The Flesh and the Fiends [Mania] *** (1960, Peter Cushing, June Laverick, George Rose, Donald Pleasence, Renée Houston, Billie Whitelaw, Dermot Walsh) – Classic Movie Review 10,872

Peter Cushing stars in The Flesh and the Fiends as medical doctor Robert Knox who buys human corpses for research from the real-life murderous Burke (George Rose) and Hare (Donald Pleasence) in 1828 Edinburgh.

‘A story of vice and murder. We make no apologies to the dead. It is all true.’ The 1828-set real-life Burke and Hare story is one of the staples of horror movies and here it is again in a fair-to-good chiller from writer-director John Gilling in the 1960 British black and white horror film The Flesh and the Fiends [Mania]. William Burke and William Hare committed a series of 16 murders over about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh and sold the bodies to Dr Robert Knox for dissection in his anatomy lectures.

Peter Cushing stars as 19th-century medical doctor Robert Knox who buys human corpses for research from the murderous Burke (George Rose) and Hare (Donald Pleasence).

Strong performances from British stalwarts Peter Cushing, June Laverick, George Rose, Donald Pleasence, Renée Houston, Billie Whitelaw and Dermot Walsh propel the old tale about grave robbers Burke (Rose) and Hare (Pleasence) supplying bodies for medical dissection anatomical research experiments, especially those of medical doctor Robert Knox (Cushing), in ye anciente Edinburghe.

Alas, with supply trailing behind demand, Burke and Hare graduate from grave robbing to killing to sell the bodies for anatomical research to please their eager customers.

This fast-paced, well-plotted, atmospheric chiller was quite dark and gruesome for its time.

John Gilling previously wrote the screenplay 12 years earlier for another film about Burke and Hare, The Greed of William Hart (1948), but in the end that time the film was unable to use the actual names of the killers, thanks to intervention by the British Board of Film Censors, who demanded all references to the real-life murderers were removed, leading to last-minute re-titling and re-dubbing with different character names.

But The Flesh and the Fiends restores the historical names and begins: ‘A story of vice and murder. We make no apologies to the dead. It is all true.’ But they were still not permitted to use Burke and Hare’s names in the title. Chief censor John Trevelyan discussed several ‘potentially offensive sequences’ with producer Monty Baker before the film was passed with an X rating.

Also in the cast are John Cairney, Melvyn Hayes, June Powell, Geoffrey Tyrrell, Beckett Bould, Andrew Faulds, Philip Leaver, George Woodbridge, Garard Green, and Esma Cannon.

Writers: John Gilling (original story), John Gilling (screenplay) and Leon Griffiths (screenplay).

It follows The Body Snatcher (1945) and The Greed of William Hart (1948).

See also Burke and Hare (1972).

Burke and Hare murdered at least 16 people over about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh. William Burke was hanged in 1829 but William Hare avoided this fate by testifying against him.

It is made by Triad Productions at Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, and is released by Regal Films International (1959) (UK) and Valiant Films (1961) (US). It runs 94 minutes uncut and 74 minutes in the re-release as The Fiendish Ghouls. Mania is the original US title. It is bewildering that they would change it when The Flesh and the Fiends is such a good title. The slightly extended Continental version for more permissive Europe runs 95 minutes and has short nude sequences or alternate takes with more nudity. Valiant Films released the film in the US in 1961 as either Mania or Psycho Killers using the original British cut of 94 minutes, but the 1965 re-release by Pacemaker Pictures as The Fiendish Ghouls cuts 20 minutes of the film.

There are not too many Scots in the film, but Renee Houston was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland, and John Cairney was born in Glasgow, Scotland.

Gilling, and Baker and Berman of Tempean Films, formed Triad Productions to make the film.

It is Cushing’s first non-Hammer Films horror movie.

Cushing compares his character here with his Victor Frankenstein in 1957’s The Curse of Frankenstein. He recalls in his autobiography: ‘It seemed to me that Knox and Frankenstein had a lot in common. The minds of these exceptional men were driven by a single desire: to inquire into the unknown. Ahead of their time, like most great scientists, their work and motives were misunderstood.

The Flesh and the Fiends [Mania] is directed by John Gilling, runs 94 minutes, is made by Triad Productions, is released by Regal Films International (1959) (UK) and Valiant Films (1961) (US), is written by John Gilling (story and screenplay) and Leon Griffiths (screenplay), is shot in British black and white by Monty Berman, is produced by Robert S Baker and Monty Berman, and is scored by Stanley Black.

Release dates: 2 February 1960 (UK) and 24 January 1961 (US).

Cast: Peter Cushing as Dr Robert Knox, June Laverick as Martha Knox, Donald Pleasence as William Hare, George Rose as William Burke, Renée Houston as Helen Burke, Dermot Walsh as Dr Geoffrey Mitchell, Billie Whitelaw as Mary Patterson, John Cairney as Chris Jackson, Melvyn Hayes as Daft Jamie, June Powell as Maggie O’Hara, Andrew Faulds as Inspector McCulloch, Philip Leaver as Dr Elliott, George Woodbridge as Dr Ferguson, Garard Green as Dr Andrews, Esma Cannon as Aggie, Raf De La Torre as grave robber, Steven Berkoff as medical student

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 10,872

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