'The Meat Merchants of London'

When I saw the first still from 'Burke and Hare' it looked like the kind of movie I might enjoy on a Saturday afternoon. 'Turn Cadavers Into Cash!' I said. With John Landis directing I was sure this would be worth a look -- clever, fun, well-cut. How could it miss with the guy that did 'The Blues Brothers', 'Animal House', and a little ditty called 'An American Werewolf in London' at the helm?

Saw trailer yesterday, and it's fun, but too silly. Too 70s. Sight gags, physical schtick. 'Animal House' bits without the cool setting. That's where the problems start. The setting and title are a turn off for this kind of material. Goofy slapstick -- best set today, no accents, no cobblestone streets -- and give it a cool title. The target audience doesn't want to see a period piece even if it's a wacky comedy (well, not in this country at least, I don't think), especially one called 'Burke and Hare'. That title sounds like a startup law firm looking to hire a couple more partners. Look at Landis' other titles. Animal House is killer. An American Werewolf in London says it all and makes you want to see the product. Those are cool titles.

Let's try out some alternative titles for poor Burke and Hare. How about 'Body Sellers' -- too 'Fatal Attraction'. Or 'Death Dealers' -- too 80s shoot em up. 'Death Duo'? 'Corpse Croppers'. 'Body Buddies'? (Okay, that's a no go).

I know. 'Meat Merchants'. Yes. That's way better. Let's tweak it a bit: 'The Meat Merchants of London'.

Okay, we have a better title. Now comes the poster. More silliness. With Andy Serkis doing the pop-star pointing at the audience thing (as if that's going to work), and Simon Pegg smiling at us as if we know who he is. They need to work up their trumps, which ain't the two leads. These guys aren't mainstream. The average moviegoer probably wouldn't even recognize them. So. What to do. Play the schtick card. This guy:

He's dead, body broken backwards with his, um, parts thrust up in the air. What could be funnier? So, why put him in the background behind the two barely recognizable leads? Put him up front.

Reminds me of that shot of Cameron Diaz with her hair all sticky from the 'hair gel' in 'There's Something About Mary':

That's funny. Way. If any image helped sell 'Mary' it was this one.

Okay, B&H has to be in old England with the accents and cobblestone streets and it's too late to change the title, but if they want anyone to see this movie they got to play their ace up front.

Give us more of the dead upside down guy. Put him up front and use Pegg and Serkis like they were unknown actors -- put them in the background (preferably with a bucket of poop on their heads and a straight-man disgruntled look on their faces).