Le Récupérateur de cadavres

This is unlike some of the other Val Lewton mystery/horror films from the 1940s in that it is a classic Gothic horror tale with a classic Gothic horror topic - 19th century grave robbing for the purpose of medical research. There's no wartime engineer married to a mysterious and troubled woman who is afraid she'll turn into a leopard if sexually aroused in THIS Lewton film! But I digress.

Dr. MacFarlane (Henry Daniells) is a famous surgeon and medical school professor in Edinburgh. He gives a job to medical school student Donald Fettes because, otherwise, Fettes will have to leave school because he can't afford tuition and his living expenses, and MacFarlane thinks Fettes has the makings of a fine doctor. But, among other things, the job involves the intake of cadavers for dissection. And those bodies are the product of graverobbing by cabman John Gray (Boris Karloff). Of course the graverobbing is bad enough, but it soon escalates to murder on the part of Gray. And MacFarlane really can't do much about Gray who turns up at his home and lab unwanted and at all hours just to torment him. That's because of a secret of MacFarlane's that Gray has been keeping all of these years since MacFarlane was in medical school. Complications ensue.

Very atmospheric, this is the e creepiest I've ever seen Karloff. Such a versatile actor he was. Hard to believe he also portrayed the amiable Mr. Wong. Henry Daniell actually played a sympathetic character here with Karloff so effectively menacing him. With a terrifying final scene that some say was censored in England, I'd highly recommend this one.