Back to trending
The Flesh and the Fiends

The Flesh and the Fiends

Horror · 1960

Edinburgh surgeon Dr. Robert Knox requires cadavers for his research into the functioning of the human body; local ne'er-do-wells Burke and Hare find ways to provide him with fresh specimens...

Movie details

The Flesh and the Fiends

“Coffins Looted! Cadavers Dissected!”

1960 Horror 1h 34m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

Edinburgh surgeon Dr. Robert Knox requires cadavers for his research into the functioning of the human body; local ne'er-do-wells Burke and Hare find ways to provide him with fresh specimens...

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Flesh and the Fiends?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Good Boy

Good Boy

Horror · 2025

A loyal dog moves to a rural family home with his owner Todd, only to discover supernatural forces lurking in the shadows. As dark entities threaten his human companion, the brave pup must fight to protect the one he loves most.

Tales from the Crypt

Tales from the Crypt

Horror · 1972

When a tourist group become lost within ancient catacombs, they meet the sinister Crypt Keeper, who tells them each their fate. The enigmatic figure's macabre stories involve a wife dabbling in murder, a retired sanitation worker targeted by his suspicious neighbors, and an adulterer who may face a fitting demise if the yarns come true.

The Tingler

The Tingler

Horror · 1959

A pathologist experiments with a deaf-mute woman who is unable to scream to prove that humans die of fright due to an organism he names The Tingler that lives within each person on the spinal cord and is suppressed only when people scream when scared.

Phase IV

Phase IV

Horror · 1974

Arizona ants mock the food chain on their way to a desert lab to get two scientists and a woman.

Torture Garden

Torture Garden

Horror · 1967

A special sideshow torture exhibit has the power, according to showman Dr Diabolo, to warn people of foreseeable evil. One by one, skeptics stand before the Fate Atropos to preview the greed and violence hiding behind their respectable façades.

The Evil of Frankenstein

The Evil of Frankenstein

Horror · 1964

Once hounded from his castle by outraged villagers for creating a monstrous living being, Baron Frankenstein returns to Karlstaad. High in the mountains they stumble on the body of the creature, perfectly preserved in the ice. He is brought back to life with the help of the hypnotist Zoltan who now controls the creature. Can Frankenstein break Zoltan's hypnotic spell that incites the monster to commit these horrific murders or will Zoltan induce the creature to destroy its creator?

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

Horror · 1943

After being resurrected by grave robbers, Larry Talbot searches for Dr. Frankenstein in the hopes of being cured of his lycanthropy. The mad scientist may turn out to be dead, but his monster is just waiting to be found…

The Haunting

The Haunting

Horror · 1963

Dr. John Markway recruits three strangers for a sleep-disorder study at the eerie and isolated Hill House. It soon becomes clear his real interest lies in the mansion itself and its sinister history, as they are forced to confront the nature of its horror…

Son of Frankenstein

Son of Frankenstein

Horror · 1939

One of the sons of late Dr. Henry Frankenstein finds his father's ghoulish creation in a coma and revives him, only to find out the monster is controlled by Ygor who is bent on revenge.

Diary of a Madman

Diary of a Madman

Horror · 1963

Simon Cordier, a French magistrate and amateur sculptor comes into contact with a malevolent entity. The invisible - yet corporeal - being, called a "horla" is capable of limited psychokinesis and complete mind control.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Gilling

Written by

John Gilling · Leon Griffiths

Peter Cushing

Peter Cushing

Dr. Robert Knox

Donald Pleasence

Donald Pleasence

William Hare

George Rose

George Rose

William Burke

June Laverick

June Laverick

Martha Knox

Renée Houston

Renée Houston

Helen Burke

Dermot Walsh

Dermot Walsh

Dr. Geoffrey Mitchell

Billie Whitelaw

Billie Whitelaw

Mary Patterson

Court is in session

Put The Flesh and the Fiends on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.