The Premature Burial

The only one of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe adaptations not starring Vincent Price, 1962's The Premature Burial features Ray Milland as Guy Carrell, an aristocrat who has a crippling fear of being buried alive, due to a family history of catalepsy. This obsession overtakes his life until the rather elderly newlywed moves into the family crypt—much to the horror of his neglected bride (Hazel Court), who observes that Guy has already "buried himself alive" and makes him choose the crypt or life with her. Like most of Corman's Poe films, this one borrows little more than the central idea and title from Poe, as Corman creates a world completely within the studio, including a veritable haunted forest of dead trees, an ever-present mist hugging the boggy ground, and a pair of creepy gravediggers (John Dierkes and Dick Miller) who constantly lurk about and whistle the folk song "Molly Malone" as a dirge-like threat. Although too old for the role, Milland's bearing and deep, authoritative voice hold the center of every scene, whether he's the romantic husband swept up in the promise of a happily ever after or the tormented obsessive spiraling into the madness of obsession. Extras include interviews with Corman and fellow director Joe Dante. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)