John Landis’ attempt to add a punch line to the murderous escapades of two Irishmen in Scotland evokes all kinds of wrong in Burke & Hare.

Churning death and murder into comedic gold requires a special touch, something which Landis lacks. Once upon a time Landis was a comedy king, with The Blues Brothers, Animal House and An American Werewolf in London highlights tin his 30+ year career. But in Burke & Hare, it is clear that Landis has little to offer the current cinematic landscape.

It is a pity, since the exploits of William’s Burke and Hare are worth exploring. Set in 1828, Edinburgh during an era of medical enlightenment, Burke (Simon Pegg) and Hare (Andy Serkis) hatch an entrepreneurial venture by providing fresh bodies to the medical establishment, who are in need of human corpses to dissect and study in the name of science.

Unfortunately for these Irish expats, dead bodies were not falling from the sky, so murder is the only resort to keep their finances healthy.

What follows is an often macabre and sporadically funny attempt at conjuring a laugh from a ghastly slice of history, with a talented cast wasted on a thankless script by Piers Ashworth and Nick Moorcroft, and the poor direction of Landis who can’t find the balance between grizzly murder and comedic slapstick.

While subtlety wasn’t expected, the never ending mugging at the camera, poorly scripted references to varied cultural phenoms of that time (photography, burking, mob protection), and stream of celebrity cameos, gives the impression that Landis was more concerned in operating the cinematic equivalent of a shock and awe campaign, rather than making a solid piece of genre entertainment.

Missing amongst the blood, mud and heavy accents is any sense of humanity. The morality of the situation these men create is barely touched upon, and the motivation that they did it “all for love” is just a lazy, bullocks way to go about it.

A solid cast do their best, with the easy chemistry between Pegg and Serkis a highlight. Isla Fisher and Jessica Hynes provide fine support as love interests, while Tom Wilkinson and Tim Curry steal the movie as rival doctors.

Yet their efforts are for naught, with Burke & Hare a truly overwrought comedy.