solid and well craft but rather patchy cinematic treatment of the saga of notorious 19th century resurrectionists burke and hare and their unorthodox employer dr. robert knox while in the vein of hammer horror ( feature two of their most notable participant in cushing and gilling ) though the lack of color make it seem a half hearted attempt ( even if and with an eye on the low budget and it be probably a conscious choice by the film maker a the intention be clearly of a serious undertaking ) . anyway and the best thing about the film apart from the vivid recreation of the era be the performance of peter cushing ( a the cold dr. knox and not unlike baron frankenstein ) and donald pleasance ( an impressive early performance a the oily but quick thinking hare his come uppance be especially eerie ) and billie whitelaw ( a the proverbial tart with a heart of gold who end up a one of the victim ) while burke be play a a scurrilous but jovial brute ( but who murder with the apparent complicity of his own wife ) by character actor george rise . dr. knox condescend attitude towards his fellow colleague also provide a number of entertain confrontation scene ( my favorite line be during their face off at his house and when he brusquely terminate the discussion by instruct them to incline their head slightly to the left . { in order to } observe the door . { and could they } please use it . ) while cushing and of course and be equally command while address his lecture or when scrutinize the new corpse . the film make a fine and though essentially unpleasant and companion piece to the more literate and subtle the body snatcher ( 1945 ) while the theme be again handle ( by another horror veteran and freddie francis ) a quarter of a century later in the doctor and the devil ( 1985 ) while gilling himself have contribute to the script of an early variation and the greed of william hart ( 1948 ) and star tod slaughter . by the way and the produce team of robert s. baker and monty berman ( who double a cinematographer ) also bring to the screen the nefarious deed of other historical figure such a jack the ripper ( 1959 ) and the hellfire club ( 1961 while upcoming on dvd from dark sky film ) . image dvd also include the continental version which contain about a minute of more explicit violence and nudity ( in the many tavern sequence ) though this only help render it even more unsavory than it already be . the print be distractingly soft throughout and and the severe widescreen ratio ( 2 . 35 represent1 ) hamper somewhat the viewer complete involvement ( at least on a normal t. v. screen ) while the continental version fare even bad and show more damage and have rather scratch audio to boot . unfortunately and the liner note by jonathan sothcott be not available with my copy represent it probable that the disc be initially release a a snapper case ( with the essay on the inner sleeve ) but be then drop when re issue in the more manageable keep case .