Horror Movie Reviews
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Price: $19.98 More Details... |
Title: Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (2000) |
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Review of Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
- One of the best zombie shockers of the 1970s, this Spanish-Italian coproduction (also known as The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue and Don't Open the Window, among other titles) is a real international affair. Inspired by George Romero's genre-shattering American hit Night of the Living Dead, it was shot in England by a Spanish director with a largely British cast, and supplemented by Spanish zombies and American character actor Arthur Kennedy as a bitter Irish police detective (with only a hint of a brogue). He's investigating a sudden rash of violent murders (the work of Satanists, he's convinced) and closes in on a pair of newcomers to the sleepy Northern England town, longhaired antique dealer Ray Lovelock and his nervous traveling companion Christine Galbó. Only they know the real culprits: newly deceased corpses, revived by agricultural experiments in ultrasonic radiation that are also turning newborns into vicious little monsters. Director Jorge Grau delivers all the stumbling zombies and gory flesh feasts you could hope for in a 1974 movie, but more importantly he creates the rare zombie thriller that manages to be both scary and smartly done. Some of the twists are a bit more far-fetched than others (why does dabbing blood on the eyes of long-dead cadavers magically bring them to life, and how would a zombie even know to try?), but it's a minor quibble in the face of the startling blood frenzy and Grau's satisfying dark dramatic twists.
The DVD also features an introduction and a 20-minute interview with Grau ("I hope you will suffer profoundly," he jokes in the opening), as well as a gallery of posters and stills, TV ads, and radio spots. --Sean Axmaker
Amazon.com
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Comments for Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
- Posted on 2008-04-02
Actually an excellent movie!
When a shaggy art dealer's motorcycle is put out of commission by a beautiful young woman's car, the two are forced to become traveling companions in the English countryside. At the same time, a strange and terrifying phenomenon has begun to occur. Farmers attempting to control pests with a new sonic radiation machine have revived more than just their crops. The dead have risen to feast upon the living, and that unwitting couple, George and Edna, are caught up in the middle of it when Edna's sister is accused of murdering her own husband. The thick-headed, local police won't believe her stories of a corpse doing the deed, so Edna and George begin to look into the matter. Their findings are truly ghastly!
Going by a variety of titles ("The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue" and "Don't Open the Window" among them), "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" was a film intended to be another "Night of the Living Dead" with the added attribute of color. Amazingly, its excellent writing, direction, and cast make it much more than just another copycat zombie flick! "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" deservedly holds a loyal cult following and is highly enjoyable throughout. It's a bit light on the zombie action till the last third of the film, but it doesn't fail to hold your attention with its believable characters, involving plot, eerie mood, and excellent performances, not to mention the loveliness of Cristina Galbó in the role of Edna. Ray Lovelock plays the unrelenting George, and Arthur Kennedy the assumptive inspector you'll love to hate. Helmed by Spanish director Jorge Grau, you'll be left with a desire to see more of his work in the horror genre. The single-disc, Anchor Bay DVD includes the TV spot for "Don't Open the Window", some radio spots, a still gallery in slideshow presentation, an enhanced widescreen, and an intro and informative, subtitled interview with the director. Well worth the purchase for fans of the zombie genre! Be warned, however, that a Two Disc version from Blue Underground is also available under the name: "The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue".
Score: 5
- Posted on 2008-03-15
in many ways, as good as NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
This is an incredibly great, intelligent and scary zombie film. It is not as relentless as NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, but it is just as good in my book. It has some of the eeriest scenes you will ever see in a 1970s Euro horror pic. The combination of music, sound effects, lighting and editing when Christine Galbo encounters the first zombie out in the very lonely English countryside sends shivers down my spine no matter how many times I see it. Plus the whole movie has a great subversive subtext to it. Director Jorge Grau made alot of very good films in his native Spain as well. It's too bad they are so impossible to see. The next best to this one is CEREMONIA SANGRIENTA (aka LEGEND OF BLOOD CASTLE) about the real-life Blood Countess also known as Countess Bathory who slaughtered virgins and bathed in their blood to keep young. Unfortunately it has yet to appear uncut in English on DVD (Blue Undergound, I don't know if licensing money is tight or what, but you guys have not put out anything totally brand new in quite a while, just re-issues of your older stuff -- how about releasing CEREMONIA SANGRIENTA?). If you don't have LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE yet, I recommend considering the recent Blue Underground re-issue of it under another of its titles, THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE. It's supposed to be mastered even better and is a 2 disc set with more extras.
Score: 4
- Posted on 2008-03-03
Let other dvd releases of this movie lie
This is one of the best zombie films to emerge from the depths of countless Night Of The Living Dead clones. Yes, this is a re-release of "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" under it's alternate British title. However, the sound and picture have been re-re-mastered beautifully. The second disc has alot of great features. My favorite is the interview with actor Ray Lovelock (Autopsy, Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man, and Emergency Squad). If you already have "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie", I think you still need this release. Don't worry kiddies, I have the long out of print and high price first release that Anchorbay did as a limited edition tin and I have this release. This film is great and the music is wonderful too. Thanks to Blueunderground for their hard work and love of the genre.
Score: 5 - Posted on 2008-02-25
'Let Sleeping Corpses Lie' under different name
This is a good zombie movie and I recommend it to any fan of the genre, but be warned - this is just a DVD re-release of "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" so if you've seen that one or own it, don't be fooled into thinking this is a different movie.
Score: 4 - Posted on 2008-01-07
One of the best...
This is a very good zombie movie, perhaps one of the best. It's creepy and suspenseful. The story, acting and dialogue are decent. The zombies are convincing and the bloodletting is quite abundant. I haven't seen this particular version; I'm going off of "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie," but I will check this one out. It also has one of the best film lines, "With your f***** clothes, and your long hair..."
Score: 4