J'enterre les vivants

Any fan of the classic Twilight Zone will adore this forgotten and underrated horror gem. Richard Boone is the reluctant caretaker of a town's cemetery when he accidentally discovers that folks die when he marks them as deceased on the cemetery's map. Everyone tells him that it's merely coincidence and he continues to prove them wrong, being driven mad from the guilt.

A wonderful musical score along with some amazing camera work do most of the job of creating the eerie and haunting mood of a man losing his mind as he literally marks those around him for death. The script is above par and the acting is all surprisingly good for any movie, much less a 50's horror flick. It is because of the sadly disappointing ending (which in effect turns the whole movie into a mess) that this film is not regarded more highly and instead is relegated to the back shelves of video stores as a lost almost-masterpiece and not simply a masterpiece. But the ending by no means ruins the film.

Fans of 50's and 60's horror will enjoy this more than they expect, although be wary of the implications of the cover art - this movie is 100% zombie-free (which is too bad, because there was a wonderful opportunity to end the movie with zombies instead of the ending that's there). And as an odd final note, the screenwriter went on to write The Deer Hunter. I can't say that tells you much about this film, except to say that you can expect someone to hold a gun to their own head at some point.

Check it out! It's cheaper to buy a used copy off Amazon than it is to rent.

... that protagonist being Richard Boone of "Have Gun Will Travel" fame as the member of a prominent small-town family. Years ago, before WalMart and Best Buy, each town would have a department store, usually owned by local people. Such a department store is the source of the Kraft family wealth, and since the source of their wealth is local, it matters to the Krafts how they are perceived in the community. Thus a town committee of seven local wealthy people, including members of the Kraft family, take turns doing public service. One of these public services is managing the local cemetery. Thus it becomes Bob Kraft's (Richard Boone's) turn to do this task. The job isn't difficult and only requires a few hours a month. It is explained to Bob by the grounds keeper that a map of the cemetery on the wall basically does your work for you. A white pin is inserted on grave sites yet to be occupied. Black pins are inserted on grave sites that are already occupied.

So Bob reluctantly takes up this task when along comes his first two customers - a member of the committee and his new wife. It was a stipulation in the young man's father's will that he buy graves for himself and his wife as soon as he married before he could collect his full inheritance. In his haste or sloth, whatever it may have been, Bob Kraft puts black pins in where white pins should have been, and in twenty four hours the young couple is dead from a horrific traffic accident. Bob is a bit unnerved by this, feeling that he somehow mystically "marked the couple for death", but as the pin misplacements continue and the bodies pile up so does Bob Kraft's panic. He even calls the local police and asks them to investigate these deaths as homicides. The police don't exactly call him a crackpot because of his prominence, but they can't ignore the up-tick in the death rate either.

So the question becomes, since these are obviously natural deaths and it couldn't be some Mr. Hyde version of Bob running around and killing people and not remembering it, is he killing these people, some of them total strangers, with the power of his mind in some unconscious matter? Is this a case of "monsters from the ID"? With only a few cheesy special effects and very little action this movie manages to convey man's fear of that which he cannot control - his own subconscious and death itself.

The dialogue is rather spartan but well presented with one exception. Bob is engaged, and every conversation he has with his fiancée might as well be in another language as none of their dialogue makes any sense - it sounds like something Ed Wood would have written. The minute either talks to someone else the conversation becomes comprehensible again. The reason for this I have no idea. If you like the old 50's low budget horror films, I think you'll like this one.

So many people call this movie a modern classic and one of the scariest genre movies ever made. Why? I have seen it more than once and done some research on it and I question all those assertions. Okay, follow me on this, Richard Boone takes the job as caretaker of a cemetery because it is a family tradition. By accident he discovers that if he places a black pin into the map showing the empty plots, the owner of that plot dies. Several friends and business associates actually do turn up dead when Richard sticks black pins into the spots marking graves reserved for them. It then dawns on him that if he can kills people by sticking black pins into the map maybe he can bring them back by substituting white pins. Now this is where we get to the really scary scenes. Boone goes running through the cemetery and sees that all the recent graves have been opened and the bodies are gone. His plan worked! But is it too late?

WARNING WARNING! I am not about to reveal the real ending of the movie, just the way it was originally written in the script. I am not, repeat NOT, telling you how the real movie ends.

As written Boone was to have locked himself in the caretakers shed which was suddenly surrounded by the walking corpses of all the people he had killed by sticking black pins into their grave markers. They do not attack but stand patiently outside calling for him to join them. Richard's grief is so great at having caused their deaths that he dies of a heart attack. Yeah but that ISN'T the way it ended. A "logical" explanation is tacked on that totally ruins the supernatural theme that we have spent the whole movie getting used to. I for one felt let down by this and THAT is why I say this movie is no classic. Yes it has some well staged moments but the copout ending spoils everything. If they had just stuck to the original ending it could have pre-dated NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD by 10 years.

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.

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.