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Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Henry Daniell, Edith Atwater, Donna Lee ... see more see more... , Russell Wade , Rita Corday , Sharyn Moffett , Mary Gordon , Carl Kent , Milt Kibbee , Jim Moran , Lawrence Wheat , Bill Williams , Robert Clarke , Aina Constant

Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi were given top billing in the Val Lewton-produced The Body Snatcher, but the film's protagonist is played by Henry Daniell. A brilliant 18th century London surgeon, Danie... read more read more...ll can only make his humanitarian medical advances by experimenting on cadavers, which is strictly illegal. Karloff plays a Uriah Heep-type cabman who is secretly a grave robber, providing corpses for Daniell's research. The low-born Karloff enjoys blackmailing the aristocratic Daniell into silence; the two actors' cat-and-mouse scenes are among the film's highlights. Eventually, Karloff turns to murder to supply fresh bodies to Daniell. The doctor can stand no more of this, and kills Karloff. But though Daniell may be able to escape the law, he cannot escape his conscience, which manifests itself in the voice of the dead Karloff, whose repeated mantra "NEVER get rid of me! NEVER get rid of me!" drives Daniell to his death. Though billed second, Lugosi has an embarrassingly small part, though the scene he shares with Karloff is one of his best-ever screen moments. The Body Snatcher was based on a story by Robert Louis Stevenson, which in turn was inspired by the homicidal career of notorious grave-robbers Burke and Hare. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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71% liked it

3,521 ratings

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80% liked it

15 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 17 min.

Directed by: Robert Wise

Release Date: January 1, 1945

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Flixster Reviews (193)

  • FilmFanatik
    April 13, 2011
    FilmFanatik
    A pretty interesting little flick that ends extremely well. Odd seeing Bela Lugosi in such a tiny role, but also it's nice to see Boris Karloff being so evil and relishing it.
  • ajv2688
    October 18, 2010
    ajv2688
    My favourite corpse snatching movie, it stars both Karloff and Lugosi, how could you not like it? It's exciting and creepy.
  • mjgildea
    May 5, 2010
    mjgildea
    One of many from Val Lewton's stable of low budget horror masterpieces, a young Robert Wise masterfully directs Robert Louis Stevenson's tale of a doctor willing to cross the line in search of knowledge and the man who torments him. The Body Snatcher is proof positive that Boris ... read moreKarloff was a great actor as any scene he's in legitimately has the ability to make your skin crawl. Don't get too excited about Bela Lugosi's (I'm pretty sure he's supposed to be a retarded Spaniard) role as he's got very little screen time but his final scene with Karloff is superb. Wise does so much with so little and that final carriage scene came close to freaking me out.
  • harrycaul
    November 1, 2009
    harrycaul
    Sinister goings on in 19th century Edinburrow as a young medical student, presumably on exchange from America, is initiated into the art of grave robbing. Based on a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson and directed by Robert Wise, The Body Snatcher is not actually one of... read more the better Val Lewton horror movies. The atmosphere is potent enough but the story doesn't really catch fire until the very end and, for such a short film, it tends to drag. Henry Daniell and Boris Karloff, as an anatomist and his resurrectionist respectively, are terrific; Bela Lugosi, on the other hand, is such a waste of space I'd forgotten he was even in the picture.
  • SirPant
    October 1, 2009
    SirPant
    A fantastic horror classic! Daniell & Karloff go head to head but its Karloff who wins with an effortless but outstanding performance! Robert Wise's direction is also fantastic, he is another brilliant director who didn't make enough films in his life time. All in all, another Va... read morel Lewton classic well worth seeking out!
  • ceWEBrity
    December 17, 2008
    ceWEBrity
    I dunno, this one didn't really catch me. I probably should have given it more of a shot but it wasn't sticking. Not quite as unique or refreshing as its DVD double-feature, I Walked With a Zombie.
  • 366weirdmovies
    July 31, 2008
    366weirdmovies
    Karloff is hypnotically evil as Gray, a carriage driver who sidelines in grave robbing and blackmailing the local medical school dean, in this eerie adaptation of a Robert Louis Stevenson story. Gray may be Karloff's most sinister performance, but with the notable exceptions of... read more Henry Daniell's Dr. MacFarlane, and a very good if too small bit by Bela Lugosi, the supporting performances aren't up to snuff in this horror/drama. Still, a minor horror classic from legendary producer Val Lewton and future Oscar winning director Robert Wise.
  • webalina
    February 3, 2008
    webalina
    One of Val Lewton's best known (with good reason)productions, this spooky tale is the story of a doctor in a medical school in 19th century London (Henry Daniell - was he in EVERYTHING in the 30's and 40's?!) who uses a gloulish cabdriver (Boris Karloff) to deliver bodies for his... read more students to dissect. And he's not too picky about where they come from. One of several films that Karloff and Bela Lugosi did together, although Lugosi's role was much smaller than Karloff's in this case. Lots of eerie scenes courtesy of director Robert Wise, who will later direct the best haunted house film ever "The Haunting". The way horror used to be before torture porn. more's the pity.
  • groaningbitch
    December 18, 2007
    groaningbitch
    "body snatcher" is boris karloff's another classic directed by robert wise (born to kill, sand pebbles)...a deranged story of thieving corpses from graveyard for the sake of medical research, and this time karloff transcends beyond the monstrous skin, reincarnating himself into a... read morenother authentic form of pure evil.

    british stage actor henry daniell plays the avid doctor with superb medical talent who accumulates his success by dissecting the stolen dead bodies provided by karloff's sinister body-snatcher who would resort to murder for his mercenary avarice, but body-snatcher has another more profound motive which is far beyond greed, he pupeteers the soul of this anxious doctor by taunting him with scornful manipulation and haunting him with parasite-alike possessiveness, further the pride of enabling to bridle this prestigious doctor as karloff's character asserts himself. body-snatch lashes out the angst of his low birth which compulses him into lots of degenerated deals for suvival, and the mere sadistic pleasure which keeps him moving forward is to afflict the doctor whose higher status and genius he enviously resents. this calculated pervert drive is evil itself which dominates the whole feature without any involvement of supernatural form of power, and the darkness of a twisted mind is even more horridly chilling. eventually the doctor's soul is bereft by the body-snatcher's contagious vileness in a psychological perspective.

    another well-acted archetyped story of human corruptness, and karloff delivers another tour-de-farce performance without the shield of frankenstein monstrous cosmetics that is a proper showcase to exuberate his brilliant acting talent, and henry daniell obtains a chance to play some character who is not utterly objectionable as his typecasted villain roles.

    before the ingredients of alien subplots, the body snatcher was a simplistic gothic tale with the potentiality to doctrine on the respect of the humanity: to deem life as something sacred and not to be violated.
  • drblood
    August 20, 2007
    drblood
    Certainly this is one of Boris Karloff's best and most villainous acting roles apart from "The Black Room" (which isn't in the database yet).
    The atmosphere and historical accuracy in this film is incredible but is no less than you'd expect from Robert Wise who also went on to cr... read moreeate the scariest ghost story of all time with "The Haunting".

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Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
November 14, 2007
Variety Staff, Variety

Settings are inexpensive but sufficient for the needs. Production values, in general, however, aid materially in making this picture a winner. Full Review

Bosley Crowther
March 25, 2006
Bosley Crowther, New York Times

Even though this film is taken from a modest stage play of a few seasons back, its humors are as stale and mechanical as those of the oldest such farce. Full Review

Dave Kehr
January 1, 2000
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

One of the lesser products of Val Lewton's years as the head of RKO's horror-film unit. Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
May 19, 2010
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

Researchers and healers are closer to the subjects on the autopsy slab than to their living patients in this acerbic chimera of shadow and sacrifice Full Review

Walter Chaw
October 22, 2009
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central

there's a fascination with the ultimate futility of ever being something beyond opportunistic and solipsistic. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
July 25, 2008
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Too stuck on being literate to be a great movie ... . Full Review

November 14, 2007
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The first and best of the three Val Lewton-Boris Karloff collaborations for RKO. Full Review

June 24, 2006
Time Out

The film accelerates to great effect towards the end. Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
September 18, 2005
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

This is the most elegant and leisurely of the Val Lewton horror films, up until the whopper of an ending. Full Review

May 24, 2003
Film4

It is certainly far more accomplished and evocative than some critics have suggested. Full Review

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The Body Snatcher Trivia

  • Which actor starred in all of these movies: The Mummmy, The Body Snatcher, The old dark house and Targets? among other films  Answer »
  • The last film that teamed Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi was:  Answer »
  • A few of my movies. Who am I? Dracula (1931) The Death Kiss (1932) Mark of the Vampire (1935) Son of Frankenstein (1939) The Wolf Man (1941) Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) The Body Snatcher (1945) I guess I do evil and creepy the best of all time!   Answer »
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