I
Bury The Living
is a 1958 horror film starring Richard Boone. Boone plays Robert Kraft,
who has just been appointed chairman of the Immortal Hills Cemetery
Management Committee. Kraft is the president of Kraft Department Store
and is less than keen on taking on the extra – unpaid
– responsibilities, but his uncle George pressures him into
it, telling him that it is his turn and reminding him that it is only
for a year anyway. Apparently the Krafts have a tradition of serving on
comities and serving for free and that is why they have, through the
generations, become such a respected family.
Despite his misgivings Robert
accepts the
position, but soon realizes that there is something strange going on.
There is a large map hung on the wall of the cemetery office and it is
vital part of the job. All of the cemetery plots, full and empty, are
marked on the map. If someone reserves a plot there name is placed in
the relevant section of the map, along with a white headed pin. A black
pin indicates that the plot has been filled and this
is how the problems start. When a couple of newly-weds reserve a plot
Kraft uses black pins by mistake. He doesn't even realize his mistake
until he finds out that the couple has been killed shortly afterwards.
When he goes to the map to swap the pins he sees that he does not need
to and gets an odd feeling about it. Unfortunately for all concerned,
Kraft just can't seem to get the hang of sticking the right colours in
the map and every time he sticks a black pin in by mistake someone dies.
Kraft quickly realizes what is
happening but
is at a loss to explain why it is happening and nobody else seems to
believe his theory about the map. In fact the rest of the committee are
so convinced that he is wrong that they insist that he stick black pins
into their plots. It is the best way that they can think of to prove to
him that there is nothing strange going on. Kraft gets his pins
out and
goes to work and shortly after that the gravedigger is getting out his
shovel and going to work and Kraft is heading a committee of one. Then
he has a brainwave and starts swapping black pins for white.
I
Bury the Living is a strange
film that is in a similar vein to The
Twilight Zone series or the
movie Carnival of Souls.
It is one of the better B movies of its time and really is very
good. Special effects are limited, the story itself is the
driving force and the cast is strong enough to make it seem believable.
Scroll
down the page to watch the movie
CAST
Richard
Boone ...
Robert Kraft
Theodore Bikel
... Andy McKee
Peggy
Maurer
... Ann Craig
Howard
Smith ...
George Kraft
Herbert Anderson ... Jess Jessup
Robert Osterloh ...
Lt. Clayborne
Russ
Bender
... Henry Trowbridge (uncredited)
Lynette
Bernay ...
Elizabeth Drexel (uncredited)
Cyril
Delevanti
... William
Isham
(uncredited)
Ken
Drake
... Bill
Honegger
(uncredited)
Matt
Moore
... Charlie
Bates
(uncredited)
Glen
Vernon
... Stuart
Drexel
(uncredited)
Steve-Calvert.co.uk
