- Directed by John Gilling
- Written by John Gilling, Leon Griffiths
- Stars Peter Cushing, June Laverick, Donald Pleasance
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 34 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueLb2JNIfA4
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Inspired by true events, which makes it even more horrifying. The monsters in this one are real people. It’s got a strong cast, great sets, and a story that moves fairly well. All in all, a good watch.
Synopsis
“This is the story of lost men and lost souls. It is a story of vice and murder. We make no apologies to the dead. It is all true.”
We open on a cemetery as grave robbers set about their nightly work. Credits roll.
Meanwhile, at the Academy of Doctor Knox in Edinburgh, Martha, Dr. Knox’s niece, arrives a week early and greets Dr. Mitchell. Dr. Knox is busy giving a lecture on the miracle of medicine. He’s giving a congratulatory speech to the about-to-graduate doctors. Two men arrive with a delivery for Dr. Knox. It’s “a stiff,” he’s told. The academy can’t be assigned corpses by the government, so they have to deal with the black market.
Knox pays the two men, who go to the bar to celebrate. While they are there, Burke and Hare take notice and come to the conclusion that they could use a job like that. Knox’s assistant Chris gets mugged by the two men on the way out. Barmaid Mary helps Chris out, and she takes him upstairs to her room to fix up his wounds. She wants him to give her an anatomy lesson…
The next morning, the two young lovers go their separate ways and make plans for tomorrow night. Burke and Hare go home and Mrs. Burke explains that their lodger died last night without paying his board. Say— they could get six guineas for him up at the academy. They could become resurrectionists! Dr. Knox is pleased that the body is fresh.
Dr. Mitchell and Martha run into Chris and Mary at a picnic. At the pub later that night, Hare gets an old woman to drink too much and they carry her off to Dr. Knox’s place. She’s really fresh! We see that Mr. Hare is afraid of rats. They ask him if he’d like a regular supply of corpses, and he’s quite eager.
Angus, an old man comes to stay at Mrs. Burke’s boarding house; he just arrived in town a few minutes ago. Angus explains that he’s come to the capitol to end his days in peace. He does, very quickly. They take the body to the academy as usual, but this time run into Dr. Mitchell. Mitchell gives them a hard time, but then Knox comes in and smoothes the deal along. Mitchell smells a rat and confronts Knox. Knox only cares about educating his students to be good doctors.
Four of Edinborough’s leading surgeons come to call. Knox wrote an article about an incompetent mistake one of them made from not understanding anatomy well enough. He rants at them for a bit and then throws them all out. Mitchell warns Knox that those men would be happy to expose any of Knox’s weaknesses, such as that of employing Burke and Hare.
Chris catches Mary in the middle of a sort of orgy and doesn’t approve. She laughs at him and tells him that he’s boring. He gets mad and leaves, and she chases after him, but doesn’t find him. Burke and Hare, however, just happen to be passing by and they offer to buy her a few drinks… Maybe the good doctor should give them a bit more this time.
Chris is working at school when the new corpse comes in. She’s the best one they’ve had yet. When Chris takes a look, he immediately recognizes Mary. He runs off, and Mitchell recognizes Mary and explains the whole thing to Knox. Chris attacks Burke, and Hare stabs Chris in the back. “There’s one subject we won’t be selling to Dr. Knox,” Hare quips. They are spotted on the way out by the village idiot, Daft Jamie.
Knox is called in to identify Chris’s body at the morgue. Both he and Mitchell say they don’t know anyone who would want to kill Chis. Martha asks Mitchell about what the students have been saying about the source of the bodies.
Burke and Hare kill Daft Jamie. Mary’s friend Maggie watches them do it. She goes to Mitchell and reports the murder before going to the police. She tells the police to go to the academy and look there. Mitchell goes to Knox and tells him what happened.
The police arrive, and Knox explains that Burke and Hare just dropped him off. Knox looks at Jamie’s body and says he was murdered. The usual torch-and-pitchfork mob starts roaming the streets, looking for the two murderers. Burke is captured, but Hare runs away. They soon nab him as well.
The trial proceeds. Burke is found guilty, but Knox is not guilty. Class is not well-attended the next morning. Knox gives the morning lecture anyway. Hare is also released from jail, out the back door, where he’s ambushed and blinded.
Knox goes before the medical council. It’s not a trial, but they can ruin his career. Mitchell comes in and tells about the way they all acquire their cadavers. How can they be sure about the bodies they have used in the past? On the way home, Knox thinks hard about what he’s done; he admits that he knew some of those people had been murdered. Mitchell comes in and tells Knox that he’s been exonerated.
Knox goes back to the classroom to give his next lecture, even if the classroom is now empty. To his delight, it turns out that the classroom is packed and there are more students than ever. He starts off by discussing the Hippocratic Oath.
Commentary
This is based on the true-life story of the murderers Burke and Hare, who sold corpses to the real life Dr. Knox. Their eventual trial and resulting publicity led to state-sponsored cadavers being officially supplied to medical schools legitimately. Donald Pleasance and George Rose are suitably creepy as the murderous pair. Peter Cushing, as Dr. Knox, plays his essentially like Dr. Frankenstein, cold and scientific until the end when he redeems himself. Only he’s got a weak left eye in this one, as the real Dr. Knox did.
I’m sure it’s fictionalized, but it really is based on true events. The pacing is good, there’s a good number of characters, all well acted. There’s nothing in the way of special effects or monster makeup, but it’s all done well.