"Burke And Hare" should have been a masterpiece. Just look at the credits: Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, the underused Jessica Hynes (formerly Jessica Stevenson), the underrated Tim Curry, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Bailey, Stephen Merchant (in a cameo) and Isla Fisher, all in the same movie directed by the once great John Landis, who hasn't made a feature film in ages. Unfortunately, "Burke And Hare" looks only good on paper. The actual movie is a boring, unfunny affair. One can imagine the ever-so good-humoured Landis laughing his butt off while directing the most old-fashioned (as in: out-dated) slapstick scenes you have seen in a while: People are fainting, making funny faces, saying and doing random things - and it's just not funny at all. Not only that, the horror doesn't work either: Some scenes with corpses are supposed to be gross, but they're not, they're just dull.
This is not the John Landis comeback one would have hoped for. In fact it's more of a sad affirmation that this once great director has truly lost it.
This is not the John Landis comeback one would have hoped for. In fact it's more of a sad affirmation that this once great director has truly lost it.