BURKE AND HARE

Medical Misadventures
Directed by John Landis
Starring Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Tom Wilkinson, Jessica Hynes, Isla Fisher

John Landis may have made some of the funniest movies of the ‘80s, with the likes of Three Amigos, Spies Like Us and Trading Places populating his filmography, but he’s probably most famous for helming An American Werewolf In London, one of the first and, let’s face it, only films to successfully meld comedy and horror. So it’s fitting that this historical romp, which revisits the same crossroads, is easily his best film in years.

Taking the crimes of Irish ne’er-do-wells William Burke (Simon Pegg) and William Hare (Andy Serkis) as it’s inspiration, the film is a cheerfully ghoulish if somewhat haphazard tear through nineteenth century Edinburgh, where the titular anti-heroes lined their pockets by providing cadavers to the noted physician Doctor Knox (Tom Wilkinson), and weren’t too concerned with how the aforementioned bodies shuffled off the mortal coil. Indeed, it’s not long before the avaricious pair are helping their fellow slum dwellers into the next world so that they can cash in their corpses.

Fans of Pegg’s cult series Spaced will be happy to note that Burke And Hare is something of a reunion, with co-star Jessica Hynes turning up as Hare’s complicit wife, Bill Bailey doing duty as the film’s narrator, and even Michael ‘Tyres’ Smiley turning up in a small role. Indeed, the film’s cast is packed with noteworthy names; Christopher Lee, Ronnie Corbett, Tim Curry, Stephen Merchant, Jenny Agutter, Ray Harryhausen and about a dozen other recognisable faces all crop in minor roles, with barely a scene going by without a winking cameo.

Indeed, it’s the talented cast that really buoys the film; as scripted, the jokes are more likely to elicit fond smiles than belly laughs, and only the charismatic ensemble lift the story above the ordinary. There’s also the feeling that the film wants to have its cake and eat it, with Burke being positioned as a hapless romantic who only propagates his murderous career so that he can afford to woo prostitute-turned-actress Ginny (Isla Fisher), standing in marked contrast to the cheerfully amoral Hare. It’s a misstep, an attempt to make Pegg’s character more likeable, which is a shame, seeing as the rest of the film is so happy to wallow in squalor, ugliness, and black humour.

It’s the best kind of ugly, though. Landis paints the Edinburgh of the early 1800s as a delightfully picturesque slum, and populates it with a fascinating gallery of grotesques. Although it’s clear that the budget wasn’t too high, clever use of locations and costuming help to stretch the set-dressing dollar, and the overall feel is like one of the lesser Monty Python efforts - Jabberwocky, maybe, or Yellowbeard.

While it’s not a patch on earlier efforts like The Blues Brothers, Burke And Hare represents a definite return to form for Landis, whose last feature film was over six years ago. While by no means an instant classic, anyone who likes a little gore with their giggles should get a kick out of this darkly comic little penny dreadful.

_TRAVIS JOHNSON