Review: Burke and & Hare is based on the two real life serial murderers William Burke and William Hare who killed people and sold their bodies to a local man who ran his own school of anatomy. Their reign of murder lasted for almost a full year. After they were caught Hare testified against Burke and that lead to Burke being hung. Now this may be a film based on these to killers but I can tell you that this is quite different than what you'd expect. Instead of a serious film with a dark atmosphere you get a more fun atmosphere and comedic take on the two. Originally I did expect something more dark by the cover, but was pleasantly surprised to read that it was quite the opposite.
From the start I was hooked to the film when it kicked in and they played a theme song for the two during the opening credits. The playful music continues all the way through and sounds more like something from a film like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Which makes scenes like the two men selling dead bodies in ways offbeat in a good way of course. Along with the story of Burke and Hare you also follow a student of the anatomy school who is very shy and timid. At first the men originally sell a corpse to the school that was already dead but after getting a taste of the money they could make they resort to killing people in order to get corpses.
Weather it's a very ill man or an unknown drunkard woman they do not discriminate on who to kill to make shilling. They also do go grave digging as well. From time to time you do get a dark moment that gets serious but soon enough everything gets back to being more light hearted. The cast of this film is great, now I can't say that anyone really stands out as being someone I am familiar with. Nonetheless I was quite pleased with the acting. The transition from Burke and Hare being these two men who strive to make their way in more humble ways to turning into money hungry grave robbers/murderers who get engulfed in the darkside and seem to not be able to look back. The character besides the main two that I really liked was that of Dr. Robert Knox who is the teacher at the school.
Now even though I have never seen this film until now I can say that Redemption did a great job with presenting it on this blu-ray. For the most part the picture is cleaned up but from time to time you do get the occasional very minor damage. The grain is still intact and they did not touch the picture with any DNR or edge enhancement which is great. The audio they used for this release is the original mono soundtrack which I always love when they do because alot of the time it's the best way to actually hear it.
Overall this was a great film with plenty of dark humor and good laughs. Also it's a fun way to introduce you to the history of the two murderers. If you love a good dark comedy then I suggest you go pick this one up!
-Daniel "Damnation" Lee
Director: Vernon Sewell
Genre:Dark Comedy/Horror
Blu-Ray Release Year: 2012
Theatrical Release Year:1972
Time Length: 94 mins.
Company: Kino Lorber/Redemption Films
