Sam Panico No matter what title you watch this movie under - from the original Spanish title, No Profanar el Sueño de los Muertos (Don't Disturb the Sleep of the Dead) or alternates like Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, The Living Dead, Breakfast at Manchester Morgue and Don't Open the Window - it's an intriguing slice of early 70's shock. At once a portrait of the young, hip and now generation and a zombie film, Jorge Grau's film features scenes that still freak people out over forty years later.George (Ray Lovelock, Murder Rock) runs an antique shop in Manchester and decides to go work on a house with some friends. At a gas station, Edna (Cristina Galbó, What Have You Done to Solange?) hits his motorcycle with her car, so she agrees to give him a ride. On the way to see Edna's sister, they hit a dead end. George finds a short cut that takes them past an experimental insect killing machine in the fields. It uses ultrasonic radiation and is supposed to be safer than DDT. Meanwhile, a mysterious man attacks Edna.That night, Edna's sister Katie and her husband Martin (Jóse Lifante, Dr. Death from The Adventures of Baron Munchausen) argue. Martin goes to take photographs while the same man who attacked Edna menaces Katie. Martin tries to save her, but is killed just as Edna and George arrive.They go to the police to report the death, but the police sergeant thinks Katie was the killer. They all decide to stay at the Old Owl Hotel, as George gets film developed from Martin's camera.Meanwhile, Katie has gone insane and is hospitalized. For some reason, newborn babies are biting people with murderous intent.The developed photos only show a homeless man, who traps them in a crypt and brings back to life numerous bodies simply by touching their eyes with his bloody fingers. They make a hole to escape, but only Edna does, as the zombies won't let go of George. A police officer named Craig, who has been following them, saves them but the zombies give chase. He soon discovers his gun has no effect as they overwhelm him and rip him apart, eating his vital organs.As the zombies trap George and Edna, they throw an oil lamp at the horde, which saves them. They decide to split up. Edna will inform the police and George will destroy the machine. Unbeknowst to them, the police - and more specifically, the inspector (Arthur Kennedy, The Antichrist) - think that they are Manson-like Satanic killers and have issued order to shoot to kill.Edna is nearly killed by her brother-in-law in zombie form, but is saved by George, who drops her off at a gas station. He's then caught by the police, who take him and Martin's body to the hospital and switch the machine on again. The zombies - now incudng Katie - come to life, killing everyone in their path and menacing a sedated Edna. Sadly, George is too late. Edna is a zombie and pushes him into a room where the police inspector shoots him four times, killing him. He even claims that he wishes that George would come to life again just so he could kill him one more time.He gets his wish, as an undead form of George comes for him, but now, bullets cannot stop him. And in the field, the machine keeps working.I first learned of this film from the Electric Wizard song "Wizard in Black," as a sample of the Inspector arguing with George starts the song.I'm in pure love with this movie. From the way it depicts the blight of early 70's England to the way the cops treat our heroes to the downbeat ending, it's everything that is perfect about horror movies. And the close in the hospital is packed with shocking gore that will truly stay with you. No matter what title you see this as, make sure to see it.

callanvass I hate using the word overrated. It's very derogatory in my opinion, and sounds rather crass as well, so I'll use a more polite term. It's over- praised by Horror fans in my opinion. I actually thought this might end up being something special when I first started this one. It was very atmospheric and has a rather tense first zombie sighting, but then that's where the problems started with me. It moves like molasses. It's very slow moving, and my interest started to wane big time. I also had trouble getting invested into the two lead characters. Cristina Galbó;s whiny performance grated my nerves quickly. I found her to be very unsympathetic in my opinion. Ray Lovelock tries to play it all cool, but he was rather nonchalant and annoying. I didn't care for him at all. Arthur Kennedy is even worse. His performance as the inspector quickly tested my patience. His anger wasn't enjoyable to watch. Chill. The gore is decent, but nothing like you'd see in a lot of zombie flicks. The zombies themselves are actually pretty creepy; too bad the movie is so boringFinal Thoughts: This tries to rely on atmosphere, but it failed miserably. The slow pace, the grating characters, and overall lack of thrills sink this one. It seems to have a big cult following, so maybe it's just me…4/10

Roman James Hoffman Coming in the immediate post-'Night of the Living Dead' wave of cash-ins, 'Let Sleeping Corpses Lie' (also known as 'The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue') is a bizarre creature: a joint Spanish/Italian production which is nevertheless set in the English countryside where a mal-functioning farming machine has been raising the dead. It would be easy to sell this as a comedy, especially given the hammy London "accent" employed by lead Ray Lovelock who, as George, teams up with the woefully named Edna (Cristina Galbo) but the film is plays it quite straight and the zombie-making farming equipment (when seen alongside the opening scenes of urban congestion) is to be read as an environmentally conscious critique of modern life. However, once the plot is up and running the film doesn't really make anything of this potentially interesting subtext (a la the social commentary of Romero) and instead treats us to a rollicking adventure through some beautiful scenery as our leads cotton onto the reality of their situation and yet are dismissed as hippie degenerates by the fascistic Inspector (Arthur Kennedy) who, in many ways, functions more as the enemy than the zombies themselves.However, despite still being held in fond regard by many zombie-philes, I think the film suffers somewhat from seeming tame both conceptually and graphically compared to the all out Zombie apocalypse of Romero's then forthcoming 'Dawn of the Dead' (1978) and 'Day of the Dead' (1985) as well as the all out gore of Lucio Fulci in the likes of 'Zombi 2' (1979). This feeling was compounded for me by the predictable ending which even though (due to characterization) was satisfying nonetheless has more in common with the campy twist-in-the-tale Amicus Horror productions like 'Dr. Terror's House of Horrors' (1965) or 'Tales from the Crypt' (1972) than anything a modern zombie fan would be used to seeing. Having said this, 'Let Sleeping Corpses Lie' has a good few gore moments, (including an infamous scene with a nurse which even though I knew it was coming was still surprising) and was able to get on the list of Video Nasties drawn up by the Department of Public Prosecutions in England in the Eighties. So respect is due there…but you do have to wait quite a while for the gore to kick in and (even though I'm not a gore fiend) I found myself wanting more.All in all, 'Let Sleeping Corpses Lie' is a slightly camp and quite dated Zombie flick which, while not as watchable as the genre classics like any Romero film or, for example, 'Evil Dead' (1981) has its (albeit superficial) charms if you are prepared to approach it on its own terms.

Andrew Huggett Splendid zombie film – a little slow starting but the photography and location scenery (mostly of the Peak District – although its supposed to be set around Lake Windermere) is striking as is the early 70's details – all shop fronts, petrol stations, emphasis on film developing and Lions Maid ice cream adverts. There are some obvious scenes of Winnats Pass, Castleton and Dovedale. Once it gets going is very tense although the acting is a little off key (down, I think to this actually being an Italian production made in the UK). There's a splendid sequence in a crypt two thirds of the way through the film which rivals a scene in the 1958 Hammer 'Horror of Dracula' and is I'm sure itself paid homage to in the Doctor Who story 'The Unquiet Dead' (2006). The zombies in this film are practically unstoppable until our hero discovers that fire can destroy them. These zombies cannot be harmed by bullets in the head. Zombie make-up is very effective and they utilise excellent and striking contact lenses. The film ends very unhappily – this is one movie where our heroes do not go off into the sunset to live happily ever after! Although a particularly obnoxious police inspector does get his comeuppance. There is an ecological theme in this film with man's tampering of nature with a sort of ultrasonic radiation device (laughably looks like a cross between a metal detector and a vacuum cleaner) which can effect the brainwaves of underdeveloped new-borns or newly dead people. Very good – I'd say this is my third favourite zombie film after 'Dawn of the Dead' (1978) and 'Fido' (2006).