''Burke & Hare'' is a 2010 British

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

film, loosely based on the

Burke and Hare murders The Burke and Hare murders were a series of sixteen killings committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were undertaken by William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses to Robert Knox for dissectio ...

of 1828. Directed by

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal ...

from an original screenplay by

Nick Moorcroft Nick Moorcroft (born 22 December 1978) is a British screenwriter, film producer, director and theatrical producer. Early life Moorcroft was born in 1978 in Chelmsford, Essex. In an interview with Dalya Alberge, a journalist from The Observer ...

and Piers Ashworth, the film stars

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. H ...

and

Andy Serkis Andrew Clement Serkis (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor, director, and producer. He is best known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation, and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Goll ...

as William Burke and William Hare respectively. It was Landis's first feature film release in 12 years, the last being 1998's '' Susan's Plan''. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 29 October 2010.

Plot

William Burke and William Hare, immigrants from

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

, attempt to sell cheese mould as a

patent medicine A patent medicine, sometimes called a proprietary medicine, is an over-the-counter (nonprescription) medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name (and sometimes a patent) and claimed ...

. When their fraud is discovered, they flee to an inn owned by Hare's wife, Lucky. One of her lodgers has died, and she wants Burke and Hare to remove the body. On the way, they stop for a drink and Hare hears from Fergus, a local henchman of villain Danny McTavish, that Dr Knox pays for cadavers, especially now demand has gone up. Burke and Hare decide to sell the corpse to Knox. They are forced to break the corpse's spine to fit it into a barrel in order to smuggle it through the city. Burke and Hare present the now-mangled corpse to Knox. After some negotiation, Knox agrees to pay them a good sum of money for each corpse they bring him for dissection. Burke and Hare try grave-digging to procure more cadavers. They accidentally dig up a long-dead body and are then caught by the militia, who chase them out of the cemetery, shooting Burke in the rear end in the pursuit. Back at the inn, they find Lucky drunk and barely conscious. Lucky says she is drinking because Joseph, another lodger at the inn, is near death. Not willing to wait for the outcome, Burke and Hare suffocate Joseph and take the body to Knox. Flush with money, Burke and Hare dress up for a night in a posher pub. There they meet a young former prostitute, Ginny Hawkins, who performs an excerpt from ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' to the indifferent patrons. Burke is instantly taken with Ginny. Hare comes home to find Lucky in good spirits and waiting with a home-cooked meal. He is suspicious, then scared when Lucky tells him she knows what he and Burke have been up to. Surprisingly, she thinks it a good idea and makes Hare give her a pound per corpse as a tax between man and wife. Burke is kidnapped and bundled into a carriage by McTavish and Fergus, who have already captured Hare. McTavish threatens to kill them unless they give him half the money from Knox. Forced to agree, they are then thrown from the carriage. As they trek back to the inn, they plan a string of murders to make up their losses to McTavish. The people of Edinburgh becomes suspicious of all the deaths in the area, as does police captain Tom McLintock of the militia. Missing posters of the dead are put up and Burke begins to panic. Hare says they have finished the murders and will go into the funeral parlour business. McTavish kidnaps Hare again and attempts to

extort Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, al ...

the remainder of the money. Shortly afterward, McTavish appears as Knox's next dissection cadaver, where McLintock recognises his body. He discovers Knox's collection of anatomical photographs, recognising many of the photos as people who were reported missing. Knox confesses his arrangement with Burke and Hare. McLintock arrests Burke and Ginny, and Hare and Lucky, while both couples are having sex. In prison, Burke is repentant, but Hare tells him not to confess or all of them, including the women, will be hanged. Meanwhile, the Solicitor General and the Lord Provost want to keep the scandal out of the papers, as the news would ruin the reputation of Edinburgh's medical schools and the money they generate. They bribe McLintock into a deal by making him a colonel. Knox's anatomical photographs are destroyed. McLintock tells the prisoners that if any one of them confesses to the murders, the others will go free. Burke agrees to confess if he and Ginny can finish what they were doing when McLintock apprehended them. Just before Burke's hanging, Angus asks Burke for his final words. Seeing Ginny in the crowd, Burke says that he did it for love. Onscreen text over the credits describes the fates of all the characters in the story, concluding with an image of the actual skeleton of William Burke at the Anatomical Museum of the

University of Edinburgh Medical School The University of Edinburgh Medical School (also known as Edinburgh Medical School) is the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the United Kingdom and part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. It was esta ...

Cast

as William Burke *

as William Hare *

Isla Fisher Isla Lang Fisher (; born 3 February 1976) is an Australian actress and author. Born to Scottish parents in Oman, she moved to Australia at age six where she began appearing in television commercials. Fisher came to prominence for her portrayal ...

as Ginny Hawkins *

Tom Wilkinson Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson (born 5 February 1948)Born January–March 1948, according to the ''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com is an English actor of film, television, and stage. He has rece ...

as Dr Robert Knox *

Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London ...

as Prof. Alexander Monro *

Jessica Hynes Tallulah Jessica Elina Hynes (''née'' Stevenson; born 30 October 1972) is an English actress, director and writer. Known professionally as Jessica Stevenson until 2007, she was one of the creators, writers and stars of the British sitcom ''Spac ...

as Lucky *

Bill Bailey Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom ''Black Books'' and his appearances on the panel shows ''Never Mind the ...

as Angus the Hangman *

Hugh Bonneville Hugh Richard Bonneville Williams (born 10 November 1963) is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, in the ITV historical drama series ''Downton Abbey''. His performance on the show earned him a nom ...

Lord Harrington Earl of Harrington is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was created in 1742. History The earldom of Harrington was granted in 1742 to William Stanhope, 1st Baron Harrington, the former Secretary of State and then Lord President o ...

Allan Corduner Allan Corduner (; born 2 April 1950) is a British actor. Born in Stockholm to a German mother and a Russo-Finnish father, Corduner grew up in a secular Jewish home in London. After earning a BA (Hons) in English and Drama at Bristol Universit ...

as Joseph Nicephore Niepce *

Simon Farnaby Simon Farnaby (born 2 April 1973) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is a member of the British Horrible Histories troupe in which he starred in the television series ''Horrible Histories'', ''Yonderland'' and ''Ghosts''. He has writte ...

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

David Hayman David Hayman (born 9 February 1948) is a Scottish film, television and stage actor and director, known for his role as DCS Mike Walker in ITV drama ''Trial & Retribution'', as Jonas Franks in BBC period drama '' The Paradise'' and as Brace in ...

as Danny McTavish * David Schofield as Fergus *

Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promine ...

as Capt. Tom McLintock *

Reece Shearsmith Reeson Wayne "Reece" Shearsmith (born 27 August 1969) is an English actor, writer and comedian. He is best known for being a member of ''The League of Gentlemen'', alongside Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. With Pemberton, he lat ...

as Sgt. McKenzie *

Christian Brassington Christian Brassington (born 6 June 1983) is an English actor and writer, best known for playing the odious vicar Ossie Whitworth in the third and fourth series of the BBC hit period drama ''Poldark''. Brassington also portrayed a young Boris John ...

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

Michael Smiley Michael Smiley (born 1963) is a Northern Irish comedian and actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the films ''Kill List'' (2011) and ''The Lobster'' (2015). Early life Smiley was born in 1963 in Belfast and grew up in Holywood with a ...

as Patterson *

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...

as Old Joseph *

Jenny Agutter Jennifer Ann Agutter (born 20 December 1952) is a British actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1964, appearing in ''East of Sudan'', '' Star!'', and two adaptations of ''The Railway Children''—the BBC's 1968 television serial ...

as Lucy *

Georgia King Georgia May King (born 18 November 1986) is a Scottish actress. Early life Born in Edinburgh, King is the daughter of actor Jonathan Hyde and opera singer Isobel Buchanan. Career Although King grew up dreaming of being a director, she got her ...

as Emma *

John Woodvine John Woodvine (born 21 July 1929) is an English actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles. Early life Woodvine was born in Tyne Dock, South Shields, Tyne & Wear, Englan ...

as Lord Provost * Steven Spiers as McMartin's doorman *

Stephen Merchant Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, actor, director, presenter and writer. Alongside Ricky Gervais, Merchant was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office'' (2001–2003), and ...

as Holyrood Footman *

Paul Whitehouse Paul Julian Whitehouse (born 17 May 1958) is a Welsh actor, writer and comedian. He was one of the main stars of the BBC sketch comedy series ''The Fast Show'', and has also starred with Harry Enfield in the shows '' Harry & Paul'' and ''Harry ...

as Gentleman drunk *

Michael Winner Robert Michael Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013) was a British filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous Action film, action, Thriller films, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and ...

as Gentleman passenger * Max Landis as Handsome coachman *

Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who created a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation". His works include the animation for '' Might ...

as Distinguished doctor * Seamus (Irish Wolfhound) as himself

Production

Development

''Burke & Hare'' was developed by

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever s ...

, who had been known for producing acclaimed

films such as ''

Kind Hearts and Coronets ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' is a 1949 British crime black comedy film. It features Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson and Alec Guinness; Guinness plays nine characters. The plot is loosely based on the novel ''Israel Rank: The Autob ...

'' and '' The Ladykillers''.

read the screenplay, which piqued his interest in making the film. Landis wanted the film to be similar in style to Ealing's black comedies, as well as to the films of

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–19 ...

, describing the portrayal of

Burke and Hare The Burke and Hare murders were a series of sixteen killings committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were undertaken by William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses to Robert Knox for dissection ...

in this film as an "evil Laurel and Hardy".

Casting

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

was originally cast in the role of William Hare, but left the production before

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began; he was replaced by

. Many cast members of the sitcom ''

Spaced ''Spaced'' is a British television sitcom created, written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright, about the (comedic and sometimes farcical and action-packed) misadventures of Daisy Steiner and Tim Bis ...

'' appear, including

and

. Three actors from the John Landis film '' An American Werewolf in London'' appear:

, David Schofield and

. Landis' son Max also makes a cameo appearance.

Filming

Filming took place around

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

with some scenes also being shot in

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and at

Knole Knole () is a country house and former archbishop's palace owned by the National Trust. It is situated within Knole Park, a park located immediately to the south-east of Sevenoaks in west Kent. The house ranks in the top five of England's large ...

in Kent, and also at

. The script was written by Piers Ashworth and

, who previously wrote ''

St Trinian's ''St Trinian's'' is a British gag cartoon comic strip series, created and drawn by Ronald Searle from 1946 until 1952. The cartoons all centre on a boarding school for girls, where the teachers are sadists and the girls are juvenile delinquents ...

'', also for Ealing, which was the highest grossing British

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

of the last 10 years. Landis stated: The first official trailer for the film was released on 5 October 2010. It was shown in some UK cinemas before ''

Paranormal Activity 2 ''Paranormal Activity 2'' is a 2010 American found footage supernatural horror film directed by Tod Williams and written by Michael R. Perry, Christopher Landon and Tom Pabst. The film is a prequel to the 2007 film ''Paranormal Activity'', b ...

''. It was released on 29 October 2010.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, a

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

, reports that 33% of 58 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 4.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Marked by timid scares and flat-footed humor, ''Burke and Hare'' is a missed opportunity for its talented cast and a disappointing return for director John Landis." Nathan Rabin of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' rated it B and called it a "minor but welcome return" for Landis. Neil Genzlinger of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described it as "a ghoulish comedy" not for nitpickers. Charles Gant of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it an "amiable, creaky comedy" that represents "a step back from the brink" for Landis. Ray Bennett of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' wrote that it is "unpleasant drivel that tries to make fun out of murder."

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burke And Hare 2010 films 2010 black comedy films 2010s historical comedy films 2010s serial killer films British black comedy films British crime comedy films British historical comedy films British serial killer films Comedy films based on actual events Cultural depictions of William Burke and Hare Films directed by John Landis Films set in 1828 Films set in Edinburgh Films shot in Buckinghamshire Films shot in Bedfordshire Films shot in Edinburgh Films shot in Stirling (council area) Films shot in London Films shot in Kent Grave-robbing in film 2010s English-language films 2010s British films