I Bury the Living (1958)
After Robert Kraft is appointed as the chairman of a committee that manages the local cemetery, he accidentally places two black pins (used to denote a purchased grave has been “filled”) on a large map of the cemetery’s plots. Hours later, Kraft learns that the two people whos plots he placed pins on died in an automobile accident. In an attempt to prove the deaths were a coincidence, another black pin is placed marking another purchased plot. Within 24 hours, that person has also died. As Kraft struggles to determine whether the deadly power lies in his hands, the pins, or the map itself, the board of directors ask him to place black pins on all their reserved plots on the map. They soon wish they hadn’t.
Convinced the deaths have a more earthly explanation, the local police department asks Kraft to place a black pin on a man’s plot who is known to be out of the country. The following day when a telegram arrives announcing the man’s death, the mystery deepens as Kraft blames himself for the deaths.
While I Bury the Living was billed as a horror film, it’s really a murder mystery that itself feels like an episode of the Twilight Zone. To maintain suspense viewers don’t actually see any of the deaths and so there aren’t any special effects to speak of, save for the map itself which appears to grow, wobble, and glow at different times throughout the film.
With roughly half a dozen major characters to choose from, what might have fooled audiences 60+ years ago is pretty obvious today. Still, the director did a good job of keeping the audience guessing as to who (or what) is behind the murders up until the film’s climax. With a run time of 77 minutes, most the fat has been already been trimmed, save for an unimportant side plot involving Kraft and his fiancé. Fans of gore can safely skip this one, but anyone looking for a morbid mystery might enjoy its twisty plot.
Tags: halloween2020, horror