William Burke and William Hare were two Irish immigrants in Edinburgh, Scotland, during the early 1800's. Down on their luck and in need of income quick, the two men accidentally fall into the strange but lucrative business of providing corpses for medical dissection. A leading surgeon in the area, Dr. Knox, is willing to pay a pretty penny for a fresh specimen and isn't particularly concerned where they come from. There's just one problem... a lack of legally obtainable corpses to sell.
Hare and his wife see the good life within their grasp, while Burke falls in love with a beautiful actress who needs a backer to finance her efforts to produce the first ever all-female production of MacBeth. Unable to turn their backs on such a profitable new industry, they make the leap from grave robbery to serial murder. But the towns small and inept militia is hot on their heels and incompetence aside, is sure to catch up with Burke and Hare in due time.
Burke and Hare is for the most part a dark comedy, with touches of thriller. This reviewer has yet to view a film containing Simon Pegg that was not worth every minute. But it's not just him, the whole cast is great. The film is funny but also educational when it comes right down to it, since this is based on a true story. A very good movie which showcases a lot of British comedic talent while not straying too far from reality.
4 daguerreotype's out of 5
Unrated: contains violence, sexual content, language.
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