Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Burke & Hare Blu-ray Movie Review

"Burke and Hare, the pair of 'em, Burke and Hare, beware of 'em..."

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater July 16, 2012

Cadavers were hard to come in 19th century England—for dissections and medical experiments, at least. The only corpses legally fit for that purpose were the short in supply remnants of executed criminals, leading doctors and university professors to turn to an underground network of "resurrectionists," who procured the dead by illicit means for a tidy profit. Grave- robbing, of course, was the most common practice, but some greedier body-snatchers made the leap to outright murder, killing the homeless and the infirm and the socially undesirable. That is, those that no one would ever miss. The most famous of these corpse-makers were William Burke and William Hare, who sold seventeen cadavers to anatomy lecturer Robert Knox between 1827 and 1828. The majority of the victims were tenants in the lodging house operated by Hare's wife; the two Williams plied them with hard drink and smothered them in a method that's now known, appropriately enough, as "burking." In today's money, the bodies fetched around $1,200. Not exactly chump change, but not exactly easy cash either.

Burke & Hare

The Burke and Hare murders have inspired several screen adaptations—from 1945's Bela Lugosi/Boris Karloff vehicle The Body Snatcher and 1960's The Flesh and the Fiends to last year's poorly received John Landis comedy with Simon Pegg—but let me assure you, director Vernon Sewell's 1971 Burke & Hare far and away has the most boobs. Just boobs everywhere. Galore even. What, you might ask, do breasts have to do with a series of grisly killings? That's a good question, and one with no easy answer beyond "because topless women make for a good box-office draw." Sewell somehow turns the story into a bawdy British sex comedy, working a brothel and even a softcore threesome into the plot. Res- erection, anyone?

Not quite. Burke & Hare has its moments of kitschy, playfully sexy fun, but that's about all it has to offer. Titillation aside, the film is actually rather tedious and almost entirely free of horror, suspense, and—let's just put it this way—merit. The acting is hokey, the drama limp, the plot threadbare. You watch the movie for its camp ridiculousness, or you shouldn't watch it at all. Even then, you might be tempted to fast forward to the, uh, good bits. Okay, I will give it this: Burke & Hare gets off to a rollicking start with a hilariously awful pub-rock sing-a-long theme song that includes the lyrics, "They'll find you, they're behind you! / They're out to rape you, they're out to drape you in white."

There's no raping in the film, thankfully—so I'm not sure what that line's all about—but we do get to the sheet-draping quickly. Randy, oversexed Burke (Derren Nesbitt) and his thick-headed pal Hare (Get Carter's Glynn Edwards) run a flophouse on the seedier side of Edinburgh with their loud-mouthed wives, played by Yootha Joyce and Dee Shenderey. When one of their lodgers dies in the night, Burke and Hare bring the body to Dr. Knox (Harry Andrews), who gives them eight pounds and makes it clear that further donations will be well-rewarded. Another tenant falls ill, and the temptation is simply too great; instead of taking the man to the hospital—where he'll likely die anyway, goes their justification—B&H smother him to death and collect their payment. And so it goes. Their wives are suspicious of where all the new money is coming from, but soon enough they're in on the action too, helping to lure new victims to the inn. Don't expect Burke & Hare to deliver any visceral horror movie thrills, though—most of the killings take place during a bloodless montage in the middle of the film.

Meanwhile, in what might as well be a separate movie, we're introduced to three young medicine students who attend Dr. Knox's lectures by day and frequent the town's upscale whorehouse by night. These scenes are mostly padding, and play out like some low-rent version of Belle de Jour, with comical insights—via peepholes—into the kinks and fetishes of the maison's patrons. One john wants to be tied up. Another absurdly wears a Roman gladiator's helmet. A third likes to be humiliated in a sexualized child/governess fantasy. This brothel subplot only ties into the main story when the most timid student falls in love with a buxom brunette prozzie named Marie (The Iron Rose's Françoise Pascal, revealing much chest). After an accidental fire in one of the bedrooms sets the house of ill repute ablaze, Marie and her equally busty hooker- BFF Janet (Lust for a Vampire's Yutte Stensgaard) are put out on the streets. However, they're taken in by Burke, who—recently monied—now has a fancy new pad and an enormous four-poster bed that the three of them put to good use. And by "good use," I mean topless frolicking. But naturally, all does not end well. I don't think it would be a spoiler to reveal that one of the girls ends up on Dr. Knox's lecture-room slab.

At best, this is a cult horror curiosity from the swinging '60s, when a newly permissive culture and lax censorship led to low- budget movies that arguably overindulged in flesh for the sake of cheekily bared flesh. Of course, fans of films from this era tend to like them precisely because of their simultaneously shabby and extravagant quality, so if it's period piece hamminess you're after—or wink-wink innnuendo, or bare-breasting romping—then Burke & Hare might be worth a watch. Those expecting a plot, real laughs, and serial killer scares, however, should probably look elsewhere.

Burke & Hare Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Burke & Hare doesn't look quite as good as The Blood Beast Terror—which Kino /Redemption Films are releasing concurrently—but this comes down to the state of the 35mm print more than anything. As usual, Kino hasn't done any extensive restoration, so you will notice white specks and a few light scratches. This is to be expected, but more unusual is the color strobing that occurs in three or four scenes. Basically, these are repetitive fluctuations that momentarily turn blacks into a deep purplish hue. This also affects the tone of the mids and highlights, naturally, but it's most apparent in the shadows. I wouldn't say it's adversely distracting—you do get used to it—but it's certainly worth noting. Aside from these scenes, color is relatively stable and balanced, with a palette of dense neutrals, occasional flashes of bright color—like the prostitutes' lingerie— and good contrast. Clarity is somewhat mixed, with some discernibly soft shots and others that are quite sharp, but I suspect the film looks as good here as it's ever going to look. Finally, there are no real compression issues and no overt edge enhancement or digital noise reduction.

Burke & Hare Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The film's audio is handled by way of an uncompressed Linear PCM 2.0 track that's consistently listenable and free from any major distractions. Of course, this being a low-budget horror movie from the '60s, there are bound to be some age/recording-related issues—brashness in the high end, a slight but audible hiss that runs through many scenes, rare pops and crackles—but nothing unexpected or actually bothersome. The most memorable aspect of the mix is the weirdly anachronistic score—electric guitar in the 1820s!—and the kooky theme song, both of which sound just fine aside from some light peaking. And dialogue, if not always perfectly recorded, is at least easy to understand throughout. Once again, my only real complaint is that there are no subtitle options whatsoever for those who might need or want them.

Burke & Hare Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Grave Desires: Corpses on Film (SD, 12:28): In this short documentary, Dr. Patricia MacCormack—the rare goth/professor hybrid—provides expert insight into grave-robbing and cadavers in the movies.
• Francois Pascal Interview (1080p, 4:14): Before starring in Jean Rollin's The Iron Rose, Francoise Pascal played a supporting role in Burke & Hare. In this new interview, she talks about how she got involved in the film.
• Trailers: Includes high definition trailers for Burke & Hare, The Blood Beast Terror, Killer's Moon, Virgin Witch, and The Asphyx.

Burke & Hare Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Burke & Hare is a 1960s variation on the so bad it's good movie; specifically, it's so campy it's passably entertaining. This tale of two murderous corpse-procurers is chest-heavy and mildly risqué thanks to the ample bosoms of Françoise Pascal and Yutte Stensgaard, but dramatically—and comedically, and thrill-wise—it sags. Your own particular tolerance for kitsch over quality will likely determine how much you enjoy it. Kino/Redemption Films' Blu-ray release has a few picture quality quirks—most notably some pervasive color fluctuations—but otherwise it more than does the film justice. For diehard cult horror collectors only.