Burke & Hare

Simon Pegg makes for some good comedy. We love this movie. Nice dry humor!

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 Pleasence, and George Rose which after 50 years is still the best version, 3) BURKE & HARE (1972) a very uneven combination of broad melodrama and peepshow comedy 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 dull affair which, considering the talent involved, should have been much better than it was. That bring us to this new version in which director John Landis said he views B & H as a pitch black version of Laurel & Hardy.It looks as if Landis took the four 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 1972 film. This BURKE & HARE is meant to be a black comedy in the Ealing Studios tradition but the trademark Ealing subtlety is definitely missing. 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.

This was a fun romp of a dark comedy. I enjoyed seeing Ronnie again and I fondly remembered watching "The Two Ronnies" with my dad when I was a kid. Although based on factual events, about the only facts I found were the names of Burke and Hare, the two doctors, and the victims. Other than that the film went for dramatic license. In truth Burke did not confess to protect his friends and gain a conjugal visit with his actress girlfriend. Since there was little evidence of any crimes and the four people involved, Burke, Hare, and their wives, were giving conflicting stories, authorities focused on one person, in this case Mr. Hare. Contrary to the movie, there was, in fact, a trial. After offering Hare immunity he turned King's Evidence and testified against Burke. Burke's wife was let go for lack of evidence while he was found guilty and sentenced to death. Hare's wife, who was not named Lucky, was released. Both women fled Edinburgh after being confronted by angry mobs. Hare was kept in prison for his own protection and spirited out of Scotland to Ireland in disguise and at night. He was recognized in Ireland and sought police protection. The three disappeared shortly after that and nothing else is known about them. Burke was executed and his body was dissected by Dr. Monro. Burke's skeleton is on display at the Anatomical Museum of the Edinburgh Medical School. Before being hanged Burke made another confession and placed most of the blame for the murders on Hare. Dr. Knox did not flee to America and become a traveling medical showman. Hare and his wife did not open a Funeral Parlor. There was no actress girlfriend.I understand why the film makers did what they did to paint Burke as a love struck man, which caused him to partake in the acts he did, and then he confessed to protect his friends and lover. This makes Burke a far more sympathetic character.Even with diverging from the truth so much, this is still a fun, dark comedy. Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis work well together and I hope they have more opportunities to work together.

Sadly, this is loosely based on an actual crime spree, and the corresponding medical term "burking" is still in use by medical examiners today. However, Simon Pegg and his lovely troupe of actors had me in stitches laughing with this comedic take on the possible motivations history presented to the perpetrators. Be ready for a laugh, this might not be a family movie due to the postmortem examination scenes but the "big kids" in your household might find this spoof on body snatching films worth a viewing.

Well made good movie

Very much in the tradition of classic, sly, gentle and darkly funny Ealing comedies, "Burke & Hare" takes a genuine point in history and plays with it, all the while remaining tongue in cheek, true to its premise, delightfully unpredictable and profoundly human. Anyone that still thinks fondly of the very original "The Ladykillers", "Kind Hearts and Coronets", "The Lavender Hill Mob" or others from Ealing's golden age will be more than pleased to see that style arrive refreshed, updated, carefully written -- the multiple plot lines add considerable depth, bringing this humour noir / period comedy in line with 21st century expectations -- and wonderfully produced and performed. We'll see if "Burke & Hare" manages to stand the test of time as well as those earlier films, but it easily surpasses any requirements needed to engage your interest and your humor for a near pitch-perfect 90 minutes.

Love Mr. Pegg and full cast . Well done, John Landis directed. If you like history with comedy that entertains without over doing it , you will like this . Bad note , do not eat that full meal watching it , if you do not enjoy medical stuff with food. LOL

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.

It says on the cover that this film is 'Outrageously Funny'. The only outrageous thing I see about that is the claim. Surprisingly unfunny. It is well made and looks very good, a lot of grit and grime, but it's supposed to be a comedy. Laugh? I didn't even smile until the words, The End, came up.

it may not be quite up to par with John Ladis' pevious more famous movies like An American werewolf in London, or as sharp witted as Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg's movies, but there is still a great deal of dark fun to be had here. It helps for me that I like historic Britain as a subject or genre & this plays right into that. The cast is filled with recognisable British faces (& an Aussie). The film is based on two real people from scotland, Who made a living first robbing fresh graves & then bypassing the graves & straight killing folk and selling the bodies to corrupt doctors for dissection. It's a strange subject to make a comedy out of to think it actually happened. but it works relatively well & is an enjoyable film.

This film is just a dark laugh all the way through. I suppose you could say modern slapstick with corpses for the Medical Profession. If you don't know Burke and Hare they were a couple of blokes who acquired corpses by less than savory means and sold them to the burgeoning medical establishment in Scotland who needed cadavers for the purposes of teaching. Take this premise and add dark humour and a good bit of bawdiness.My favourite body snatcher film. I also bought it pre-owned for next to nothing so I think you can say I was more than happy.

Don't be put off that it's based on a true story, which it is only very loosely, it's a laugh out loud funny movie with a great cast, Ronnie Corbett is a scream in a sort of cameo as the stern captain of the militia like something out of The Nutcracker, they push Paul Whitehouse downstairs so they can sell his corpse and he bounces off every single step like a ping pong ball, puts his top hat back on and carries on singing at the top of his voice he's so drunk, buy, you won't regret