Film Review: BURIED ALIVE (1990)

The telefilm Buried Alive (1990) is directed by Frank Darabont who would later craft The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Green Mile (1999), and The Mist (2007), not to mention bringing to AMC the hit television series The Walking Dead.  This just so happens to be Darabont’s debut feature film after having directed the Stephen King based short story The Woman in the Room (1984).  This being said, this is not the type of film you might be expecting from Darabont.

Clint Goodman (Tim Matheson) is happily married to Joanna (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who unbeknownst to him is having an affair with Cortland Van Owen (William Atherton).  It seems that Joanna has had a tough time adjusting to her new life in the country and wants to stop the charade with her husband.   Cortland has hatched a plan that would allow them to get away from it all as long as they murder Clint to collect the insurance money.  Joanna thinks she kills Clint but only puts him in a deep coma.  After he is buried alive Joanna and Cortland think they have it made only Clint has managed to awaken from his coma and dug himself out of his own grave.  Realizing that his wife has masqueraded his death, Clint decides to hatch an elaborate plan to get even with his wife and her lover.

Although very much a product of “90s TV movies the film relies on the performances of its three leads which is where Matheson excels.  He starts off as your typical small town architect whom everyone loves and slows descends into vengeful madman due to his wife’s infidelity.  It is to Darabont’s assured direction that you get to see the slow metamorphosis of Clint and you believe that his reaction is the most logical one.

The film is hampered by it being a TV film but the build up to the ending is totally worth the wait and it shows the skill in film making that would aid Darabont in his future films.  This is definitely an older film to look out for as it possesses a lot of great elements that will still entertain to this day.

Film Review: Stephen King’s WORLD OF HORROR

This 45 minute special on Stephen King, one of the most famous horror novelist whose countless stories have been adapted to film, is sparse on its overall impact on the films on the writer himself while it focuses on the films which have had the most provide impact on the way in which he sees horror.  Stephen King’s World of Horror doesn’t exactly delve into the many films that have been made from the author’s many stories but instead focuses mostly on two of the most famous short films made from his works which is “Boogie Man” and “The Woman in the Room.”  Neither film is of any great importance other than the later having been written and directed by future King film specialist Frank Darabont (who adapted King’s The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist).

The film contains several people of note in the horror genre such as Tom Savini, John Carpenter, and Clive Barker, among many others but other than some cursory remarks about King’s work these interviews really just focus on the horror genre in general and not King’s influence on the genre.  A good portion of the second act of the film has to do with this approach before returning focus to King himself.

The film suffers from the fact that it never talks about the films most famous from his work such as Carrie, Cujo, Firestarter, Creepshow (despite the fact that Savini does mention King’s starring role in the film) or even his own directorial efforts on Maximum Overdrive.   The film is at its strongest when King is speaking but loses its punch when others take the focus away from King and his films (and this is supposed to be a film about the world of Stephen King).  This being said, the film actually has very little to offer in the way of introducing the films of King to any audience much less King’s other work.  The film is simply a way in which audiences get to hear a few stories from King’s own mouth.  The film has very little to offer audiences who aren’t already King fans.