Dr Thomas Rock (Timothy Dalton) is a brilliant anatomist who refuses to conform to the rules of the Victorian medical establishment. In order to prove his scientific theories he acquires the services of the body snatchers Fallon (Jonathan Pryce) and Broom (Stephen Rea) who turn to multiple murder to provide him with the raw materials for his research purposes - fresh corpses. But, things go horribly wrong for them after they pick a local prostitute called Jenny Bailey (Twiggy) as a potential victim, whom one of Rock's assistants, Dr Murray (Julian Sands), is in love with and his intervention not only saves her life but brings the pair to justice. Only one of them turns king's evidence while the other is sent to the gallows. But what will all of this mean for Dr Rock's career as a lecturer at the Academy and his pursuit of furthering his profession's knowledge of anatomy?
A very acceptable retelling of Dr Knox and Burke and Hare the grave robbers, which this is in all but name. For anybody who has seen other versions of this story such as John Gilling's marvellous 1959 film, The Flesh And The Fiends, this will provide nothing new. It is also disappointingly tame by comparison since the horrific elements are played down. Nevertheless, the first rate cast does fine work with Pryce and Rea of exceptional note as Burke and Hare, here renamed as Fallon and Broom. Timothy Dalton, who shortly after appearing in this would be selected to succeed Roger Moore in the long running James Bond series, is excellent as Dr Rock skilfully bringing out the ambiguity of his character. For instance, he displays a strong humanitarian concern for the poor and the destitute people who live in the marketplace area of his city whereas his rather pompous and self-satisfied upper class friends and medical colleagues are ignorant of its existence and drown on about how prosperous and "cultured" the city is. Yet, in the pursuit of his obsessive quest for knowledge and expanding the progress of his profession, he has little remorse or concern for the fact that his suppliers of corpses are killing those very unfortunate people in pursuit of profit. Throughout the film the question is posed as to whether the doctor's actions can be justified to a certain degree by the fact that his intention to advance his profession's knowledge in defiance of convention are well intentioned and could potentially save millions of lives. In the acting stakes, only Julian Sands and Twiggy slow the work down as the medical man and prostitute who fall in love, only the latter rejects him because she does not believe that because of her background she can fit in to being an upper class doctor's wife. This is supposed to provide the emotional centre to the story, which was superbly handled by a young Billie Whitelaw and John Cairney in the 1959 Gilling picture; but here it is poorly worked out in the script and Sands and Twiggy appear rather wooden in the roles.
The film is rich in period detail thanks to the superb set design of Robert Laing and the lavish colour Cinemascope camerawork of Gerry Turpin and Norman Warwick, which enhances it with a strong feeling for place (Victorian Edinburgh) and period. Ronald Harwood's script was based on an original screenplay by the poet Dylan Thomas, which at one time was due to be made as a film starring Sir Michael Redgrave and directed by Fritz Lang (and later Nicholas Ray). But, in the end it was never filmed. This interesting but overlooked film was a personal project for veteran cinematographer-director Freddie Francis, but sadly at the time it disappeared without trace due to poor promotion and distribution.
A very acceptable retelling of Dr Knox and Burke and Hare the grave robbers, which this is in all but name. For anybody who has seen other versions of this story such as John Gilling's marvellous 1959 film, The Flesh And The Fiends, this will provide nothing new. It is also disappointingly tame by comparison since the horrific elements are played down. Nevertheless, the first rate cast does fine work with Pryce and Rea of exceptional note as Burke and Hare, here renamed as Fallon and Broom. Timothy Dalton, who shortly after appearing in this would be selected to succeed Roger Moore in the long running James Bond series, is excellent as Dr Rock skilfully bringing out the ambiguity of his character. For instance, he displays a strong humanitarian concern for the poor and the destitute people who live in the marketplace area of his city whereas his rather pompous and self-satisfied upper class friends and medical colleagues are ignorant of its existence and drown on about how prosperous and "cultured" the city is. Yet, in the pursuit of his obsessive quest for knowledge and expanding the progress of his profession, he has little remorse or concern for the fact that his suppliers of corpses are killing those very unfortunate people in pursuit of profit. Throughout the film the question is posed as to whether the doctor's actions can be justified to a certain degree by the fact that his intention to advance his profession's knowledge in defiance of convention are well intentioned and could potentially save millions of lives. In the acting stakes, only Julian Sands and Twiggy slow the work down as the medical man and prostitute who fall in love, only the latter rejects him because she does not believe that because of her background she can fit in to being an upper class doctor's wife. This is supposed to provide the emotional centre to the story, which was superbly handled by a young Billie Whitelaw and John Cairney in the 1959 Gilling picture; but here it is poorly worked out in the script and Sands and Twiggy appear rather wooden in the roles.
The film is rich in period detail thanks to the superb set design of Robert Laing and the lavish colour Cinemascope camerawork of Gerry Turpin and Norman Warwick, which enhances it with a strong feeling for place (Victorian Edinburgh) and period. Ronald Harwood's script was based on an original screenplay by the poet Dylan Thomas, which at one time was due to be made as a film starring Sir Michael Redgrave and directed by Fritz Lang (and later Nicholas Ray). But, in the end it was never filmed. This interesting but overlooked film was a personal project for veteran cinematographer-director Freddie Francis, but sadly at the time it disappeared without trace due to poor promotion and distribution.