Dead & Buried
It will take your breath away. All of it.
Dead & Buried (1981)
![Watch film Dead & Buried — Dead & Buried (1981) Original Trailer [FHD]](https://www.acmodasi.in/amdb/images/posters/2/42/dead-buried-1981-Xq1fv.webp)
Production
Budget
$3 000 000
Revenue
$216 166
Director
Scenario
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Author
Composer
Producer
Actors
James Farentino
Sheriff Dan Gillis
Melody Anderson
Janet Gillis
Jack Albertson
William G. Dobbs
Dennis Redfield
Ron
Nancy Locke
Linda
Lisa Blount
Girl on the Beach / Nurse Lisa
Robert Englund
Harry
Bill Quinn
Ernie
Short description
In the small coastal town of Potter's Bluff, visitors are welcomed warmly and then brutally murdered by groups of residents. The violence is strange enough, but stranger still is what follows: the victims reappear on the streets, apparently alive and going about their lives as locals. Sheriff Dan Gillis investigates the deaths and the impossibility of the dead walking among the living, while the town's undertaker, William G. Dobbs, pursues his own interests in the bodies. The mystery points toward a secret the community shares.
Gary Sherman directed the film, which sits between Death Line (1972) and Poltergeist III (1988) in his filmography. Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett wrote the screenplay, and Ronald Shusett produced with Robert Fentress. James Farentino plays Sheriff Gillis, with Melody Anderson as his wife Janet, Jack Albertson as Dobbs, and Dennis Redfield, Nancy Locke and Lisa Blount among the credited cast of 31. The production, made for 3 million dollars, belongs to the early 1980s cycle of American horror films mixing small-town settings with mystery.
On IMDb the film holds 6.5 out of 10 from around 17,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.4 out of 10 from roughly 340 votes. A critics' rating of 6.4 out of 10 from 17 reviews places critical and audience responses closely together, suggesting a film that has been received with moderate appreciation rather than strong enthusiasm on either side.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film was re-edited many times during production. Initially, the attack on the family happened later, after the murder of the hitchhiker, which is why the resurrected hitchhiker can be spotted among the attackers in the scene with the family in the old house.
- The shot of the needle going into the mannequin's eye was filmed in reverse. A tiny hole was drilled into the mannequin's pupil, and at the beginning the needle was already sticking out of it, while the eye was closed. The actress pulled the needle out of the pupil, and the eye opened.
- The scene in which Robert Boler's character parks his car at the gas station next to the car of James Farentino’s character was filmed from inside the latter's car.
- Due to the strict legislation regulating child labor, the filmmakers were unable to obtain permission to use the child actors playing Jamie for nighttime filming. Considering that everything with the children happened exclusively at night, the film crew was forced to build a huge tent under which a family car, a haunted house, and everything else needed to create the illusion of night could fit. Fans were installed inside the tent to dissipate the stuffiness. Unfortunately, they worked so loudly that all these scenes had to be dubbed during post-production. That's why you can see Nancy Lock’s lips moving even when she is silent.
- Special effects for the film were created by Stan Winston. Among other things, these special effects included a mechanical mannequin lying on a hospital bed – it could move, making it appear like a real person.
- In the surgery scene featuring the surgeon played by Jack Albertson (1907-1981), the hands shown actually belong to Stan Winston, not him.
- Due to the strict laws regarding child labor, the filmmakers were unable to obtain permission for nighttime filming with the child actors playing Jamie. The plot required the scenes with the children to take place at night, so the film crew erected a huge tent and placed both the family car and the haunted house inside it. Fans were also installed in the tent to dissipate the stuffiness, and they operated so loudly that all these scenes had to be re-dubbed, which is why the lips of the character Nancy Lock move even when she is silent.
- On the day the first beach scene with Christopher Allport and Lisa Blount (1957-2010) was filmed, the weather was, in Gary Sherman’s opinion, far too good and sunny. The film crew had to erect a huge canvas and make it hang from the cliff to block the sun.
- Stan Winston (1946-2008) created the special effects for the film. Among other things, these effects included a mechanical mannequin lying on the hospital bed of the character played by Christopher Allport (1947-2008). Winston’s mannequin was made very realistically and could even move, making it appear convincingly like a real person, which was even more shocking to the viewer when an needle was inserted into the pupil of its eye.
- On the day they filmed the first scene on the beach, the weather was good and sunny. The film crew had to construct a huge canvas to hang from the cliff and block out the sun.
- During filming, director Gary Sherman went to great lengths to avoid showing any red color in any of the scenes. This is what made the appearance of blood in the murder scenes so unexpectedly shocking. To the same end, he even ordered that the red taillights of cars be replaced with purple ones.
- One of the most innovative special effects in the film was the severed hand on the car radiator grille. The hand was a prop, but it was able to move – all this long before the advent of sophisticated animatronics and robotics. An actress hidden under the hood of the car was manipulating it.
- A nurse (played by Lisa Blount) enters the hospital room, approaches the patient (a mannequin completely bandaged, with only one eye visible), and plunges a needle directly into his eye. This special effect was conceived by Stan Winston, and he was very proud of it. The eye injection was filmed in reverse. A tiny hole was drilled in the mannequin's pupil, and when the take began, the needle was already inserted into it, with the eye closed. On the command of “Action!”, the actress pulled the needle out of the pupil, and the eye opened. During editing, this scene was reversed and inserted into the film, creating the illusion that the needle is entering the pupil.
- One of the most innovative special effects in the film was the severed hand caught in a car radiator grille. An actress hidden under the car's hood was moving it.
- The original title translates as 'Dead and Buried,' but the film's plot is more accurately reflected by the title 'Dead But Not Buried.'
- In the surgery scene featuring the surgeon played by Jack Albertson, the hands actually belong to Stan Winston.
- During filming, director Gary Sherman tried to remove the color red to make the sight of blood in the murder scenes more shocking. For the same reason, red headlights on the cars were replaced with purple ones.
- The scene in which Robert Boler’s character parks his car at the gas station next to the car of the character played by James Farentino (1938-2012) was filmed from inside the latter’s car.
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