Wonderful character development!

Too much of everything

Did you people see the same film I saw?

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Sterling casts highlights one of the better versions of the Burke and Hare story of the grave robbers who turn to murder to keep the flow of bodies flowing for the anatomy professor. Here the cast includes Donald Pleasance as one of the grave robbers, Peter Cushing as the doctor buying their wares and the always wonderful Billie Whitelaw as a tavern girl caught up in the ghoulish proceedings. More thriller than straight on horror movie the film has more than enough atmosphere for five or six of these films and it really helps to keep things interesting in the oft told tale. I really like this version a great deal and place near the top of the heap. Very much worth a look.

Shocking, surprisingly potent horror feature about the possible downfall of Edinburgh anatomy professor Dr. Robert Knox(Peter Cushing with one eyelid collapsing)who illegally accepts murdered bodies from supposed graverobbers Hare & Burke(Donald Pleasence and George Rose).Burke and Hare's scheming of killing and supplying works until they murder Knox's apprentice Chris Jackson(John Cairney), Chris' prostitute lover Mary(Billie Whitelaw), and especially well-liked young Jamie(Melvyn Hayes).Cushing as the cold, logical doctor who abandons emotion because it just gets in the way of his work, and Pleasence as cruel scoundrel Hare are both chilling in their own way.This film should be quite an interesting pairing with the 1987 film, "The Doctor and the Devils" because both films deal with the same themes yet change in certain ways. In "Flesh" there's a positive outlook for Knox who comes to the understanding of what he was doing wrong because he had abandoned any emotion when it came to accepting any corpse those two brought him only thinking about science and leaving away the conscience. In "Devils", Timothy Dalton's anatomy professor was always sympathetic to the plight of those around him and always had emotion present on his face. Yet, Dalton's doctor's outlook is a bit gloomy in that film.Also Julien Sands and Twiggy(representing the characters played by Cairney and Mary in the "Devils" version)have a much better outcome in their film than the pupil and prostitute in "Flesh and the Fiends." This is quite a well made chiller, atmospheric and quite stunningly violent for the time it was a made.

In 1820 Edinburgh, two man Hare and Burke are looking for a quick buck by turning to body snatching and suppling their corpses to an anatomist Dr. Knox. Though, soon there obsession turns to murder and the Doctor don't seem to worry how they are getting their cadavers. But things change when they go one step to far and get caught in the act.'The Flesh and the Fiends' is a historically realistic account of the true story about the murders that were committed by Burke and Hare in Edinburgh of the early 19th century. This portrait of these two corpse robbers turned serial killers covers disturbing subject matter and the piercing Dr Knox's emotionless state of mind makes one shiver. The film also has some similarities to the brilliant 'The Body Snatcher (1945)', which also followed in the same vein and starred the ever-reliable Boris Karloff. The difference is this one is about the horror and morality about an issue of a scientific level, while 'The Body Snatcher' was more a character driven film that looked how guilt, greed and pride can personally destroy someone by becoming an unwanted ordeal. Even this was more graphic in its depiction of the continuous violence that it becomes a real unsettling mix, especially on how we see these two men act with joy and lightness after and sometimes during their actions. The first and last death showcases that perfectly. The sexual context too, didn't go by unnoticed with undertones… it was the real deal and director John Gilling brought to the screen with such penetrated attention a provocative period piece that grips you with its unpleasantness. Which by no means makes it a bad thing.For sure this flick would have been shocking for its time, but that makes it more the reason to seek it out. Maybe it was made before its time? Because the context of it doesn't seem to fit the era, but hey there's a first for everything, right? Also contributed to the story is that of the accomplished satire of class status and treatment, between the wealthy upper-class and working class who live in a slum. This was moulded into the plot with one of Knox's students seeing a working class girl, showing how they live in two totally different worlds, but no matter their lifestyles, they shared a unique bond that meets a tragic end. Also through aspects of the plot you can tell its having a scathing attack on the upper class (Dr. Knox) by taking advantage of the certain situations by getting the poor to do their dirty work for them, while keeping their hands basically clean. Though, it might have some biting topics covered, but there's still a sub-plot involving Knox's niece that seems more or less irrelevant to the overall proceedings. But overall the film's momentum never slows up and I was kept in awe by the simply amazing performances of the cast and the exceptional direction in constructing the period.There are shades of dirtiness amongst this blunt atmosphere of lurking horror. The forbidding streets that are covered with such eerie buildings, stark lighting and dark shadowy pathways breaths an uneasy grittiness and that alluding essence of it creep up in certain scenes. The camera-work also evokes some attention too; by holding together the films steady structure and menace by getting deep into the terrifying hysteria that this mess eventuates into. What stands out more so in the spotlights are the superbly portrayed characters that there isn't a minor hiccup in the performances.Peter Cushing's determined Dr. Knox whose all too blinded by his work to see the wrong in his ways, but this honour takes a huge bump when it takes a child to knock him off his perch. Cushing plays out that moment brilliantly by providing us that even though he's an honourable man that can take it on the chin, but that moment he gives us a small glimpse of remorse and to question his own actions, which makes you feel for him a bit. While, Cushing's stern performance is transfixing, Donald Pleasence and George Rose were incredibly persuasive as the colourfully upbeat body snatchers Hare and Burke that held such a cold-hearted and malevolent nature, with the carelessness of their greed causing their own downfall. The way they would go to any lengths to provide the good doctor with a corpse really did have shattering effect on the compulsiveness of their acts. It was hard to see how immune they have become to it that now it was second nature and how the black humour of it flowed between the two. Pleasence, though who did play Rose's character like a puppet, really gets your skin crawling, especially with his sly nature, body movement and reactions to when performing these callous acts. While, Rose's performance is remarkably sufficient as the controlled brute. These two surefooted characters that bounce off each other are what makes the film and all that credits goes to Pleasence and Rose to achieving this. The other cast members too were downright splendid Dermot Walsh as Knox's fellow doctor/friend, Renee Houston as Burke's wife, John Cairney as one of Knox's medical students Chris Jackson and then you another equally good performance by Billie Whitelaw as the strong-minded Mary Patterson.The script too, is fleshed out rather well, by upping the suspense and surprises but also questioning that of morality and the backlash of this touchy subject. And not forgetting the melodramatic spurts too, which added a down to earth approach. Where the honour of Knox's work eventually comes through and the ending does kinda play the whole thing down. Though honestly, the way it plays out amongst the accuse, it shows how class can have an easy influence on certain outcomes. So there's no poetic justice here, which makes it more believable in the finish product.Unrestingly gritty and hard-boiled thriller that holds miraculous performances all round.

What a disappointment. "The Flesh and the Fiends" has a lot going for it, including a cast of familiar genre faces (Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, and Billie Whitelaw), decent production values, and a distinctly eerie atmosphere. Unfortunately, the story of an anatomy professor (Cushing) who uses fresh corpses brought in (and often killed) by two bums (including a pre-bald Pleasence) plays more as a straight drama than a horror film; there would be nothing wrong with this if the story had a hint of interest, but it doesn't. Stripping away the credentials of the cast, the film itself is slow, talky, and generally uninteresting. Sort of like an AIP film without the cheese, and a Hammer film without the fine polish.