Dead & Buried (1981)

This halloween, I've been waxing nostalgic by collecting by collecting a lot of old, little-known horror movies that scared me as a kid. Back in the late 70's/early 80's there really wasn't much out there so viewers who allow a little leeway for the time it was released will find a lot to appreciate in this movie.

Dead and Buried stars James Farentino as Sheriff Dan Gillis who becomes bewildered by a series of bizarre and brutal murders happening to visitors of his small, seaside town. The plot thickens due to the quick dismissal of the murders by Gillis' wife (played by Melody Anderson anyone remember Flash Gordon?) and soon the sheriff starts to wonder if she is involved somehow. To make matters worse, townspeople start reporting sightings of the murdered long after they've been "dead and buried."

The story is adequate with a number of twists thrown in. Skilled horror buffs may feel let down with the ending, but I think it's due to the fact many other movies have ripped off this plot line since the movie was released. What really separates this movie from the rest is the disturbing methods these people are murdered, with frequent cuts to dozens of people surrounding and photographing the helpless victims. The murders look especially realistic for the time (although, granted a little dated now) due to makeup effects of Stan Winston who has since worked on other "little-known" releases like Predator, Edward Scissorhands, the Jurassic Park series, and the Terminator series.

You'll be lucky to run across a copy of this movie in a video store. Should you buy it? If you're a fan of the genre and movies made in this time period, such as The Funhouse, My Bloody Valentine, or Halloween, then I'd say yes.

Hope the review helped.

In the sea of forgettable FRIDAY THE 13th sequels and clones came this little creative and disturbing gem from the early 80's wave of gruesome horror.

Several people passing through the quaint and picturesque town of Potter's Bluff die terrible, violent deaths only to turn up as upstanding members of the community days later. What's going on? Well, I wouldn't dream of telling, but you'll have a lot of fun finding out.

Blue Underground bravely chose to bring DEAD AND BURIED to blu-ray in spite of it's low-budget and humble production values. Visually, the result may not be on a par with some glossy production shot yesterday, but it nonetheless faithfully reproduces the imagery of this film as it originally appeared, and this is the best you are ever likely to see DEAD AND BURIED look. I had the deluxe DVD treatment, and this Blu-ray is IMO a worthy upgrade of a great little shocker.

Buy Dead & Buried (1981) Now

I did like this film and I just watched it for the second time. I give it a very solid 3 stars. But I'm puzzled by the other reviews. I would give Alien 4 stars and Aliens 5 stars. This film does not reach those lofty heights. Even though it's encoded for 7.1 sound, I didn't hear much coming from the surrounds. And while it may be in high-def, it is rather grainy. This is not real surprising with a film this old. But advertising it as high-def with 7.1 sound creates expectations which are not met. The film billed itself as being made by the folks who made Alien. Again, it is raising expectations needlessly. People are going to expect a film equal to Alien in gorgeous hi-def with stunning 7.1 surround sound. This film can't deliver that. But it is a very good grade B horror film and it is worth watching several times.

The cast is very strong. It is cool to see a young Robert Englund. And Jack Albertson's performance as the undertaker is worth an Academy Award. James Farentino never wins any awards but he never delivers a bad performance either. It was good to see him again. Also the film is now a period piece due to its age. It was fun watching the sheriff (or his aide) use a telex to investigate. And we have great fx for a low budget pre-cgi film. The story made no sense, but that is often the case with horror.

So yes, it's a nice 3 star horror film, not another Alien.

Read Best Reviews of Dead & Buried (1981) Here

Version: U.S.A / Blue Underground / Region A, B, C

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

VC-1 BD-50 / AACS / Advanced Profile 3

Running time: 1:33:59

Feature size: 29,73 GB

Disc size: 33,48 GB

Total bit rate: 42.18 Mbps

Average video bit rate: 32.22 Mbps

DTS-HD Master Audio English 2497 kbps 7.1 / 48 kHz / 2497 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)

Dolby TrueHD Audio English 2664 kbps 7.1 / 48 kHz / 2664 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1-EX / 48 kHz / 448 kbps)

Dolby Digital EX Audio English 448 kbps 5.1-EX / 48 kHz / 448 kbps

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

Subtitles: English SDH, French, and Spanish

Number of chapters: 24

#Audio Commentaries

#Stan Winston's Dead and Buried EFX (17 min)

#Robert Englund: An Early Work of Horror (12 min)

#Dan O'Bannon: Creating Fear (14 min)

#Trailers (5 min)

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i first saw this grim little shocker on cable in the 80's and thought it was great. this 2 disc set is very much worth the price and has a wealth of extras.

potter's bluff is a small town with a problem,people keep getting killed in very bad ways,only later to show up as townfolk.sheriff dan gillis is at a lose to explain this and the more he digs the less he likes this little problem.

the transfer is great and this little shocker will keep you guessing til the very end(and what an end)!! so if you like your horror movies that are a little out of the normal you'll like this one

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