Dead & Buried

Dead & Buried, a 1981 horror film from the early ‘80s gore cycle, boasts an above-average pedigree. Reworking an original story by Jeff Millar and Alex Stern, co-writers Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett were a hot commodity after Ridley Scott turned their script for Alien (1979) into one of the most influential sci-fi/horror classics of all time. The pair's involvement here (with Shusett doubling as co-producer) was enough to secure easy financing for this creepy, low-budget chiller, one of the first for the late, great special effects wizard Stan Winston, whose later credits (including Aliens, The Terminator, and Jurassic Park) made him an Oscar-winning legend in his field. Directed by Gary Sherman, Dead & Buried takes place in the eerie, Stephen King-like, small-town setting of Potter's Bluff, an eastern coastal village (although it was actually filmed on location in Mendocino, CA, now the marijuana-growing capital of the U.S.) where murdered tourists and transients seem to come back to life. James Farentino plays the local sheriff trying to solve the mystery, while Robert (“Freddy Krueger”) Englund has a creepy supporting role, and Jack Albertson (in his final, most demented performance) shines as the town mortician who takes a little too much pride in his “art.” The killings are sufficiently grisly to lend the film a memorable cringe-factor, while Sherman's direction is reasonably stylish (he earned a follow-up job on the 1982 cult favorite Vice Squad). Dead & Buried is not a bona-fide classic by any stretch, but it definitely has a dedicated following amongst horror aficianados. Blue Underground's Blu-ray release looks handsome, especially considering the limited benefits of high-def on an 28-year-old low-budget fright-fest. Blu-ray extras include three cast and crew commentaries, as well as a trio of featurettes, which together offer ample background on the film's rocky production history. A strong optional purchase. (J. Shannon)