The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1974)


There was a time in the past when zombie movies had not overstayed their welcome.  At the time The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue was made pretty much the only film that that was using George Romero's particular type of zombie was Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things.  Despite Night of the Living Dead becoming a big hit it was really Dawn of the Dead that kicked off the whole genre.  

Thus, the Spanish-Italian production The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, also known as Let Sleeping Corpses Lie amongst a variety of other titles, was a bit of an anomaly.  It also meant that, though it owed a lot to Romero, it still had room to make up its own rules.  The result is a movie that has been rediscovered and appreciated in recent years as its take on the genre seems a bit fresh after the same plots repeated ad infinitum.

George (Ray Lovelock) is on his way to visit some friends in Windemere when Edna (Cristina Galbó) backs into his motorbike. He demands a ride and even takes over her vehicle, but she asks that they go to Southgate so she can be dropped off to visit her sister Katie (Jeannine Mestre).  On the way they stop for directions and George finds a farm using a strange new ultrasonic machine to kill insects. 

While George is away Edna is attacked by a man (Fernando Hilbeck) that fits the description of a recently deceased individual in the area.  George doesn't believe her, but gets caught up in what is going on when Katie's brother-in-law Martin (José Lifante) turns up dead and Katie is blamed for it by the local inspector (Arthur Kennedy).  He also treats George and Edna as suspects, and his suspicion grows as further deaths occur.  However, it turns out that they are the result of corpses that have come back to life to feast on the living. 

The explanation for the dead rising in this film is, of course, the ultrasonic machine.  It has the effect of turning babies homicidal as well, but works by stimulating violent behavior in lesser organisms.  Since the filmmakers are making up their own rules there is no simple bullet to the head solution, either.  

What is surprising is that this rather good.  It doesn't have a big budget, neither George nor Edna are likeable characters and the inspector is one of the most incompetent police officers ever put on film.  Still, this has quite a bit of imagination and once it gets going it is definitely worth sitting through George and Edna bickering for a good part of the first half.  There are also scenes that reaches a point of ridiculousness that one can't help but think that director Jorge Grau and his team of writers were doing this entire movie not just for splatter, but for satire.

Like most Italian horror films it unravels a bit toward the end, but not too badly.  It tends to keep its focus on the story and wrap things up, even if it has to stretch audience belief to do so.  It is a surprising and rewarding watch and a major improvement over the tons of churned-out zombie films that are still coming out today.  

The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1974)
Time: 95 minutes
Starring: Ray Lovelock, Christina Galbó, Arthur Kennedy
Director: Jorge Grau

 

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