Burke and Hare

Release Date: 12 May 2011

This movie is from our archive and is not currently screening.

No Job Too Small. No Body Too Big. No Questions Asked.

Based on the true story about the famous murderers, 'Burke And Hare' follows the hapless exploits of these two men as they fall into the highly profitable business of providing cadavers for the medical fraternity in Nineteenth Century Edinburgh, then the centre of medical learning. The one thing they were short of was bodies.

Information

Cast
Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Isla Fisher, Tom Wilkinson

Director
John Landis

Genre
Comedy, Drama, Thriller

Classification
M, 91 mins

Consumer Advice
Comedic violence, gore, sex scenes and coarse language

Country of Origin
UK

Audio Language
English

Distributor
Paramount Pictures Australia

Industry Reviews

David Stratton
At The Movies

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BURKE & HARE, is set in 1828, in Edinburgh which is the centre of science and medicine, with rival surgeons, Doctors Monro, TIM CURRY and Knox, TOM WILKINSON, competing for the King's prize for the greatest advance in medical science. Bodies, used for experiments by these eminent surgeons, are in short supply, but Dr. Knox offers five pounds per corpse for cadavers in good condition. William Burke, SIMON PEGG, and William Hare, ANDY SERKIS, Irish con-men, decide to enter the body business.

Burke is infatuated with actress Ginny Hawkins, ISLA FISHER, and bankrolls her production of an all-female Macbeth.

There have been several films about the infamous Burke and Hare, including John Gilling's 1959 THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS, with DONALD PLEASANCE and GEORGE ROSE as Burke and Hare and PETER CUSHING as Dr. Knox, and Freddie Francis' 1985 THE DOCTOR AND THE DEVILS, which was based on a treatment by Dylan Thomas no less.

It's a fascinating story - the respectable and progressive Edinburgh surgeon who pays grave-robbers and murderers to supply corpses for his experiments, and it has themes that connect with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but Shelley's book was first published 10 years earlier, in 1818. John Landis, directing his first feature for six years, treats the gruesome material as a black, or bloody, comedy, with ripe, enjoyable performances all round and lots of blink-and-you'll-miss-them cameos from film directors (Michael Winner and Costa-Gavras), venerable actors (Christopher Lee) and sci-fi legends (Ray Harryhausen). One of the funniest performances comes from Ronnie Corbett as the captain of the local militia.

BURKE & HARE isn't a great film by any means but, if you're in the right mood, it provides some laughs and it looks very handsome indeed.

At The Movies
Copyright ABC

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