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Alternate titles:
(aka "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" or "Don't Open the Window" or "Breakfast at Manchester Morgue")
directed by Jorge Grau
Spain/Italy 1974
London
antiques dealer George (Ray Lovelock, OASIS OF FEAR)
travels by motorcycle to Manchester to join some friends for
the holidays. When Edna (Cristina Galbo, THE HOUSE THAT
SCREAMED) accidentally damages his bike, George insists
that he take her to his destination but Edna is on her way
to take her heroin-addicted sister Katie (Jeannine Mestre)
to rehab. When they stop for directions at a farm where a
new ultrasonic pest control device is being used
experimentally, Edna is accosted by a mysterious tramp named
Guthrie (Fernando Hilbeck) who supposedly drowned weeks ago.
George and Edna arrive at her sister's and find her
brother-in-law murdered and her sister hysterical. The
intolerant inspector (Arthur Kennedy) looks at Katie's
addict behavior and George's long hair and sees them as
suspects (as opposed to the drowned tramp). While Katie is
taken to the local hospital (where newborn babies have
suddenly turned violent), George and Edna's private
investigation takes them to the cemetery where they discover
that Guthrie and other recently dead people have risen with
a craving for flesh. George and Edna escape from a massacre
at the cemetery and the inspector believes they are
responsible. Suspecting that the pest control device has
something to do with the rising corpses, George heads over
to the farm to stop it while Edna rushes to the hospital to
be with her sister. George discovers that the range of the
machine has been increased and he rushes to the hospital
just as the morgue full of corpses start to stir. |
Posters
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Theatrical Release: 1974
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Comparison:
Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Blue Underground - Region FREE - Blu-ray |
Big thanks to Eric Cotenas and for the DVD Screen Caps!
1) Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT2) Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE3) Blue Underground - Region FREE - Blu-ray - RIGHT
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DVD Box Covers |
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Distribution |
Anchor Bay Entertainment Region 1 - NTSC |
Anchor Bay (UK) Region 2 - PAL |
Blue Underground Region FREE - Blu-ray |
Runtime | 1:32:42 | 1:29:00 (4% PAL speedup) | 1:32:50.106 |
Video |
1.84:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
1.86:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 37,047,039,238 bytesFeature: 30,247,256,064 bytesVideo Bitrate: 37.98 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate:
Anchor Bay Entertainment
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Bitrate:
Anchor Bay (UK)
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Bitrate:
Blue Underground Blu-ray
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Audio | English (Dolby Digital 5.1); English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) |
English (Dolby Digital 5.1); English (Dolby Digital |
DTS-HD Master Audio English 2268 kbps 7.1 / 48 kHz / 2268 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) |
Subtitles | none | none | English, French, Spanish, none |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
Chapters 26 |
Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay (UK) Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
DVD Release Date: 27 May 2002 Chapters 24 |
Release Information: Studio: Blue Underground
1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 37,047,039,238 bytesFeature: 30,247,256,064 bytesVideo Bitrate: 37.98 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details:
Blu-ray
Release Date: October 27th,
2009 Chapters 20 |
Comments |
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc. ADDITION: Blue Underground - Region FREE Blu-ray - October09: We don't have the 2008 Blue Underground 2-disc DVD to compare but thought looking beside these older DVDs would be somewhat revealing.
Blue Underground are continuing to produce some
excellent 1080P transfers. This is a significant
improvement over SD - rendered to a dual-layered
Blu-ray
disc with a very high video bitrate. I can't imagine
this film will look much better for your home theater
viewing. Detail takes a significant leap forward, as do
colors -especially blood reds -
it is much brighter, and while there is some movement,
the
Blu-ray
has more information in the frame. The DVD is so dark at
times that detail is lost in the background. The hi-def
fluctuates between a modest, but always notable
improvement, to an extravagant and appreciative one.
The DTS-HD Master 7.1 2268 kbps in English is quite good
as well with acceptance to the limitations of the
moderate production standards when it was made. The mix
has some subtle and not-so-subtle ambitions to the rear
speakers and they give the presentation that extra edge
of creepiness. It's certainly no demo track but the
manifestations of HD audio give that much more crispness
and buoyancy - but not enough to distance it from it's
pragmatic roots. I think this is a good thing. Bass
won't punch like, say, Transformers - but this is
to be expected. There are optional English, Spanish and
French subtitle choices and m Extras appear to mimic the Blue Underground 2007 DVD release with a 45-minute piece, in SD, entitled Back to the Morgue which goes back to visit locations of the film shoot with reminiscences by director Jorge Grau. Zombie Fighter is a 15-minute interview with a healthy looking Ray Lovelock - star of the film. Zombie Maker is an interview with special effects artist Giametto De Rossi running just over 15-minutes and there is a 2000 interview with Jorge Grau running over 20-minutes. The only HD extra is the 4-minute theatrical trailer, There are also a couple of minutes of TV Spots, plus a poster and still gallery. Short of a commentary this is a decent set of supplements.
While Blue Underground may not be
producing my favorite genre of films - I am evolving to
be a big fan of their work and intend to cover as many
of their future releases as I can. These films have an
exploitive yet simple charisma that kind of grows on you.
Fans, though, shouldn't hesitate - this is another excellent
effort in HD transfers - recommended!
***
ON THE DVDs: Both DVDs offer progressive,
anamorphic transfers of the uncut export version (the film was
heavily cut by the BBFC on its previous video release). Although
the Anchor Bay UK disc has a higher bitrate, the Anchor Bay US
DVD looks like it may have been sharpened slightly. Both the 5.1
and 2.0 surround downmix are enveloping and not too gimicky
(this was one of the first Spanish stereophonic films but the
original English mix was in mono). Both discs feature the same
"exclusive" interview and TV spot for the Hallmark DON'T OPEN
THE WINDOW release as well as radio spots but the Anchor Bay
UK disc offers a few more extras (sourced by Marc Morris). There
are two alternate title sequences for the DON'T OPEN THE
WINDOW and LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE prints
and a LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE trailer (making
use of psychedelic opticals typical of Italian trailers of the
time) as well as a trailer for DON'T OPEN THE WINDOW that
does not differ much from the TV spot. The still and poster
galleries are the same. Besides these extras, the UK disc comes
with a thick booklet of liner notes on the film while the US DVD
just has a cardboard insert with a chapter listing on one side
and the German poster on the other. Both DVDs represent the film
well. |
DVD Menus
1) Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 1 -
NTSC - LEFT vs. Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
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Blue Underground - Region FREE - Blu-ray
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CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Screen Captures
1) Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE3) Blue Underground - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE3) Blue Underground - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE3) Blue Underground - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE3) Blue Underground - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE3) Blue Underground - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE3) Blue Underground - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE3) Blue Underground - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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