Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is a mid-seventies European horror film set in England. The film is a Spanish/Italian production that is directed by the Spaniard, Jorge Grau, and inspired by the seminal zombie film, The Night of the Living Dead (NLD). Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is a bit groovy, with its David Hemmings-like, long-haired, British protagonist, yet it's also very much a film of its time. It has an environmental theme, a heroin-addicted character, generation gap issues, and conspiratorial/paranoid underpinnings. Corpses takes a while to get going as the film spends some time slogging through the build-up minutiae, but once it has its feet, the film takes off and provides some excellent scenes of out-of-control zombies and furious cannibalistic gang feeding.
The story concerns a young couple, George and Edna, who meet at a gas station when she accidentally backs her MIni Cooper over his Norton motorcycle. Somewhat perturbed, George insists that Edna give him a ride. Even thought their destinations are in different directions, Edna agrees. George is trying to get to a meeting outside of London, and Edna is trying to get to the countryside to see her sister. They decide to visit Edna's sister first. When they arrive they discover that a nearby group of agricultural workers are using an experimental device to control pests. The device uses ultrasonic emissions to cause the pests to attack and kill one another.
Of course, it isn't long before the device begins to affect humans. Soon after the machine is turned on a newborn attacks a nurse, and a recently deceased tramp rises from the dead and begins attacking people. The reason why the device doesn't affect other humans is explained as having something to do with how the base low-level neurological functions of humans (specifically, the very young and the recently deceased) are similar to that of insects (yeah...). It's one of a couple of the head-scratchers that show up in Corpses.
The film meanders a bit as it gets going. Edna is attacked by the zombie tramp, but no one believes her. We learn that Edna's sister, Katie, is a heroin addict, and that she is being forcibly sequestered their country home by her husband, Martin, who is trying to clean her up. Naturally this necessitates a shoot-up scene, which in turn necessitates a zombie interruption of this most private of moments. Martin is killed by the zombie tramp at the home. This brings in the police and a nasty local police sergeant with a strong dislike of long-haired youths in “faggot clothes”. He discovers the heroin and feels justified in suspecting and eventually pegging George as a devil-worshiping thrill killer. Meanwhile, the zombie tramp begins creating other zombies by taking his blood and putting it on the eyelids of corpses in a morgue (head-scratcher number two).
Things unravel for George as events quickly conspire against him. He can't seem to convince anyone that the zombies exist and that the agriculture device is responsible. His inabilities seem to have more to do with an establishment that refuses to take its youth seriously (not that it could have anything to do with George's horrible communication skills). Little by little he ends up looking more and more desperate and crazy. In one scene, he attacks and breaks the agricultural device scaring off the workers who jump into a van to flee the maniacal youth. In an humorous moment, he then tries to hitch a ride back into town with the fleeing workers who want no part of him. George is incredulous and can't seem to understand why they won't oblige him. George spends the rest of his time rushing around burning up things and fighting zombies on his own. The end result of his efforts is that he kills a bunch of zombies, but he also looks more guilty in the eyes of the police sergeant. The film eventually winds down to George fighting the zombies AND fleeing from the police sergeant.
The level of gore in Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is high, with the best scene occurring when three zombies attack an unsuspecting hospital receptionist. The zombies are slow moving and mindless cannibals, but they are incredibly strong. In one scene they rip grave headstones out of the ground and throw them. Despite some occasional silliness, Corpses is a serious film with a lot of really good zombie action. The environmental/pollution angle that presides over the opening sequence gets a little muddied and unimportant, and the whole generation gap and conspiracy/paranoia angles end up driving the plot. Which is good, because it makes the story a lot more interesting. Arthur Kennedy does an excellent job as the police sergeant. His irascibility is just as frightening as any of the walking dead.
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is good thriller with lots of zombie action and some unintentional funniness. It's worth the viewing and worth adding to your collection.
The story concerns a young couple, George and Edna, who meet at a gas station when she accidentally backs her MIni Cooper over his Norton motorcycle. Somewhat perturbed, George insists that Edna give him a ride. Even thought their destinations are in different directions, Edna agrees. George is trying to get to a meeting outside of London, and Edna is trying to get to the countryside to see her sister. They decide to visit Edna's sister first. When they arrive they discover that a nearby group of agricultural workers are using an experimental device to control pests. The device uses ultrasonic emissions to cause the pests to attack and kill one another.
Of course, it isn't long before the device begins to affect humans. Soon after the machine is turned on a newborn attacks a nurse, and a recently deceased tramp rises from the dead and begins attacking people. The reason why the device doesn't affect other humans is explained as having something to do with how the base low-level neurological functions of humans (specifically, the very young and the recently deceased) are similar to that of insects (yeah...). It's one of a couple of the head-scratchers that show up in Corpses.
The film meanders a bit as it gets going. Edna is attacked by the zombie tramp, but no one believes her. We learn that Edna's sister, Katie, is a heroin addict, and that she is being forcibly sequestered their country home by her husband, Martin, who is trying to clean her up. Naturally this necessitates a shoot-up scene, which in turn necessitates a zombie interruption of this most private of moments. Martin is killed by the zombie tramp at the home. This brings in the police and a nasty local police sergeant with a strong dislike of long-haired youths in “faggot clothes”. He discovers the heroin and feels justified in suspecting and eventually pegging George as a devil-worshiping thrill killer. Meanwhile, the zombie tramp begins creating other zombies by taking his blood and putting it on the eyelids of corpses in a morgue (head-scratcher number two).
Things unravel for George as events quickly conspire against him. He can't seem to convince anyone that the zombies exist and that the agriculture device is responsible. His inabilities seem to have more to do with an establishment that refuses to take its youth seriously (not that it could have anything to do with George's horrible communication skills). Little by little he ends up looking more and more desperate and crazy. In one scene, he attacks and breaks the agricultural device scaring off the workers who jump into a van to flee the maniacal youth. In an humorous moment, he then tries to hitch a ride back into town with the fleeing workers who want no part of him. George is incredulous and can't seem to understand why they won't oblige him. George spends the rest of his time rushing around burning up things and fighting zombies on his own. The end result of his efforts is that he kills a bunch of zombies, but he also looks more guilty in the eyes of the police sergeant. The film eventually winds down to George fighting the zombies AND fleeing from the police sergeant.
The level of gore in Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is high, with the best scene occurring when three zombies attack an unsuspecting hospital receptionist. The zombies are slow moving and mindless cannibals, but they are incredibly strong. In one scene they rip grave headstones out of the ground and throw them. Despite some occasional silliness, Corpses is a serious film with a lot of really good zombie action. The environmental/pollution angle that presides over the opening sequence gets a little muddied and unimportant, and the whole generation gap and conspiracy/paranoia angles end up driving the plot. Which is good, because it makes the story a lot more interesting. Arthur Kennedy does an excellent job as the police sergeant. His irascibility is just as frightening as any of the walking dead.
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is good thriller with lots of zombie action and some unintentional funniness. It's worth the viewing and worth adding to your collection.
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