Burke (Simon Pegg) and Hare (Andy Serkis) are a couple of down
on their luck con men in 19th century Edinburgh, Scotland. One of the lodgers in the lodging house (that they're staying
in) passes away from natural causes. They sell the body off to Dr. Knox (Tom Wilkinson) who teaches for
one of the two major medical schools. They start down the path of murdering people to provide two corpses a week for Knox's classes
and studies Knox is having parts of the human body photographed to provide an accurate map of the human anatomy
inside and out as he is competing for a monetary reward from the king. Fortunes rise for everyone
as Burke decides to fund an all female version of Macbeth because he wants to bed Ginny (Ilsa Fisher). Soon
less savory elements like McTavish (the head of organized crime in edinburgh) want in on Burke and hare's corpse selling
business as Hare dreams of a business beyond selling murdered bodies.
BURKE AND HARE
is a hit and miss black comedy from Director John Landis. It features a wide cast of British actors you have seen from
various British films. This film isn't the gem of anyone's career, but you can't call BURKE AND HARE a terrible film.
It is just a time waster if you have nothing to watch or that you're a fan of anyone involved in this film.
The movie could have been better and yet it isn't a complete failure.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Several deleted and extended scenes feature many things rightfully edited
for pacing reasons while a couple of scenes would have been nice to leave in (like how Burke and Hare met one of their victims)
and one scene showing an early photographer protesting his work being confiscated. The outtakes are stuff you can skip.
Also included among the extras are thorough interviews with many members of the
cast and crew, behind-the-scenes material, and the theatrical trailer.
FINAL ANALYSIS: BURKE AND HARE is an OK black comedy. It is a hit and miss affair which is for fans
for the actors in the film and director John Landis.
this DVD review is (c)2-1-2012
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com
