Burke & Hare (2010 film) Burke & Hare (2010 film) Burke & Hare is a 2010 British black comedy film, loosely based on the Burke and Hare murders. Directed by John Landis, the film stars Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis as William Burke and William Hare respectively. It was Landis's first feature film release in 12 years, the last being 1998's "Susan's Plan". The film was released in the United Kingdom on 29 October 2010. The film opens in Edinburgh. Narration by Angus the Hangman explains how the corpses of the hanged are transported to Dr Robert Knox for dissection. Knox's rival, Dr Alexander Monro,
Murder for body parts does not diminish its status as a practice that has resulted in legal trials and convictions of perpetrators. The perpetrators are usually men, although women have been convicted as well, most notably in Swaziland when Phillippa Mdluli was hanged in 1983 for commissioning a medicine murder. Perpetrators vary widely in age and social status. An individual or group of individuals commissions a traditional healer or "inyanga / nanga " (a herbalist skilled in traditional medicine) to assist them by concocting medicine (or muti). The medicine supposedly strengthens the 'personality' or personal force of the person who commissions the medicine. This