n 1831 in Edinburgh, carriage driver John Gray (Boris Karloff) delivers Mrs. Marsh (Rita Corday) and her paralyzed daughter Georgina (Sharyn Moffett) to the stern Dr. MacFarlane (Henry Daniell). It’s been three years since the small child was injured during the overturning of a coach, which also killed her father, and though the doctor knows the cause of her progressive nerve damage, he refuses to perform the surgery. His role as a teacher is far more useful than curing the woes of a single child.

MacFarlane reveals to his new young assistant Donald Fettes (Russell Wade) that the cadavers they need for dissection tutelage, which are lawfully culled from the bodies of paupers, are in short supply. Cabman Gray provides a necessary service by plundering fresh graves and selling the bodies to MacFarlane for his research. The doctor justifies the crimes with the thought that countless lives will be saved through the opportunity to study human flesh – and is angered by mentions of Burke and Hare. When Gray blackmails MacFarlane into operating on Georgina, primarily to aggravate the unwilling practitioner, it’s determined that yet another subject will be necessary to survey a spine for the upcoming challenge. As no recent specimens are available, Gray, wanting his regular commission, slaughters a street singer who isn’t likely to be missed.

Karloff is impeccable as a repellant, menacing resurrectionist (and dog killer) who easily transforms into a remorseless executioner. His slow but sure, cynical, and hostile words, supplemented by a coarse appearance and escalating murderousness, represent cinematic evil incarnate. Bela Lugosi plays simple, stooped servant Joseph, who isn’t fearful of his own thoughts of extortion, giving the legendary duo an amusing scene or two together (though trailers and advertising exploit their sharing of the screen as if they had equally major roles). It is but one clever inclusion for a horror film of striking resonance, replete with dark themes, morbid characters, and frightening revelations.

Based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s short story of the same name, “The Body Snatcher” essentially turns the tale of famous Scotland serial killers William Burke and William Hare into a fictional recounting with altered protagonists, allies, cover-ups, and other elaborations (along with references to the real Dr. Knox). It’s a tale of the past haunting the present, with a key ghoul to serve as perpetual tormentor. Gray’s sense of control over his enslaved anatomist is his only pleasure, preventing an easier solution of bribery or threats – instead, demanding an answer of violence. But physically disposing of his nemesis can’t provide the peace he so desires; rather, it furnishes an incurable curse to refill the position. Ultimately, MacFarlane will never be rid of Gray.

– Mike Massie