‘They tampered with nature – now they must pay the price…’
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is a 1974 Spanish-Italian horror film directed by Jorge Grau (The Legend of Blood Castle) from a screenplay co-written by Sandro Continenza (The Crimes of the Black Cat; Seven Murders for Scotland Yard; The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire) and Marcello Coscia (Rings of Fear; Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century; Dorian Gray).
The movie stars Ray Lovelock (Queens of Evil; The Last House on the Beach; Murder Rock), Arthur Kennedy (Nine Guests for a Crime; The Antichrist; The Sentinel; ), Christine Galbó (What Have You Done to Solange?; The Killer Must Strike Again; Supernatural).
The Spanish title is No profanar el sueño de los muertos; while the Italian title is Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti (“Do Not Profane the Sleep of the Dead”).
The film is also known as The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue, Breakfast at the Manchester Morgue, The Living Dead and Don’t Open the Window.
The film’s excellent score is by Giuliano Sorgini (Cries and Shadows; The Beast in Heat; Holocaust 2). The soundtrack includes lots of resonant heavy breathing and electronica. Buy the Beat CD soundtrack with City of the Living Dead from Amazon.co.uk
In Britain, it was shown as The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, despite the fact that most of the film takes place in the Peak District, not the city of Manchester (which is only featured in the opening credits sequence). The protagonists are heading for Windermere in the Lake District but Winnats Pass, near Castleton, is as close as they actually get.
Plot:
Antique dealer George and his female friend Edna are travelling in the English countryside, on their way to visit Edna’s sister, when they run into some awful trouble with a murderous zombie.
It seems that experiments with a new pesticide on local farmland have had the unfortunate effect of awakening the dead and turning them into ravenous, blood-hungry cannibals. George and Edna try to raise the alarm about the impending danger, but will the authorities believe such an unusual story?
In the UK, in the 1980s, the film also became embroiled in the British video nasties censorship furore, but is now legally available in an uncut form.
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“With its insistent ecological message […] and its cynical presentation of the authorities as stupid, ineffectual and downright reactionary, The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue clearly owes a considerable debt to Romero. Yet, it’s a captivating film in its own right, offering an unforgettably bleak vision of entropy and decay.” Jamie Russell, Book of the Dead: The Complete History of Zombie Cinema book
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“While it takes some time to get going, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie really becomes effective in its second half […]The climactic hospital carnage is the nastiest sequence; in one scene, a secretary has her chest torn right off, and in another, an axe is driven into the forehead of a shocked doctor. The film’s earnest tone becomes downright bleak, leading to a grisly and shocking close that any serious zombie fan will get a kick out of.” Glenn Kay, Zombies Movies: The Ultimate Guide
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Buy the vinyl soundtrack from Amazon.co.uk
This Brazilian retitling uses artwork for the Italian film Graveyard Disturbance (1987)
Trailer:
Soundtrack:
Film locations:
Free on YouTube [minus some brief nudity – the version on Tubi is uncut]:
Choice dialogue:
Mechanic to George: “Well, you need a wheel. We’ll have to get that from Glasgow.”
George to Edna: ” Don’t get your knickers in a twist. I’ll be back soon.”
George to Edna: “The dead don’t walk around except in very bad paperback novels.”
The Inspector: “You’re all the same, the lot of you, with your long hair and faggot clothes. Drugs, sex, every sort of filth!”
Cast and characters:
Cristina Galbó … Edna Simmonds (as Christine Galbo)
Ray Lovelock … George Meaning
Arthur Kennedy … The Inspector
Aldo Massasso … Detective Sgt. Kinsey
Giorgio Trestini … P.C. Craig
Roberto Posse … Benson
José Lifante … Martin West (as Jose Ruiz Lifante)
Jeannine Mestre … Katie West
Gengher Gatti … Keith
Fernando Hilbeck … Guthrie Wilson
Vera Drudi … Mary
Vicente Vega … Doctor Duffield
Francisco Sanz … Perkins
Paul Benson … Wood
Anita Colby … Nurse
Technical specs:
1 hour 33 minutes
Eastmancolor
Aspect ratio: 1.85: 1
Audio: 4-Track Stereo
Production dates:
1st November 1973 to 29th January 1974
Film Facts:
References William Shakespeare’s Hamlet
