I Bury the Living

I Bury the Living is an enjoyable and creeper chiller from 1958. I've seen this a couple of times.

A chairman is newly appointed the head of a cemetery and there is a map with pins on it in the shed. Black pins are for empty plots and white pins for taken ones. Something strange then starts happening: when the chairman puts pins in the empty plots, the owner of that plot dies. Several deaths occur and the police come to investigate. Has the chairman got supernatural powers?

I Bury the Living is very creepy, helped by the music score. That map gives you the creeps too.

The cast is led by western actor Richard Boone and is joined by Theodre Bikel, Peggie Maurer and sci-fi/horror B-movie regular Russ Bender (It Conquered the World, War of the Colossol Beast).

I bury the Living is worth tracking down. Very good.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

'I Bury The Living' is a good example of a 50s low budget genre movie that despite a few creaks still holds up all these years later. Richard Boone ('Hombre'), best known as a star of Westerns, is solid as a businessman who is obligated to serve on the committee of a local cemetery, and inadvertently discovers that by using the map of the graves available he has the power of life and death. Boone is supported by Theodore Bikel ('The Defiant Ones', Zappa's '200 Motels') is an eccentric turn as an ageing Scots grounds keeper, and several half remembered TV character actors. The movie's director Albert Band ('Zoltan, Hound Of Dracula') is the father of 80s trash king Charles Band ('Trancers', 'Re-Animator', 'TerrorVision'). I surprised myself with just how much I enjoyed this modest thriller. Especially recommended to fans of early Roger Corman or (the original) 'The Twilight Zone' or 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' TV series.

These sorts of films were mass produced in the late fifties and early sixties, and while many of them are in good standing today; I Bury the Living has strangely managed to fly straight under the radar. It's a shame, too, as this film is at least as good as many of it's quickie contemporaries. The film utilises a graveyard as it's central location, and this represents one of it's major assets; as graveyards often make for intriguing horror locations, and when combined with the atmospheric cinematography and the brilliantly compelling story; I Bury the Living becomes more than it's B-movie status suggests it should be. Of course, I'm not claiming this film to be a great masterpiece; but for what it is, it's very good. The plot follows a man who becomes the chairman of a cemetery. This cemetery has a map of it's plots on the wall, with filled ones represented by a black pin, and ones owned by people who are still alive being represented by a white one. After accidentally inserting a black pin into the plot owned by a newly married, and very much alive, couple; the man is astonished when they turn up dead...was it merely coincidence, or can he control who lives and who dies?

The film was obviously shot on a low budget, and as such; most of the murder scenes take place off-screen, and the film lacks a certain bite. However, it really doesn't matter because what we do see more than adequately carries the film, and director Albert Band always ensures that the plot moves well and the film stays on track. Richard Boone takes the lead role, and his morbid presence does the movie no end of favours. It is important that you get the right leading man in films like this, and Richard Boone is definitely that man. The rest of the performances range from good to not that good, but nobody particularly stands out as being terrible. The plot lines really manages to get the audience thinking, which is always a positive element in a film; and while this has nothing on similar films about similar topics, such as Dellamorte Dellamore, it holds it's own as a thought-provoking drama. My only real criticism of the film is that it takes itself a bit too seriously. This tone is better than a jokey one; but it could have lightened up just a little. Overall, I Bury the Living is well worth seeing and comes with high recommendations from me.

First, let me state that I'm an unabashed fan of The Twilight Zone, so when I say that I Bury the Living is, indeed, much like a TZ episode, that's a compliment!

Boone's performance is excellent as the cemetery man who seems to have the ability...or the curse...to cause people to die by sticking pins into a map of the cemetery.

The movie has its flaws, including a tendency for anyone in the film who doubts Boone's ability (including Boone himself) to stick a pin in the map to find out if anyone dies, which is a bit like pointing a gun at someone and pulling the trigger to see if the gun's loaded. And the ending seems grafted on and at odds with the rest of the film.

The rest of the film, though, is pretty good and is imaginatively filmed, becoming positively Expressionist as Boone's "madness" sets in. All in all, I gave it a "7" for the things it does well. Definitely worth taking a look at...if you like The Twilight Zone.

What happens when Richard Boone, recently put in charge of a cemetery, mistakenly puts a black pin in the hole of a map of the grounds instead of a white pin(black meaning the customer is dead and white alive)? Why the person dies and convinces Boone that he has supernatural powers. What does Boone do then? He keeps testing his theory and people begin to die left and right. Is Boone still yet convinced? I'm really not sure. I Bury the Living is a unique film in many ways as it rests its foundation in the supernatural world. Nothing like it had been done..and little since in the same vein. Richard Boone is pretty good in his role, but none of the other actors seem to come close to over-achieving. The sets are cheap as is the film's budget. I liked the film overall, but must agree to a small degree with one other viewer(although not to the extreme he did)) that the film is overrated. Yes, the film has a good creepy atmosphere, but almost all of that is washed away by the film's ridiculous ending. And Theodore Bikel...a good character actor...is incredibly bad playing a Scotsman. I found myself groaning every time he opened his big mouth. I think for the uniqueness of the film that this will be an enjoyable film for most, however.