Another Triumph of Science

"Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" is the flick that answers the question "Wouldn't it be great if government scientists could barge around the countryside beaming rays into things?"

Some geniuses from the Ministry of Agriculture have developed a gizmo that zaps bugs. It doesn't just wipe 'em out, it turns the bugs into raving lunatics that kill each other.

Alas, this boon to agriculture has a slight downside — the ray also reanimates the corpses of the recently deceased. And these zombies don't emulate the insects and take it out on each other — nooo, they feel a deep-seated need for human flesh. Living human flesh.

So this snotty hippie type gets his motorcycle clipped by a nitwit in a Mini at the gas station, and since the bike won't be ready until Monday they set off together.

And of course they get lost so they stop at a farm where the hippie gets his first look at the Death Ray truck and the gal gets her first look at the Wet Zombie.

Then there is a whole lot of plot revolving around the Inspector (Arthur Kennedy) who says terrific things to the hippie, like "You're disgusting, the lot of you, with your drugs and your sex."

In the DVD's interview with director Jorge Grau he relates how the producers kept bugging him to make something like "Night of the Living Dead." He resisted at first but when he finally decided to rip off the ur-zombie movie, he did it very, very well.

I'm talking gut-eating, eyeball-sucking, foot-grabbing, gunshot-resistant zombie action, in the finest Romero tradition.

Also in the Romero tradition is the heavy-handed social commentary, without which these kinds of movies would be simply creative displays of anatomy.

One breast, ripped. Four gallons of blood. Consistently wet zombie. Heroin addict. Bad photography. Incestuous zombie attacks (two). Many exciting scenes shot in the dark. Great zombie noises. Two "Oh I don't have the keys to the car and the zombies are coming" moments.

Stupid scientists with even stupider machine.

Very interesting interview with the director.

I don't know how I overlooked this gem. Straight to the all-time list. Four coils.