The Premature Burial

_**Nice foggy moors, but the premise is odd and the story too one-dimensional**_ A British aristocrat during the Victorian Era has catalepsy and is therefore obsessed with the fear of being buried alive (Ray Milland). His lovely new wife urgently tries to help him (Hazel Court). Heather Angel plays his sister, Richard Ney a colleague and Alan Napier his wife’s father, a doctor. "Premature Burial" (1962) was the third of AIP’s gothic horror flicks of the 60s inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, eight of which were done by Roger Corman, but others were filmed by different directors, like “The Conqueror Worm” (1968), aka “Witchfinder General,” and “The Oblong Box” (1969). Others were Poe-ish in ambiance, yet had nothing to do with the works of Poe, like Corman & Coppola’s “The Terror” (1963). Most of these flicks didn’t follow Poe’s stories/poems very closely despite his name being attached to them. “The Oblong Box,” for instance, features a totally different story. Meanwhile the title of “The Conqueror Worm” was tacked on to “Witchfinder General” in America, along with a quote from the poem, merely to sell tickets. Like “House of Usher” (1960), this one is closer to Poe’s actual story. The colorful Gothic horror sets with a seriously foggy graveyard are great but, like “Usher,” I found the odd story one-dimensional and (melo)dramatically tedious. That is, until the last dozen minutes wherein all hell breaks loose. Speaking of which, the climax features an unexpected twist, even though things could’ve been better explained. I suggest seeing “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1961), “The Conqueror Worm,” “The Terror,” “The Masque of the Red Death” (1964), “The Raven” (1963) and “Tomb of Ligeia” (1964) first. If you want more, check out “Usher” and this one too. AIP was basically the American version of Hammer in England, so devotees of Hammer horror should appreciate it. The movie runs 1 hour, 21 minutes, and was shot at Producers Studios in Hollywood. GRADE: C+

Very loosely based on an Edgar Allan Poe story, this is quite a decent - if somewhat claustrophobic - drama that centres around "Guy" (Ray Milland) and his paranoia of being buried alive. The start of the film involves the exhumation of his father's coffin - and here we clearly see evidence that the occupant wasn't quite dead when he was put into the ground. Needless to say, his son becomes just a bit worried that this may happen to him, so he becomes totally preoccupied with ensuring that it cannot - much to the detriment of his marriage to the young, and increasingly concerned, "Emily" (Hazel Court) and his sister "Kate" (Heather Angel). Of course, things are not quite what they seem - the plot offers us quite a few red herrings: we are certainly unsure as to whom the increasingly flakey Milland ought to trust and the pace from old hand Roger Corman builds quite effectively. Thing is, though, Milland is in super-ham mode throughout; his manic eyes and his overdramatised performance rather ridicules what is quite a curious story of fear. Hazel Court - whom I loved in Corman's "The Raven" (1963) doesn't really have much to get her teeth into, and the ending - though quite quirky, isn't great. Still, enjoyable enough to watch though.