Product Details

• Actors: Cristina Galbó, Ray Lovelock, Arthur Kennedy, Aldo Massasso, Giorgio Trestini
• Directors: Jorge Grau
• Format: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• DVD Release Date: October 24, 2000
• Run Time: 93 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630597229X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,387 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

One of the best zombie shockers of the 1970s, this Spanish-Italian coproduction (also known as The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue and Don't Open the Window, among other titles) is a real international affair. Inspired by George Romero's genre-shattering American hit Night of the Living Dead, it was shot in England by a Spanish director with a largely British cast, and supplemented by Spanish zombies and American character actor Arthur Kennedy as a bitter Irish police detective (with only a hint of a brogue). He's investigating a sudden rash of violent murders (the work of Satanists, he's convinced) and closes in on a pair of newcomers to the sleepy Northern England town, longhaired antique dealer Ray Lovelock and his nervous traveling companion Christine Galbó. Only they know the real culprits: newly deceased corpses, revived by agricultural experiments in ultrasonic radiation that are also turning newborns into vicious little monsters. Director Jorge Grau delivers all the stumbling zombies and gory flesh feasts you could hope for in a 1974 movie, but more importantly he creates the rare zombie thriller that manages to be both scary and smartly done. Some of the twists are a bit more far-fetched than others (why does dabbing blood on the eyes of long-dead cadavers magically bring them to life, and how would a zombie even know to try?), but it's a minor quibble in the face of the startling blood frenzy and Grau's satisfying dark dramatic twists.

The DVD also features an introduction and a 20-minute interview with Grau ("I hope you will suffer profoundly," he jokes in the opening), as well as a gallery of posters and stills, TV ads, and radio spots. --Sean Axmaker

DVD Times

"An Impressively Intelligent, Inventive And Genuinely Scary Film!"

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Horror DVD of the Year, October 22, 2000

By 

frankenberry (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (DVD)

Anchor Bay delivers the best and most anticipated horror DVD of the year. Never released on home video in the US (except in an atrocious edited low-budget EP VHS version called "The Living Dead"), Grau's super-fun 1974 zombie flick finally receives the definitive presentation it has aways deserved! Originally released theatrically in the States in an edited version called "Don't Open the Window", this DVD is the original UNCUT version and instantly makes the old (and once Very Valuable) Japanese laserdisc completely obsolete since that version pixelated the brief nudity. Anchor Bay's DVD is absolutely exceptional.

If you're a zombie film fan or european horror buff, you probably already love this film. If you've never seen it, just go ahead and buy it --- you will NOT be disappointed! It's kind of a rip-off of NOTLD, but it has it's own unique twists, it's in glorious color and delivers some very shocking gore moments. Plus, the zombies are quite unique -- my favorite is the post-autopsy one who's got his chest stitched closed all the way down his torso. All in all, a very entertaining zombie film...not as ridiculous as the later Fulci films, but also not as grim as Romero's seminal classic. The film is presented here in a practically flawless print at 1.85:1.

Also on the DVD are a short (and amusing) introduction by Grau (who hopes we have a "bad time" watching the film) plus a separate 20-minute interview with him. He goes into detail about how the film came to be, how he picked the cast, and what he thinks of horror film audiences. He comes off as a very cool, intelligent and nice guy. Too bad he left the business after only a few films. Besides that, the DVD features one TV spot (for "Window") which isn't very thrilling, some "Window" radio spots (much better!), plus a photo and poster gallery of the different artwork and posters from the various release versions of the film around the world. Very cool! Buy it Now!!!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Creepy '70s cult classic, July 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Let Sleeping Corpses Lie [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I'm pretty much in agreement with most of the reviews posted here, so I'd just like to add a comment or two of my own.

First, to those who've wanted to own this movie for years, this Anchor Bay release is definitely the one to buy. Not only is this the original, uncut version of "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" but it has also been digitally remastered so the picture and sound are GREAT (on both VHS and DVD). You won't be getting a faded, cheap looking film to video transfer -- trust me on this. In case you're wondering, the VHS version is in 1.85 to 1 widescreen ratio and includes all the same extras (director interview, original trailer, etc.) as the DVD version. The only difference, of course, is that with DVD you can access these extras instantly. With the VHS version, you have to fast forward to the end of the movie before you can sample the extras.

That being said, let me make caution all those zombie movie fans out there who've never heard of this film before but are intrigued by the other reviews. No doubt scores of you are salivating right now at the prospect of a zombie movie that's almost good as "Dawn of the Dead" (as some have suggested).

Please note the following: this is NOT a wall-to-wall zombie/action flick like "Dawn of the Dead" or or even the parody "Return of the Living Dead". In fact, (SPOILER ALERT) I counted maybe only seven or eight zombies in the *whole* movie, and there are never more than three zombies on screen at one time! You *won't* find scenes depicting hundreds (or even dozens) of zombies taking over a city, surrounding a shopping mall, or even invading a farm house. This is a more subtle horror film that's far more interested in evoking a spooky atmosphere and creating a sense of dread than piling on the body count. (If you saw the 70s vampire film "Let's Scare Jessica to Death", then maybe you have an idea what I'm talking about.)

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" isn't a good horror film. It is. I just don't want anyone who's never seen this movie to buy this thinking they're getting "Dawn of the Dead Part II". You're not. If survival horror action and gore is what you're looking for, you're better off waiting for the "Resident Evil" movie.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Zombie Film, March 15, 2004

By 

Crypt "thecrypt777" (Arkham) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (DVD)

If you've watched your Romero and Fulci Zombie films to death and you're wanting something just as good, but different, check this little nasty out. A Spanish film inspired by Night of the Living Dead that came out before Dawn of the Dead started the carnivorous Zombie craze. This is one of the few genuinely creepy Zombie films. Night of the Living Dead and Zombie were the only other two that I found creepy. Dawn and Day of the dead were superior films, but I would never say they were creepy. The story is ambiguous in a true European way, and the cinematography is gorgeous and nightmarish at the same time. Also the Zombies are truly chilling. The gore sequences are well done and the acting is top notch.