snicewanger I Bury The Living is a very entertaining little "B" chiller that benefits from a strong performance by the always reliable Richard Boone and it was Boone's only foray into the horror genre.Louis Garfinkle wrote and produced the film, and Directed by Albert Band. Frederick Gately was the cinematographer. Clocking in at 77 minutes it moves at along at a quick pace. If there is a weak spot in the movie it's Austrian actor Theodore Bikels attempt to play the the Scottish cemetery caretaker Andy McKee. With his heavy makeup causing him to look like Captain Kangaroo, he struggles with a Scottish burr in his voice that brings unintentional chuckles to the proceedings. The story concerns Robert Kraft played by Boone who has been appointed the manager of Immortal Hills Cemetery. Kraft comes to believe he has been cursed with the power of live and death over the cemetery plot owners when several of them die after the white pins signifying unoccupied graves are replaced with black pins signifying occupied graves on the cemetery plot map. Boone essays Krafts dissent into an emotional quagmire with a calm but inevitable resolve. The horror takes place in Krafts mind.If you are a blood and gore fan, forget it. This one is a a physiological scare for the imagination.

Darkling_Zeist Hugely effective, 50's B-horror from one of Hollywood's most prolific genre producers. Suspenseful, paranoiac and downright eerie, 'I Bury The Living' is everything one could wish for from a modestly budget horror quickie. Basic premise has Richard Boone's character discovering he literally has the power of life and death, via the implausible, but fun conceit of sticking pins into a well-worn cemetery schematic. It's the film's palpable sense of hysteria and claustrophobia that leaves such a deep and lasting impression; and while, Albert Band is clearly no Jacques Tourneur, Band still manages to eek out maximum mileage from such a simple, yet eerie premise.

Spikeopath I Bury the Living is directed by Albert Band and written by Louis Garfinkle. It stars Richard Boone, Theodore Bikel, Howard Smith, Herbert Anderson, Robert Osterloh and Peggy Maurer. Music is scored by Gerald Fried and cinematography by Frederick Gately.Robert Kraft (Boone) is appointed as the custodian of Immortal Hills Cemetery. On the wall in the cemetery office is a large map that details the plots that are taken by the dead, and the plots that are reserved by other town members. These are signified by black (taken) and white (reserved) pins. When Kraft accidentally places a black pin on the names of living people, he is stunned to find they end up dead shortly after. Coincidence? The title and the fabulous poster art that accompanies it has lured in many a horror fan, only for them to be disappointed with the end product since it's more a mystery thriller with potentially supernatural overtones. A slimline and modest budgeted pic, it's a film that doesn't make the most of the premise at its core. However, there's still a very enjoyable movie here, one that thrives on an uneasy atmosphere and showcases some neat visual, film noirish, touches. Shot in stark black and white to perfectly emphasise the shadowy tension in the plotting, director Band deftly lets the office cemetery map become the dominant force of the piece, marrying it up with the ever fretful Kraft's mental being. These scenes with just Kraft in the cold isolated office are the film's best. Though the outer shots in the cemetery, with tombstones and wrought iron fencing, are suitably eerie too. Boone leads off with a very good performance as a man trying to comprehend whilst doing the right thing, and music and photography is well worthy of our eyes and ears. It could have gone a darker route with Boone's protagonist, while the resolution has understandably infuriated more than it has pleased, but for its unique feel and worthy tech credits it's a better than average time filler. 7/10DVD viewed was French Region 2 release from Bach Movies. Good print transfer but subtitles are not removable and lip sync a problem at times. No extras.

calvinnme ... 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.