RKO Radio Pictures
Not part of a collection.
The Body Snatcher
GRAVES RAIDED! COFFINS ROBBED! CORPSES CARVED! MIDNIGHT MURDER! BODY BLACKMAIL! STALKING GHOULS! Mad Thrills of Terror And Macabre Mystery... –and don't blame us if you stay awake all night!
Edinburgh, 1831. Among those who undertake the illegal trade of grave robbery is Gray, ostensibly a cab driver. Formerly a medical student convicted of grave robbery, Gray holds a grudge against Dr. MacFarlane who had escaped detection and punishment.
- Original title
- The Body Snatcher
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- $125,000
- Revenue
- —
John Chard
Aug 28, 2014 · via TMDB
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
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Boris Karloff
John Gray
Bela Lugosi
Joseph
Henry Daniell
Dr. Wolfe 'Toddy' MacFarlane
Edith Atwater
Meg Camden
Russell Wade
Donald Fettes
Rita Corday
Mrs. Marsh
Sharyn Moffett
Georgina Marsh
Donna Lee
Street Singer
Ted Billings
Townsman (uncredited)
Bobby Burns
Mourner (uncredited)
Robert Clarke
Richardson - Medical Student (uncredited)
Mary Gordon
Mary McBride (uncredited)
Carl Kent
Gilchrist - Medical Student (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee
Dan (uncredited)
Ethan Laidlaw
Pub Patron (uncredited)
Kermit Maynard
Townsman (uncredited)
Larry Wheat
Salesman (uncredited)
Blackie Whiteford
Townsman (uncredited)
Bill Williams
Survis - Medical Student (uncredited)
Albert S. D'Agostino
Art Direction
Renié
Costume Design
Robert Wise
Director
Val Lewton
Producer
C. Bakaleinikoff
Music Director
Roy Webb
Original Music Composer
Val Lewton
Screenplay
Robert Louis Stevenson
Short Story
The strange case of detective Jones
Macbeth
Se7en
M
The Lives of Others
Diabolique
Freaks
Rififi
The Maltese Falcon
Strangers on a Train
The Killing
Twelve Monkeys
The Big Sleep
Sleepers
Blue Velvet
The Manchurian Candidate
Lucky Number Slevin
Sin City
The Day the Earth Stood Still
It Happened in Broad Daylight
Scarface
The Lady Vanishes
Minority Report
Eraserhead
Vampyr
The 39 Steps
Ghost
Dracula
The Phantom of the Opera
Frenzy
Blood: The Last Vampire
Tough Enough
Mission: Impossible III
Swimming Pool
The Girl He Met Online
Next Door
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
Lisa Frankenstein
Wild Things
The Interpreter
Night Shift
The Sinners
The Good German
Seven Years of Night
Cube Zero
The Omen
Sliver
Lost Joy
Massacre on Aisle 12
Looking Glass
D Company
The Last Word
Double Indemnity
The Invisible Man
Peeping Tom
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Pickup on South Street
The 39 Steps
The Naked City
Dracula
The Dead Zone
This Gun for Hire
Nightfall
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
State of Play
The Medusa Touch
House on Haunted Hill
Coma
The Glass Key
Hollow Triumph
The Flesh and the Fiends
The Raven
Midnight Lace
Union Station
Self/less
Frankenstein Created Woman
The Tingler
The Invisible Man Returns
Nick of Time
The Face of Fu Manchu
The Jester
Eradication
Stalked by My Doctor
The Creeping Flesh
Feb 16, 1945
St. Louis, Missouri
May 25, 1945
