Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974) ***1/2
At its core, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (aka The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue) (1974) is Spanish director Jorge Grau's version of Night Of The Living Dead (1968) (review). That’s not meant as a slight. Grau takes the same sociopolitical approach that Romero did in many of his horror films—in this case to comment on pollution, agriculture, and the police state—and uses it as a springboard to showcase grisly makeup f/x by Italian gore-master Giannetto De Rossi, who would use many of the same techniques and gags in Fulci's Zombie (review) five years later.
In fact, it’s quite striking how much the atmosphere in the earlier Corpses resembles that Fulci film, along with his 1980 film The City Of The Living Dead (review). It also precedes both Romero's Dawn Of The Dead (1978) (review) and Zombie—concerning its display of gut munching, entrail ripping, and other forms of bodily harm, though Corpses doesn't go to quite the same gruesome lengths that either of those more famous undead films do to splatter the screen.
Though it's a bit clunky at times, a little goofy in some spots, and, unfortunately, doesn't feature any balanced/strong female roles (Cristina Galbó is undeniably beautiful, but let's face it—her character, along with the character of her sister, are typical of the genre, particularly at the time), Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is nevertheless an impressively shot and underappreciated zombie film with a decidedly bleak ending.
In fact, it’s quite striking how much the atmosphere in the earlier Corpses resembles that Fulci film, along with his 1980 film The City Of The Living Dead (review). It also precedes both Romero's Dawn Of The Dead (1978) (review) and Zombie—concerning its display of gut munching, entrail ripping, and other forms of bodily harm, though Corpses doesn't go to quite the same gruesome lengths that either of those more famous undead films do to splatter the screen.
Though it's a bit clunky at times, a little goofy in some spots, and, unfortunately, doesn't feature any balanced/strong female roles (Cristina Galbó is undeniably beautiful, but let's face it—her character, along with the character of her sister, are typical of the genre, particularly at the time), Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is nevertheless an impressively shot and underappreciated zombie film with a decidedly bleak ending.
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