J'enterre les vivants

In my opinion, good film operates on the level of dream, and is not constrained by mundane logic and consistency. By this standard, a good horror/thriller should function as a nightmare, in which each inconceivable fear finds inevitable expression, and the protagonist finds him or herself helplessly drawn to the next shock, without any hope for escape until the climax and resolution (awakening). By taking this kind of narrative technique, adding a bizarre and haunting score, repeating certain eerily iconic images and superimposing a decidedly downbeat and pragmatic dialogue, Albert Band created a uniquely dreamlike horror picture that broke through the cliched 50's take on the genre.

Working with a cast of almost unknown character-actors, and the makeup of Jack Pearce, Band's vision finds expression through action focused almost entirely in one room, a room dominated by a map of a graveyard. The map itself is defined by a kind of Magical Sigil, a map of some unexplored part of the human brain, a symbol more deeply meaningful than any modern writing, and far more inscrutable in meaning. It isn't long before Kraft, the oddly un-heroic (and unattractive) protagonist learns that this map contains the power to kill, and he is drawn back, time and again, to use its power in spite of himself. As if to emphasize the powerlessness implicit in the nightmare, it is usually at the bidding of others, not his own volition, that he uses the dread power.

Band cues us many times to the nature of the dream. Kraft complains of deja-vu, as if the dream is a repetitive nightmare. The room he works in is constantly cold at night: for some reason the heater does not function after dark. A homicide cop advocates the existence of paranormal powers that can cause death. A reporter calls Kraft from inside his own (Kraft's) home without a word of explanation. Each time Kraft suggests a thing, that thing invariably happens – just as is often the case in the best and worst of dreams.

The end of the film simply makes no sense, breaks all the rules established by the narrative, falls apart into a tangled mess. This seems acceptable, however, because our dreamer is waking up, struggling to find resolution so that he may repress the dream to go on with the business of the day. The feeling lingers, however, that as night falls and the heater once again fails, Kraft will find himself, again, in that half-remembered room with the looming image of his own mind bringing fear and powerlessness.

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.

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.

Awesome intriguing picture in which filmmaker Albert Band takes a cemetery and a few fine actors conjuring up some thrilling , terrifying and nail-biting scenes . At the beginning a text is shown : Science has learned that man possesses powers which go beyond the boundaries of the natural . This is the story of one confronted by such bizarre forces within himself , as Robert Kraft (Richard Boone) and the caretaker , Andy McKee (Theodore Bikel) walk to the Immortal Hills Cemetery office building and then happens a lot of disturbing occurrences . As cemetery manager Robert Kraft starts unraveling cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about the cemetery when he sticks pins in his map of a graveyard and then people mysteriously start to die . As director of a cemetery starts beleving that he can cause the deaths of living owners of burial plots by merely changing the push-pin color from white to black on a large wall map of the graveyard that notes those plots . Shocks that challenge the imagination !!!. Thee most spine-chilling cry that ever froze the blood !... Out of a time-rotted tomb crawls an unspeakable horror! A creature to freeze your blood! A story to chill your soul!

A tense , intriguing , mysterious and well performed terror thriller . As a newly-elected cemetery director's haunted by some unfortunate tragedies through a series of macabre coincidences , including intrigue , turns , a lot of twisted incidents , at the same time charged with tension , unflinching depictions with plenty of suspense in which the viewer could really enjoy . A great successful film with abundant shocks and deliciously twisted happenings , being compellingly directed with well staged set pieces and plenty of startling visual content and imagination enough . Above average horror movie in which the frightening , strange happenings developing themselves little by little , at the beginning alarming hints of an eerie and well-planned events begin to emerge , enfolding our starring in a shroud of suspicion and mental agony until a surprising conclusion . The film has engaging and interesting scenes as title and credits run over a section of granite headstone and as the map on the wall becomes slightly larger in each progressive scene , symbolizing it slowly controlling him . The story is well paced , suffering from some disturbing incidents of varying quality. There are some really creepy scenes with extreme terror , ghastly surprises and outstanding the pleasantly visual look as well . Interpretations are uniformly good . Richard Boone is terrific as the manager who discovers that by arbitrarily changing the status of plots from empty to occupied on the weird planogram causes the death of the plots' owners . Bury the Living (1958) is even referenced by Stephen King in the foreword to a short and early story written by himself .

The motion picture was well directed by a veteran filmmaker , Albert Band , who was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors who started his career in the early 50s and continuing the legacy , his son , the equally prolific producer/director Charles Band. Albert Band began financing a number of motion pictures through the seventies and eighties and helped his son , Charles , and both of whom bring together his own production company, 'Empire Pictures', in the early eighties . Upon the collapse of Empire Pictures in the early nineties, Band continued to work with his son and help bring a number of low-budget and medium budget films to the Hollywood screen and direct to video releases . Band directed some Westerns such as : ¨She came to the Valley¨, ¨Massacre at Grand Canyon¨, ¨The Young Guns¨ and ¨The Tramplers ¨ at his best . Furthermore , he made terror and Sci-fi , such as : Aliens Gone Wild , Prehisteria , Prehisteria 2 , Robot War , Doctor Mordrid , Ghoulies II , Satán's Dog and all kind of genres . Rating : 7/10 , good . The flick will appeal to Richard Boone fans . Worthwhile watching.

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.