Buried Alive

• Director: Gerard Kikoine
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Horror
• Main Cast: John Carradine, Donald Pleasence, Robert Vaughn
• Release Year: 1989
• Country: UK/ZA
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• MPAA Rating: R

Plot

Although this bloody, relentlessly weird South African production purports to be a modern-day treatment of the works of Edgar Allan Poe (most promotional materials list the author's name above the title), it actually bears so little relation to Poe's writing that it makes Roger Corman's Poe "adaptations" seem meticulously loyal by comparison. The story involves a young psychologist whose arrival at the creepy Ravenscroft Institute for troubled girls is followed by the disappearance of several students. Tormented by a series of grotesque nightmares involving a deranged killer, the heroine eventually learns of the bizarre goings-on within the school's hallowed halls. Some oddball touches and outlandish performances from Robert Vaughn and Donald Pleasence (in a bad wig) make this film just campy enough to be entertaining. Alert viewers can spot John Carradine in his final role. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Cast

Ginger Lynn Allen - Debbie; John Carradine - Jacob; Nia Long - Fingers; Donald Pleasence - Dr.Schaeffer; Robert Vaughn - Dr.Gary; Arnold Vosloo; Karen Witter - Janet; Lynn White

Credit

Gerard Kikoine - Director, Frederic Talgorn - Composer (Music Score), Edgar Allan Poe - Short Story Author