Review: Burke and Hare
The story of sleazy but enterprising creeps Burke
(Derren Nesbitt) and Hare (Glynn Edwards) who offer their grave-robbing
services to medical professionals in 19th Century Scotland. However,
they quickly stop robbing graves and just start killing people and selling
their fresh corpses. Harry Andrews is the infamous anatomy lecturer Dr. Knox,
Yootha Joyce is Mrs. Hare, and Swedish-born Yutte Stensgaard plays a saucy
brothel worker.
The grave-robbing real-life characters of Burke and
Hare have oft been filmed, most memorably in “The Flesh and the Fiends”,
and particularly the classic “The Body Snatcher” (although their names
were changed for that one). American director John Landis more recently adopted
a black comedy approach with the not-bad-but-not-quite-good “Burke &
Hare”. This incredibly cheap 1972 telling of their exploits by director
Vernon Sewell (“Curse of the Crimson Altar”, “Blood Beast Terror”) and
screenwriter Ernle Bradford (whose only other credit comes from Sewell’s “Rogue’s
Yarn” way back in 1957!) also takes a largely comedic approach to the story.
However, it’s more of the “Carry On” comedic variety, and even fans of
that tits-and-knickers brand of comedy will likely find this a deadshit boring,
entirely unfunny experience. This one’s the pits, folks.
Your first clue as to what quality of film you’re
getting here comes with one of the worst title songs in cinematic history by The
Scaffold, who inexplicably sing in a pretty bad Cockney accent (The story is
set in 19th Century Edinburgh, Scotland and the title characters are
meant to be Irish immigrants!), and sing it very, very badly. The
quality doesn’t really improve after that, through no fault of the cast. Familiar
actors like Derren Nesbitt, Harry Andrews, Yutte Stensgaard, and Yootha Joyce
(then-wife of co-star Glynn Edwards, and later TV’s Mildred of “George and
Mildred”) are much better than this film allows them to be. You’ll also
likely spot James Hayter, Katya Wyeth, Aussie actor Reg Lye, and Duncan Lamont
in small parts. With some boobage supplied by the ample Yutte Stensgaard (the
gorgeous star of Hammer’s uneven “Lust for a Vampire”) among others,
it’s a hair naughtier than a “Carry On” film, but just as juvenile and
foolish.
“Carry On Robbing the Grave”. ‘Bawdy’ British comedy approach to the normally
horrific story of real-life grave-robbers falls completely flat. Almost
unwatchable, despite some interesting names and faces in the cast. I suppose
someone out there might not despise it, but for me it’s really cheapjack stuff
that insults the audience through its sub-mediocrity treatment of a potentially
interesting story.
Rating: D-
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