I saw this on AMC on Halloween night, as I was giving out candy to trick-or-treaters. This is one of the most interesting horror movies I've seen, if only because it is not a by-the-numbers monster movie or gore fest. Ironicially, while "The Body Snatcher" takes place in a real-life setting devoid of aliens or monsters, it is far more macabre than any modern horror movie you will see, precisely because it seems like there could be psychos like the characters in this film in real life. The role of the doctor was rather stiff and bland, but the script, adapted from a Robert Louis Stevenson story I've never read, helps this film flow along like fine wine in spite of some of the stiff acting. Boris Karloff, as the ghoulish cabman who does the doctor's dirty work, and acts as a sort of a grim conscience for the amoral physician, is divine in the role. While he may be best remembered for his mumbling Frankenstein's monster or, for the kids, as the narrator of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", he proves in "The Body Snatcher" that he is a versatile actor who can really do well as a regular human rather than a literal monster, albeit a deliciously creepy, scary, and sinister human with a cockney accent.
If you love horror movies, but tire of Freddy Krueger ripping open teenagers or the Queen Alien spewing acid on her unsuspecting space marine victims YET AGAIN, watch this gem. It's unique, yet still pretty scary.
If you love horror movies, but tire of Freddy Krueger ripping open teenagers or the Queen Alien spewing acid on her unsuspecting space marine victims YET AGAIN, watch this gem. It's unique, yet still pretty scary.