I Bury the Living

source: I Bury the Living

Trailer—I Bury the Living

I Bury the Living

Richard Boone plays Robert Kraft, the newly elected director of a cemetery who finds himself involved in a morbid mystery when people who have plots in the cemetery begin mysteriously dying, especially when Robert realizes that he mistakenly put a black pin(for dead) in place of a white pin(for living) on a big map representing all the burial plots in the cemetery, for people who subsequently died. This doesn't seem to be a coincidence, since every time he does it, someone else dies... Can Robert stop this jinx, or is something else going on here? Theodore Bikel costars as the retiring caretaker Andy McKee. Despite a good score and direction, this film is ruined by the revelation at the end, which is simply not credible, as if it was thought of at the last minute. Too bad, because this could have been good.

Eerie little film about a cemetery caretaker (Richard Boone) who finds he can cause the deaths of people by changing their white pins in a cemetery map into black pins...or can he? Sounds silly and the film definetely has it's dull stretches (even at 75 minutes), but it works. The whole cast plays it straight, which helps, and there's also a very spooky music score. Also some views of the map were pretty spooky. I felt the ending cheated a little, but it worked. Good compact thriller--not a horror film. Recommended.

If this had come out just one year later, it could have made a great episode of "The Twilight Zone". The idea is certainly interesting, but at feature length the story feels padded and repetitive; after the third black pin and the third death we have already accepted the film's premise but Richard Boone keeps sticking the pins on the map, which would make more sense if his character turned evil, but he doesn't. Albert Band's direction is a plus: some of the visual effects he comes up with are ahead of their time. But the ending of the film is disappointing. It's a surprise, all right, but it's a bummer of a surprise. Not to mention that it doesn't stand up to much scrutiny. **1/2 out of 4.

I Bury the Living is an enjoyable and creeper chiller from 1958. I've seen this a couple of times. A chairman is newly appointed the head of a cemetery and there is a map with pins on it in the shed. Black pins are for empty plots and white pins for taken ones. Something strange then starts happening: when the chairman puts pins in the empty plots, the owner of that plot dies. Several deaths occur and the police come to investigate. Has the chairman got supernatural powers? I Bury the Living is very creepy, helped by the music score. That map gives you the creeps too. The cast is led by western actor Richard Boone and is joined by Theodre Bikel, Peggie Maurer and sci-fi/horror B-movie regular Russ Bender (It Conquered the World, War of the Colossol Beast). I bury the Living is worth tracking down. Very good. Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

A man (Richard Boone) has to take over as chairman of the Immortal Hills cemetery. Shortly after the man discovers he has the power to kill sticking black pins in an old cemetery grounds map. Later on, after the man has convinced himself, as well as those around him that he's not crazy, he decides to undo what he's done and pull the white pins out and replace them with white pins. Brrrrrrr. This has always been one of my favorite spook flicks. Creepy and with a great twist ending. If you like older black and white spook movies, You will not be disappointed. I have seen this flick no less than 10 times and will no doubt watch it again... Unless someone sticks a black pin in my plot.

This is a very small-time picture. It's star, Richard Boone, though a star on TV wasn't exactly a big movie star and he rarely starred in the movies in which he appeared. However, in this case he is the lead. He is the boss at a cemetery and after a while, he notices when he sticks black pins in the board, the person who owns the plot dies. Similarly, white pins seem to somehow protect the owner from death. He can't understand it, but somehow this IS the case! Well, once he discovers this, all heck breaks loose and the story becomes a very creepy and effective thriller--too good to be simply confined to B-movie oblivion! Give it a watch and see a film that is not just a cheap copy or inspired by other films, but a totally unique film that doesn't insult the audience's intelligence.