Premature Burial (USA, 1962) 81 min color DIR-PROD: Roger Corman. SCR: Charles Beaumont, Ray Russell, based on the story by Edgar Allan Poe. MUSIC: Ronald Stein. DOP: Floyd Crosby. CAST: Ray Milland, Hazel Court, Richard Ney, Heather Angel, Alan Napier, John Dierkes, Dick Miller. (American International Pictures)
This entry in Roger Corman’s Poe cycle is quite underrated, perhaps because it is the only one that features Ray Milland in the lead instead of Vincent Price. Yet, seeing the film as is, it is difficult to imagine the other actor in the role. Milland’s reserve and slightly haunted look are perfect for the atmosphere of this dark comedy, in the role of aristocrat Guy Garrell, who has a fear of being buried alive, to the degree that such moribund thoughts enter every aspect of his being. Even in what should be joyous moments of his life, this darkness hangs over him.
In the marvellous teaser of an opening, he is witness to a coffin being unearthed. The lid is opened while the camera is positioned from inside the casket. Once the light catches the lid being opened, we see dried bloody finger marks from where the person in the casket was trying to get out. This dreamlike opening perfectly captures the material. The narrative acts like some kind of long nightmare, as clouds of dry ice infiltrate every other scene, and Ron Stein’s music permeates the mood.
Corman expertly adds to the claustrophobic nature of the film. His oft-used motif of putting banister bars in the foreground to get the frame some depth makes literal sense. During the wedding sequence, of all things, we are reminded of all things closing in on Guy with this simple little touch. Similarly, the most tender moments with his wife (Hazel Court) are jarringly interrupted by stock shots of thunder and lightning. Even a romantic walk occurs by a graveyard!
Premature Burial is truly a picture in Corman’s filmography that is worthy of re-discovery. However its fatal step is the final quarter, which reduces this great little mood piece of paranoia into a silly O. Henry-esque tale of revenge and irony. I am uncertain if this is a mistake on the part of screenwriters Charles Beaumont and Ray Russell, or if it comes from the source material, but this movie previously works because it is so illogical. The unexplained or the paranormal is always more frightening than any conventional melodrama. This is a mistake that Robert Towne did not make in The Tomb of Ligeia. Otherwise, this marvellous little picture is one of the most atmospheric of the Poe adaptations, and is quite undeserving of neglect.
Originally published in The Roger Corman Scrapbook.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.