The Body Snatcher - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Body Snatcher

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

​

Movie
I have a massive weakness for these old 30s and 40s horror films that Scream Factory is unearthing outside of the traditional Universal Monster Movies that they’ve put out so far. Typically Scream Factory likes to deal with 70s and 80s and 90s horror movies, but recently they’ve made a big effort to bring us horror films from way back in the day, as this is a sub genre that has been sorely lacking on Blu-ray. In a few months Scream is actually putting out a box set of Bela Lugosi (Dracula) and Boris Karloff films (Frankenstein), but The Body Snatcher acts as a little taste of things to come, giving us one of the better 40s gothic horror films starring both men (although mostly Boris Karloff, as Bela Lugosi plays a diminished role for this one). Not only that, Scream Factory has gone back to the negatives and done a fresh 4K scan for the release, giving us a stellar video encode for the new edition as well as a hefty set of extras to enjoy as well.

Dr. Toddy MacFarlane (Henry Daniell) is called upon to operate on a little girl who can’t walk, and while his skill is great, he refuses to operate on the young girl due to his role as teacher vs. practicing physician. While this seems noble (albeit selfish) on the surface, the real reason for the “good” doctor’s lack of interest lies with his insatiable search for textbook knowledge. You see, while everyone is living their life above ground, Dr. MacFarlane is underground dissecting cadavers that are brought to him by cab driver John Gray (Boris Karloff), who is digging them up for the doctor in the local graveyard. However, the Dr.’s assistant notices the corpses are mysteriously from people who were alive the day before. A phenomenon that leads the young man to the conclusion of murder.

Sadly the Doctor refuses to believe his assistant (let’s just say that there is more than meets the eye here), and his Igor like cadaver assistant named Joseph (Bela Lugosi) goes to confront the evil cab driver only to be met with the same fate as all the other cadavers. Realizing that John Gray is out of hand, Dr. MacFarlane goes to confront the twisted individual, only to come face to face with a monster who will stop at nothing to keep his twisted form of control over the Doctor’s reputation.

The Body Snatcher is a terrific old Gothic horror movie that really holds up well even 74 years later. It’s an age old morality tale about which one is the monster and which is the victim here, with our dueling villains. Boris Karloff is naturally the most OBVIOUS villain as he chews up the scenery and gives several rather poignant monologues about knowledge and understanding. His character mirrors the monster from Frankenstein, as he’s vicious and cruel straight from the get go. However, the real monster could be seen as Doctor MacFarlane, who has been fueling Gray’s murder sprees by knowingly looking the other way all these years. It’s a great juxtaposition of characters, and one of the best parts of the movie.

Bela Lugosi plays a rather minor part in the film, appearing as the hunchbacked Joseph who’s only role is to be victim of Karloff’s John Gray. I would have liked to have seen him in a bigger role as Lugosi is always larger than life, but Boris Karloff is the true star of the film. He chews up the scenery with gusto, belting out some fantastic monologues and generally having a blast with the deviousness of his character. You can tell he’s honestly having a great time his role, and the glee and gusto that he exudes is incredibly infectious. Henry Daniell is great as the good doctor, mostly due to the fact that he’s so matter of fact and blunt. His character is a very subdued character, but one who’s cold heartedness once again acts as the foil to Karloff’s overly twisted scenery chewing.




Rating:

Not Rated By the MPAA




Video:

Like many of their releases, Scream Factory has gone back and done a full 4K scan of the original negative, and the results are quite stunning for a film that it is 74 years old. The details aren’t as crisp or clean as modern film stock, but this is a night and day difference between the ancient DVD and this Blu-ray release. Blacks, whites and grays are all well saturated with great detail all the way around. Facial details show lots of depth and the contrast for the black and white filmography is excellent. There’s a few tiny flecks and speckles, but when I say tiny, I mean tiny. I had to really look for a few of them and I’m more including their presence as a statement of fact rather than a negative connotation as they are so fleeting as to be inconsequential. Skin tones are nicely white/gray, and the black levels themselves are DEEP and inky. The nightfall and shadow sequences are more than revealing, and I was honestly shocked how little crush there was. All in all, this is a stunning look for The Body Snatchers.






Audio:

The DTS-HD MA Mono track is exactly what one would expect from a 74 year old film. It’s very nicely done, with a crisp sound to the voices and ambient music, but there is an underlying analog hiss that is present throughout most of the film. The score is clean and clear, and the action of the film comes through nicely, but there’s not much that can be done with a Mono track outside of being precise and clean. The analog hiss notwithstanding, the 2.0 Mono track delivers all that it can with the simplistic sound design.






Extras:

• BRAND NEW 4K REMASTER OF THE FILM from the original camera negative
• NEW You'll Never Get Rid of Me: Resurrecting The Body Snatcher
• Audio Commentary with director Robert Wise and writer/film historian Steve Haberman
• Documentary – Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy
• Still Galleries – posters, lobby cards, movie stills

Final Score:
​

The Body Snatchers is one of the better gothic horror films of of the early days, and one of the better non Universal Pictures ones as well. Having Bela Lugosi AND Boris Karloff in one film is always a treat, and Karloff just shines through in this one. The Scream Factory releases is quite fetching, with great video, good audio and some decent extras to pad out the release. I’ve been more and more enamored with Scream Factory digging out these classic horror films instead of just focusing in on the 70s and 80s films like they used to, as it adds another dimension to their arsenal, and fills in the cracks when Studios like Sony and the like won’t release these films with the same aplomb that Universal does for their classic horror films. Highly Recommended.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Henry Daniell, Edith Atwater, Donna Lee, Sharyn Moffett, Rita Corday, Russell Wade
Directed by: Robert Wise
Written by: Robert Louis Stevenson (Short Story), Val Lewton, Philip MacDonald
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Scream Factory
Rated: NR
Runtime: 77 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: March 26th, 2019

Image

• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Great Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will have to revisit this one.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Mike, thanks for putting the spotlight on this one. I'm IN.