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 60 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 problems4 people found this helpful
The Capsule Critic 