Welcome back for Day 3 of Timothy
Dalton Week. Today I found a horror film that Dalton was in. Oh yes
it does exist and of all craziness stars Julian Sands, Johnathan
Pryce, Stephen Rea, Twiggy and Sir Patrick Stewart. Where in the
fresh hell could I have found this concoction of terror and talent?
Well truth be told, I just looked on Dalton's filmography on IMDB,
did some searches for the movie and boom. Yeah very light research
on this flick. This is The Doctor and the Devils.
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| Class is dismissed and I need a vodka martini. Shaken, not stirred. |
From the awesome power of Freddie
Francis, director of such classics as: Day of the Triffids,
Nightmare, Hysteria, The Deadly Bees and Dracula Has Risen from the
Grave comes the tale that is actually based on a Dylan Thomas
screenplay following the real life murder cases of William Burke and
William Hare. These two men supplied fresh cadavers for scientists
to study anatomy on during the Victorian Era in Scotland. Yes these
two unscrupulous men would deliver fresh bodies to scholars because
at the time of these studies, donation to science was deemed ghoulish
and only convicted felons that were executed were allowed to be used
for discovery, anatomy and physiology.
Doctor Thomas Rock (Timothy
Dalton) , a brilliant scientist holds lectures by day to
enlighten his students but is dissatisfied, forced to work on weeks
old convicts that will not teach him anything new and exciting on the
subject of death. To hone his skills of his profession he needs
fresher bodies to work on given refrigeration is still in its
infancy. His assistant Doctor Murray (Julian Sands of Warlock,
Boxing Helena, Witch Hunt, Timecode, Rose Red and Blood and Bone)
toils with what can be done when a pair of disreputable men approach
him in a tavern offering their despicable talents for retrieval of the
freshest of corpses. Yup, grave robbery.
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| Blast, we've been nicked! |
Mr. Fallon (Johnathan Pryce of
Voyage of the Damned, Loophole, Timon of Athens, Jumpin' Jack Flash,
Ronin and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
and Mr. Broom (Stephen Rea of The Crying Game, Between the
Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, The Break, In Dream and V for Vendetta)
tend to this need against the increasing fierce competition with the
added bonus that they manage to find the freshest of bodies to be
worked on make more than a pretty copper.
Doctor Rock is conflicted with the
immorality of this offer but the chance to having a chance to evolve
his findings and elevate his science to a practice that will bring
information for generations to come. The very building blocks of
medicine hang in the balance as he must argue with his superiors on a
regular basis, he becomes obsessed with his work, overlooking his
newfound body snatchers in order to drive the advancement of science
out of the dark ages and to the upper echelons of science as it
belongs... but where are all these bodies hailing from??? How is it
Fallon and Broom manage to acquire them so easily with little fuss or
muss??
A few interesting tidbits for the lot
of us Yankees. While shot in clearly Edinburgh Scotland there is not
a single Scottish accent aside from Patrick Stewart's Professor
Macklin. Everyone else manages a bit of Cockney and proper English
so you get the feel you supposed to be in London but still confused
overall. Julian Sands' character feels redundant as he does not
really bring much to the screen, no fault to Sands, it is just a
small role for a good actor to shine through. Twiggy enacts as a
lesser prostitute but the vibe is we could have put anyone in this
role and does not bring much to the table. I cannot say who was my
favorite out of this movie because Pryce and Rea steal the show but
Dalton's presence is felt throughout the film. All three of these
men gave so much life to their parts.
The interesting bit for the Americans
that Mel Brooks' company Brookfilms produced this Gothic tale and it
was actually quite disturbing and entertaining at the same time.
This being one of the first horror movies to be produced by
Brooksfilms to follow directly after would be David Chronenberg's The
Fly. With this dark fable written by one of greatest obsessed minds
of the 20th century, this is a gem hidden at the rental
shelves for too long. Thankfully it has been out in DVD since 2005
and on Blu-Ray since October 2014 via Shout! Factory.
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| Sir, I think I dropped my signet ring in her spleen. |
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