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Buried Alive
R2 - United Kingdom - Second Sight Review written by and copyright: Neil Bray (16th September 2011). |
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The Film
 Back in 1990, I caught this TV movie on some channel late at night. I missed the first few minutes but managed to stick a VHS in and record the rest. Ever since, that tape has been kept long after my VHS player went to the defunct-electronics-graveyard to be with my record player, cassette deck and mini-disc player. But, my very fond memories of this film scaring the hell out of me in the early hours of the morning, meant I’ve kept that tape for the last 21 years, even though I can no longer play it. I probably haven’t seen this film in over 11 years. So, it was with extreme excitement that I geeked-out when I heard this film was finally coming to DVD and that I was going to get to review it. The big question is: was it as good as I remember it? Yes and no. The film is still very good; and for a TV movie it’s better than most, but it’s not quite as good as my memory had built it up to be. For anyone who doesn’t know, this is a revenge story. Poor Tim Matheson plays a very likeable, loving husband, whose wife is a complete bitch having an affair with a doctor. They want Tim’s money and so they decide to kill him. Unfortunately for them he doesn’t die. Instead, he is buried alive, digs his way out of the grave and comes back for revenge. Being handy with tools he traps the despicable pair in the basement, remodels the house and proceeds to lead them through a maze until his ultimate revenge is revealed. I remembered the rats-in-a-maze sequence going on for a lot longer, and being a lot more tense; whereas in reality it’s probably only ten minutes of the films. But, none of this really matters. The story is really good and the actors in top-notch form. This was Frank Darabont’s movie debut as a director and I think it shows. He is, in my opinion, one of the best directors working today; but with this film I think he was finding his feet and seeing what worked. He does a decent job and there are flashes of the excellence he would exhibit in later years. There are some suspenseful moments, but I think he’d do a much better job if he were to remake this today. I’m incredibly pleased that this film has finally made its way on to DVD and I know I will watch it again.
Video
For a 1990 TV movie this is looking pretty good. Given the quality of picture here they either found a really good print, or some remastering has happened. This is DVD quality for sure, but it’s good DVD quality. The colours are vibrant, the blacks solid and there is only a small amount of standard definition blurring. A solid 1.33:1 picture.
Audio
Only an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track is available, but it does a perfectly good job. Dialogue is clear and there no noticeable problems throughout. No subtitles are included.
Extras
None.
Overall
Deserving of more on the extras side, but overall a very solid release from Second Sight. In the past some of their releases have been hit-or-miss on the picture quality side, but here they’ve done a great job. A solid thriller and a bit of a lost gem and I’m very pleased to see it’s finally available to buy.
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