Dead and BuriedYear: 1981 Director: Gary A. Sherman Written by: Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett Threat: Mad Scientist Weapon of Choice: Needle Based upon: Original |
Other movies in this series:
None
The tyranist's thoughts
Years of experience watching these movies and I finally realize that there's a popular idea
out there that nothing is creepier than seeing someone who you thought was dead. It's probably
true, but having never experienced it first hand, I would have to point out that while nothing
may be creepier, unless it is well done, it may not be creepy at all.
People who visit a small town suddenly disappear. Some of them start turning up in unexpected
places and when the local sheriff finally decides to investigate, he discovers a plot involving
the dead. And helping them not stay that way.
Really, the movie was a pretty tight little package, but it lacked big scares and the subtlety is
simply lost on the small screen. There were some decent performances and I especially
enjoyed Melody Anderson as the sheriff's wife. In the end, though, it turns out to be sort
of self-serving and lame.
While the basic idea is good, they failed to build the necessary suspense to really give it any
kind of impact. You might enjoy it and you might not, I'll just leave that up to you.
Rish's Reviews
1981 was Slasher's greatest year. But this isn't a Slasher. Not really.
But if I think about it, and really do the math, it may be that 1981 was Horror's greatest
year.
Shusett and O'Bannon, the writers of Alien,
bring you Dead and Buried, a sick New England murder mystery where the
truth is much better left buried. Was that a pun? I didn't mean it. Can I take it back?
I liked this film a lot more than tyranist did, and I'm not really sure why (except that he
hated the title and I liked it). Let me see if I remember. First of all, I really liked the
character of the mortician, he was affably quirky and unique. I also enjoyed the sick
twist of seeing the murdered show up as murderers. In an interesting use of lighting
effects, there was a constant mist throughout the film, adding to a very unusual,
otherworldly feel to the town (even indoors!).
It does get a little heavy-handed, I'll admit. Some of it moved quite slowly, and parts
were pretty convenient and/or incredible. But like I said, I liked the title. The film had
an enjoyable beginning, a nice, clever surprise in the end, and some cool people-thrust-
into-a-horrible-situation-where-you-know-there's-no-chance-they're-going-to-escape
scenes in the middle. In spite of its low budget, the makeup effects (which I believe
were supervised by Stan Winston) were quite impressive, including a neat series of
shots showing the reconstruction of a dead girl's face. Oh, and it had the prerequisite
80's nudity so noticeably absent from today's Horror.
Parts seemed pretty daring, and it was a nice mystery as to what exactly was going
on. There were some shocking acts of brutality from such seemingly-friendly locals.
Horribly violent from time to time, it included a scene where a syringe pokes into a
victim's eye. That made me shriek out loud. Ouch.
It was no masterpiece, no, but hey, it had a lot to recommend it.
Total Skulls: 13
Sequel | ||
Sequel setup | ||
Rips off earlier film | ||
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie | ||
Future celebrity appears | Robert Englund | |
Former celebrity appears | ||
Bad title | ||
Bad premise | ||
Bad acting | ||
Bad dialogue | ||
Bad execution | ||
MTV Editing | ||
OTS | ||
Girl unnecessarily gets naked | ||
Wanton sex | ||
Death associated with sex | ||
Unfulfilled promise of nudity | ||
Characters forget about threat | ||
Secluded location | ||
Power is cut | ||
Phone lines are cut | ||
Someone investigates a strange noise | ||
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door | ||
Camera is the killer | ||
Victims cower in front of a window/door | ||
Victim locks self in with killer | ||
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls | ||
Toilet stall scene | ||
Shower/bath scene | ||
Car stalls or won't start | ||
Cat jumps out | ||
Fake scare | ||
Laughable scare | ||
Stupid discovery of corpse | ||
Dream sequence | ||
Hallucination/Vision | ||
No one believes only witness | ||
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth | ||
Warning goes unheeded | ||
Music detracts from scene | ||
Death in first five minutes | ||
x years before/later | ||
Flashback sequence | ||
Dark and stormy night | ||
Killer doesn't stay dead | ||
Killer wears a mask | ||
Killer is in closet | ||
Killer is in car with victim | ||
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes | ||
Unscary villain/monster | ||
Beheading | ||
Blood fountain | ||
Blood hits camera | ||
Poor death effect | ||
Excessive gore | ||
No one dies at all | ||
Virgin survives | ||
Geek/Nerd survives | ||
Little kid lamely survives | ||
Dog/Pet miraculously survives | ||
Unresolved subplots | ||
"It was all a dream" ending | ||
Unbelievably happy ending | ||
Unbelievably crappy ending | ||
What the hell? |