Burke and Hare (2010)

Review: written Dec 2013

The 19th Century Scottish Grave Robbers Black Comedy of the Year

It's understandable the division of opinion on this one.. black comedy of this nature is an acquired taste, and tonally, this is an odd mixture. And yet, something about the over-the-top Scottish-ness, and the surreal laugh out loud moments involving spurting arteries and cadavers in barrels, make this a welcome modern addition to the Ealing Studios output. The story is summed up in the old nursery rhyme, "Up the close and doun the stair, But and ben wi' Burke and Hare. Burke's the butcher, Hare's the thief, Knox the boy that buys the beef.", with apologies to those not conversant in Scots. Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis are the two Irishmen who find themselves drawn into a world of supplying bodies to teaching surgeon Andy Wilkinson, and when graverobbing itself seems too dangerous (due to the militia led by Ronnie Corbett!) the solution seems clear - the way to get the freshest cadavers, is to be the reason they become cadavers in the first place.

The tone is kept resolutely light, bordering on slapstick at times, as if it doesn't quite have the conviction to let the material speak for itself, in the way that director John Landis's earlier "American Werewolf in London" did, or earlier Ealing classics such as "The Ladykillers". But it works thanks to a cast giving it their full conviction, and that includes some marvellous cameos (which are far more fun to discover for yourself rather than have me point at them here). Isla Fisher and Jessica Hynes are terrific value as the significant others, Isla in particular providing a few moments of pathos and calm between the murders, as she struggles to understand Macbeth.

Shot well, well acted, but tonally .. well, odd.. this is bound to be an acquired taste. But if you like the offbeat nature of, for example, "Plunkett and MacLean", I hope you'll give this a shot too.