Burke and Hare on DVD Now

Director John Landis, famed for such movies as American Werewolf in London, The Blues Brothers and Animal House, returns to the directors chair to tackle the story of Burke (Pegg) and Hare (Serkis) the infamous body snatchers on the 19th Century. Burke and Hare are skint but luckily (?) for them they are based at the centre of medical excellence so when there is a sudden death they decide to profit from it by selling it to the Dr Knox who is always on the look out for fresh bodies to dissect in front of medical students. Dr Knox cannot seem to get his hands on enough bodies and so Burke and Hare decide to profit from this lucrative trade although they too realise there are not enough fresh corpses – so they decide to take matters into their own hands. 

I would firstly warn against thinking that this will be a in-depth expose or dramatisation into the dealings of the two real life body snatchers, instead we get a slapstick romp through 19th century Edinburgh cadaver business. Pegg and Serkis seem to be enjoying themselves as they take on the Irish born anti heroes who take to their new career as a duck takes to water, and in this task they are ably assisted by Lucky (Hynes) Hare’s missus who gets turned on by the money and her hubbies new career. There are also an amazing amount of famous cameos in this film – I dare you to watch it without spotting them and in some respects that takes the focus away from the main action of the film. Although this film is funny it should also be noted that the blood and guts come with an adult edge – which mirrors that of American Werewolf or Hot Fuzz, your laughing and then suddenly are brought short when face with something a bit too visceral. 

The conclusion for me is that this film falls between two camps, its neither an outright comedy or even in drama – its more Carry On Burke and Hare.

Director: John Landis

Cast:
Simon Pegg – William Burke
Andy Serkis – William Hare
Jessica Hynes – Lucky
Isla Fisher – Ginny Hawkins
Tom Wilkinson – Doctor Robert Knox
Tim Curry – Doctor Monro