Le docteur et les assassins

The Dylan Thomas screenplay finally makes it to the screen with a few minor alterations. Based on the Burke and Hare vivisectionist murders, this film has a lot of the feel of the old Hammer movies though for the most part it is played quite a bit straighter. Credible performance by 1960's icon Twiggy. Very good, under-rated small feature.

The Doctor and The Devils is, ostensibly, a remake of the The Flesh and The Fiends (1960), which told of the nefarious true-life activities of infamous bodysnatchers and murderers Burke and Hare in the year 1828. In this telling of the story, the names have been changed, but the crimes remain the same: realising that good money can be made from supplying fresh cadavers to anatomical lecturers at a local medical school, a pair of wretched low-lifes turn to murder.

The pair of villains in this instance are Robert Fallon (Jonathan Pryce) and Timothy Broom (Stephen Rea), and the doctor who asks no questions about the origin of his corpses is Thomas Rock (Timothy Dalton). Julian Sands plays Rock's loyal assistant Dr. Murray, who falls for local prostitute Jennie Bailey (Twiggy). When Fallon brings the body of Jennie's close friend Alice to the school, the young doctor fears that Jennie is to be Fallon's next victim and rushes to her rescue.

The penultimate film from horror director Freddie Francis, The Doctor and The Devils is very much like a Hammer movie in look and feel, and will definitely appeal to fans of the 'studio that dripped blood'. However, despite plenty of atmosphere, good production values, an impressive roster of actors (which also includes Beryl Reid and Patrick Stewart), and a screenplay by noted Welsh writer/poet Dylan Thomas, the film is no match for The Flesh and The Fiends.

The pacing is off, with much of the film feeling like padding until such time as Murray is ready to leap to the rescue of Jennie, and, despite a fine cast, no-one is able to rival the brilliance of Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence, whose memorable turns gave the earlier film such a wonderful, darkly humorous edge. Dalton and company are all fine actors, but even they have their off days, and there are some really dodgy accents on display in this film (Reid is particularly bad and I was glad when her character was finally silenced).

That said, the film is worth a shot for fans of historical horror and those particularly interested in the crimes of Burke and Hare, although I highly recommend seeing The Flesh and The Fiends first.

The story of Burke and Hare is one of horror's all time classics and has inspired some great films such as The Flesh and the Fiends and The Body Snatcher, among many others. The story is absolutely rife with intrigue; we have a central murder plot, plus the reasons behind the murder as well as the whole 'morality vs science' issue that runs throughout. The film has a period setting which it carries off very well, and the excellent cast all turn in great performances which helps to ensure that The Doctor and the Devils always feels like a very polished and professional production. The names used in this movie are not the real life names of the people involved - for some reason, Doctor Knox has become Doctor Rock and Burke and Hare are now Broom and Fallon, but anyone that knows the story of Burke and Hare will know what to expect. We focus on two criminals that realise they can make a killing by killing people and selling the fresh bodies to the local Doctor for seven sovereigns a time. It soon becomes clear to the doctor that the bodies aren't being taken from graves, yet he continues to accept them to test on...

The Doctor and the Devils is not the best film to be based on this classic story; though I have not seen every film it inspired, I am sure that The Flesh and the Fiends remains the best; though this is certainly an excellent take on it. The film is directed by one of Hammer's best directors, Freddie Francis, and Francis creates the period style excellently; there is nothing about the setting or atmosphere of this film that doesn't make you think that it's all taking place in the Victorian era. The cast is excellent also. The fourth James Bond, Timothy Dalton, takes the central role of the doctor and delivers an excellent performance. He doesn't do the role as well as Peter Cushing did in the 1959 take on this story...but few matches up to Cushing. The duo of Stephen Rea and Jonathan Pryce are the gravediggers/murderers and make up the core of the film excellently. The rest of the cast is padded out by Julian Sands and Twiggy in smaller but important roles. Overall, The Doctor and the Devils is an excellent and sadly overlooked take on the classic story of Burke and Hare and while it may not be easy to come by - this one is certainly worth the effort!

Dr Thomas Rock is an unorthodox anatomist who runs Edinburgh's School of Anatomy in the 1800s. Although his associates of the trade see his work as outrageous, as he discards tradition framework of the medical establishment. To encourage such knowledge and to dig a little deeper into his work Rock receives corpses from grave-robbers to make up for the few he only receives. Things take a turn for the worst when the slum of Robert Fallon and Timothy Broom find out there's good money in the job, and go one step further by providing on every occasion a 'fresh' corpse for the unconcerned doctor.

I couldn't help but be slightly disappointed by this Mel Brooks produced Gothic take on the true exploits of the infamous grave robbers of the 19th century, Burke and Hare. I believe Val Lewton's "The Body Snatcher (1945)" and "The Flesh and the Fiends (1959)" to be far superior, especially the way they seem to grab you and take you along for the ride. On this effort, I just couldn't get totally involved. The depressingly glum story was shaped off the late Dylan Thomas' rather old screenplay and is very similar to "The Flesh and the Fiends" in plot devices. The cerebrally literate script has plenty layers to work around with and genuinely makes some interesting observations on characters' behavioural habits, social status and the moral high ground of science. With the latter, we've heard it all before, but somewhat it still compels. Although some of sub-plots don't seem to gel and feel rather empty or under written (like the romance between Twiggy and Julian Sands and the affair between Rock's sister and wife). There's a dankly realistic and more an old-fashioned view within its martial and visual craftsmanship.

Directed Freddie Francis competently illustrates the picture with great aplomb and creates a solid period setting that resembles something out of Hammer studios. There's a nitty gritty vibe drummed up on the grimy sets by such gruesome perversion and dread. Where it lingers on it successfully. The dynamic factor of directing the actors and story seemed a little lacking, despite a suspenseful climax and hearty conclusion. This can be really attributed to John Morris' score, which really hangs there in such an mournfully haunting fashion. Focal photography was atmospherically well-etched by Gerry Turpin and Norman Warwick. Now what a cast! Timothy Dalton, Jonathan Pryce, Julian Sands, Twiggy, Stephen Rea and Patrick Stewart. A convincing Dalton is excellent as the work heavily sterile and egotistical Dr Rock. The undoubtedly superb Pryce and Rea are truly disquieting as the scummy lowlifes turned cold-blooded killers, Fallon and Broom. There's a wicked morbid sense of humour running through most of their dialogues. A classy Sands, is simply too one-note and a tailor made Twiggy is quite strong in her part as a prostitute.

A hot and cold fable that I only wished it could keep me engaged throughout the whole experience, rather than in patches. Well-made and acted, but bleakly weary and flat.

Another version of the Burke & Hare grave robber story. On the surface, this one has quite a few interesting things going for it. For starters, the script was based on one originally written in the 1940s by poet Dylan Thomas. That alone would be worth checking any movie out. Then we have, of all people, Mel Brooks producing it even though it's not a comedy at all. Freddie Francis, famed cinematographer and Hammer director, directs this and gives it that sort of throwback Hammer style. That's the film's strongest asset, by the way. To top it all off, there's a nice cast with Timothy Dalton, Jonathan Pryce, Stephen Rea, Julian Sands, and...um, Twiggy.

So, with all of this, why doesn't the movie work better? Well, the main problem is that it's all so drearily serious to the point of being dull. No excitement, no humor, no suspense. It's definitely not a horror movie, either, in case you were led to believe otherwise. Yes the attention to detail and getting the period right is to be acknowledged but it just reminds me why 'realism' is a double-edged sword in films. This looks realistic to the point of being depressing. I won't say you shouldn't see it because it's intriguing enough to warrant a look. But keep expectations low. If you're really jonesing for a grave robber movie, I would suggest you see the Val Lewton/Robert Wise classic The Body Snatcher starring Boris Karloff instead.