The Body Snatcher

1945

Action / Horror / Thriller

14
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 75% · 22 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 75% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.3/10 10 11165 11.2K

blackmail edinburgh, scotland murder black and white medical profession grave robber

Plot summary

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.

Director

Robert Wise Photo
Robert Wise

Top cast

Boris Karloff Photo
Boris Karloff as Cabman John Gray
Bela Lugosi Photo
Bela Lugosi as Joseph
Henry Daniell Photo
Henry Daniell as Dr. Wolfe 'Toddy' MacFarlane
Sharyn Moffett Photo
Sharyn Moffett as Georgina Marsh
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
653.33 MB
988*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 18 min
Seeds 1
1.24 GB
1472*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 18 min
Seeds 18

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by AlsExGal 8 / 10

One of my favorite Val Lewtons

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.
Reviewed by smatysia 8 / 10

What can you say about Boris Karloff?

What can you say about Boris Karloff? He attacks this role with evil zest. I have not seen a lot of his work, but I was extremely impressed with his portrayal of Cabman Gray, the medical school's grave robber. (among other things) The modern horror genre simply focuses on gore, and doesn't allow characters like Gray, or actors like Karloff flourish, and that's too bad.
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