Let Sleeping Corpses Lie

This week I was in the mood for something different and chose a zombie movie with a lot of titles. The one IMDB uses is:

Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974).

It is also known as The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (misleading title), Don't Open the Window (fair enough but pointless title) and Don't Disturb the Sleeping Dead (spot on).

This Spanish-Italian production was shot in Italy and England and directed by Jorge Grau, with an international cast of whom most are Italian.

Minor Spoilers ahead!

A young antique dealer, George, closes up his shop and heads north. While stopping for gas, a young woman, Edna, accidentally rams his motorcycle and bends the wheel. As a way to make amends she agrees to take him to his location as she is on her way to visit her sister. They are soon lost and stop for directions and while George is talking to a farmer, a zombie attacks Edna. Some scientists are busy on the farmers field testing a new machine that uses some kind of radiation waves to eliminate pests and the movie makes no attempts to hide that this machine is indeed the reason why the dead are waking back up with murder in their red pitiless eyes. What follows is a desperate struggle for George and Edna to not only survive but to put a stop to the horror. A task made extra difficult since the police, led by an old fashioned sergeant is convinced that George and Edna, fueled by drugs and satanism are the murderers.

Synopsis and Spoilers over.

I have in my time seen more than my fair share of zombie movies. From the stars of the genre like Dawn of the Dead (Original and remake), to obscure low budget flicks I can't even remember the names of. But what I haven't seen before is a movie quite like Let Sleeping Corpses Lie. It almost achieves an intimate Hammer Horror feel while still using all the grisly gore only a group of hungry zombies can achieve.

The actors are all good, the plot is good and the atmosphere is a cut above what many can do. The soundtrack or should I say soundscape is great but grating on headphone users. It is hard to describe, maybe electronic whine is correct, but it did make my ears hurt after a while. That said, I wouldn't be without it either as it fits perfectly with the scientific resurrection of the dead and the dread of new, poorly tested technology .

In fact, the only thing I really disliked is the police sergeant. He is completely unprofessional, and lets his prejudices lead him around instead of actually doing his job. Now, I'm sure this is the intent of both script and director, but he goes too far and becomes more of a caricature of the conservative bully snarling at everything he sees as the moral decay of society, like men with long hair. Still, since the character fit the movie well enough, is it worth complaining about?

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes, to horror fans I do. It is solidly a 70's horror movie so if that isn't your cup of tea, move along, but for everything else... It's not quite a must see, but not far from it. All in all I really liked Let Sleeping Corpses Lie. Non horror fans should give it a wide berth though. There is nothing there for you.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have great week!