I Bury the Living

I Bury the Living is a spine-chilling horror movie released in 1958. It is directed by Albert Band and stars Richard Boone as Robert Kraft, a businessman who is elected as chairman of a cemetery. He discovers that some of the plot markers in the cemetery have black pins signifying the plot has been sold, while white pins represent unsold plots where no one has been buried. He accidentally places black pins in three white plots and the people whose names were on the markers die under mysterious circumstances. This movie takes viewers on a dark journey through supernatural and psychological horror.

The movie opens with Robert Kraft employed in a successful furniture business. He inherits the responsibility of overseeing the operation of a small cemetery in a peasant town. The cemetery has been operating for over a century and has a reputation for paranormal activities, especially for having black pins signifying that the plots have been sold even when the families of the names on the markers had not made any arrangements. Kraft is amazed at the extent of the paranormal activities being reported by the staff, but he is skeptical about their claims.

During a board meeting, Kraft is introduced to black and white, the identifying pins that denote sold or unsold plots, respectively. The board members are tasked with checking the cemetery for black pins and removing any that represent unsold plots. Kraft accidentally marks three white plots with black pins, unknowingly condemning three people to their deaths.

Soon after, the names of the three people whose plots Kraft accidentally marked start to appear in the daily obituaries. He tries to ignore the coincidences, but the more he tries, the more unexplainable deaths occur. When a psychic medium gets involved, things take a terrifying turn, and the tension builds.

The movie has a lot of suspenseful moments and a brooding atmosphere. The audience is left wondering if the deaths are just coincidences or if there is something supernatural going on in the cemetery. The cinematography is exceptional, and the black and white visuals make the movie look like a classic horror film.

Richard Boone delivers an excellent performance as Robert Kraft, the protagonist of the movie. The character starts out as a level-headed businessman dealing with the paranormal activity in the cemetery, but as the deaths start to pile up, he becomes unhinged and visibly shaken. Theodore Bikel, who plays Andy MacKenzie, the gravedigger, gives a standout performance as the creepy, pragmatic gravedigger with a vast knowledge of the cemetery and its history.

Another standout performance is Peggy Maurer, who plays Anne Craig, a young woman who discovers that the plots of her deceased husband and his parents had been switched. Anne is stubborn and refuses to believe that her husband's death was an accident, suspecting that Kraft had something to do with it.

Overall, I Bury the Living is a gripping psychological horror film that explores the supernatural and the dark corners of the human mind. The movie is striking for its sustained mood of dread, and its themes of mortality, grief, and the darkness that resides in the heart of man. The film is a masterpiece of classic horror that should not be missed.