Dead & Buried (1981)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Gary Sherman

Writers:

Jeff Millar (story)
Dan O'Bannon (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 May 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

The writers of alien... ...bring a new terror to earth.

Plot:

A suspense horror film set in a small coastal town where, after a series of gory murders commited by mobs of townspeople against visiting tourists, the corpses begin to come back to life.

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | Murder | Corpse | Undertaker | Killing

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

James Farentino	...	Sheriff Dan Gillis
Melody Anderson	...	Janet Gillis
Jack Albertson	...	William G. Dobbs
Dennis Redfield	...	Ron
Nancy Locke	...	Linda (as Nancy Locke Hauser)
Lisa Blount	...	Girl on the Beach / Nurse Lisa
Robert Englund	...	Harry
Bill Quinn	...	Ernie
Michael Currie	...	Herman
Christopher Allport	...	George LeMoir / Freddie
Joseph G. Medalis	...	The Doctor (as Joe Medalis)
Macon McCalman	...	Ben
Lisa Marie	...	The Hitchhiker
Estelle Omens	...	Betty
Barry Corbin	...	Phil

Also Known As:

Dead and Buried (UK)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Finland:K-16 (heavily cut) | Finland:K-18 (DVD rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2007) | Sweden:15 | Australia:R | Finland:(Banned) | France:-16 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Norway:18 (video) (1984) | Norway:(Banned) (video) (1986) | Norway:(Banned) (1981-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Mendocino, California, USA

Company:

Barclays Mercantile Industrial Finance

Trivia:

Director Gary Sherman intentionally chose foggy weather conditions to film in while on location in California. The films setting is suppose to be Maine and the locations looked most like northern New England when the weather was foggy. In addition Sherman liked the ominous mood the gloomy weather created.

Goofs:

Continuity: The hitchhiker can be seen as a zombie before she is actually killed, reconstructed and brought back to life. This is because the abandoned house scene - where she is clearly visible as one of the dead townfolk - was originally placed in the film after her resurrection.

Quotes:

Janet Gillis: Dan, I'm dead! Please bury me!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

You can try to kill me, Dan. But you can't. You can only make me dead.

One of the original 39 video nasties banned in Britain, it was released uncut in 2004. There were 74 films on the list at various times.

Before she was trying to ensnare an officer n An Officer and a Gentleman, Lisa Blount was using her considerable charms to trap a photographer (Christopher Allport) on the beach. What started as a slow, melodic, enchanting film, quickly changed into horror.

Before Robert Englund lived on Elm Street, he was creating mayhem in Potters Bluff, a town with a strange secret.

Sheriff Dan (James Farentino) is trying to discover how two murders happen "in a town no bigger than a postage stamp." In the meantime, his wife (Melody Anderson) is stepping out at night without explanation, and acting very strange.

Oscar (The Subject Was Roses) and Emmy ("Cher", "Chico and the Man") winner Jack Albertson was excellent, in what has been reported as his last film, as the town mortician.

It's hard to believe, but I did jump out of my seat once.

Great climax as secrets are reveled.