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The Premature Burial

Play trailer Poster for The Premature Burial 1962 1h 21m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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50% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 43% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Based on Edgar Allan Poe's story about a cataleptic Englishman obsessed with the fear of being buried alive.
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The Premature Burial

Critics Reviews

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Sean Axmaker Parallax View 06/20/2015
Like most of Corman's Poe films, the script (this one by Charles Beaumont and Ray Russell) borrows little more than the central idea and the title from Poe. This one owes a debt to Gaslight and Diabolique Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Creative Loafing 05/14/2015
2.5/4
The picture is hurt by the central casting as well as too much narrative recycling required for this to reach feature length, but a nice plot twist allows the movie to end in somewhat satisfactory style. Go to Full Review
Tim Brayton Antagony & Ecstasy 10/17/2011
5/10
The third of the Edgar Allan Poe adaptations directed by Roger Corman and released by AIP, is... the ugly stepchild of the franchise Go to Full Review
Mark Bourne DVDJournal.com 04/05/2006
Ray Milland emotes, by turns, dour gloominess or manic eyeball-spinning through a weak script that bears too little sense and too many similarities to its predecessors, Usher and Pendulum. Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 07/24/2005
2/5
Scott Weinberg Apollo Guide 03/06/2003
67/100
Like many of its immediate ilk, this one's stagy and outdated and kinda silly - in other words, good stuff. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Kalissa H @kali_416 Oct 13 The lead for Guy would’ve been better with Vincent Price or even Peter Cushing. The lead was fine but could’ve been more compelling. The last bit of the movie is the best part. See more william d @acsdoug 04/28/2022 I knew this was a Roger Corman cheapie going in and the story and sets were pretty much what I expected. What disappointed me most was the choice for lead actor. Ray Milland manages to overact while remaining wooden, expressionless - and even occasionally motionless - all at the same time. See more 07/11/2021 The third of Roger Corman's Poe movies, this time Corman decided that he wanted to make his own Poe film outside of his deal with American-International Pictures. He got his financing through Pathé Lab, the company that did the print work for AIP. While he wanted to use Vincent Price, he had an exclusive deal with AIP, so he hired Ray Milland. Then, on the first day of shooting, James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff of AIP showed up, told Corman they were working together again and excited that they'd convinced Pathé to bring the movie back to them after threatening to pull all their lab work. Guy Carrell (Milland) is a British aristocrat who suffers from catalepsy and worries that he will only appear dead and be buried alive. This nearly ruins his marriage to Emily (Hazel Court, who shows up in so many movies that I love, such as The Raven and The Masque of the Red Death) as he goes mad at the slightest mention of death and even passes out when she plays the piano. But hey — they get married anyways, even if he makes an incredibly complex coffin that he can escape from. Let me tell you, the dream sequence where he does get buried alive? I saw it before I was ten when forced to visit the home of other children instead of getting to watch movies at home alone, as I have preferred my entire life. They went and played some game and I grabbed the TV Guide and found a horror movie. That sequence completely destroyed me and I remember walking onto their porch and staring into the sunset and wondering how the adults could be so carefree when death was stalking our every waking moment. Yeah, I was a weird kid and grew up to be even more odd. But hey — Dick Miller shows up as a grave robber! See more 05/01/2020 By The Premature Burial, Roger Corman has worn out his Poe formula. As the third in his series of adaptations of the classic author's gothic tales, it can't live up to its predecessors, which have already covered the same ground with superior stories and more frightening imagery. It doesn't help that Vincent Price has been replaced by Ray Milland who can't match the former's commanding presence. The movie still keeps from being unenjoyable thanks to its deadly twist ending and foggy Victorian sets. See more delysid d 04/28/2018 this is a vincent price movie without vincent price. its still ok but it would have been better with the master of horror See more 09/15/2017 I don't care if this is the one Corman adaptation of Poe that jacks Vincent Price. This is gothic horror, as good as it gets. Milland brings an elegance, charm and an aristocracy to a part that calls for it. From beginning to end, we get a compelling tale of paranoia, obsession and destiny. It's exactly what you'd expect of a story based off of Poe's work. See more Read all reviews
The Premature Burial

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Movie Info

Synopsis Based on Edgar Allan Poe's story about a cataleptic Englishman obsessed with the fear of being buried alive.
Director
Roger Corman
Producer
Roger Corman
Screenwriter
Charles Beaumont, Ray Russell
Production Co
American Internat'l Pics
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 7, 1962, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 9, 2015
Runtime
1h 21m
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