Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue) Reviews

Surprise! I actually liked this better than George A. Romero's 1968 defining classic "Night of the Living Dead." Granted, "...Living Dead" came first, and they're both important horror films in their own right, but "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" was more exciting and entertaining, and less about bad actors like Karl Hardman (no hate towards Duane Jones though) arguing in a fortified house with the groaning of the undead in the background.

So, "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie," (also known as "The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue," "Don't Open the Window," and by countless other titles) stars Ray Lovelock as George, a ill-tempered artsy-craftsy type who goes on a trip to meet some friends at his new house. He never gets there, though, as his motorcycle gets run over at a filling station by Edna (Cristina Galbó.)

George somewhat imposes himself on Edna and demands she drive him the rest of the way there, but Edna wants to visit her drug-addicted sister (Jeannine Mestre) and photographer brother-in-law (José Lifante.) Their quibbles are interrupted by a viral outbreak that turns it's victims into- you guessed it- flesh-eating zombies.

The cause of the virus is pesticides, and although the premise hints at environmental themes, you are never hit over the head with these messages. Similarly, the paranoid Inspector (Arthur Kennedy) accuses George of being a hippie Satanist and seems to be intent on disbelieving everything George says. So maybe the movie is making a comment on battle of Conservative Vs. Liberal values? Or just plain old prejudice, when it rears it's ugly head.

There are some parallels between this and "Night of the Living Dead," including a similar intestine-eating scene and pessimistic ending. The development of George from a griping nitwit to fighter against the undead may surprise you, but it's well-done for this kind of movie.

The best moment is the scene when they're trapped in the mortuary and the COFFINS START OPENING! I loved the zombies' eyes- finally something different with the genre. I think the movie might have been better with a little bit more dark humor, a 'la "Shaun of the Dead" (best. zombie. movie. ever.) The acting was good-ish, a little flat overall, but the movie as a whole was very a entertaining one that I would recommend to any zombie lover.

The plot: a young antiquarian goes on vacation. On the way he meets a young woman on her way to the farm of his sister. In the field she is attacked by a strange drifter who allegedly had been dead for a week. The reason is a new experimental machine the Ministry of Agriculture, through ultrasound, kills pests and insects. When the couple arrives at the farm, they find a man killed by this spectral zombie. The plot thickens with the police investigation, he suspects that all is matter of Satanic hippies and drug addicts.

Interesting spanish-italian co-production is highly influenced by "The Night of the Living Dead", the mythical George A. Romero's film, in their argument and quite relevant details of the action.

The idea is quite original and daring in their proposals, indebted to the society of his time, early 70s, with a strong denunciation of such environmental and generational conflict that always sides with the more progressive positions. Capturing on images is quite striking and generally well achieved (starting with the characterization of the zombies themselves) although some breaks in the script detract from the good original idea.

Movie does not indicate at any time their tight budget and it looks forward to at all times.