Crime / Drama / History / Horror

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Movie Reviews

Good cast but didn't hit the heights of

For all intents and purposes, "The Doctor and

This is more a period mood piece rather

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