John Chard
Grave robbing is one thing, but murder is quite another.
Dr. MacFarlane and John Gray share a murky past, but just what is this hold that the lurching Gray has over the eminent Doctor?. Based on a Robert Louis Stevenson short story, The Body Snatcher contains tight direction from Mr Versatile, Robert Wise - all the classy Gothicism one comes to expect from producer Val Lewton - and a stunningly effective performance from Boris Karloff. The piece neatly puts itself out as a kind of sequel to the infamous story of Burke & Hare, where here our main protagonists are clouded over by a link to the dastardly duo who purloined cadavers for cash in the 1820s.
What stands out with this picture is the wonderful pacing, nothing is rushed to try a...