The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue - Will's Review

If you've ever wished that zombie movies would give a better explanation as to WHY the dead have risen, you should check out this week's movie; there's a good chance it'll change your mind.

What we have here, is an average, run of the mill zombie movie; neither bad enough to offend the senses, nor good enough to get excited about. In fact, the only things that stood out to me we're the asshattedness of the male lead, and the 'science' of the zombies.



Actually, since I come to mention him, the male lead is arrogant, pushy, sexist, loud, and may or may not be involved in a dodgy antique deal; but he's not the 'evil human' character that's a popular trope in zombie movies - he's not the type to trip you up to save himself from the zombies, in-fact he does help a couple of people out. In a way, he's a perfect allegory for the movie as a whole, being neither likeable enough to get behind, nor loathsome enough that you wish the zombies would finish him off.

And so, to the 'science':

It seems that DEFRA are testing a new form of pest control; they are using 'Ultrasonic Radiation' (so 'sound' then) to interfere with the nervous systems of insects to make them attack each other. Unfortunately, it also makes the babies in a local maternity ward aggressive, and raises the dead. You see, we are told, babies have undeveloped nervous systems, which are therefore simple enough to be affected by the sound and (our hero hypotheses) the nervous systems of the dead live on for a short time, like how when you pic a flower it doesn't instantly die, and these slow nervous systems are also susceptible to the anger inducing noise...

Okkkkkaaayy.

Problem 1: even if the system works as advertised, all you are doing is setting up conditions to build super insects in a few generations time.

Problem 2. If it creates murderous babies (which, by the way, would have made a more interesting focus for the film) I presume it would affect other mammals, birds and so forth.

Problem 3. If the nervous systems of the dead ARE already running, it certainly isn't enough to make them move around, so pissing them of with magic sound rays would turn the inanimate benevolent corpses in to inanimate angry corpses. Which I think we can agree isn't much different in real terms, and certainly doesn't pose much of a threat.

Problem 4. None of this would explain how zombies could create other zombies by anointing corpses' eyelids with the blood of the living. Which (i shit you not) they can.

In future, I recommend that all zombie movies which feel the need to use fake science NOT use dead people (i.e.. 28 Days Later's 'rage virus') or else stick to the time honored babble like magic, voodoo, the wrath of god, passing comets, or a plain old ' fucked if we know'.

Body Count: 12
Boob Count: 1 pair
Animal body count: Some stock-footage of fighting ants, maybe 3 on screen deaths?
Most Memorable Kill: Clubbing with the good doctor,

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The Living Dead at The Manchester Morgue - Lisa's Review

For this weeks entry, a movie I have actually watched before.  Sadly not one I would wish to watch again but did for my other halfs sake this evening.  It was just as poor as I remembered the first time around.

I won't go into major detail with this review as its midnight and I'm cream crackered, writing an in depth review about something that isn't bad enough to rant about or good enough to want to recommend seems a bit pointless.


This is a zombie movie and a poor one at that.  The basic storyline here is a farm in Windermere has a piece of machinery courtesy of the government being tested on site with a view to eliminate pests, creepy crawlies etc... and how are they going to do this?  By making them turn on each other due to heavy doses of radiation.... You can see where i'm going here I'm sure.....

The leading man is a complete w*****.  He is rude, obnoxious, sexist and just plain bloody irritating.  The leading lady is very easy on the eye but has the screen presence of a wet flannel and acting just as bad.  They come together when she accidentally damages his bike with her mini... women drivers eh?  Then she's stuck with him from there on.  Poor woman....

Due to aforementioned radiation, we start to see zombies (as that obviously is the effect of radiation).  The zombie makeup, behaviour and shuffling was actually quite good, its a shame about the rest of the special effects.  In a word... terrible!  Apart from one axe to the head, which was quite believable, the rest of the effects were something a primary school child could have engineered.  The script may have faired better in their hands also.

The only thing I enjoyed about this movie was the Irish police sergeant.  Some of his quotes were classic and he made me giggle more than once (unintentionally).  I did enjoy him though.

I didn't care how it ended I just wanted it to end and it didn't disappoint with its ridiculously predictable ending.

I've wasted my time watching this, not only once, but twice.  I urge you not to do the same.

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WEEK 53: The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue

Alternate Titles : The Living Dead, Don't Open the Window, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, Breakfast at the Manchester Morgue, Zombi 3

Year: 1974

Reviews / Author Comments due: 26/05/2012

DPP Status: Removed from list April 1985

BBFC Status: Passed uncut in 2010

IMDB: Let Sleeping Corpses Lie

Wikipedia: Let Sleeping Corpses Lie

DVD: Uncut UK version

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