LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE (1974)

Directed by Jorge Grau

Starring Ray Lovelock and Arthur Kennedy

An unjustly forgotten zombie film that somehow, in the midst of the craze over "Dawn of the Dead" and "Zombie" in the early 1980s, managed to escape the consciousness of many horror fans, perhaps largely due to the fact that it didn`t get much (if any) video distribution in the U.S.

]"Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" is a gory and reasonably suspenseful, if slow-paced, Spanish film. It far surpasses so many other European movies in the cannibal zombie genre that it's amazing this doesn't enjoy a massive cult following of its own. If you're a zombie fan, you simply must see this movie. Released before "Dawn of the Dead" but after "Night of the Living Dead," the film follows the exploits of two rebellious hippie strangers, who are forced to travel with one another after an accident in the British countryside.

Needless to say, they stumble upon a mortuary that`s being overrun by cannibal zombies, who have been resurrected via the use of a strange new government device that kills pests. The first attack by a zombie is particularly reminiscent of "Night." Granted, the film doesn't have the action or tension of either of Romero's first two zombie films, but it is surprisingly gory. Gutsy even.

So to say this is one of the greatest zombie films ever certainly isn't an understatement, because there simply aren't that many great zombie films out there.  Thankfully, Anchor Bay obtained U.S. rights for the film and slated it for a release in October 2000, so a whole new crop of zombie fans who haven't been exposed to it will finally get a chance to see it. They'll definitely love what they find.

Return to Homepage