Burke & Hare (1972)

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This movie is absolutely awful. Not sure if they are going for a humorous feel or if it is just really badly made, but it is not funny. It is definitely raunchy so maybe some people will like it for that. The title song that plays a few times during this movie is silly and poorly done, and very much speaks to the quality of the rest of this movie. I only watched this because Danish actress Stensgaard is in this and she was quite good in Lust for a Vampire. She was decent in this though not one of the main stars. She didn't save it. Just one poorly made scene I will discuss because it really stood out as bad was when one couple was kissing and the woman stops and screams at her lover out of the blue, for no apparent reason. I give many thumbs down on this piece of rubbish.

This lively retelling of the Burke and Hare story is entertaining enough, and also refreshingly light-hearted (funny how they always are, considering the macabre subject matter) enough to entertain the viewer throughout. It's an undeniably British film, packed with swearing, sweaty characters and loads of tame sleaze. Some scenes in this film actively resemble those cheeky sex comedies of the '70s which our country churned out, containing as they do men and women romping about in bedrooms in various states of undress.All characters in the story are present and correct, with Glynn Edwards and Derren Nesbitt actually doing very well as the eponymous duo. This pair really convey the whole sleaziness/perversity of the subject, and do so in a funny way, too; it's a good double-act. Only a painfully low budget lets the film down, robbing us of an actual ending in the meantime as well: we all know what's going to happen, but the film cuts to a drawing while the conclusion is narrated! It's a letdown, but for the majority this film is great fun.Harry Andrews is on hand to ham it as Dr Knox, here wearing an eye-patch. Sadly Knox is given little screen time in this film, as the title would suggest, although he has a fine line in crude humour. He's a long way from Cushing's spot-on performance in THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS, and it's sad to see such a great actor falling on hard times. Some other familiar faces pop up in the cast, including sitcom favourite Yootha Joyce who plays Edwards' long-suffering and occasionally murderous wife. Hammer fans will also spot LUST FOR A VAMPIRE's Yutte Stensgaard romping about half naked in one of the film's many brothel scenes, all part of a subplot included just to show lots of topless women; the stunning Francoise Pascal is also willing to oblige in this respect. Far too much screen time is also spent on some foppish medical students who get up to all sorts of sordid affairs after hours.The actual scenes of grave-robbing are dealt with accordingly, i.e. with heaps of macabre relish, although THE COMEDY OF TERRORS will always be the king of ghoulish humour in this respect. There's also a knack for detail as well, with many of the characters speaking in Scottish accents, which makes for a refreshing change. All over, this is a fun little film with plenty of spirit, which only occasionally lapses uncomfortably, and has a mischievous air about it impossible to dislike. And check out that catchy song by The Scaffold (the guys who sang Lily the Pink, no less!) which plays over the opening and closing credits!

Two men go into business supplying medical colleges with cadavers by robbing graves.What you might recall about this film more than anything else is its theme song, which is certainly rather fun and moving. Bringing this tale to life is important and a great addition to horror cinema. Sure, it had been done before as "The Body Snatcher" and "The Flesh and the Fiends"... but it is my understanding that this was the first to be so explicit in the title.The film also asks another question, perhaps philosophical or ethical: do dead bodies have value? Certainly murder is a terrible crime, but what of people who died naturally? Certainly their owners do longer need them -- why not be taken for medical science? (We now have donor cards and the like, but indeed, how were surgeons to learn their craft without practice?)

Randy William Burke (well played with considerable rascally charm by Darren Nesbitt) and his scraggly partner William Hare (robustly essayed by Glynn Edwards) are a couple of no-count grave robbers and murderers who eke out a living supplying fresh anatomical specimens to esteemed professor Dr. Knox (a deliciously hammy portrayal by Harry Andrews) of the Edinburgh Medical College in 19th century Scotland. Director Vernon Sewell, working from a racy and witty script by Ernle Bradford, relates the entertaining story at a snappy pace, offers a flavorsome evocation of the period setting, ably milks the blithely warped premise for plenty of wickedly amusing gallows humor, and further spices things up with a generous sprinkling of tasty female nudity as well as a good deal of cheerfully bawdy eroticism. The enthusiasm cast sink their teeth into the jolly depraved material with genuine zest: Nesbitt and Edwards display a lively and engaging chemistry as our titular gruesome twosome, Yootha Joyce lends fine support as the shrewish Ms. Hare, Robin Tucker contributes a likable turn as sweetly bumbling medical student Arbuthnot, and Francoise Pascal and Yutte Stensgaard are sexy and appealing as merry prostitutes Marie and Janet, respectively. Desmond Dickinson's bright and colorful cinematography gives the picture an attractive vibrant look. Roger Webb's jaunty score and the supremely catchy'n'groovy theme song by The Scaffold hit the frothy spot. Good ghoulish fun.