Let Sleeping Corpses Lie

Spanish/Italian co-production, directed by Jorge Grau, filmed largely in England (around Manchester and the Peak District). The plot involves an unfortunate side-effect of a device designed to kill insects with ultra-sonic radiation - it reanimates dead people. The first to appear is 'Guthrie', a vagrant known locally to have drowned in a river a week beforehand. He attacks a young woman named Enid (Cristina Galbó). Enid escapes into the arms of George (Ray Lovelock), a young man she hooked-up with earlier that day after reversing her car over his motorcycle at a filling station. George doesn't believe her account of the attack, but he and Enid soon discover the dead body of Enid's sister's husband (murdered by Guthrie). The police, led by a hard-nosed Detective Inspector (American actor, Arthur Kennedy), immediately decide that 'hippies' George and Enid are responsible - for some reason unwilling to entertain any alternative theories that involve the words 'living dead'. As more zombies appear, George and Enid fight to clear their name, halt the rise of the undead, and survive.

The contrast between the picturesque scenery and the horrific events works well, and Grau builds an eerie atmosphere which he maintains throughout. It has a feel (for those old enough to remember) of Jon Pertwee-era 'Doctor Who', or the original BBC TV show 'Survivors', both of which ran around the time this was made. Lovelock and Galbó are okay as the young couple (although Lovelock is overshadowed by the camp, unintentionally funny performance of his English voice actor), but the standout is easily Arthur Kennedy's bigoted, hippy-hating Inspector (we never get his name), whose contempt for the 'permissive society' brought in by the 1960s is almost tangible! 😄 The film is over-slow at times, it's a little light on gore (although there is certainly some), and the 'shock' ending doesn't really hang together. But it's a fun watch. 7/10.

The living dead return after some radiation experiments and start killing people and the cops are quick to dismiss it and blame two hippies for all the murders.

Loved the atmosphere and gore, of course, but it seems like this movie has something else on its mind that I really appreciate.

'The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue' is possibly the most underrated zombie movie ever made. It's certainly one of the most interesting as it's an Italian/Spanish co-production, but curiously set in England, and it predates both 'Dawn Of The Dead' and the subsequent Eurozombie boom led by Lucio Fulci et al. The zombies themselves aren't as gruesome and repulsive as Romero or Fulci zombies, but once you get over that you've got yourself one very watchable and entertaining take on the genre. The two leads (Cristina Galbo and 'Autopsy's Ray Lovelock) are both good. They meet while travelling due to a minor accident, become uneasy travelling companions, and subsequently find themselves caught in a nightmare of non-stop zombie action while being pursued by a ruthless cop (Arthur Kennedy - 'Fantastic Voyage') who believes they are Manson-like hippie serial killers. I enjoyed this movie very much and recommend it to fans of 1970s European horror. An unfairly neglected movie that deserves a larger audience.

This is an outstanding zombie film that instead of going straight for the jugular, piles on the atmosphere and tension...and then goes for the jugular.

Slightly annoying antiques dealer/hippy George leaves the polluted and overcrowded city and heads for the countryside on his motorbike, where he intends to spend the weekend watching the grass grow in the back garden of his cottage. His weekend is ruined when Cristinia Galbo reverses her car into his bike, wrecking it, so the least she can do is give him a ride to his cottage. Cristina soon finds that George is a bit of a gobby smartarse who might have a point, talking as he is about how the powers that be are destroying the Earth. George finds out the Cristina is a neurotic flake who doesn't even know where her sister's house is.

George ends up leaving Cristina in the car to go and ask a farmer for directions. It's at the farm he discovers an experimental machine that is being used for destroying insects and parasites (haven't these folk heard of the food chain?), which he lectures the scientists about in his strangely Zippy-from-Rainbow-like voice. It's about this time that a strange man dripping with water tries to attack Cristina, but when George and the farmer get back to the car, the man is gone. It's weird however how the description of the man reminds the farmer of Old Guthrie, a tramp who drowned in the area recently.

It's dark by the time George and Cristina get to her sister's house. It turns out Cristina's sister is a junky just about to be taken to rehab, and while trying to sneak a fix in the shed she's attacked by Guthrie, which leads to the death of her husband Martin. Enter the cops, especially hard-ass Irish cop Arthur Kennedy, and if there's one thing he hates more than dead bodies, it's hippies! He doesn't buy the story of walking corpses and arrests Cristina's sister after he finds out she's a junky. How are George and Cristina going to prove her innocence?

It takes ages for the first full on zombie attack to occur, but you won't be caring. Every scene in the film is just filled with atmosphere. Martin is killed right in front of his automatic camera that keeps flashing upon the scene of a waterfall. His house is adorned with pictures of his wife having withdrawl symptoms. The local pub has a scabby live owl perched in the hallway. When the zombies do rise up, there aren't that many of them but the sheer terror of the victims comes through live and clear. The zombie rules haven't truly been written in stone either - these zombies are super strong, can take a shot to the head, but really don't like being set on fire.

Grau doesn't skimp on the gore either, especially when zombies rise up in the hospital and attack the receptionist. Best of all is Arthur Kennedy's performance as the copper. He hates George so much that he will not listen to anything he's saying at all, even if it could save lives. This leads to several shocks near the end of the film, as well as the ambiguous ending.

I must admit this is one film I did rush out and buy when it appeared on DVD, and have watched it many a time. It's a good one! The only thing it lacks in comparison to the later Italian zombie film is cheese.

I've been a fan of zombie films for pretty much the same amount of time that I've been a fan of films, and I thought I'd seen just about all there is to see from the horror sub-genre. So you can imagine my surprise then when I came across this hidden gem! Let Sleeping Corpses Lie does everything that you would want a zombie film to do; it has gore, shocks, atmosphere, humour, intrigue and a typically thin plot line, which allows the film to put more emphasis on the more important aspects, rather than swamping itself in needless plot details. Of course, the film does somewhat cash in on the success of George Romero's zombie milestone; 'Night of the Living Dead', but really; it's almost impossible for a post-Night zombie film to not have that comment lauded upon it, and Let Sleeping Corpses Lie has enough about it to more than adequately rise above the Night of the Living Dead rip-off's. The classically styled zombie film story follows a group of farmers that create a machine to kill insects with ultra violet rays. However, this contraption does more than it says on the tin, as recently deceased members of the public start popping up, just around the same time that George and Edna; two people that came together after an accident, roll into town.

Ray Lovelock takes the title role, and looks the part as a young London man. His style, along with very over the top dubbed in London accent work a treat, and his performance adds something of a sense of humour to the picture. Christina Galbó has less to do opposite Lovelock, but she does well with what she has and makes for a good heroine. The film starts off rather slowly, but the relaxed pace never makes the film boring, but it does add to the film when the horror really starts; as we're sufficiently on the edge of our seats by then. Director Jorge Grau creates a fabulous atmosphere through his English countryside setting, and I personally thought it made a very nice change for the zombie antics to be set in the English countryside rather than America, as they usually are. Despite the fact that this is an Italian film, the filmmakers have managed to implement a great British feel to the movie, and the movie feels something like a fusion between Italian and Hammer horror. This is certainly a plot line that Hammer would have taken on! The gore in the film is few and far between, but when it's on screen, you'll definitely know about it, as it doesn't exactly hold back! On the whole, I think it's criminal that this film hasn't won itself more recognition. Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is a film that I wont hesitate to name as one of the best zombie films ever made, and it therefore comes with the highest recommendation!