This dark-souled film revolves around doctors using illicit means to gain the corpses needed to learn the details of human anatomy. The Body Snatcher is Boris Karloff as a grave robber who oozes menace under a faux-genial exterior.
While Karloff centers the film, the moral quandary is on a young doctor seduced by the logic of necessity. It's a movie about the compromises we make and the lies we tell ourselves, and what happens when we realize how deep in we are.
This is one of the better Val Lewton productions, with an engaging story and loads of atmosphere. For many people, such as my girlfriend, it's perhaps the best of his films, although for me personally it isn't quite to the level of I Walked with a Zombie, Bedlam, or Curse of the Cat People. But it's well worth watching.
While Karloff centers the film, the moral quandary is on a young doctor seduced by the logic of necessity. It's a movie about the compromises we make and the lies we tell ourselves, and what happens when we realize how deep in we are.
This is one of the better Val Lewton productions, with an engaging story and loads of atmosphere. For many people, such as my girlfriend, it's perhaps the best of his films, although for me personally it isn't quite to the level of I Walked with a Zombie, Bedlam, or Curse of the Cat People. But it's well worth watching.