Burke and Hare [DVD] [2010]

John Landis' Burke and Hare takes us back to Edinburgh in 1828, where life is cheap but the price skyrockets when you die. As Bill Bailey's genial hangman breezily fills us in on the historical background while he's preparing to execute an elderly and decrepit whore, it's the time of the Scottish Enlightenment and the city has become the medical capital of the world, but the path of scientific progress is hindered by the lack of fresh bodies to dissect. Things get even worse when Dr Alexander Monroe (Tim Curry) gets the monopoly on the bodies of the hanged, forcing Dr Robert Knox (Tom Wilkinson) to more drastic measures. Enter genial lowlife conmen Burke and Hare (Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis, both sporting credible Irish brogues) who, after failing miserably at grave robbing, decide to take a more hands on approach to the supply-and-demand problem...

The subject of many a horror film, Landis and the revived Ealing Studios take their lead more from the studio's classic black comedies like Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Ladykillers than Hammer (though Landis is enough of a buff to more than just doff his cap in their direction), updated with plenty of talk of business models and swipes at society's hypocrisy as our evil Laurel and Hardy ply their trade. Burke's romance with Isla Fisher's actress/working girl looking for a backer for her all-female version of MacBeth doesn't really add much to the mix beyond giving him the opportunity to fob off her queries about where he gets his money from with "I'm in surgical supplies," but the film is brisk and breezy enough to never outstay its welcome and manages to pull off turning a pair of `Irish psychopaths' into romantic heroes of a sort in a feelgood comedy. There's an intriguingly eclectic supporting cast, from Jessica Hynes/Stevenson as Mrs Hare and Ronnie Corbett as the local militiaman and, as is par for the course with the director, there are cameos aplenty, from Jenny Agutter and John Woodvine from An American Werewolf in London to Ray Harryhausen, Costa Gavras (et famille) and cinematographer Robert Paynter while Christopher Lee is numbered among the victims - even the real William Burke is persuaded to make an end credits cameo. Although John Mathieson's scope photography feels a little flat at times, there's some especially impressive production and costume design to give the film a bigger look than its budget implies, and despite its somewhat undeserved critical drubbing it's hard not to embrace a film that ends with a romantic sacrifice riffing on A Tale of Two Cities and which sends Michael Winner off a cliff for a laugh.

Entertainment's Bluray offers a decent 2.40:1 transfer with 10 deleted scenes, outtakes and rather more substantial than usual cast and crew interviews as extras.

Wow. The reviews on this film are such a mixed bag and each one in turn has its point to make. I really enjoyed it myself. Simon Pegg's slightly self-conscious contrast to Andy Serkiss's more businesslike and cold attitude to their unorthodox enterprise of providing cadavers to anatomy lecturer Dr Knox (Tom Wilkinson)was a great dynamic. Serkis frequently pulls off a sinister role with such finesse (e.g Ian Brady in Longford - disturbing!) and this is no exception. There are slight inaccuracies to the true story (which I won't bore you with - Crime and Investigation channel frequently do a B&H rerun!), but altogether this was watchable and funny. OK, so it's not a laugh a minute, as many were critical of, but the nature of black comedy is that the humour is subtle, understated and a little unsavoury. There are lots of familiar faces in this, including Tim Curry as Knox's rival, Dr Munro, Jessica Stevenson as the ever drunk but equally malicious Mrs Hare, and Ronnie Corbett as McLintock, the chief of the militia hell bent on getting his man. Dilemmas with rigor mortis, grave robbing and arterial blood spurt made this wickedly delicious. Brief cameos by Bill Bailey (as the part-time narrator cum hangman), Paul Whitehouse (as a drunkard toff who narrowly escapes B&Hs clutches), Christopher Lee and Michael Winner make this an enjoyable romp to watch. The best thing to do is watch it for yourself, as I think it's a matter of taste but it's 4 stars in this corner. xxx

19th century Edinburgh grave robbers Burke & Hare have been the subject of at least 4 films prior to this one (5 if you count Val Lewton's THE BODY SNATCHER (1945) which has the same setting and plotline but only one grave robber). 1) THE GREED OF WILLIAM HART aka HORROR MANIACS (1948) with the legendary Tod Slaughter which had tremendous censorship and legal difficulties as a relative of Hare's threatened to sue, 2) THE FLESH & THE FIENDS (1959) with Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasance, and George Rose which after 50 years is still the best version, 3) BURKE & HARE (1971) a poor combination of broad comedy and peepshow melodrama that capitalizes on the then new lack of censorship with lots of gratuitous nudity. It also has a dreadful, totally inappropriate soundtrack, and 4) THE DOCTOR & THE DEVILS (1985) with Jonathan Pryce, Stephen Rea, Timothy Dalton and based on a screenplay by Dylan Thomas written in 1953 which changes the characters' names for probably the same reason as GREED OF WILLIAM HART. That film, directed by horror veteran Freddie Francis, is a totally lacklustre affair which, considering the talent involved, should have been much better than it was. That bring us to this new, eagerly awaited version which was directed by John Landis. The results are definitely a mixed bag.

It's as if Landis took the previous versions and borrowed bits and pieces from them. Like THE DOCTOR & THE DEVILS, the settings and the period costumes are superb. The squalor of 19th century Edinburgh (most notably the crowd scenes) is beautifully captured just as in THE FLESH & THE FIENDS. Tom Wilkinson's Doctor Knox is as over the top as anything Tod Slaughter ever did and the comedy bits and undistinguished soundtrack recall the 1971 film whose main setting was a bordello. Unfortunately this BURKE & HARE can't make up its mind as to what it wants to be. Not that it's totally without merit. Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis make a fine Burke & Hare. Serkis, in particular, is given a chance to shine as an actor not just a CGI creation like in LORD OF THE RINGS or RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. It's certainly possible to mix black comedy and horror. Landis himself did it brilliantly 30 years ago in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON but here I'm afraid lightning failed to strike twice. BURKE & HARE is definitely worth seeing especially if you're fans of Serkis & Pegg and it has odd moments that stay with you like the burning of the photographs or the final shot of the real Burke's skeleton. I didn't hate the film but I was definitely disappointed with it. Any film that manages to restrain Tim Curry has definitely got problems