The ZombieTastic Review of:
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
Director: Jorge Grau
Year of Release: 1974
Country of Origin: Italy/Spain
Type of Zombie Film: Crime "Thriller", Anti-Hippie
Also Known as: Breakfast at the Manchester Morgue, The Living
Dead at the Manchester Morgue, Don't Open the Window, Fin de
semana para los muertos, No profanar el sueño de los muertos,
Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti, Zombi 3, Das
Leichenhause der lebenden Toten
Part of a series?: No
The Scoring
Plot: If you've ever wondered what Antonioni's seminal film Blow-Up would have been like
with a little less photography and a little more of the living dead, this is the movie to see.
Essentially, a hipster, on his way to his country home, has his motorcycle smashed by
another hipster (a lady with sweet-ass boots and a groovy mini). This hipster lady, who is
on her way to help her photographer brother-in-law commit her heroin-abusing sister (who
is also his heroin-abusing wife) to a rehab clinic, takes the aforementioned motorcyle-
riding hipster along with her. However, along the way, a zombie kills the brother-in-law, and
the hipster and almost hipster are accused of committing the murder, despite mountains of
evidence indicating their innocence. Additionally, the film features a fair amount of
discussion of how to best kill bugs on farms, which, while not a part of Blow-Up, should
have been. Everybody got that? Good.
Score: 2
Exposition: This movie featured an interminable amount of exposition--more than you could
shake a stick at (why you would want to do such a thing is beyond me, but all the same I'm
not going to judge you or anything). Said exposition culminated in a baffling discussion of
the nervous system, which if I understood it (and I'm not sure that I did), indicated that
zombies = insects, and insects = plants, so zombies = plants. Yeah. I don't remember
studying that in my 10th grade biology class, but I did go to a public school. Regardless, in
addition to all of that, at one point in the film, one of the characters commits the
unpardonable sin of trying to straight up and none-too-surreptitiously educate the audience
as to how the zombie plague is spreading by simply blurting out, "They transmit life to each
other through the blood of the living!" Whatever you say, bub.
Score: 1
Plausibility: I don't know what was more implausible about this movie--the fact that
England's Agriculture Department was creating zombies (more about this later), or the fact
that, as I hinted at in the plot description, the character of The Inspector refused to believe
that the hipsters were innocent, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, or the fact
that one of the characters in the film was able to routinely and secretly score heroin while
living in an isolated and remote house in the woods. To put all of this more succinctly: what
a load of SHIT.
Score: 1
Production Value: Alright, I don't want to sound like a jingoist wanker on this one, but I have
to say this: I will NEVER understand why the dubbing on foreign zombie movies is so
uniformly crappy. I think specifically the problem lies in the fact that quite often, the "actors"
in these movies apparently deliver most of their lines in English while filming, only to have
their actual dialogue re-dubbed with poor timing by native speakers of English during post-
production. This has the jarring effect of everyone in the film kind of looking like they're
saying what you're hearing, but not really. While it might be a sage decision in terms of
having one's audience be able to actually follow the plot, in general the whole thing is very
disorienting, and detracts from the overall enjoyment of the film. And aren't plot and
dialogue usually not the strong suits of zombie movies anyway? I hereby encourage all
non-native English speaking zombie movie actors to deliver their lines in, uh, Dutch, before
having the English dubbed in later on. It's the right thing to do, and the right way to do it.
Anyways, the point is that Let Sleeping Corpses Lie suffers from the English/non-English
dubbing problem, and it's pretty annoying. But, at least it was shot on some scenic
locations. That's got to count for something. I guess.
Score: 2
Special Effects: The only special effect that I can remember this movie having comes when
the main character, George, tries to defeat a zombie on a stairwell by burning him. Alas,
instead of anything interesting happening here, George merely holds a torch near the
zombie, and then a bunch of flames pop up directly in front of the camera as the zombie
"burns" and disappears out of view. No offense, but that's pretty lame. I mean, I was able
to create effects like that in the early 90s when I used to make movies with my old VHS
camcorder, you know? (Incidentally, if you'd like to view any of these movies, let me know--I
would definitely recommend that you see Fletch vs. Robocop...it's AWESOME, if I do say so
myself.)
Score: 1
Makeup: Much like the "special effects", the makeup in Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is pretty
damn lame. All of the zombies in the film have red eyes, and while they're cool and kind of
creepy, they're pretty much the only thing that separates the living from the living dead. The
zombies probably would have been a little more believable had they had a few makeup
effects. Furthermore, considering that you could only see the eyes during extreme close-
ups, for all I know they only had one pair of these things that everyone shared. In other
words, not only did this movie wimp out when it came to makeup, but it apparently also
placed many members of its cast in danger of contracting conjunctivitis. That's not cool.
Score: 1
Scariness: Let's not beat around the bush: this film isn't scary at all, unless you're
frightened by hipsters with beards. Come to think of it, those types of people are a little
freaky, aren't they?
Score: 2
Goriness: There is some gore in Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, but alas it doesn't rear its
bloody head until the second half of the film. In fact, for the first half of the film I was under
the impression that the zombies weren't interested in eating flesh at all, but rather just
wanted to choke people to death and then go about their day. As I say, there is some gore
redemption in the second half, but not much.
Score: 2
Final Scene: The final scene in this flick is beyond absurd, and considering it's a zombie
movie, that's saying something. After foolishly pursuing the main characters as murder
suspects for the duration of the film, the character known only as The Inspector guns down
the film's protagonist, George, in a hospital, this after seeing George dispatch a zombie
and concluding that he is therefore responsible for multiple homicides and deserving of
death. At that point, rather than going home, The Inspector decides to unwind by renting a
room in a nearby hotel. After he checks in and goes to his room, The Inspector is horrified
to discover the recently gunned-down George waiting there for him in all of his zombie
glory. Zombie George proceeds to strangle The Inspector, and the film ends. Needless to
say, this scene was utterly ridiculous, and it brought to mind a host of inscrutable,
seemingly unanswerable questions: How did George's corpse escape from the clutches of
the police? How did it make it to the hotel on foot ahead of The Inspector? How did it even
know that The Inspector was going to said hotel? Furthermore, how did it know the exact
room that The Inspector would be checking into, AND how did he get into it without the key?
Was he a psychic zombie? Was he a time traveling zombie? Was he a zombie capable of
astral projection? Was he all that and more? I guess the question to ask is this: are
George's awesome, ninja-like assassin abilities available for hire? I mean, if he could get
the drop on The Inspector, I have a feeling that he could easily eliminate a lot of people. I
think the CIA should hire him, before some other country snatches him up.
Score: 1
Comedy: There's a fair amount of comedy to choose from in this movie, and I don't think
much, if any of it, was intentional. Aside from its laughable portrayal of "the hipster
menace", and its pitting of said hipsters against the nefarious Agricultural Department,
there's also the sheer joy of watching a completely clueless police inspector botch a
murder investigation while spouting off a seemingly endless stream of paranoia-drenched
conspiracy-theories. Upon reflection, I guess this was both funny and tedious. It was
funious. I would like to take this opportunity to salute The Inspector for inspiring a new word.
Score: 4
Originality: I've been pretty harsh on Let Sleeping Corpses Lie so far, which perhaps isn't
fair. After all, it does contain a number of original and interesting ideas; it just doesn't seem
to do a whole lot with them. Durn, there I go being harsh again. Oh well.
Score: 3
Rewatchability: I have to say that despite its many, many problems, Let Sleeping Corpses
Lie definitely seems rewatchable to me. I'm not sure why I think this, I just know that
normally when I see a zombie movie with this many problems, not only do I not want to see
it again, but the mere thought of doing so is enough to send me into an epileptic fit. Not so
with this one--I don't regret watching it, and I wouldn't object to seeing it again. Isn't that
WEIRD? Yes. Yes it is.
Score: 3
Datedness: Re-watchability aside, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie feels extremely dated. As a
matter of fact, I would venture to say that its depiction of "young people" was already dated
by the mid-70s when the film was made. Here's a newsflash for whoever's listening: the
world hasn't cared about grizzled old detectives or the ability of hipsters to ruin a small town
since around the time that Mannix went off the air. Seriously.
Score: 1
Soundtrack: I can't think of one thing to say about the soundtrack to this movie. I'm sure
there was music, and I'm sure it was fine, I just can't think of it at all. I guess now would be
a good time for me to point out that excessive consumption of alcohol can cause brain
damage and memory loss. Just thought I'd mention that.
Score: 1
Breast Factor/Nudity: The nudity prospects start out promisingly enough, with a random
shot during the opening titles of a naked woman happily running through the streets of
London. Then for a long time everyone keeps their clothes on. Then, a bunch of zombies
attack a nurse, and you get to see her boobies for a brief moment. Then, a zombie rips one
of them off. Weird, yet strangely compelling.
Score: 3
Lead Actor: Ray Lovelock as George. Mr. Lovelock does an adequate job in the lead role of
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, and he gets points for his cool-ass hipster beard. Additionally,
he scores MAJOR points for being able to incapacitate a policeman with nothing more than
a hand towel. Seriously: after being arrested, George asks if he can go the bathroom; he is
accompanied to the loo by a policeman, and as he approaches the sink, he quickly grabs a
towel and flings it at said copper; this 'towel in the face' hinders the policeman enough that
George is able to slip out of a nearby window. While it was of course the character of
George that performed this action, Ray Lovelock made it WORK like few other actors would
have been able to, and for that, I salute him.
Score: 3
Sidekick(s)/Love Interest: Cristina Galbó as Edna. What can I say here? Cristina Galbó is
nice to look at, and she is successfully able to run from zombies while wearing massive,
Gene Simmons-sized boots. Good for her. Let's move on, shall we?
Score: 2
Overall Cast: I must say that the overall cast was pretty shitty, mired as they were in the
throes of overacting. I will, however, award an extra point to this category for the cool
looking owl in The Old Owl Inn, and for the dubbed voice of one of the Agricultural
Department engineers; this man sounded remarkably similar to Eric Idle, so every time he
was on-screen was enjoyable, because I kept expecting a Monty Python skit to break out.
Let's face it: this movie could definitely have used an appearance by Mr. Badger, perhaps
enlisting a zombie or two in of his "wacky schemes". Or something.
Score: 2
Token Scientist: In a twist on the classic notion of the zombie movie scientist, Let Sleeping
Corpses Lie features a team of scientists and engineers responsible for unleashing a
plague of zombies. Furthermore, these people work for the government. So I guess they
were kind of like the Manhattan Project, except with farms and zombies instead of The Axis
and the atom bomb. Same difference, really.
Score: 3
Token Fat Guy: There aren't really any fat guys in this movie, but there is a policeman who
complains about how he's gaining weight. That's got to count for something, right? The
answer: no.
Score: 1
Best Line: There are many contenders for the best line in this movie. I think the top two are
probably these:
point is, any time you have a zombie film with multiple worthy nominees for the coveted
"Best Line" crown, everyone wins.
Score: 5
Intangibles: I have to give Let Sleeping Corpses Lie a decent score here. As I say, despite
some ridiculous characters, an absurd storyline, and non-zombie-looking zombies, the film
didn't completely suck. It's clearly more than the sum of its undead parts.
Score: 3
Zombie Believability: As previously mentioned, there was a paucity of believable zombie
makeup utilized in the film, and that hurt the overall performance of the zombies. Despite
this limitation, the actors portraying the zombies did a pretty good job of "zombieing" it up,
Manchester-style. For the record, I have no idea what that means.
Score: 3
Zombie Attack Scenes: There aren't very many zombie attack scenes in the movie, but the
ones that are there are definitely enjoyable. On of them takes place in a graveyard, and
features a zombie climbing a ladder (which is a lot more exciting than it sounds). The other
notable attack scene centers around a few zombies assaulting the employees of a
hospital, presumably in protest of rising insurance rates, and features a zombie stabbing a
patient with a pair of scissors. The only thing that would have made this cooler would have
been if the zombie had yelled "booyah" while doing so, although I guess Let Sleeping
Corpses Lie was made a long time before hip hop invented that word. Maybe I'm saying
that this movie could have used more hip hop? I have no idea.
Score: 4
Zombie "Orgy" Scenes: The only scene that comes close to being a Zombie Orgy Scene in
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is the hospital scene, and that's not quite up to snuff. As I said,
it's an enjoyable attack scene, but it doesn't realize its potential, never evolving into a
massive zombie orgy where the undead eat everyone that they can get their hands on.
Then again, it's possible that this was because they were in a hospital, and they didn't want
to make themselves sick by eating the living who were already sick, you know? I tend to
forget that zombies are like weathermen: they're sometimes smarter than I give them credit
for.
Score: 1
Anti-Zombie Weaponry: There was truly a sad lack of anti-zombie weaponry on display in
this film. Or would you say "not on display"? Whatever, the point is this: as near as I can
tell, the main zombie combat weapon in the movie was a Mini Cooper, which the characters
simply drive around in a lot. When you think about it, this is a lot like trying to practice safe
sex by wrapping tin foil around your schlong--it looks cool, but in the end, it's just not
effective. BELIEVE ME.
Score: 1
Zombification Explanation: Okay, are you ready for this? ARE YOU? You're sure? Alright,
see if you can follow this: the "Experimental Section" of England's Agricultural Department
is "experimenting" with a radical new way to kill the bugs and pests that plague farms by
bathing a one-square mile area with ultrasonic radiation. This radiation, being all
ultrasonic and whatnot, causes the nervous systems of the recently deceased to become
animated, and they then wander out into the world, looking for some human flesh to eat.
Pause. Take a deep breath. Read the zombification explanation again, and meet me in the
next paragraph.
Still here? Good. I don't know if I should give the film 5 points for originality, or 1 point for
trying way too hard and looking completely ridiculous in the process (which coincidently
exactly describes how I feel about Billy Corgan). So, I'll just wuss-out and call this one
down the middle.
Score: 3
Zombie "Uniqueness": All things considered, the zombies in Let Sleeping Corpses Lie are
a cut above those found in the average 1970s zombie movie. For one thing, in defiance of
convention, they move rather quickly. For another, they actually use weapons, which is
pretty sweet (especially when a zombie takes out a police officer by throwing a tombstone at
him--if I had known about that move in college, I probably wouldn't have a police record.
But, I suppose that's a story for another time.) Additionally, the zombies in the film all have
weird red eyes that are rather menacing (AND which bear a striking resemblance to the
eyes of the "crazies" in 28 Days Later) (or vice versa).
Not all of the zombie originality in the movie is commendable, however. For some reason,
all of the zombies in the film seem to be suffering from some form of asthma; every time
one is on screen, s/he wheezes and gasps the entire time. If you've ever sat next to a really
fat guy in public who was a heavy breather, then you know why this is irritating. If not, well,
consider yourself lucky. Another instance of unwanted uniqueness comes when we see a
baby "zombie" trying to munch on its doctor's fingers. Apparently, in addition to animating
the dead, the dreaded ultrasonic radiation also causes those not yet born to become flesh
eaters. Yeah, it didn't make sense to me, either. Additionally, it made me wonder if the film
was really a covert screed against ultrasound and/or if it was secretly Pro Life. If so, should
we be relieved that more social conservatives haven't figured out how easy it is to slip
subliminal messages into zombie movies? Probably.
Those things notwithstanding, another interesting feature of the zombies in this movie is
that they're able to reanimate the dead by touching their heads, which is quite useful, as you
may be able to guess. They're like undead shaman, which now that I think of it would be a
kick-ass name for a band. AND, lest I forgot, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is a film that isn't
afraid to allow its undead hordes to show a little personality. Specifically, I'm thinking of the
scene mentioned previously when the zombies descend upon the local hospital; after
eating some of the flesh of the living, we see, as plain as day, a zombie kind of stick his
hand out with a fed up look on his face, as if he's saying, "Is that it? We climbed out of our
graves and walked all the way here for that? IT SUCKED." It's nice to know that even they
though the only eat the flesh of the living, even zombies have culinary standards.
Score: 5
Zombie Consistency: The zombies in Let Sleeping Corpses Lie sometimes act uniformly,
and some times not, which is itself one of the hallmarks of a consistent inconsistency.
Wait, what? I guess all I'm trying to say is that some of the zombies in the film seemed to
want to eat people, some of the seemed to just want to choke people, and some of them
were like undead versions of Cyndi Lauper, i.e. they seemed to just want to have fun.
Score: 3
Signature Zombie: The signature zombie is this film is a creepy drifter bum who drowned
and then came back as a zombie. I call him "Wheezy Karl", although you should feel free to
give him any name that you want. The reason that I call him Wheezy Karl, aside from his
obvious general zombie wheeziness, is the fact that he clearly believes in the ideals of Karl
Marx. To put it bluntly: I can see Let Sleeping Corpses Lie acting as a metaphor for the
Cold War. Wheezy Karl "dies" but is then reanimated, and this is represents his awakening
to class consciousness. He then spends the rest of the film (a) awakening (i.e., recruiting)
other corpses and enlisting them in his cause, and (b) feasting upon the "living", who
clearly represent capitalists--they are of course too busy fighting amongst themselves to
recognize that they're being threatened by an outside force. Remember how earlier when I
wondered whether or not this film was secretly pro life? Maybe that was subterfuge, and in
actuality this film is a piece of covert communist propaganda. I've always said that if the
Soviets had focused their film efforts on the zombie genre instead of making crap like The
Cranes Are Flying and Solyaris, they'd probably still be around today. Think about it.
Score: 4
Total Points: 71
Verdict: Technically unwatchable, but somehow still enjoyable viewing. I have no idea how
I can recommend a film that falls so far short of our watchability cutoff score of 100 points,
but I'm doing it anyways. If I may be cliché for a moment, I'll say this: watching Let Sleeping
Corpses Lie is a lot like riding a moped and/or fighting zombies in a Mini Cooper: it's a
reasonably enjoyable activity, you just don't want to let your friends see you doing it.
Next Time: City of the Living Dead
Year of Release: 1974
Country of Origin: Italy/Spain
Type of Zombie Film: Crime "Thriller", Anti-Hippie
Also Known as: Breakfast at the Manchester Morgue, The Living
Dead at the Manchester Morgue, Don't Open the Window, Fin de
semana para los muertos, No profanar el sueño de los muertos,
Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti, Zombi 3, Das
Leichenhause der lebenden Toten
Part of a series?: No
The Scoring
Plot: If you've ever wondered what Antonioni's seminal film Blow-Up would have been like
with a little less photography and a little more of the living dead, this is the movie to see.
Essentially, a hipster, on his way to his country home, has his motorcycle smashed by
another hipster (a lady with sweet-ass boots and a groovy mini). This hipster lady, who is
on her way to help her photographer brother-in-law commit her heroin-abusing sister (who
is also his heroin-abusing wife) to a rehab clinic, takes the aforementioned motorcyle-
riding hipster along with her. However, along the way, a zombie kills the brother-in-law, and
the hipster and almost hipster are accused of committing the murder, despite mountains of
evidence indicating their innocence. Additionally, the film features a fair amount of
discussion of how to best kill bugs on farms, which, while not a part of Blow-Up, should
have been. Everybody got that? Good.
Score: 2
Exposition: This movie featured an interminable amount of exposition--more than you could
shake a stick at (why you would want to do such a thing is beyond me, but all the same I'm
not going to judge you or anything). Said exposition culminated in a baffling discussion of
the nervous system, which if I understood it (and I'm not sure that I did), indicated that
zombies = insects, and insects = plants, so zombies = plants. Yeah. I don't remember
studying that in my 10th grade biology class, but I did go to a public school. Regardless, in
addition to all of that, at one point in the film, one of the characters commits the
unpardonable sin of trying to straight up and none-too-surreptitiously educate the audience
as to how the zombie plague is spreading by simply blurting out, "They transmit life to each
other through the blood of the living!" Whatever you say, bub.
Score: 1
Plausibility: I don't know what was more implausible about this movie--the fact that
England's Agriculture Department was creating zombies (more about this later), or the fact
that, as I hinted at in the plot description, the character of The Inspector refused to believe
that the hipsters were innocent, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, or the fact
that one of the characters in the film was able to routinely and secretly score heroin while
living in an isolated and remote house in the woods. To put all of this more succinctly: what
a load of SHIT.
Score: 1
Production Value: Alright, I don't want to sound like a jingoist wanker on this one, but I have
to say this: I will NEVER understand why the dubbing on foreign zombie movies is so
uniformly crappy. I think specifically the problem lies in the fact that quite often, the "actors"
in these movies apparently deliver most of their lines in English while filming, only to have
their actual dialogue re-dubbed with poor timing by native speakers of English during post-
production. This has the jarring effect of everyone in the film kind of looking like they're
saying what you're hearing, but not really. While it might be a sage decision in terms of
having one's audience be able to actually follow the plot, in general the whole thing is very
disorienting, and detracts from the overall enjoyment of the film. And aren't plot and
dialogue usually not the strong suits of zombie movies anyway? I hereby encourage all
non-native English speaking zombie movie actors to deliver their lines in, uh, Dutch, before
having the English dubbed in later on. It's the right thing to do, and the right way to do it.
Anyways, the point is that Let Sleeping Corpses Lie suffers from the English/non-English
dubbing problem, and it's pretty annoying. But, at least it was shot on some scenic
locations. That's got to count for something. I guess.
Score: 2
Special Effects: The only special effect that I can remember this movie having comes when
the main character, George, tries to defeat a zombie on a stairwell by burning him. Alas,
instead of anything interesting happening here, George merely holds a torch near the
zombie, and then a bunch of flames pop up directly in front of the camera as the zombie
"burns" and disappears out of view. No offense, but that's pretty lame. I mean, I was able
to create effects like that in the early 90s when I used to make movies with my old VHS
camcorder, you know? (Incidentally, if you'd like to view any of these movies, let me know--I
would definitely recommend that you see Fletch vs. Robocop...it's AWESOME, if I do say so
myself.)
Score: 1
Makeup: Much like the "special effects", the makeup in Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is pretty
damn lame. All of the zombies in the film have red eyes, and while they're cool and kind of
creepy, they're pretty much the only thing that separates the living from the living dead. The
zombies probably would have been a little more believable had they had a few makeup
effects. Furthermore, considering that you could only see the eyes during extreme close-
ups, for all I know they only had one pair of these things that everyone shared. In other
words, not only did this movie wimp out when it came to makeup, but it apparently also
placed many members of its cast in danger of contracting conjunctivitis. That's not cool.
Score: 1
Scariness: Let's not beat around the bush: this film isn't scary at all, unless you're
frightened by hipsters with beards. Come to think of it, those types of people are a little
freaky, aren't they?
Score: 2
Goriness: There is some gore in Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, but alas it doesn't rear its
bloody head until the second half of the film. In fact, for the first half of the film I was under
the impression that the zombies weren't interested in eating flesh at all, but rather just
wanted to choke people to death and then go about their day. As I say, there is some gore
redemption in the second half, but not much.
Score: 2
Final Scene: The final scene in this flick is beyond absurd, and considering it's a zombie
movie, that's saying something. After foolishly pursuing the main characters as murder
suspects for the duration of the film, the character known only as The Inspector guns down
the film's protagonist, George, in a hospital, this after seeing George dispatch a zombie
and concluding that he is therefore responsible for multiple homicides and deserving of
death. At that point, rather than going home, The Inspector decides to unwind by renting a
room in a nearby hotel. After he checks in and goes to his room, The Inspector is horrified
to discover the recently gunned-down George waiting there for him in all of his zombie
glory. Zombie George proceeds to strangle The Inspector, and the film ends. Needless to
say, this scene was utterly ridiculous, and it brought to mind a host of inscrutable,
seemingly unanswerable questions: How did George's corpse escape from the clutches of
the police? How did it make it to the hotel on foot ahead of The Inspector? How did it even
know that The Inspector was going to said hotel? Furthermore, how did it know the exact
room that The Inspector would be checking into, AND how did he get into it without the key?
Was he a psychic zombie? Was he a time traveling zombie? Was he a zombie capable of
astral projection? Was he all that and more? I guess the question to ask is this: are
George's awesome, ninja-like assassin abilities available for hire? I mean, if he could get
the drop on The Inspector, I have a feeling that he could easily eliminate a lot of people. I
think the CIA should hire him, before some other country snatches him up.
Score: 1
Comedy: There's a fair amount of comedy to choose from in this movie, and I don't think
much, if any of it, was intentional. Aside from its laughable portrayal of "the hipster
menace", and its pitting of said hipsters against the nefarious Agricultural Department,
there's also the sheer joy of watching a completely clueless police inspector botch a
murder investigation while spouting off a seemingly endless stream of paranoia-drenched
conspiracy-theories. Upon reflection, I guess this was both funny and tedious. It was
funious. I would like to take this opportunity to salute The Inspector for inspiring a new word.
Score: 4
Originality: I've been pretty harsh on Let Sleeping Corpses Lie so far, which perhaps isn't
fair. After all, it does contain a number of original and interesting ideas; it just doesn't seem
to do a whole lot with them. Durn, there I go being harsh again. Oh well.
Score: 3
Rewatchability: I have to say that despite its many, many problems, Let Sleeping Corpses
Lie definitely seems rewatchable to me. I'm not sure why I think this, I just know that
normally when I see a zombie movie with this many problems, not only do I not want to see
it again, but the mere thought of doing so is enough to send me into an epileptic fit. Not so
with this one--I don't regret watching it, and I wouldn't object to seeing it again. Isn't that
WEIRD? Yes. Yes it is.
Score: 3
Datedness: Re-watchability aside, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie feels extremely dated. As a
matter of fact, I would venture to say that its depiction of "young people" was already dated
by the mid-70s when the film was made. Here's a newsflash for whoever's listening: the
world hasn't cared about grizzled old detectives or the ability of hipsters to ruin a small town
since around the time that Mannix went off the air. Seriously.
Score: 1
Soundtrack: I can't think of one thing to say about the soundtrack to this movie. I'm sure
there was music, and I'm sure it was fine, I just can't think of it at all. I guess now would be
a good time for me to point out that excessive consumption of alcohol can cause brain
damage and memory loss. Just thought I'd mention that.
Score: 1
Breast Factor/Nudity: The nudity prospects start out promisingly enough, with a random
shot during the opening titles of a naked woman happily running through the streets of
London. Then for a long time everyone keeps their clothes on. Then, a bunch of zombies
attack a nurse, and you get to see her boobies for a brief moment. Then, a zombie rips one
of them off. Weird, yet strangely compelling.
Score: 3
Lead Actor: Ray Lovelock as George. Mr. Lovelock does an adequate job in the lead role of
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, and he gets points for his cool-ass hipster beard. Additionally,
he scores MAJOR points for being able to incapacitate a policeman with nothing more than
a hand towel. Seriously: after being arrested, George asks if he can go the bathroom; he is
accompanied to the loo by a policeman, and as he approaches the sink, he quickly grabs a
towel and flings it at said copper; this 'towel in the face' hinders the policeman enough that
George is able to slip out of a nearby window. While it was of course the character of
George that performed this action, Ray Lovelock made it WORK like few other actors would
have been able to, and for that, I salute him.
Score: 3
Sidekick(s)/Love Interest: Cristina Galbó as Edna. What can I say here? Cristina Galbó is
nice to look at, and she is successfully able to run from zombies while wearing massive,
Gene Simmons-sized boots. Good for her. Let's move on, shall we?
Score: 2
Overall Cast: I must say that the overall cast was pretty shitty, mired as they were in the
throes of overacting. I will, however, award an extra point to this category for the cool
looking owl in The Old Owl Inn, and for the dubbed voice of one of the Agricultural
Department engineers; this man sounded remarkably similar to Eric Idle, so every time he
was on-screen was enjoyable, because I kept expecting a Monty Python skit to break out.
Let's face it: this movie could definitely have used an appearance by Mr. Badger, perhaps
enlisting a zombie or two in of his "wacky schemes". Or something.
Score: 2
Token Scientist: In a twist on the classic notion of the zombie movie scientist, Let Sleeping
Corpses Lie features a team of scientists and engineers responsible for unleashing a
plague of zombies. Furthermore, these people work for the government. So I guess they
were kind of like the Manhattan Project, except with farms and zombies instead of The Axis
and the atom bomb. Same difference, really.
Score: 3
Token Fat Guy: There aren't really any fat guys in this movie, but there is a policeman who
complains about how he's gaining weight. That's got to count for something, right? The
answer: no.
Score: 1
Best Line: There are many contenders for the best line in this movie. I think the top two are
probably these:
- "See you at the inquest!", a line uttered by The Inspector, which I think was
supposed to be a foreboding, bitch slap type of line, but which ended up just
sounding retarded. It was reminiscent of when you were on vacation as a kid, and
you and your brother would be fighting in the car, and your dad would yell at you, and
warn you that if you didn't stop fighting, he'd turn the car around and drive home. He
was trying to be threatening, but he wasn't, as you knew there was no way that he
would really turn the car around, because you were halfway to Maine by that point.
You know? - "The dead are trying to kill me!", yelled by a policeman into his radio. It was
refreshing to hear the essence of every zombie movie ever made distilled into a
mere eight syllables.
point is, any time you have a zombie film with multiple worthy nominees for the coveted
"Best Line" crown, everyone wins.
Score: 5
Intangibles: I have to give Let Sleeping Corpses Lie a decent score here. As I say, despite
some ridiculous characters, an absurd storyline, and non-zombie-looking zombies, the film
didn't completely suck. It's clearly more than the sum of its undead parts.
Score: 3
Zombie Believability: As previously mentioned, there was a paucity of believable zombie
makeup utilized in the film, and that hurt the overall performance of the zombies. Despite
this limitation, the actors portraying the zombies did a pretty good job of "zombieing" it up,
Manchester-style. For the record, I have no idea what that means.
Score: 3
Zombie Attack Scenes: There aren't very many zombie attack scenes in the movie, but the
ones that are there are definitely enjoyable. On of them takes place in a graveyard, and
features a zombie climbing a ladder (which is a lot more exciting than it sounds). The other
notable attack scene centers around a few zombies assaulting the employees of a
hospital, presumably in protest of rising insurance rates, and features a zombie stabbing a
patient with a pair of scissors. The only thing that would have made this cooler would have
been if the zombie had yelled "booyah" while doing so, although I guess Let Sleeping
Corpses Lie was made a long time before hip hop invented that word. Maybe I'm saying
that this movie could have used more hip hop? I have no idea.
Score: 4
Zombie "Orgy" Scenes: The only scene that comes close to being a Zombie Orgy Scene in
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is the hospital scene, and that's not quite up to snuff. As I said,
it's an enjoyable attack scene, but it doesn't realize its potential, never evolving into a
massive zombie orgy where the undead eat everyone that they can get their hands on.
Then again, it's possible that this was because they were in a hospital, and they didn't want
to make themselves sick by eating the living who were already sick, you know? I tend to
forget that zombies are like weathermen: they're sometimes smarter than I give them credit
for.
Score: 1
Anti-Zombie Weaponry: There was truly a sad lack of anti-zombie weaponry on display in
this film. Or would you say "not on display"? Whatever, the point is this: as near as I can
tell, the main zombie combat weapon in the movie was a Mini Cooper, which the characters
simply drive around in a lot. When you think about it, this is a lot like trying to practice safe
sex by wrapping tin foil around your schlong--it looks cool, but in the end, it's just not
effective. BELIEVE ME.
Score: 1
Zombification Explanation: Okay, are you ready for this? ARE YOU? You're sure? Alright,
see if you can follow this: the "Experimental Section" of England's Agricultural Department
is "experimenting" with a radical new way to kill the bugs and pests that plague farms by
bathing a one-square mile area with ultrasonic radiation. This radiation, being all
ultrasonic and whatnot, causes the nervous systems of the recently deceased to become
animated, and they then wander out into the world, looking for some human flesh to eat.
Pause. Take a deep breath. Read the zombification explanation again, and meet me in the
next paragraph.
Still here? Good. I don't know if I should give the film 5 points for originality, or 1 point for
trying way too hard and looking completely ridiculous in the process (which coincidently
exactly describes how I feel about Billy Corgan). So, I'll just wuss-out and call this one
down the middle.
Score: 3
Zombie "Uniqueness": All things considered, the zombies in Let Sleeping Corpses Lie are
a cut above those found in the average 1970s zombie movie. For one thing, in defiance of
convention, they move rather quickly. For another, they actually use weapons, which is
pretty sweet (especially when a zombie takes out a police officer by throwing a tombstone at
him--if I had known about that move in college, I probably wouldn't have a police record.
But, I suppose that's a story for another time.) Additionally, the zombies in the film all have
weird red eyes that are rather menacing (AND which bear a striking resemblance to the
eyes of the "crazies" in 28 Days Later) (or vice versa).
Not all of the zombie originality in the movie is commendable, however. For some reason,
all of the zombies in the film seem to be suffering from some form of asthma; every time
one is on screen, s/he wheezes and gasps the entire time. If you've ever sat next to a really
fat guy in public who was a heavy breather, then you know why this is irritating. If not, well,
consider yourself lucky. Another instance of unwanted uniqueness comes when we see a
baby "zombie" trying to munch on its doctor's fingers. Apparently, in addition to animating
the dead, the dreaded ultrasonic radiation also causes those not yet born to become flesh
eaters. Yeah, it didn't make sense to me, either. Additionally, it made me wonder if the film
was really a covert screed against ultrasound and/or if it was secretly Pro Life. If so, should
we be relieved that more social conservatives haven't figured out how easy it is to slip
subliminal messages into zombie movies? Probably.
Those things notwithstanding, another interesting feature of the zombies in this movie is
that they're able to reanimate the dead by touching their heads, which is quite useful, as you
may be able to guess. They're like undead shaman, which now that I think of it would be a
kick-ass name for a band. AND, lest I forgot, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is a film that isn't
afraid to allow its undead hordes to show a little personality. Specifically, I'm thinking of the
scene mentioned previously when the zombies descend upon the local hospital; after
eating some of the flesh of the living, we see, as plain as day, a zombie kind of stick his
hand out with a fed up look on his face, as if he's saying, "Is that it? We climbed out of our
graves and walked all the way here for that? IT SUCKED." It's nice to know that even they
though the only eat the flesh of the living, even zombies have culinary standards.
Score: 5
Zombie Consistency: The zombies in Let Sleeping Corpses Lie sometimes act uniformly,
and some times not, which is itself one of the hallmarks of a consistent inconsistency.
Wait, what? I guess all I'm trying to say is that some of the zombies in the film seemed to
want to eat people, some of the seemed to just want to choke people, and some of them
were like undead versions of Cyndi Lauper, i.e. they seemed to just want to have fun.
Score: 3
Signature Zombie: The signature zombie is this film is a creepy drifter bum who drowned
and then came back as a zombie. I call him "Wheezy Karl", although you should feel free to
give him any name that you want. The reason that I call him Wheezy Karl, aside from his
obvious general zombie wheeziness, is the fact that he clearly believes in the ideals of Karl
Marx. To put it bluntly: I can see Let Sleeping Corpses Lie acting as a metaphor for the
Cold War. Wheezy Karl "dies" but is then reanimated, and this is represents his awakening
to class consciousness. He then spends the rest of the film (a) awakening (i.e., recruiting)
other corpses and enlisting them in his cause, and (b) feasting upon the "living", who
clearly represent capitalists--they are of course too busy fighting amongst themselves to
recognize that they're being threatened by an outside force. Remember how earlier when I
wondered whether or not this film was secretly pro life? Maybe that was subterfuge, and in
actuality this film is a piece of covert communist propaganda. I've always said that if the
Soviets had focused their film efforts on the zombie genre instead of making crap like The
Cranes Are Flying and Solyaris, they'd probably still be around today. Think about it.
Score: 4
Total Points: 71
Verdict: Technically unwatchable, but somehow still enjoyable viewing. I have no idea how
I can recommend a film that falls so far short of our watchability cutoff score of 100 points,
but I'm doing it anyways. If I may be cliché for a moment, I'll say this: watching Let Sleeping
Corpses Lie is a lot like riding a moped and/or fighting zombies in a Mini Cooper: it's a
reasonably enjoyable activity, you just don't want to let your friends see you doing it.
Next Time: City of the Living Dead
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