The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue 2-disc Special Edition DVD

A Review by Geoff Bough

This is a review of the Blue Underground 2 disc special edition dvd of The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue. Please also see John Reppion's review of the film.

The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue is a classic film of the zombie subgenre. A beautifully shot film depicting zombies roaming the English countryside, it is not only brilliant visually but as most zombie films out of this time period do, it had a lot to convey socially as well.

The film was directed by famed Spanish director Jorge Grau and was shot partially in various cities in the English countryside with the opening montage shot in Manchester. The film was also partially shot in Italy.

The opening of the film reminds us of the destructive tendency of our own human nature, pollution. We see a montage of waste and pollution throughout Manchester as main character George rides his motorbike throughout the city. George (Ray Lovelock) is on his way out to the Lake District to renovate a house with some of his friends when his motorbike is run over by Edna (Christine Galbo) who is on her way to visit her ill sister who is trying to kick her drug habit.

George persuades Edna to give him a lift to his destination and the two take off together. The pair soon wind up lost and Edna is accosted by the local drunk who we later learn has been dead for days. While Edna was being attacked, George is off asking a local farmer directions and spots a strange looking machine up on a hillside that is sending out ultrasonic sound waves as a form of pest control. We see a clip of ants devouring each other in a crazed frenzy.

The two soon head off to Edna’s sister’s house where they learn that her sister’s husband has recently been murdered by a strange man that fits the description of the vagrant that attacked Edna earlier. The police inspector seems to think that Edna’s sister murdered her husband while high. The inspector (Arthur Kennedy) is an arrogant, bigoted, curmudgeon prejudiced towards the beatnik type that he labels George as.

George and Edna see a picture of the man that attacked her earlier in a local newspaper and find that the man was pronounced dead in the paper. They soon reluctantly race off to the cemetery to uncover this mystery.

The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue is an exceptional film on so many levels; visually it is stunning as the vast shots of the English countryside are bright and vibrant. The pallor of the zombies creates an amazing contrast as the lush green foliage accentuates the gleaming red eyes of the undead.

The sound is also exceptionally well done. Grau wanted to create a sort of sonic soundscape that intensified the soundtrack when the zombies were present along with low moans of the zombies. This mix worked very well and really added to the creepy, ominous tone of the film. The sound was done by Giuliano Sorgini and this was one of the first feature length horror films to have a stereo soundtrack.

While some fans get lost in translation with dubbed audio, The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue audio dubs act as an almost comedic relief. George has a more direct, cockney accent which at times can be quite funny when he is expressing his outrage. All of the dub tracks work well for the characters and is only a very minor note.

The special effects maestro Giannetto De Rossi (Zombie) provides full color blood and gore to the film. De Rossi is a legend in his craft and one that I drew inspiration from in my own special effects work. There is not an over-the-top amount of gore in the film but certainly enough to please the gore hounds.

The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue is a classic film, having followed in the footsteps of George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead which came out only 5 years prior. Having been released in the times of the legendary Romero films, The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue is an often overlooked film by the typical zombie film fan but one that in my eyes revolutionized the subgenre by bringing the zombies closer to home and further modernizing the mythos.

Blue Underground has recently given The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue the much deserved special edition treatment by way of a fully re-mastered 2 disc special edition dvd. The dead have never looked so good in this fully restored, high definition widescreen transfer from the original camera negative. The vibrant colors of the English countryside are stunning and the sunken pallor of the zombies is captured with amazing detail.

The sound is fully updated and absolutely incredible in Dolby 5.1 surround sound. I watched the film on my high-end surround sound system and it was pretty damn creepy at times. You realize sounds you were missing during previous viewings. The disc is absolutely packed with extra content including; trailers, stills, a poster gallery, featurette interviews with director Jorge Grau, star Ray Lovelock, and special effects make-up artist Gianetto De Rossi.

I particularly enjoyed the featurette with Jorge Grau “Back to the Morgue” where he revisits the shooting locations with journalist Gian Luca Castoldi. A 45 minute tour through the shooting locations in England with a very interesting commentary by Jorge Grau as he answers questions from Gian Luca Castoldi.

This is a film that every zombie fan should have in their collection and Blue Underground has graciously delivered the ultimate edition of this classic film with shocking thoroughness.

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