Burke and Hare

While there was another movie with a similar theme, that I watched last year, I thought this would be superior to that one. I mean this is made by John Landis. So I was expecting quite a bit more from it, I have to admit. It does not disappoint completely, it just feels like a bit too light. There seems to be something missing. Character development is straightforward, but still it's nothing grand. Something I came to expect from a Landis movie.

Of course I might be nit-picking. The movie is not bad at all. It has quite a few comic moments (an intercourse scene that is just funny and could not be called arousing at all, works greatly, there are scenes of great comedy value besides that too), but there is still something missing to make it better. I would recommend a watch. I'd just say not to expect too much!

Edit: I just found out a month ago, that there is a very good chance, that there is another cut of this movie. A cut approved by Mr. Landis himself (which seems not to have been the case with this one) ... that would explain quite a lot ...

Burke and Hare is a story of two men in Scotland in the late XIX century barely making a dime when an opportunity comes along to earn hard cash by killing people and selling their bodies to the benefit of science.

This movie may seem morally rotten at its core making a comedy out of murder, but it succeeds at it while quite a lot of comedies with far less harmful plots don't, not to mention that some of the most popular TV shows of today make it fit right in. John Landis comedies much in common with ZAZ productions and sometimes are almost live action cartoons. The title characters are shown as flawed people in a desperate situation which they think justifies their actions - we don't laugh with them, only at them. And that's intentional.

John Landis came back with a surprisingly decent feature. It's as if the MTV-style cinema revolution has passed him by (the one that hit the new Sherlock Holmes square in the face). No camera gymnastics, no forced sensual assault, all the action and physical comedy happens in frame. Burke and Hare is his first 2.35:1 feature and it shows - the frame at first appears a little too wide, like if the characters were taken from a 16:9 movie and arranged accordingly. By the way, "highly entertaining", "very funny" and "packed with the cream of British talent" - those bits on the poster aren't far from the truth.

Burke and Hare is not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but it is not a bad film either or completely deserving of all the panning it got. It is far from talented director John Landis's best film not like Blues Brothers or An American Werewolf in London, but it is not his worst either as is the case with Blues Brothers 2000 and Beverly Hills Cop III.

Does Burke and Hare completely work? No it doesn't. Is it entertaining? On the most part yes, even with the hits and misses. The film to me was never laugh-out-loud hilarious excepting two or three scenes(Jessica Hynes's eureka moment inventing funeral parlours being one), most of the time it was still amusing. In my view, the sight gags were better than the script. The sight gags range from nicely understated such as the pot shots at Wordsworth, Lister and Greyfriars Bobby to crass slapstick such as chamber pot contents being dropped on heads. There is even a sex scene that raised a laugh, decide for yourself whether it is intentional or not, whether it was or not I personally did find it amusing. The script(the smart black humour kind) varies as well from having a good chuckle, raising a smile to where I found myself rather blank faced.

John Landis does do a credible job directing. He mixes contemporary innovation and social issue with ease, and although he doesn't quite make Burke and Hare the dark, smart, hilarious homage to Ealing comedy it strived to be or the throwback to American Werewolf(the comedy and horror elements are decent on their own but have mixed results together), there is evidence of the effort which is what mattered. The character development is very straight forward, that I do agree with, but the cast do make an effort to make us empathise with them, and I think they succeeded there. The Georgian setting is also convincing, the sets are beautifully evoked and I quite liked the costumes and cinematography too.

I do think all the cast have done better before, but I cannot deny this is a great cast. Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis are a well-matched double act. They work very well together, and both give entertaining performances in the process. I also liked seeing Christopher Lee, Ronnie Corbett, Paul Whitehouse(the scene where he is pushed down the stairs is hilarious) and Bill Bailey even if their appearances are rather brief. Isla Fisher(the love story between her and Pegg though is pretty weak and underdeveloped) and Jessica Hynes are alluring and do show at least some flair for comedy, Hynes actually is very funny, and while they should have had more screen time Tom Wilkinson and Tim Curry are suitably antagonistic and compelling. I do agree about the accents being variable, I had little problem with Pegg and Serkis and Wilkinson's was convincing, Curry just about passes, while Fisher's comes and goes and some of the cameos don't quite make it.

In conclusion, entertaining enough if somewhat hit-and-miss. With a longer length, perhaps more tighter pacing and some more care on the accents it could have been more. But the direction, setting and cast convinced me, so I enjoyed it. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The true story of Burke and Hare, the Edinburgh body snatchers, here is given a first comic turn. Both the leads and the support obviously enjoyed making this - and the result is a refreshingly straight-forward comedy with plenty of genuine laughs.

The film is simply a well-paced and well thought out comedy - everything for direction to script to the excellent costuming just works - and it is one of the better comedies of the year as it actually makes you laugh often and hard. The humour is dark enough to work, and all involved deliver it very well indeed.

We enjoyed this one a lot, it's got the right mix of silliness with a little horror that Simon Pegg does well, and all in this, this is just good straight-up entertainment with a huge galaxy of British comedians on display. Good stuff indeed.

This is a black comedy about two men who makes a fortune by selling bodies to the medical profession for anatomy classes.

The story of "Burke and Hare" is dark and disturbing if you think about it, but it does not feel this way when you watch it. Instead, it appears lighthearted and likable, even though the main characters commit the most heinous crimes. The plot is engaging, and I feel a little sorry for Dr Knox and William Burke for their fate to end like that.

The film has loads of dark humour. It is funny in its own unique way, not the laugh out loud nonsense type of funny. It is worth a watch if you come across this film.