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The Premature Burial




The Premature Burial, 1962

Guy (Ray Milland) is an artist who, accompanying a doctor exhuming bodies, witnesses a corpse that was buried alive. Traumatized by the horrifying situation, Guy becomes obsessed with the idea of premature burial, reigniting his own convictions that his own father was mistakenly buried alive. Guy’s young wife, Emily (Hazel Court), brings in a doctor named Miles (Richard Ney) to help her husband with his obsession. Meanwhile, Guy’s sister Kate (Heather Angel), seems intent on driving Emily from the family house.

Boosted by some strong imagery and a twisty final act, this is a fun fog-and-doom horror yarn.

There’s one thing you know for sure based on the title and opening sequence alone: someone, or perhaps multiple someones, will be buried alive. With that inevitability looming, it’s a lot of fun waiting and watching to find out who will be the unlucky soul.

There’s a middle part of the film that borders on comedy, as Guy works on assembling a more and more elaborate burial vault that is premature burial proof. Everything from a spring-loaded coffin to a loud bell, to a mechanism for opening the vault from the inside. All the while Emily and Miles look on in horror as Guy demonstrates his various methods of escape.

But all of the jovial preparation sits on top of a real, palpable fear. Most people can sympathize with the fear of being trapped in a confined space, and Guy is haunted by a memory of hearing his father’s voice even after the man had supposedly died. This is one of the strongest, and most subtle elements of the film: the kinds of memories we have from childhood that cannot be real and yet we believe they are. Guy’s memory is just of his father’s voice, calling out. His sister insists that it could not have been real, and yet he is sure of it to his core.

When the film arrives at the final act, it really kicks into gear. Not only do we get some of the promised buried alive content promised us by the title, but also at last an understanding of the motivations and behaviors of the different characters who surround Guy.

This isn’t a film that stands out incredibly, but a really strong last 15 minutes or so leave a pleasant impression once the film ends. An easy spooky season recommendation.