The Body Snatcher (1945)

November 9, 2024 7:19 AM

[TRAILER] Dr. Toddy MacFarlane (Henry Daniell) needs cadavers for his medical experiments, ultimately intended to treat a young disabled girl. However, they are not easy to come by, so he enlists the help of taxi driver John Gray (Boris Karloff) and his assistant, Joseph (Bela Lugosi), to unearth bodies from the cemetery. When Donald (Russell Wade), Dr. MacFarlane's assistant, recognizes one of the corpses Gray delivers, the true source of the bodies is called into question.

Directed by Robert Wise. Screenplay by Philip MacDonald, Val Lewton (credited as Carlos Keith). Based on "The Body Snatcher" an 1884 short story by Robert Louis Stevenson. Produced by Val Lewton for RKO Radio Pictures. Cinematography by Robert De Grasse. Edited by J.R. Whittredge. Music by Roy Webb.

86% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming in the US on Tubi. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (4 comments total)

With the exception of his amazing turn in Targets, this may be my favorite Karloff performance.

Lewton is amazing. He co-wrote this one and the sophisticated observations about class are a helluva thing to layer into the standard Burke/Hare grave robbers story.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:23 PM on November 10, 2024

You're right about the class observations, of course. That said, I saw this a couple months ago and already have forgotten almost everything else about it. I liked it? Couldn't tell you more than that. I'll have to watch it again at some point.
posted by johnofjack at 4:07 PM on November 10, 2024

I often feel the other Val Lewton produced horror films have overshadowed the three Karloff films he did (this one, Isle of the Dead, Bedlam). I mean they are all good, though I think this one is the best, but they always feel to me as being different then the others which results in me unfairly discounting them.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:39 AM on November 11, 2024 [1 favorite]

I hope that Criterion (or someone) puts out some more 4K Lewton stuff. It really deserves it.

Failing that, even thoughtfully put together 2K versions of his RKO non-horror films Mademoiselle Fifi and Youth Runs Wild are needed desperately, not to mention his post-RKO work like Apache Drums.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:45 AM on November 11, 2024