Living Death

i couldn't help but think of "Buried Alive" when i watched this one,, i like the part where the husband takes his love interest up to the attic,, she is kinky , and well she don't know he's into torture until of course it's too late,, the husband is drunk, uses drugs, pulls guns.. just not a great guy,, so his best friend the lawyer, and the husband's wife conspire to have the husband killed, the lawyer comes up with a toxin , thru a drug connection of his,, they mix it up in his Japanese take out,, he eats it , and bang instant death,, or so we think........ wrong,, doesn't happen he is just temporarily paralyzed, then when he wakes up , he is already being covered over,, and thrown into the ground, by some med students trying to cover up what they had done to him,, operate on a living guy,, instead of a dead one,, so he goes on a killing spree,, i mean wouldn't you be mad if you were buried alive,, scuse the pun.. excellent movie though.

I've seen this movie before-about 17 years ago! It was called Buried Alive and starred Tim Matheson and Jennifer Jason Leigh and aired on the USA cable network. The plot was nearly identical the only difference was happened after the husband comes back. Buried Alive was better written, directed, and acted. Taken on it's own merits, Living Death was okay but nothing special. Having seen Buried Alive, Living Death was monotonous at best. Kristy Swanson was cardboard. None of the characters were developed fully. There was waaaay too much going on. Which I'm sure was intentional to make the simple-minded viewer not realize that the story couldn't stand on it's own. What was the deal with the med students? Did we really need them for the plot? Nope. I would watch this movie again.

😱 First Impressions: I had a hankering for older horror-thriller flicks and wouldn't you guess it!? Found another one, the plot description alone ensnared me and I was wondering why nobody talked about it more. Surely, there must be a reason, so I went in moderate expectations. Fortunately I did because this film will upset your stomach as well as hit the sweet spots!

Pros: 😋 The opening of the film was perfect. The setting up of Victor's character and the exploration of his open relationship with his wife (who surprises him midway through a deadly escapade). Intense because we the audience know all too well about what is about to happen with the first onscreen character in a horror movie... But it didn't! She was only crippled- which segues quite nicely to the lawyer~

😋 The cinematography was somewhat low-budget but it was quite refreshing to see. Especially from the "dead" Victor's POV which is in line with what the audience is told about the neurotoxin used to murder him. The anticipation of when he will rise up again- course obviously he will, is exhilarating despite its predictable nature!

😋 The story is nothing original but it was the first that attempted to kill using a non-lethal poison. The oversight and lack of knowledge in the method of murder is a very human thing to do. It is exactly the repercussions from this, which is very terrifying. After all the thought alone in murdering someone is already a mental load but to have that person come back and they're unprepared? Mindblown....

Cons: 😪 The actors as a whole were not terrible, but I thought the guy portraying Victor was best. He brought out the cynical and psychopath sides very well! Also he looks very familiar, I'll do more research! The rest were just average but still belivable... just!

😪 Now characters- I don't usually point this out because some will naturally shine more than others but not in this one. Nobody (from the main cast, one of the 'good guys') was likeable or rational. Roman the lawyer keeps hiding secrets from the recently widowed (though not for long) who would have benefitted by having more time to discuss what to do next. Elizabeth on the other hand, is understandably paranoid and suspects Roman is cheating even plotting to off her next. They are all self-centered and it made me question who I should be rooting for...

😪 The ending came off pretty lazy. Which a shame because it did very well in the beginning, then a little bit after Victor is resurrected. But by the end, back to the infamous torture device- which becomes overused. Victor even says it himself, sometimes the psychology torment from threatening to use the device is sufficient to instill fear. But the film never did anything remotely as clever as that. Lawyer dies and wife finally decides to retaliate. The pregnant Catherine at the end, what even is that?

😇Verdict😈 Points for the effort behind this microbudget thriller film. The plot is one to remember and a teachable moment to everyone ;). It also brought us one of the most underrated baddies in the early 2000s. But unfortunately, the film hit its peak about 3/4 of the way through due to poor character writing and a questionable ending. Therefore it is easy to see why this film was eventually forgotten... :'(

I agree with the first review, totally.

But I have to remind the previous reviewer that Kristy Swanson was in "Dude, Where's My Car?" and has not totally been off the screens for the past decade.

She does however look ... well, if she were a book, I'd describe her as 'slightly foxed'. Still, she looks better now than she did on the box cover of the 10th anniversary Buffy re-release.

This was a 'blind' viewing for me ... I had no knowledge of the film, other than a glimmer of the plot, and was expecting something of a much lower budget than this ... made for TV perhaps ... so the reason I give it a slightly higher score than the previous reviewer is that it hits a higher level of production value than I was expecting it to.

This film was aptly named. It was like living death just watching it.

I've seen a lot of REALLY bad low budget horror movies. But this has to be one of the worst I've ever seen.

I wouldn't even want my enemies to sit through this. The only reason I did is because I have a policy to watch movies completely through to see if there are any redeeming qualities.

Not. One.

Outside of the opening scene, there's literally no action, no drama, no tension, no horror for an hour. ONE HOUR. The movie is only 80 minutes and 60+ minutes are spent TALKING, TALKING, TALKING.

EVERY character, including the "heroes" are totally unlikeable. I really wished everyone would've just died. It would have been a more fulfilling ending.