Simpleton student doctor Russell Wade (Fettes) is American and speaks in a naive manner that has you astounded he can make it through to medical school. Anyway, it's 1831 Edinburgh – or Edinburrow as Wade pronounces it – and the Hare and Burke case is fresh in everyone's minds. Hare and Burke murdered people to provide bodies for medical research. Henry Daniell (MacFarlane) is the doctor that Wade is assigned to and stays with during his training. Bodies are needed for dissection purposes – enter cabman Boris Karloff (Gray). Karloff provides a service for Daniell. These two characters have a history that needs resolving
The story is about grave robbing and murder as a business. The two main characters – Karloff and Daniell are excellent in their roles. Karloff is scary and funny and Daniell is funny and flippant. They, along with some memorable scenes are the good points of the film. These scenes include the final nightmare cab ride that Daniell takes and the scene where servant Bela Lugosi approaches Karloff to blackmail him. Bad move.
Unfortunately, the film is let down by some overbearingly awful sentimentality. We get a terrible singer that is allowed to sing on more than one occasion. The film spends way too much time with her awful, annoying voice and stupid songs. When Karloff gets in his cab one evening to pursue her we get what is the most satisfying moment of the film. Ha ha ha. My wife and I laughed out aloud at that point. Great moment. However, we also get a sentimental story about a crippled child and some nonsense about a white horse that doesn't work and really annoys. You know the kind of thing – will the crippled child walk again when she sees the white horse – guess what..? I'm gonna puke. So, the film loses marks for this insulting crap.
So, overall, the film is OK, let-down by an awful child actress and an awful singer. They are, unfortunately, in the film for long enough to ruin the whole experience. Karloff is great, though.
The story is about grave robbing and murder as a business. The two main characters – Karloff and Daniell are excellent in their roles. Karloff is scary and funny and Daniell is funny and flippant. They, along with some memorable scenes are the good points of the film. These scenes include the final nightmare cab ride that Daniell takes and the scene where servant Bela Lugosi approaches Karloff to blackmail him. Bad move.
Unfortunately, the film is let down by some overbearingly awful sentimentality. We get a terrible singer that is allowed to sing on more than one occasion. The film spends way too much time with her awful, annoying voice and stupid songs. When Karloff gets in his cab one evening to pursue her we get what is the most satisfying moment of the film. Ha ha ha. My wife and I laughed out aloud at that point. Great moment. However, we also get a sentimental story about a crippled child and some nonsense about a white horse that doesn't work and really annoys. You know the kind of thing – will the crippled child walk again when she sees the white horse – guess what..? I'm gonna puke. So, the film loses marks for this insulting crap.
So, overall, the film is OK, let-down by an awful child actress and an awful singer. They are, unfortunately, in the film for long enough to ruin the whole experience. Karloff is great, though.