Jorge Grau's 1974 zombie opus, The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue was originally released on DVD back in the glory days of Anchor Bay Entertainment's Euro-Horror binge under the alternate title of Let Sleeping Corpses Lie. The disc eventually went out of print a few years later. Blue Underground re-released that same disc last year and have since gone back to the well one last time with a new two-disc special edition that blows away all prior DVD incarnations of the film.

A man named George (Ray Lovelock) leaves the city on his motorbike to get away to his country home for a few days of rest and relaxation. When he stops for gas, a cute girl in an Austin Mini named Edna (Christine Galbo) backs into his bike and does some damage to the wheel. The mechanic says he won't be able to fix it until Monday and so George insists that Edna drive him to the country and she obliges. On the way they pass a farm field where a big truck is using radio waves to eliminate pests. George, an environmentalist at heart, is curious about this.

When they come to a part of the road that looks impassable, George gets out to wander around while Edna stays with the car. While she's alone, a crazed and sickly looking man attacks her. By the time George arrives back at the car, however, the man is gone. The pair decides to head to Edna's sister's house but when they arrive, that same crazed man is in the process of attacking the man she lives with. The cops, lead by a fairly fascist detective (Arthur Kennedy) suspect that George and Edna are involved and order the two of them to stay in town while the investigation is underway. Unfortunately for all involved, the recently deceased are rising from their graves with a hunger for human flesh!

Suspenseful and very tense, The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue holds its own alongside genre giants like Romero's Night Of The Living Dead and Lucio Fulci's Zombie but, like Jean Rollin's Grapes Of Death (a film it shares some themes with) it doesn't seem to get the recognition that it deserves. Grau directs the film with style and skill, moving the action along at an appropriate pace ensuring that we get enough character development to matter but not so much as to overshadow the action and carnage. Once the zombie attack begins and the sub-plot with Kennedy's character really picks up, the film will have you on the edge of your seat.

On top of a smart script with some interesting political overtones, the film also benefits from three solid performances. Christine Galbo is good as the 'damsel in distress' but the real chemistry in the film is between Kennedy and Lovelock, two polar opposites in society who make no false pretense as to their feelings towards one another. Add to this some fantastic gore effects from Giannetto De Rossi and an amazingly eerie score courtesy of Giuliano Sorgini and The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue comes up a winner. It's a smart, stylish and scary zombie movie that holds up just as well in this day and age as it probably did when it was first made in 1974.

Those familiar only with the opening on the Anchor Bay DVD might be taken aback by the alternate opening scene here (which includes a rather strange looking and possibly video generated title card) but the Manchester Morgue beginning belongs with the film in its own way and it's nice to see it here even if the Let Sleeping Corpses Lie opening should have been included with the supplements.

Video:

This new high definition transfer of The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue leaves the previous Let Sleeping Corpses Lie release from Anchor Bay Entertainment (and it's subsequent re-issue from Blue Underground) in the dust. The colors are much more natural looking and the image has been cleaned up quite a bit. There's a fine coat of grain that dances around in the background but it's not distracting and there are only occasional instances where you'll notice only the minutest instances of print damage. Skin tones look great, detail is very solid in the foreground and the background even during darker scenes, and overall Blue Underground has done an excellent job in this department.