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Post by Zone Fighter on Jan 12, 2005 10:35:26 GMT -8
Richard Boone (Paladin in Have Gun -- Will Travel) is chairman of a committee which supervises a cemetary. Every time he puts a black pin in the cemetary map the person who owns the plot marked on the map dies. When he tells the other members of the committee they think he needs a vacation. When he refuses to leave town they force him to put black pins by their names. To prove its just a coincindence that people he marked for death died. Will they be alive the next morning or die that night? Find this film to find out.
Not a bad b suspense film. I Bury The Living was included on a DVD with The Killer Shrews. I correctly predicted the ending but that didn't make the film any less interesting.
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Post by stareater on Jan 14, 2005 17:13:43 GMT -8
I enjoyed I Bury The Living. The end was a letdown, as it wasn't anywhere near what I had anticipated. However, what I had anticipated was originally scripted for the film and changed for some reason.
I don't recall where I read it, but the original ending had all the people Boone planted in the cemetery with the pins coming back from the grave and cornering him in the caretaker's shed, calling his name from outside and beating on the door and walls, causing Boone to die of fright. For whatever reason, they decided cut this ending and go with the climax that ended up on film. I think the film would've been a classic had they used the cut ending instead of the hokey one in the final version, which leaves too many things unexplained (such as the scenes which show the ground being disturbed from underneath when he sticks the white pins back in the map).
However, it's still a very effective, atmospheric film. The cemetery is very dark and creepy, and they do a good job portraying Boone's descent into madness, and he gives a great performance. There are a few things that stretch the suspension of disbelief factor, but overall it's a nice little hidden gem.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Jan 14, 2005 18:15:10 GMT -8
that Richard Boone is everywhere! he's like Elvis!
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Post by Zone Fighter on Jan 14, 2005 19:33:17 GMT -8
The ending made perfect sense. I knew right from the beginning that's how it would end. Your ending would have disappointed me. I had no questions about the graves opening. It was obvious to me that that was a dream sequence. We were seeing what he was imagining was happening. Boone was nuts. At the end he still believed he was responsible for all those deaths.
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Post by stareater on Jan 15, 2005 7:38:24 GMT -8
>>Your ending would have disappointed me.<<
Obviously, you missed the point and didn't read my post very well. It wasn't my ending, it was the original ending written for the film, and it changes the entire meaning of what went on throughout the film.
The plotline had the corpses that Boone killed by sticking the black pins in the map reanimating when he replaced them with white pins, thus the scenes showing something coming out of the ground. The entire storyline was written to climax with the undead calling his name outside the shed, driving the insane Boone to death by fright. That was the original, scripted ending, changed to the tacked-on ending of the final version.
Go search out reviews for the film, and even the higher-rated ones usually critique the end as a disappointment. If the original ending is brought up, most reviewers see how it made more sense and fit better.
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Post by Zone Fighter on Jan 15, 2005 16:53:04 GMT -8
I should have said the ending you described, rather than '"your ending".
Most reviewers are wrong then. The ending as shown made perfect sense. The first conversation between the two men at the beginning of the film set up the ending. It was obvious from then on how the film had to end. I say again, what happend with the graves was clearly a fantasy, it was all in his mind. He was nuts. Having the dead come back to life would have been tacky and ruined the film.
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Post by Lunkhead on Jan 27, 2005 10:04:25 GMT -8
This is a terrific little thriller. It used to be on TV in Philly regularly back in the 60s. Richard Boone and the rest of the cast are great and the music really heightens the tension. All I know is, I wouldn't want my name on that map! I've got that same Madacy "Drive-In" DVD Zone Fighter. Gotta love the Gumby short in between.  |
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