Adam Peters
(44%) A well made, yet oddly completely unfunny watch centred around the crimes of the notorious murderous duo in 19th century Edinburgh. So what exactly went wrong here? Because with the cast including the talented Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis, with support from the likes of Tim Curry, Tom Wilkinson, British TV favourite Ronny Corbett, even Christopher Lee in a small cameo, and with John Landis directing meaning this should have been a hell of a lot better than it actually is. The first problem is the fact that this starts claiming to be an Earling studio production, and not once in the entire film did it ever remotely capture the feel of that once great name. It may have the darker edge you'll find in something like The ladykillers, but what is really lacking is any sort of soul or heart. It doesn't also help that the true tale of Burke and Hare isn't actually that comedic as there's no real punchline anywhere, just a couple of guys making a bit of money grave robbing and killing people, and that's about it. This isn't a bad watch by any means, but I defy anyone truly enjoying its half baked attempts.
HelenMary
The amazing Simon Pegg in this historical comedy based on the real life murderers Burke and Hare. Very funny all the way through, witty and with a star-studded cast of the English screen. Have wanted to see this since it was in the cinema and I can't believe it's taken me this long - well worth the wait! Some cringeworthy gross bits, but an all round a romp of a good film. So many laughs. Some at the expense of the accents.Reminiscent of Plunket and Macleane with dark bawdy humour and little colour, period pieces with lots of physical humour and style in keeping with how the times would have been, not too showy and "hollywood." Pegg and Serkis were brilliant together and Jessica Hynes is always a comedy genius. British film at it's best.
Argemaluco
Director John Landis is mostly famous for having made some excellent comedies (Trading Places, Spies Like Us and Coming to America), but he's also revered in the horror cinema for having made the extraordinary An American Werewolf in London. 12 years after being absent in cinema, Landis decided to come back with the film Burke and Hare, which combines horror and comedy. And even though I found the combination of genres too unstable, the film kept me moderately entertained despite its mediocrity.The funny elements from Burke and Hare generally work because of the solid performances from Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis, but I wish the film defined its character better. In other words, the comedy is constantly clogging the drama, and the drama feels completely out of place in the context of the black humor employed by this movie. It's like watching two very different movies at the price of one, but combined in such a forced and inconsistent way that the final result is not very satisfactory.However, as I said on the first paragraph, Burke and Hare managed to keep me moderately entertained, and I think it deserves a slight recommendation because of that. However, there are very superior horror comedies (such as Shaun of the Dead and Tucker & Dale vs. Evil), which are better balanced and are funnier.
MartinHafer
Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis play the infamous Burke and Hare--two horrible criminals who provided bodies to Edinburgh medical schools in the 1820s. Why was this so horrible? Because the folks they 'procured' weren't dead when the pair found them. Eventually the two were caught and the rest is history. This horrible series of crimes was the basis for many movies over the years--some of which changed the details and some of which stuck quite close to the actual events. I've already seen "The Body Snatcher", "Corridors of Blood" and "The Flesh and the Fiends"--and there are several other versions of the story out there to be seen. Of those I've seen, clearly "The Body Snatcher" (which is a fictionalized account that was written by Robert Louis Stevenson) is the best.In this 2010 film, the filmmakers have attempted to do something different--to make a comedy about the events. This is very problematic for two main reasons--it's hard to make a comedy about such grisly things and because the film just isn't very funny. If you are a fan of Pegg's looking for another "Hot Fuzz" or "Sean of the Dead"--keep looking. The problem is that the film just plays it all too straight and isn't wild or crazy enough to make the whole thing darkly funny (such as how they handled this sort of thing in "Sweeney Todd"). As a result, the characters are unlikable and flat.If you can ignore the fact that the film is not especially enjoyable, you can at least appreciate the look of the film. It looks very 1820s--except when they talk about photographing the corpses, as photography wasn't even invented until a decade LATER!!! Also, if you do watch, look for the least romantic sex scene ever filmed.
AD
