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 19^th 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 19^th 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-