Review: The Body Snatcher

Set in 1830s Edinburgh, Scotland with Russell Wade as Donald Fettes, a financially strapped med student whose instructor Dr. MacFarlane (Henry Daniell) allows him to continue his studies whilst becoming his assistant. This brings Fettes into contact with cabman John Gray (Boris Karloff, never better) a seemingly kindly sort who nonetheless makes money by nicking dead bodies from the graveyard and supplying them to Dr. MacFarlane for his medical experiments. MacFarlane insists that this is a necessary ugly part of the job and that it’s all for a scientific cause. However, cabman Gray is actually an evil man who needles Dr. MacFarlane over their past association with noted grave robbers Burke and Hare, using it to blackmail the upstanding medical practitioner to keep him in his life (Dr. MacFarlane would very much wish he didn’t need the services of cabman Gray). When Dr. MacFarlane needs a body to examine in preparation for a very difficult spinal operation on a disabled young girl, cabman Gray doesn’t bother with the grave-robbing this time. Bela Lugosi plays a hunchback assistant who attempts to blackmail Gray.

 

This 1945 chiller from director Robert Wise (“The Day the Earth Stood Still”, “The Haunting”) is the best of the Val Lewton chillers from RKO Pictures. Scripted by Lewton and Philip MacDonald (Hitchcock’s overrated “Rebecca”), this adaptation of a Robert Louis Stevenson short story also offers up the best performance of Horror legend Boris Karloff’s career. The genteel monster plays a very human monster in this one, the thoroughly despicable cabman John Gray, a fictionalised associate of real-life grave-robbing duo Burke and Hare. Although he’s got that unmistakable mellifluous voice and is genuinely kindly towards children, make no mistake: cabman Gray is a despicable murderer, with a barely concealed menacing threat. That seemingly benevolent twinkle in his eye masks a black heart. This is one of the great things about the film: You would expect the outwardly gentlemanly and friendly Karloff to be cast as a good guy, but he’s very much the villain, with a smile that frankly isn’t very reassuring. Hell, even kills a dog at one point for barely any necessary damn reason at all. There are also a few moments where the smile completely drops, and it’s truly frightening. I honestly think Karloff was robbed of an Oscar nomination here.

 

Henry Daniell’s Dr. MacFarlane is clearly cold-blooded, lacking in compassion or even a tolerable bedside manner, yet he’s a well-meaning and dedicated doctor who just so happens to consort with some absolutely abhorrent people for purely medical purposes. He’s not a villain, just very misguided and somewhat compromised. If he’s not careful, MacFarlane could end up crossing too far over the line that he can’t come back. Consorting with a grave-robber is one thing, but can he abide Gray actually murdering people to supply him with bodies for his experiments? Veteran villain Daniell is pitch-perfect as the stern and seemingly unfeeling MacFarlane, holding his own against Karloff on Karloff’s home turf, so to speak. I love that the screenplay has made MacFarlane a former assistant to the famed Dr. Knox, who used the grave-robbing services of Burke and Hare, who in turn are said here to be associates of Gray. It creates a scenario where MacFarlane lives in the shadow of what Knox did – will he stoop to the same level as Knox? I also love that whilst Gray is a truly despicable man and Dr. MacFarlane is a dedicated doctor, the former is outwardly far more likeable than the latter. You almost like the murdering Gray more than Dr. MacFarlane!

 

Bela Lugosi isn’t a favourite actor of mine, but when he was on a good day, the troubled star could at least bring a certain presence and inimitable charisma to a part. Here he plays a hunchback (more just hunched-over really) and ill-advised attempted blackmailer, and it’s a good use of him. Some might lament that he doesn’t have a very big role, but I don’t think lead roles were a very good fit for his limited acting ability, to be honest. Our protagonist is Oklahoma-born Russell Wade, who certainly doesn’t belong in 1830s Edinburgh, Scotland (But then, neither does Hungarian Bela Lugosi). He’s likeable enough I guess, but certainly a lightweight talent. What’s fascinating to me is that his appearance here was in the latter half of a career that spanned only 15 years but a whopping 94 films! Not even Euro-sleaze filmmaker Jesus Franco was that prolific in such short time. Wade retired in 1948 but didn’t pass away until 2006, working mostly in real estate for many years. That’s a heck of a life, if you ask me.

 

The film doesn’t quite have the eerie classic set-pieces of “Cat People”, but it’s an even stronger film overall. The closest the film gets to set pieces would firstly be the murder of the street singer, which is pretty chilling. There’s also a pretty terrific coach ride towards the end too, as Daniell’s character starts to go a little mad. The film has a great use of sound and suggestion, with most of the violence taking place off-screen. Like Karloff’s insidious performance, the film is full of malevolent suggestion. One of the biggest highlights is the shadowy B&W cinematography by Robert De Grasse (“Vigil in the Night”, “The Men”), as most of these Lewton chillers tended to do excel in. It’s not quite as creepily expressionistic as “Cat People”, but it looks fantastic nonetheless.

 

Must-see, must own. Val Lewton’s name is as important to horror cinema as that of James Whale, Tod Browning, Dario Argento, Mario Bava, and Hammer Films.

 

Rating: A