Horror Maniacs (1948)
"The Greed of William Hart" (original title)

A story of body snatchers in Edinburgh, based on Burke and Hare.

Director:

Oswald Mitchell

Writer:

John Gilling

Stars:

Tod Slaughter, Henry Oscar, Jenny Lynn

Cast

Cast overview:
Tod Slaughter	...	William Hart
Henry Oscar	...	Mr. Moore
Jenny Lynn	...	Helen Moore
Winifred Melville	...	Meg Hart
Aubrey Woods	...	'Daft Jamie' Wilson
Patrick Addison	...	Hugh Alston
Arnold Bell	...	Dr. Cox
Mary Love	...	Mary Patterson
Ann Trego	...	Janet Brown
Edward Malin	...	David Patterson
Hubert Woodward	...	Innkeeper Swanson
Dennis Wyndham	...	Sergeant Fisher

Storyline

A story of body snatchers in Edinburgh, based on Burke and Hare.

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Plot Keywords:

character name in title

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Genres:

Drama | Horror

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

Horror Maniacs

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gilbert Church Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min 53 min (DVD) (2004)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The script was originally written and filmed as a tale of William Burke and William Hare, real-life partners in the selling to medical schools cadavers which they obtained by both murder and grave-robbing. (Burke was hanged in 1829; Hare avoided this fate by testifying against him.) However, the British censors refused to allow the film's release because of national sensitivities toward the infamous "resurrectionists." Therefore, to get the film out, the producers had to re-record the sound track, replacing the names of Burke with Hart, Hare with Moore, and Dr. Knox with Dr. Cox. The new names were then meticulously cut into the original soundtrack: one can easily lip-read "Burke", "Hare" and "Knox" as applicable, however. Due to the cost of this activity there was no money left for a music track.

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Goofs

Names of some characters dubbed (see trivia entry.)

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Connections

Version of The Body Snatcher (1945)

User Reviews

the correct running time

This film is not at all "under one hour of running time", I suspect that some US video collectors saw only a cut version. The original running time - in Great-Britain - was 79 mins (7005 feet). It was released in the USA (as "Horror Maniacs") in the early Fifties, as part of a double-bill with another Tod Slaughter film ("The Curse of the Wraydons", renamed "Strangler's Morgue"), cut to 72 mins. And more recently, an American video company "offered" a totally butchered version, reduced to 53 mins!

Happily enough, the complete 79 mins version is now available from some video companies.