schf Poor Andy serkis going from working with professional actors with script writers and everything to this mess. An unfunny comedy that does nothing but bore and annoy in equal measure. He goes around robbing graves and being an entrepreneur eventually decides to cut out the middle man and start making bodies of his own. Shame they forgot to put any humour in this wasteful mess of a movie. I've always liked the weird stories of Victorian grave robbers less now after seeing this abomination of course. I would recommend any thing else that Andy Serkis has done over this movie even king kong. So in short don't waste you time with this

Michael_Elliott Burke and Hare (2010) ** (out of 4) John Landis returned to the big screen with this black comedy about poor boys William Burke (Simon Pegg) and William Hare (Andy Serkis) who find a way to earn money by selling dead bodies to a doctor (Tom Wilkinson). Soon the duo run out of bodies to sell so they resort to killing in order to keep their business going. BURKE AND HARE was released to mixed reviews and I'm going to have to side with those who found the movie to be a major disappointment. It's strange but it really does seem as if the screenplay doesn't know if it wants to be a drama or a simple comedy but it really ends up failing on both levels. I thought the comedy aspect was the weakest thing as there just really wasn't anything funny going on. The first gag in the film deals with a doctor (played by Tim Curry) cutting off the foot of a man and then ducking out of the way to avoid blood, which of course falls on a guy behind him. This is the type of humor we're treated to and it just never worked no matter how hard the cast members are working. I think the better aspects are when the film is playing it straight and telling the story of the two grave robbers turned murderers. I think these scenes work the best and especially because of the actual look of the movie. Director Landis at least gives us some very good atmosphere and it really does feel as if the film is taking place during the actual settings. Both Pegg and Serkis are good in their parts but one wishes they were given a better screenplay to work with. The supporting cast is led by a very good Wilkinson who steals the film as usual. Curry is pretty good in his part and we also get familiar faces such as Christopher Lee, Jenny Agutter and even Ray Harryhausen. BURKE AND HARE is a good looking film with some fine performances but this just isn't enough to save the film.

KenLiversausage Cards on the table: I think An American Werewolf in London is one of the funniest scary movies ever; one of the greatest black comedies ever; indeed, one of the greatest movies ever. Which is the main reason I found this limp, lame attempt at black comedy horror such a clunking disappointment.Burke and Hare just isn't funny. Neither is it properly 'black' or scary. What it is is boring and offensive in roughly equal measure – the former of which is quite an achievement, considering the sensational subject matter. The real Burke and Hare were by all accounts two of the most unpleasant characters you'd ever hope not to meet. They murdered 17 people, many of whom were old or infirm, for money. And I for one fail to see the humour in that.Don't get me wrong. I love a good horror comedy. I can handle as many buckets of Kensington gore as the make-up man can mix up. My personal list of favourite horror comedies would include Brain Dead; Basket Case; Reanimator, The Evil Dead; Shaun of the Dead; Theatre of Blood and Dr Terror's House of Horrors. But all those movies had wit, style and characterisation – elements sadly lacking in Burke and Hare.Now there have been lots of films about real-life serial killers, some good, some bad, some terrible. But I'm honestly struggling to think of a single one where the filmmakers actually held up the murders and their victims as objects of ridicule, played their deaths for cheap laughs (or no laughs, in this case). Just because Burke and Hare's crimes were committed a long time ago doesn't make them legitimate subjects for comedy, in my opinion.True, the movie boasts a fabulous cast. But as plenty of other reviewers have pointed out, they're all decidedly unScottish, and most of them are given nothing to say or do that makes you want to watch them. Or worse, make you care a jot about what happens to them. What Landis has forgotten, and his writers sadly never seem to have known in the first place, is that comedy, even – especially, in fact – black comedy, requires empathy from the viewer to be successful. The reason that we come away from Withnail and I feeling both elated and dejected is because we've really gotten to know those two out-of-work actors, and when they part by the bedraggled wolves in rainy Regents Park at the end, well, it's heartbreaking.I can't tell you how I felt at the end of Burke and Hare, because my wife and I switched over less than half way through and watched Million Pound Drop Live instead. And if that isn't the crowning indictment of any movie, I don't know what is.

Andrew Pelechaty If it wasn't for the presence of Simon Pegg, it would be fair to say 'Burke and Hare' would have fallen under the slew of heavily-hyped 3D blockbusters. Fortunately that isn't the case, as 'Burke and Hare' is one of the funniest movies of the year.The plot concerns William Burke (Pegg) and William Hare (Andy Serkis, Gollum from the 'Lord of the Rings' movies) -two struggling businessmen looking for their next big idea in 1828 Edinburgh. With Scotland famed for their medical schools, they soon find their niche: selling dead bodies to doctors. With already-dead bodies in short supply, they're forced to take matters into their own hands, helped by Hare's wife Lucky (Jessica Hynes). Their scheme is pushed along by Burke's desire to finance the first all-woman production of 'Macbeth', mainly to win the attention of Jenny (Isla Fisher). Hot on their trail is Captain Tam McLintoch (Ronnie Corbett).'Burke and Hare' is a rare comedy in that it sustains the laughs - even to its bittersweet ending - without resorting to cheap gimmicks or gross-out humour (though there are a few scenes with the dead bodies being dissected, so the squeamish should be on guard). There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments as well. The film is boosted by a strong cast, which includes Bill Bailey (almost unrecognisable clean shaven), Christopher Lee, Tim Curry and Steven Merchant. My only criticism is that some of the dialogue is difficult to pick up due to the at times hard to understand Scottish accents.