Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
(1974)
Original Title - Non Si Deve Profanare Il Sonno Dei Morti
AKA - The Living Dead
AKA - The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue
AKA - Do Not Profane The Sleep Of The Dead
AKA - Don't Open The Window
Star Films SA / Flaminia Produzioni Cinematografiche : Anchor Bay Entertainment / Blue Underground
7.75 / 10
As you can see the film goes under many names though I chose the "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" as this is the translation of the original Italian and better suits the film than all the rest. However, I believe that "The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue" is one of the most popular names used - once I'd watched the film I thought the title misleading as we never get to the Manchester Morgue.
This is definitely a film of its time and not just for the low budget or dodgy acting but for the context. The dead reanimator is an experimental low-frequency radiation emitting pest controller, which our anti-hero keeps telling people that they shouldn't trust it. We also shouldn't trust the police to do their job correctly. I remember these being the underlying feelings of quite a few people in the 1970's. It's a shame it got banned because it could have had quite a following for these ideologies alone.
What you have is your standard fare of Italian horror, though this time, transferred into the English countryside. If you were in doubt that this is England the Director punches it home in the opening sequence as our anti-hero, George Meaning (Ray Lovelock) rides through the countryside on his Norton. When he pulls into a garage for supplies our heroine Edna (poor lass) Simmonds (Cristina Galbo) reverses into the Norton in her Mini. From here on out they are pretty much joined at the hip as he commands her to take him to Windermere because it's the least she could do... then he jumps into the driver's seat since he doesn't want to go there in reverse.
George is a bullish man who likes to command everybody and isn't afraid to speak out and let everybody know how he feels. There are sometimes that you would love to hit this guy for being so rude, though most of the time it made me giggle.
As with most Italian Horror Films, the dubbing is pretty atrocious, however, it does give it a strange kind of ambience, maybe I've watched too many and I've grown fond of the sub-genre. Jorge Grau does a satisfying job of bringing the story, wrote by Sandro Continenza and Marcello Coscia, to the screen. He creates nice tension as the film progresses. You can feel the uneasiness that Edna feels when she first sees the dead homeless man Guthrie Wilson for the first time. This scene reminded me of Romero's Night Of The Living Dead, though it's not a rip-off more of a tribute as the rest of the film try to add something to the Zombie folklore, such as the way other cadavers can be resurrected.
On the whole, the acting is okay, though the dubbing does detract from the actor's skills because their voices don't feel like they're their own. The only character who appeared to have his own voice was The Inspector. The trouble was that Arthur Kennedy who portrayed him is American and his accent was a mix of Irish, Scottish, and American, he never quite landed on just one. This made his character unintentionally humourous at times.
I've always like the Italian FX as they really know how to deliver the gory goods. For me, the tearing apart of the Hospital Nurse come receptionist was the best. There were rumours of a scene where a Zombie eats an eyeball, I think this is the church scene; a policeman is food for the zombies and you see his face sans eye, then you get a shot of Granny-Z popping something into her mouth, though you don't see what. It would have been so good to have that shot.
All-in-All it's not a bad movie though it has its flaws it's still worth a watch. If only half the horrors today were like this then I'd be happy.
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