Watch The Body Snatcher

"The Body Snatcher" is a 1945 horror film directed by Robert Wise and starring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Henry Daniell. This gothic thriller is loosely based on the short story of the same name by Robert Louis Stevenson and has become a cult classic due to its eerie atmosphere, talented cast, and engrossing storyline. The film is set in 19th century Edinburgh, where a young medical student named Donald Fettes (Russell Wade) is studying under the tutelage of Dr. MacFarlane (Henry Daniell). MacFarlane is a brilliant and respected physician who teaches anatomy at the local university, but he has a dark secret - he employs a body snatcher named John Gray (Boris Karloff) to provide him with fresh cadavers for his research.

Gray is a creepy and sinister character, lurking in the shadows and willing to do anything to fulfill MacFarlane's demands. He spends his nights stealing corpses from graveyards, aided by his accomplice, a down-on-his-luck cab driver named Joseph (Bela Lugosi). The two men make a formidable team, but they squabble over their share of the profits and Joseph becomes increasingly uneasy about the morality of their deeds.

As the story progresses, Donald becomes embroiled in the web of deceit and murder that surrounds MacFarlane and Gray. He is initially unaware of their activities, but he starts to suspect that something is amiss when he finds a locket belonging to a young girl who has recently gone missing. As the body count rises, Donald becomes more and more determined to uncover the truth - but he may be putting his own life in danger.

"The Body Snatcher" is a masterful example of film noir, with its shadowy visuals and morally ambiguous characters. The film has an incredibly eerie feel to it, with the cobbled streets of Edinburgh and the gloomy interiors of MacFarlane's laboratory adding to the pervasive sense of unease. The performances of Karloff, Lugosi, and Daniell are all excellent, with Karloff in particular stealing the show as the creepy and malevolent John Gray.

The movie is also notable for its depiction of the medical profession at the time. Doctors were struggling to obtain fresh cadavers for their research, as the law restricted the supply of bodies to those executed for murder. This led to the rise of grave robbing, which was seen as a necessary evil by many in the medical community. "The Body Snatcher" examines this practice in a macabre and disturbing way, highlighting the ethical dilemmas faced by doctors in the pursuit of medical knowledge.

Overall, "The Body Snatcher" is a classic horror film that still holds up today. It is a chilling and atmospheric tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat, thanks to its talented cast and excellent direction. If you're a fan of classic horror or film noir, then this is a movie that you definitely don't want to miss.

The Body Snatcher is a 1945 thriller with a runtime of 1 hour and 17 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 7.3 and a MetaScore of 74.