THE BODYSNATCHER

US, 1944, 85 minutes, Black and white.
Boris Karloff, Henry Daniell, Bela Lugosi.
Directed by Robert Wise.

The Bodysnatcher is a classic horror film of the 40's based on a Robert Louis Stevenson novel, re-creating an eerie Edinburgh and relying on its horror by understatement and atmosphere rather than shocks. In this it is most successful - as in the example of the sudden silence of the street-singer who, we realise, has been murdered by Gray.

Boris Karloff shows real acting talent in the sinister role of Gray and has to rely on few tricks to frighten audiences. Direction is by Robert Wise, later to make The Haunting (1963) and, of course, West Side Story and The Sound of Music.

1. A good thriller? Why? A good horror film? Why?

2. How was the eerie atmosphere of Edinburgh conveyed?

3. Did the film have an atmosphere of graves and death? What devices did the director use for this? How did he use darkness?

4. What were the roles of the street-singer and the horse in the film? What did they symbolise? How effectively were they used ? e.g., the little girl standing to see Gray's horse?

5. Was Mc Farlane a sinister figure? Why? Was he a good medical man? Why did he need the bodies? Did he have any right to take them? Were any of his arguments convincing or were they rationalisations?

6. Was the sub plot of the cure of the little girl well worked into the film? Why? Was it too sentimental?

7. Why did the hero follow Mc Farlane so easily? How did he cover his scruples about taking the bodies?

8. What was the role of John Gray in the film? What hold did he have over Mc Farlane? How did he use it? Did he enjoy it? Comment on his visits to the house, the scenes in the taverns, and his taunting of Mc Farlane.

9. How did Boris Karloff make Gray a sinister character? Did he use any melodramatic tricks or did he rely on a skilled characterisation?

10. Comment on the scene where he murders the street singer? In the dark the singing simply stops and yet the effect is horrifying. Are there other skilful examples of such subdued playing of horror?

11. What role did Joseph play in the film? His death?

12. Why did Mc Farlane not start afresh after his murder of Gray? Why was he so obsessed with his work and the need for bodies?

13. Were the haunting and retribution sequences effective? Why?

14. What choices did the hero have to make? What comment on medicine, humanitarian vision and the law did the film make?

15. How does this horror film compare with those of the 70's? Why?