The Body Snatcher (1945)

"The Body Snatcher" tells the story of a 19th century doctor (Henry Daneill) in Edinburgh who enlists the help of a grave robber (Boris Karloff) to provide him with the spare organs he needs to perform difficult operations. It's possibly the best performance Karloff ever gave. He evokes a character who is unquestionably evil, but clever and more worldly than the people he deals with. (A subplot involving the doctor's attempt to heal a crippled girl is a bit sentimental, but thought-provoking. Karloff asks Daniell if in healing her body, he forgot to heal all of her, which is almost spiritual.) Bela Lugosi has a supporting role as one of Daneill's assistants, and while his character could use a little more shading, his scene with Karloff is a fitting send-off for the on screen duo, who would never work together again after this.That said, the most compelling aspect of any Val Lewton film is the atmosphere, and this movie has that in spades. There is a moment involving a street singer that is as heart-stopping as anything in Lewton's oeuvre, and the final scene in a coach is unsettling on a deep psychological level. It's still not quite as good as "Cat People", though. That one had a solid script to go with the brilliant acting and direction, but this one stumbles a bit, doing away with one of the major characters a bit too early on. The film can't help but suffer for it. Still, it's a fine film, and definitely one of the better horror movies of the 1940s. Recommended to fans of the genre.

Boris Karloff exudes depravity as an unscrupulous grave robber in "Curse of the Cat People" director Robert Wise's third film "The Body Snatcher," an atmospheric adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's short story scripted by Phillip MacDonald and producer Val Lewton under the pseudonym Carlos Keith. Cast as Cabman John Gray, Karloff is thoroughly black-hearted. Gray gets into trouble early when he wields a shovel to kill a faithful canine standing guard over his deceased master's grave site. Vintage horror icon Bela Lugosi lurks about the periphery as a caretaker to Henry Daniell's dubious physician Dr. Wolfe 'Toddy' MacFarlane. The premise focuses on the dire shortage of cadavers for physicians-in- training to dissect. Deplorably enough, doctors must turn to dastards like Gray to obtain fresh bodies, exhumed without authorization as soon as they can without the authorities capturing them. The names of notorious Burke and Hare are referenced to narrow the time of the story down to the year 1828 when these two infamous fiends murdered 16 innocents and sold their remains to Dr. Robert Knox for dissection in his anatomy classes. If mention of these men weren't sufficient to cement the similarity to Stevenson's criminals, the use of the same setting Edinburgh, Scotland and Dr. Knox as Dr. MacFarlane's mentor drives the point home plainly enough. The action focuses on a little girl, Georgina (Sharyn Moffett), who is confined to a wheelchair because she was injured in a carriage accident and can no longer walk. Georgina hates MacFarlane's atrocious bedside manner, but she warms immediately to a financially strapped medical student, Donald Fettes (Russell Wade), who treats her with kindness. Initially, MacFarlane laments that he cannot operate because his teaching position prevents him from practicing medicine since he is engaged primarily in the teaching of it. Nevertheless, Dr. MacFarlane performs a procedure on Georgina, but she still refuses to walk. Meantime, Joseph (Bela Lugosi of "Dracula") decides to blackmail Gray because he knows that the latter murdered a blind street singer. Naturally, Gray doesn't let Joseph's threats unhinge him. Instead, he strangles Joseph to death. Meantime, the psychological paralysis that keeps Georgina from walking ends when she hears a horse and stands up on her own power. The guilt-ridden MacFarlane tries to bribe Gray so that he can be rid of the man, but Gray refuses to be bought off. Consequently, MacFarlane murders Gray himself, but he pays the ultimate price himself during a storm when the horses bolt and take the wagon with MacFarlane in it over a cliff. "The Body Snatcher" represented the eighth and final film that co-starred the two legends of horror Karloff and Lugosi.

Simpleton student doctor Russell Wade (Fettes) is American and speaks in a naive manner that has you astounded he can make it through to medical school. Anyway, it's 1831 Edinburgh – or Edinburrow as Wade pronounces it – and the Hare and Burke case is fresh in everyone's minds. Hare and Burke murdered people to provide bodies for medical research. Henry Daniell (MacFarlane) is the doctor that Wade is assigned to and stays with during his training. Bodies are needed for dissection purposes – enter cabman Boris Karloff (Gray). Karloff provides a service for Daniell. These two characters have a history that needs resolving… The story is about grave robbing and murder as a business. The two main characters – Karloff and Daniell are excellent in their roles. Karloff is scary and funny and Daniell is funny and flippant. They, along with some memorable scenes are the good points of the film. These scenes include the final nightmare cab ride that Daniell takes and the scene where servant Bela Lugosi approaches Karloff to blackmail him. Bad move.Unfortunately, the film is let down by some overbearingly awful sentimentality. We get a terrible singer that is allowed to sing on more than one occasion. The film spends way too much time with her awful, annoying voice and stupid songs. When Karloff gets in his cab one evening to pursue her we get what is the most satisfying moment of the film. Ha ha ha. My wife and I laughed out aloud at that point. Great moment. However, we also get a sentimental story about a crippled child and some nonsense about a white horse that doesn't work and really annoys. You know the kind of thing – will the crippled child walk again when she sees the white horse – guess what..? …I'm gonna puke. So, the film loses marks for this insulting crap.So, overall, the film is OK, let-down by an awful child actress and an awful singer. They are, unfortunately, in the film for long enough to ruin the whole experience. Karloff is great, though.

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")