Revision as of 06:25, 10 December 2012 editJokestress (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers50,851 edits wikilink← Previous edit | Revision as of 18:42, 5 January 2013 edit undoLilHelpa (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers413,652 editsm Typo fixing, replaced: dimiss → dismiss using AWBNext edit → | ||
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After Gillis accidentally hits someone with his squad car following a recent attack, the bizarre nature of the murders becomes even more evident. On the grill of his car, Gillis finds the twitching, severed arm of the accident victim, who suddenly attacks him before fleeing with the arm. After the attack, Gilis scrapes some flesh from the vehicle and takes it to the local doctor, who tells him that the body the flesh came from had died approximately four months before. | After Gillis accidentally hits someone with his squad car following a recent attack, the bizarre nature of the murders becomes even more evident. On the grill of his car, Gillis finds the twitching, severed arm of the accident victim, who suddenly attacks him before fleeing with the arm. After the attack, Gilis scrapes some flesh from the vehicle and takes it to the local doctor, who tells him that the body the flesh came from had died approximately four months before. | ||
As his suspicion of Dobbs grows, Gillis conducts a background check and discovers that he was formerly 'Dr. Dobbs', a chief pathologist in ] until his |
As his suspicion of Dobbs grows, Gillis conducts a background check and discovers that he was formerly 'Dr. Dobbs', a chief pathologist in ] until his dismissal 10 years previously for conducting unauthorized autopsies in the county morgue – just before he moved to Potter's Bluff. | ||
The film eventually reveals that Dobbs has developed a secret technique for reanimating the dead, and all of the townspeople are in reality reanimated corpses under his control. Dobbs considers himself an "artist" who uses his zombies to murder the living in order to create more corpses on which to practice his reanimation technique. | The film eventually reveals that Dobbs has developed a secret technique for reanimating the dead, and all of the townspeople are in reality reanimated corpses under his control. Dobbs considers himself an "artist" who uses his zombies to murder the living in order to create more corpses on which to practice his reanimation technique. | ||
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* Joseph G. Medalis as The Doctor | * Joseph G. Medalis as The Doctor | ||
* Macon McCalman as Ben | * Macon McCalman as Ben | ||
* ] as The Hitchhiker | * ] as The Hitchhiker | ||
* Estelle Omens as Betty | * Estelle Omens as Betty | ||
* ] as Phil | * ] as Phil | ||
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] | ] | ||
] | ] | ||
] | ] | ||
] | ] |
Revision as of 18:42, 5 January 2013
1981 American filmDead & Buried | |
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Directed by | Gary Sherman |
Written by | Short Story Author: Alex Stern Jeff Millar Screenwriters: Ronald Shusett Dan O'Bannon |
Produced by | Robert Fentress Richard R. St. Johns Ronald Shusett |
Starring | James Farentino Melody Anderson Jack Albertson Dennis Redfield Nancy Locke Robert Englund |
Cinematography | Steven Poster |
Edited by | Alan Balsam |
Music by | Joe Renzetti |
Distributed by | Avco Embassy Pictures |
Release date | May 29, 1981 |
Running time | 92 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Dead & Buried is a 1981 horror film directed by Gary Sherman, starring Melody Anderson and James Farentino. With a screenplay written by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, the movie was initially banned as a "Video Nasty" in the UK in the early 80s, but was later acquitted of obscenity charges and removed from the Director of Public Prosecutions' list.
The movie was subsequently novelized by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. In a 1983 interview with Starburst promoting Blue Thunder, O'Bannon disowned the film (he claimed that Shusett had written the script by himself but needed O'Bannon's name on the project, and promised he'd make some changes; on seeing the finished film O'Bannon realised Shusett had done nothing of the sort, but it was too late for him to take his name off the credits).
Plot
James Farentino stars as Dan Gillis, sheriff of the small New England coastal town of Potter's Bluff where, in the film's opening scene, a mob of townspeople attempt to kill a visiting photographer; he is beaten, tied to a post then set on fire. The Photographer is later killed under the sheriff and doctor's noses at the local hospital.
As the story progresses, more visitors are murdered by the townspeople. Sheriff Gillis, assisted by Dobbs, the local coroner-mortician (Jack Albertson), works hard to discover the motive for the killings. Gillis becomes increasingly disconcerted as a grisly death occurs every day with the killers photographing the victims as they are murdered.
The film's creepiness is enhanced by the audience knowing the identity of the killers, nearly all of whom are friends of Gillis whose wife Janet (Melody Anderson) has suspicious reasons for her own frequent nocturnal disappearances.
After Gillis accidentally hits someone with his squad car following a recent attack, the bizarre nature of the murders becomes even more evident. On the grill of his car, Gillis finds the twitching, severed arm of the accident victim, who suddenly attacks him before fleeing with the arm. After the attack, Gilis scrapes some flesh from the vehicle and takes it to the local doctor, who tells him that the body the flesh came from had died approximately four months before.
As his suspicion of Dobbs grows, Gillis conducts a background check and discovers that he was formerly 'Dr. Dobbs', a chief pathologist in Providence, Rhode Island until his dismissal 10 years previously for conducting unauthorized autopsies in the county morgue – just before he moved to Potter's Bluff.
The film eventually reveals that Dobbs has developed a secret technique for reanimating the dead, and all of the townspeople are in reality reanimated corpses under his control. Dobbs considers himself an "artist" who uses his zombies to murder the living in order to create more corpses on which to practice his reanimation technique.
At the conclusion, it turns out that the Sheriff is actually one of the living dead, having been murdered by his undead wife prior to the on-screen events under Dobb's orders. As the film ends, Gillis notices his own hands decomposing, whereupon Dobbs asks to examine them.
Cast
- James Farentino as Sheriff Dan Gillis
- Melody Anderson as Janet Gillis
- Jack Albertson as William G. Dobbs
- Dennis Redfield as Ron
- Nancy Locke as Linda
- Lisa Blount as Girl on the Beach / Lisa
- Robert Englund as Harry
- Bill Quinn as Ernie
- Michael Currie as Herman
- Christopher Allport as George LeMoyne / Freddie
- Joseph G. Medalis as The Doctor
- Macon McCalman as Ben
- Lisa Marie as The Hitchhiker
- Estelle Omens as Betty
- Barry Corbin as Phil
Critical reception
AllMovie wrote, "it's easy to see why Dead and Buried never found a big audience. It is too plot-heavy for those viewers in search of a shock machine yet too visceral for the viewers who appreciate subtle horror", but complimented its "blend of creepy atmosphere and gruesome shocks."
References
- Guarisco, Donald. "Dead and Buried (1981) - Review - AllMovie". AllMovie. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
- Guarisco, Donald. "Dead and Buried (1981)". AllMovie. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
External links
Films directed by Gary Sherman | |
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