tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-460474552118769771.post1873140111234323942..comments2024-02-28T09:34:58.074-08:00Comments on NATURALISTIC! UNCANNY! MARVELOUS!: I BURY THE LIVING (1958)Gene Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11495562795211277146noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-460474552118769771.post-60494582286723447302016-07-26T01:18:27.514-07:002016-07-26T01:18:27.514-07:00I'd respond to your writing more, Gene, but yo...I'd respond to your writing more, Gene, but you often focus on films I haven't seen, ideas I'm unfamiliar with. In the case of I Bury The Living the slightly skewed mood and tone of the film links it a bit with Follow Me Quietly, made about ten years earlier; another murder mystery, even more of a crime film, with the unlikely detective team of William Lundigan and Jeff Corey. <br /><br />The emphasis on rain, and a chilling scene of a room full of dummies, tip it into borderline horror, however the ending is closer to that of a semi-doc; and the psychology of the killer, called the Judge, isn't explored, thus the viewer is left in the dark about his personality.<br /><br />As to ambiance, I prefer the earlier, more skillfully made Follow Me Quietly, though overall I Bury The Living is really a more serious film, with few gimmicks, and a 50s-beatnick willingness to do and show a little bit of anything/everything, such as a man running through a graveyard at midnight (whatever).john kenrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00710666533854296630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-460474552118769771.post-86881970793753707662016-07-25T14:26:41.208-07:002016-07-25T14:26:41.208-07:00I'm glad you enjoyed the review, John.
An int...I'm glad you enjoyed the review, John.<br /><br />An interesting coincidence occurred to me: about 4-5 years later, we see the rise of Italy's giallo thrillers with Bava's EVIL EYE. BURY is a lot like those films: there's almost no attention to mystery-detection as in most American horror-tinged mysteries, and when the culprit is exposed, the revelation is just thrust upon the viewpoint character, and usually the audience as well. Band and Garfinkle are surely not the first Americans to have taken the same approach, but BURY is an interesting deviation from the usual American tradition of the mystery-thriller.Gene Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11495562795211277146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-460474552118769771.post-41394825306664341242016-07-25T02:04:29.720-07:002016-07-25T02:04:29.720-07:00Thanks for the review, Gene. I Bury the Living'...Thanks for the review, Gene. I Bury the Living's a decent film, actually plays better now than it did years ago; or it does for me anyway. The acting is good. There's reasonable suspense. What really sells the film is Richard Boone's brilliant, near Shakespearean performance and not even a decent soliloquy to recite. He works wonders with the dialogue, though; and near the end his playing is master class. His dealings with the unhinged Theodore Bikel character are like an exchange between a doctor and a patient. The doctor (Boone) plays with such authority that the movie took a turn in another direction, into pure psychology. Boone really solid this one.john kenrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00710666533854296630noreply@blogger.com