In almost every regard, The Body Snatcher is a very small movie. It's less than eighty minutes long, there aren't a lot of characters, and the financial constraints are obvious. And yet, the whole thing's so rich and creepy and fun that it never feels especially slight to me. Helps that Robert Louis Stevenson's source material is as smart, provocative, and conflict-heavy as it is (with some fascinating dynamics and parallels), and that Boris Karloff's as delightfully sinister as ever.
The bulk of the credit, though, should probably go to Robert Wise, who's working overtime to ensure that this thing's as atmospheric as possible. Nearly any moment will serve as adequate evidence, but I'll note my three favourites: the camera staying on an empty arch while a singer abruptly goes quiet, the silhouette-bathed cat witnessing a fight, and the tense carriage ride climax. It's genuinely breathtaking stuff, and a reminder of why this guy managed to have such a long and fruitful career.
Honestly, this one really surprised me. I was expecting something on the level of the Universal Monsters, but what I got was leagues ahead of most of those. It may even be an early contender for my favourite horror movie of the '40s (which, granted, was a relatively weak decade for the genre).
Grade: A
P.S. This was the final film to feature both Karloff and Bela Lugosi, and while they may not have much screen time together here, seeing the two of them roll around trying to strangle each other feels like a fitting conclusion to their on-screen relationship.