Premature Burial (1962)
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33% of critics liked it
(6 reviews) -
43% of users liked it
(375 ratings)
Roger Corman's success with low-budget adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe tales continued with this third installment, the first to lack the commanding presence of Vincent Price. Instead, we have Ray Milland as tormented protagonist Guy Carrell, who is so traumatized by the death of his father --… More Roger Corman's success with low-budget adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe tales continued with this third installment, the first to lack the commanding presence of Vincent Price. Instead, we have Ray Milland as tormented protagonist Guy Carrell, who is so traumatized by the death of his father -- whom he believes was entombed alive after suffering a cataleptic attack -- that he becomes convinced that he will meet a similar demise. Guy's mounting dementia rapidly undermines his recent marriage to the lovely Emily (Hazel Court), particularly after he begins the construction of a specially designed crypt rigged with numerous escape devices. Encouraged by Emily to face his fears, Guy decides to view his father's remains, to prove once and for all whether he died peacefully. When the crypt is opened, however, what he finds there is so horrifying that he succumbs to a cataleptic episode himself, which doctors misdiagnose as a fatal heart attack... and Guy's worst fear soon becomes a reality. Milland's performance conveys the requisite amount of hand-wringing torment (in the mode of The Lost Weekend), even if he fails to capture the manic intensity that Price brought to the other Poe films. Corman's deft direction, employing a rich palette of colors and superb widescreen compositions, is on a par with the series' finest installments. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Directed By
- Roger Corman
- Written By
- Charles Beaumont
- Genres
- Drama, Horror, Mystery & Suspense, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Mar 7, 1962 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
The third of the Edgar Allan Poe adaptations directed by Roger Corman and released by AIP, is... the ugly stepchild of the franchise
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Mark Bourne, DVDJournal.com
Ray Milland emotes, by turns, dour gloominess or manic eyeball-spinning through a weak script that bears too little sense and too many similarities to its predecessors, Usher and Pendulum.
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Mark Bourne, DVDJournal.com
The Premature Burial doesn't fare as well with its 2.35:1 anamorphic print not quite as clean or colorful, but it's still a good image with fine monaural DD 2.0 audio.
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Scott Weinberg, Apollo Guide
Like many of its immediate ilk, this one's stagy and outdated and kinda silly - in other words, good stuff.
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Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Middling Corman spook show.
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Cast
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Ray Milland
as Guy Carrell
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Hazel Court
as Emily Gault
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Richard Ney
as Miles Archer
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Heather Angel
as Kate Carrell
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Alan Napier
as Dr. Gideon Gault
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John Dierkes
as Sweeney
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Dick Miller
as Mole
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Brendan Dillon
as Minister
- Clive L. Halliday
