Haunting Fear

Victoria Munroe (Brinke Stevens) is having nightmares that seem to be driving her husband Terry (Jay Richardson) nuts. Not because he fears for her well being, but because he wants her to die from her weak heart so that he can inherit her wealth and live high on the hog with his secretary Lisa (Delia Sheppard). Oh, and maybe pay off his gambling debt he owes to Italian mobster Visconti (the decidedly un-Italian Robert Quarry). Looking to speed up the process, Terry and Lisa decide to bury Victoria alive in order to scare her to death. Loosely based on Poe's "The Premature Burial" (hey, it has a premature burial), this Fred Olen Ray shocker is from his serviceable period with some decent FX, that same house he used in every other film (the brown one, not the white one) and nice photography by Gary Graver. This is probably the biggest role Stevens has ever had and she is fine as the stressed out wife. Her acting takes a slight turn for the worse when she is supposed to play psycho at the end. Jan-Michael Vincent, Karen Black, Hoke Howell, and Michael Berryman all got in one day of work in small roles. Vincent's role in the first half relies on him sitting in a parked car and staring at things. Ray obviously knew him well.

The auteur Olen Ray put his heart into this telling tale. It stars All-Century Eye Candy Hall of Fame member Brinke Stevens who can uncork our cask of Amontillado anytime. Ms. Stevens plays a woman with a haunting fear of premature burial. Her evil husband is hoping to usher her fall to gain possession of her house. Pitted against this man, will Ms. Stevens conquer her terrors against her worm of a husband or will the pendulum swing against her, driving her 'raven' mad? We apologize for this descent into the maelstrom and pledge to repeat it nevermore. All that stated, the film is enjoyable even though we can not understand why anyone married to Ms. Stevens would want to be cruel to her. Also, Ms. Stevens takes a bath in the film confirming the old adage that cleanliness is next to goddess-liness.

It has been a while since I saw the movie, but it was much more interesting that what I expected. Although not Poe's Premature Burial, the theme was well done. Brinke Stevens portrayed the victom very well and made the movie more interesting.

The interplay between the actors/actresses was well done, and I believe that is what made the movie a step above a B movie. I enjoyed some twists and turns in the plot that were not expected. I have to admit that Jay Richardson's acting, at times, was not the best.

Other than that, the movie was very well done and a joy to watch. I suggest to anyone to rent this movie. I hope I can say that.

First off...with names like Fred Olen Ray, Brinke Stevens and Jan-Michael Vincent, plus distributors like "Rhino" and "Troma" on the video box, you know what you're getting into with this one. B movie mania! If you're actually expecting to see a thriller "based on Edgar Allan Poe," then forget it and head straight for the excellent series of Roger Corman 60s Poe films. This is pure, unadulterated sleaze (with just a pedestrian attempt at a plot similar to "The Premature Burial"), complete with lots of R-rated, ready-for-video sex and nudity. However, it's certainly entertaining and fun in a slipshod kind of way...

Brinke (who has three nude scenes in the first 30 minutes) plays rich, traumatized, insomniac housewife Victoria Monroe, whose fear of being prematurely entombed stems from her belief that the same fate befell her father (Hoke Howell). Her worthless husband Terry (Jay Richardson) has racked up some serious gambling debt (owed to a gangster played by Robert Quarry) and, with help from his kinky, blonde, European-accented sexpot secretary Lisa (Delia Sheppard) plots to do away with Brinke for her money. Name-value actress Karen Black drops in briefly wearing a blonde wig as a hypnotist (she's way too talented to be playing an insignificant role like this), 50s sci-fi/horror star Robert Clarke plays a doctor and family friend and Michael Berryman shows up for a decent nightmare sequence performing an autopsy on a still-living Vicki. Jan-Michael Vincent mostly sits outside a house in his car making goo-goo eyes as Brinke enters and exits the home.

The kill-a-spouse-for-the-inheritance plot has been done a million times before, the ending is an unintentional laugh riot (concluding with a direct rip-off of the Zuni Fetish Doll segment in TRILOGY OF TERROR) and whoever created the awful stabbed face and decapitated head FX for this release needs to sharpen up on their skills a bit. Brinke does a decent job making her character somewhat sympathetic, but the biggest surprise of all is how good former Penthouse Pet Delia Sheppard is in her role. She stole every scene she was in and easily gave the standout performance here.

Woman is haunted by nightmares. Her husband doesn't care much as he's having an affair wirh his secretary. Dumb husband needs money. They plot to kill his wife. She has something Freaky buried deep inside her. Don't wake it though.

Production values are low and match a home video quality. Dialogue is basic, acting subadequate. Storyline is basic ABC with a few moments that drew illogical questions to me. (We see two dreams, but neither are of the fear the character describes. Motivation is low for characters. Outcome feels forced with a twist just because why not?

Overall, slow moving, simple plotting, amateur acting, middle storyline, and an ending that lacks clarity make this movie boring.