Drive-In Discs, Vol. 3: I Bury the Living / The Hand

I Bury the Living is one of many classic films that prove you don't need big money, big names, and big effects to achieve suspense or completely capture your audience's attention. I found the premise of this film quite intriguing, and the pace plays out just right as we descend further into the realm of the surreal as our protagonist inches closer and closer to possible insanity. It's unfortunate that all that commitment and effort was significantly offset by the ending. Personally, I thought the conclusion fell flat on its face. It's like going to Disneyworld, only to find a great big hole in the ground when you get there; you could squeeze the state of Texas through the plot hole at the end. I was all set to give this film five stars, and now I feel as if I'm being rather generous in giving it four.

The setup's rather simple. Robert Kraft (Richard Boone) is this year's chairman of the Cemetery Committee in town, which means it's now his responsibility to oversee the paperwork down at the Immortal Hills Cemetery. When someone buys a plot, you stick a white pin on the designated spot on the big cemetery plot map; when someone dies, you replace the white pin with a black pin. Doesn't really sound like a recipe for disaster, does it? When a couple of newlyweds show up wanting reservations for the hereafter, in go the white pins - then, when the couple dies soon thereafter, Bob is creeped out to find two black pins where the white pins should have been. He decides to pick a white pin at random, replace it with a black pin, and see what happens. Sure enough, that fellow falls over dead. Experimenting seems to be really popular in this little town, so a quick succession of pin replacements - and deaths - follows. Pretty soon, Bob starts wigging out, and the cops actually get involved - even though all of the deaths were seemingly due to natural causes.

Except for the ending, this film is great. The suspense really builds up, the writer keeps things interesting by giving you several things to think about in terms of your own theory, and there are some rather impressive visual effects. The big cemetery plot board is just weird in and of itself, as it sports some weird swirls that look like something in between a Dali-drawn bicycle and a distorted human face. The director uses light to great effect (an art form quickly lost once color became the norm), zooms in and out with the best of them, and basically just adds a Hitchcockian touch to it all.

Don't be fooled by the various posters and DVD covers, as you will find no real frights (and certainly no zombies) here. I would not classify I Bury the Living as a horror film at all - it's a suspenseful mystery/thriller. That's why, to some degree, I think you need to be a fan of classic B-movies in order to really enjoy this film. Otherwise, there's a chance you'll find it somewhat boring, as it's remarkably free of action, monsters, and fiends. While the building suspense is effective, it's not the kind of suspense that digs its claws into your arms, and there really is a sort of woodenness about each of the characters. I also have to believe that a number of people, B-movie fans or not, will be rather disappointed by the ending of this otherwise well-made film.

Although you'll find it listed under "Horror/Thriller," about the only claim I BURY THE LIVING has to the genre is its provocative title and lurid tagline: 'A creature to freeze your blood! A story to chill your soul!'
The creature referred to must be Robert Kraft (Richard Boone), president of Kraft's Department Stores and newly selected committee chairman of Immortal Hills Cemetery. The cemetery's caretaker is Andy McKee, played in not very convincing aged makeup and with a Scottish brogue by veteran character actor Theodore Bikel. McKee introduces Kraft to The Map. The Map displays all the plots in the graveyard and their owners - a white pin in the map means that person is still alive, a black pin means they're dead. On his first day on the job Kraft mistakenly puts a pair of black pins where white ones ought to be and the owners of the plots die. When he replaces a third white pin with a black and THAT owner dies, all sorts of mayhem ensues.
Richard Boone is effective in what is nothing much more than a longish Twilight Zone episode. Rather than a slime creature carting off the living to their final rest I BURY THE LIVING sprays a mist of sweat on Boone's forehead and follows his descent into madness. Well, that may be overstating it a bit, but he does have to wrestle with an inner demon that seemingly gives him the power of life and death over people. At least he believes it's so, long after the audience has cast skeptical eyes at more likely suspects.
You'll have to stretch credibility to the breaking point to accept the premise of this movie and stretch it again some more to accept its resolution. I BURY THE LIVING doesn't deliver many shocks or thrills, but it does offer some fine performances, especially by Boone.

This film is terrifying. I expected some hoky fun when I rented it (judging from the cover), but then recalled that Stephen King had listed it (in "Danse Macabre") as one of the ten most frightening films he'd ever seen. All the same, I figured his memory must have gone foggy.

I was wrong. The plot, when laid out bare, sounds ridiculous. A rather ordinary, boring caretaker of a cemetery (accompanied by a hilarious 'Scottsman') happens to gain power over the fundamentals of life and death with a board that lays out the structure of the cemetery--where people are buried, have been buried, and will be buried. All this sounds absurd and very 1950's, yes, but it turns out well. You actually start believing it yourself and can feel the protagonist's anguish. The end is disappointing, but the buildup is more than worth it. Black pin, white pin, black pin, white pin.....