I Bury the Living (1958)

How sad is this?

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Robert Kraft, a man that is hired as a cemetery chairman - and helps to sell plots and keep track of where everyone is either buried or will be buried on a large map of the cemetery. White Pins on the plots of the map means the person is alive and this is where they will be buried, the Black Pins mean the person is now deceased. Oddly when Kraft accidentally puts a black pin instead of a white pin on the plot map the person dies.. it happens more and more frequently to the point he gets the police involved. Does Kraft have the power to kill people with black pins and a map? Excellent cinematography throughout the film - some great stuff there, a good eerie story and the film builds to a great climax. I enjoyed the film.8/10

Just watched it on Netflix and I was shocked at how good this was.Unfortunately, no one saw fit to keep the film in good shape, so it doesn't look good, and the audio is very tinny.When I read the plot summary for this film, I was sure I was in for a disappointment. I was certain that we'd have a villain who discovers he has a power, keeps it a secret, and uses it to his advantage.Nope, the main character is actually the protagonist, and his power is the antagonist. Could he really have to kill, just by placing a pin in a map, or is it all just coincidence? The only way to know is to test it. Ultimately, his colleagues FORCE him to test his power, to their own demise! The dialogue, acting and some of the direction were really, really good.Look past the film quality and recognize the elements that shine in this very, very unique film, especially if you love weird tales.If I were to bill a double feature with this as the first film, the second film would be Village of the Damned. Great pairing right there.Check it out, for real!!!!

Rugged TV star Richard Boone ('Have Gun, Will Travel') headlines this modest little chiller whose horrors are largely of the psychological variety. As written by Louis Garfinkle, and directed by Albert Band, it shows how the events of the story take their toll on the main character, and how he deteriorates physically and mentally. Band and company create some some good visual tricks and nice scene transitions as they establish a suitably creepy atmosphere.Boone plays Bob Kraft, a department store executive who as a tradition in his company assumes the duty of cemetery director for a year. He finds that he seems to have a power over life and death when it comes to the grave owners. On a map of the cemetery, white or black push pins mark graves either occupied (black) or designated for future use (white). When he puts the black push pins in, the owners of those graves mysteriously perish, and he comes to feel great guilt over this horrible ability he seems to have acquired.Granted, this film could have had even more punch had the filmmakers gone with the ending as scripted, which would have been more eerie and more in tone with the rest of the film. In the finished film, they make the unfortunate move of giving everything a "rational" explanation.The film is at its best when Boone is left alone to ponder the macabre situation in which he now finds himself; there is a strong point made in the script about the unknown powers of the mind. Boone is excellent in the lead, and receives sturdy support from a cast also including folk singer Theodore Bikel as amiable cemetery grounds keeper Andy McKee, Peggy Maurer as Bobs' girlfriend Ann Craig, Howard Smith as Bobs' concerned uncle George, Herbert Anderson as jovial reporter "Jess" Jessup, and Robert Osterloh as hard nosed police detective Lt. Clayborne.Clocking in at a trim 78 minutes, "I Bury the Living" just gets better as it goes along, with a superb climactic sequence of the weary Bob starting to succumb to guilt and terror, and discovering some nasty surprises in the cemetery. As has been said, this comes best recommended to people who like "thinking mans' horror films". It's both interesting and entertaining throughout.Seven out of 10.

Though he resists, businessman Richard Boone (as Robert "Bob" Kraft) accepts a managerial position for the Immortal Hills Cemetery. Visiting elderly caretaker Theodore Bikel (as Andrew "Andy" McKee), Mr. Boone observes a map indicating the status of burial plots. White pins are placed in the plots which are empty, as they are being saved for living persons. Black pins are placed in the closed plots, where the dead are buried. Boone finds that when he inadvertently places black pins in white pinned places, the people die. People thinks this is a coincidence, but your opinion will be tested. Veteran player Matt Moore, primarily an actor in "silent" films, appears for the last time as the victim named Bates.***** I Bury the Living (7/58) Albert Band ~ Richard Boone, Theodore Bikel, Peggy Maurer, Howard Smith