The October Zombie-Thon! - Day 26: Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
Posted by Trevor Snyder on 10.26.2007
Perhaps the greatest zombie movie you've never seen.
LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE (1974)
(The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue)
Directed by: Jorge Grau
Written by: Juan Cobos, Sandro Continenza, Marcello Coscia, & Miguel Rubio
Country: Spain/Italy
It's sometimes easy to forget that there were zombie movies between Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. Although George Romero's 1968 classic inarguably created the modern zombie film, it wasn't until the success of his 1978 sequel that things really kicked into high-gear. Still, the years in between did see a fair number of films that tried to cash in on the shocking new direction Night had taken the horror genre in.
Of these, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (also widely known as The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue) might just be the best of the bunch. My intention with the Zombie-Thon has always been to focus on the lesser-known zombie films, and not waste anyone's time once again covering the established "classics" of the genre. Luckily, I never said anything about films that should be part of that "classics" list. In fact, there might be no greater cause for the Zombie-Thon than to honor those films that deserve their place among the greats. And make no mistake about it, today's film belongs up on the same pedestal with films like Night, Dawn, and Fulci's Zombie and The Beyond.
The film's heroes are George (Ray Lovelock) and Edna (Christine Galbo), two strangers thrown together by fate: George is a London antiques dealer looking to get away for a peaceful weekend in the country; and Edna is the woman who accidentally runs over his motorcycle at a gas station. A flustered George accepts her apology, on the condition that she give him a ride the rest of the way. Edna agrees, although she insists they must first stop off at her intended destination the remote country home of her sister Katie, who is about to be placed into rehab (thus prompting Edna's visit).
Unfortunately for them, Katie's home is only a short distance away from a field where the Ministry of Agriculture are testing a new experimental anti-pest machine one that utilizes ultrasonic emissions in order to drive insects into such a frenzy that they end up attacking each other. Hippie-at-heart George is none-too-impressed with this new technology, insisting it's yet another unnatural human-made device that might end up causing more harm than good.
And, oh, how right he is. It turns out the supposedly safe machine has some unforeseen side effects, both small (babies at a nearby hospital grow aggressive and begin biting at nurses) and large (the recently-dead corpses at the local cemetery rise up and begin feasting on the living OK, make that a very large side effect). When Katie's husband ends up murdered by one of these undead fiends, George and Edna find themselves the prime suspects particularly in the eyes of the loutish, bigoted Sgt. McCormick (Arthur Kennedy, in a show-stealing performance), who doesn't trust guys like George, with their "long hair and faggot clothes." This leaves George and Edna no choice but to set off on their own, becoming fugitives in the process, in a desperate attempt to destroy the Minstry's machine all while evading the super-strong zombies now roaming the countryside.
Using what Romero had only recently accomplished with Night as his template, director Jorge Grau here manages to also bring his own unique flavor to the still-young genre. Like Romero, Grau is obviously interested in using the zombie film for more than just cheap scares and gratuitous violence (although there are plenty of both here, too). And so we have not just the obvious ecological message regarding man's ill-advised tampering with nature, but also a harsh commentary on the conservative, almost-fascist nature of systems of authority here represented by McCormick, who easily equals Night of the Living Dead's Harry Cooper as one of the most easy-to-hate douche-bags in zombie film history.
Actually, Grau's mistrusting, pessimistic view of humanity is apparent not just in the film's more obvious metaphors, but in fact drips from every frame of the film. I hate to continually compare Let Sleeping Corpses Lie to Night of the Living Dead, but Grau was undoubtedly influenced by Romero's effort, and here presents a film that, like Night, is overly cynical. There is no hope here as we watch everyone ignore George and Edna's impassioned pleas regarding the machine, and the film draws closer to the only appropriate conclusion, we know that humanity is destined to lose again, done in by our own arrogance and hatred.
That's not to say the movie is a hard slog to get through or anything, though. Far from it. The film is, quite simply, a masterpiece, from start to finish. While many European zombie movies of the era were only able to get the gore right, at the expense of the scares, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is the complete package. Its beautifully haunting cinematography, bleak locales, and unnerving soundtrack (including some ultra-eerie sound effects) all combine to form one hell of a creep-fest. And although there aren't many gore scenes (at least by this genre's standards), they're pretty damn effective when they do come especially an infamous moment involving a young women's breast being torn off. It's easy to see why the film would go on to become one of Britain's notorious "video nasties."
Nay-sayers may bemoan the film's somewhat slow first act, or criticize its admittedly impractical final scene (I don't want to give anything away, but let's just say it would seem to require quite a bit of forward-thinking and planning from a supposedly mindless zombie). But, truth be told, I feel bad for any alleged zombie-fan who would let minor issues like that keep them from recognizing the work of art this movie is. That Grau's film does not enjoy a larger following is a true shame - Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is one of the finest zombie films out there, and more than holds its own when stacked up against the genre's more recognized classics. It's too bad Grau never made another zombie movie judging by this one, he had a hell of a lot to offer the genre.
