"Welcome to Potter's Bluff, a New Way of Life" This is one of those horror-films that defies-categorization, it is just that good (and enigmatic, it keeps its secrets). Not really written by Dan O'Bannon and Ron Shusett, the story was created-by Jeff Millar and Alex Stern. O'Bannon and Shusett did a minor-rewrite of the screenplay, with backer-interference that added a few-more scenes of gore. Yes, in the golden age of slashers (1978-81), films like The Fog and Dead & Buried had gore added for commercial-reasons only. Gary Sherman's original-cut was supposed to be more comedic, a black-comedy about American small-towns. Still, I think the film overcomes this interference overall, though it gets pretty serious as it progresses. Reagan referred-to America as "the city on the hill", a place with a special-mission, where traditions never end. Potter's Bluff was Gary Sherman's parody of Reagan-America, and it still resonates with the mindless-insanity of today. It should, he began a lot of the mess we're in. The Gipper always looked half-dead anyway, like all those Soviet Commisars, a relic of a dead-era.
I cannot honestly think of many horror-films that are this grim, this hopeless, and there you have some of the social-commentary about dead-end life in Main Street America. In the early-1980s, those of us who were paying-attention (punks, post-punk culture, freaks, radicals, thinkers, etc.) really thought the world was going to end soon. We were off by two-decades, apparently. Contrary to what you've been-told, Reagan didn't get-elected by a landslide, and the divisions between Americans from the 1960s simply went-underground. Dead & Buried reflects this undercurrent of rage, the death-impulse underneath the everyday, the reality bursting-forth, a force resisting change. A desire for cultural-limbo, a cultural-death. When things don't change, premature-death is certain. You really have to look for this subtext now, but Sherman's skill allowed it to survive the cuts and additions by PSO International, the corporation that bought the other-two backers. Out-went the satire, in-went some shoddy-gore. It was 1981.
But, it's still an incredible-story, and there's some great horror here. Sure, it owes some debt to George Romero (especially in its original-form), but it takes us places we really wished we were never taken. It seems that every time a stranger comes to Potter's Bluff, they're brutally-murdered, only to mysteriously-reappear as a resident of the coastal town. No, this isn't a surrealist-film, and these oddities accumulate and become very unsettling as the film progresses. Events that defy-explanation escalate, as Sheriff Dan Gillis (played by James Farentino) investigates the murders, and the reappearance of the strangers. His humorous-foil is the local coroner, William G. Dobbs (Jack Albert in his final movie-role, best-known as the lovable grandpa in 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), who seems only mildly-concerned about the murders. As the story progresses, Dobbs becomes the center of what and why strange-things are happening in Potter's Bluff. Yes, even the name of the town is a dead-giveaway, pun-intended.
This is probably Stan Winston's best-work, insofar as gore is concerned. One murder-victim's face is totally-reconstructed by the Dobbs-character (really Winston's hands, fast-cut) in what is almost a one-take scene! It looks completely-real, and if you love gore, this is YOUR film. People die in some of the most disgusting, and heartless-methods in Dead & Buried. The money-shot is the scene in-which a victim is stabbed-in-the-eye with a hypodermic-needle, and it goes DEEP. You can have gallons-of-blood, but THIS is really effective! Robert Englund also has a small-part, and the cast is pretty good overall. The film also has a great cinematography, and Sherman is no slouch as a horror-director--he really should be doing a Masters of Horror Episode, since he is one. Dead & Buried is a film heavy with atmosphere, and dread, and is a must-see for true fans of horror. It even has a touch of Lovecraft, and the setting is supposed to be New England (probably O'Bannon's addition). The fact that the movie doesn't entirely explain everything is why it's so weird and unsettling, not just because of the gore.
SPOILER: As the film reaches its end, it becomes clear that the Coroner Dobbs has been practicing some form of necromancy, and derives a power from resurrecting the dead. Sheriff Gillis, unknown-to-himself, was murdered-earlier by his undead-wife (this is revealed in Super- 8mm footage shown by Dobbs, the wife stabs Gillis in the back, nice). Dobbs controls all the dead in Potter's Bluff, and has chosen Gillis as the instrument of his own demise--so he can "live" eternally with his zombies. This, then, is a story of a lust for power! When I first saw this film in 1982 on HBO, it completely freaked-me-out, so I had to inflict it on my brother and some friends. It's so creepy and freaky, they were angry with me for months...
PS: The Blue Underground 2-DVD set is the best! I got it as a promo when it hit, and it is incredible. As-usual, their transfer is excellent, widescreen, and has three-commentaries. The second-disc has some great interviews with Stan Winston and Dan O'Bannon that have to be seen. You must own this film, if-only to anger your family, heheh! A really great horror-film leaves one feeling violated. Score!
I cannot honestly think of many horror-films that are this grim, this hopeless, and there you have some of the social-commentary about dead-end life in Main Street America. In the early-1980s, those of us who were paying-attention (punks, post-punk culture, freaks, radicals, thinkers, etc.) really thought the world was going to end soon. We were off by two-decades, apparently. Contrary to what you've been-told, Reagan didn't get-elected by a landslide, and the divisions between Americans from the 1960s simply went-underground. Dead & Buried reflects this undercurrent of rage, the death-impulse underneath the everyday, the reality bursting-forth, a force resisting change. A desire for cultural-limbo, a cultural-death. When things don't change, premature-death is certain. You really have to look for this subtext now, but Sherman's skill allowed it to survive the cuts and additions by PSO International, the corporation that bought the other-two backers. Out-went the satire, in-went some shoddy-gore. It was 1981.
But, it's still an incredible-story, and there's some great horror here. Sure, it owes some debt to George Romero (especially in its original-form), but it takes us places we really wished we were never taken. It seems that every time a stranger comes to Potter's Bluff, they're brutally-murdered, only to mysteriously-reappear as a resident of the coastal town. No, this isn't a surrealist-film, and these oddities accumulate and become very unsettling as the film progresses. Events that defy-explanation escalate, as Sheriff Dan Gillis (played by James Farentino) investigates the murders, and the reappearance of the strangers. His humorous-foil is the local coroner, William G. Dobbs (Jack Albert in his final movie-role, best-known as the lovable grandpa in 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), who seems only mildly-concerned about the murders. As the story progresses, Dobbs becomes the center of what and why strange-things are happening in Potter's Bluff. Yes, even the name of the town is a dead-giveaway, pun-intended.
This is probably Stan Winston's best-work, insofar as gore is concerned. One murder-victim's face is totally-reconstructed by the Dobbs-character (really Winston's hands, fast-cut) in what is almost a one-take scene! It looks completely-real, and if you love gore, this is YOUR film. People die in some of the most disgusting, and heartless-methods in Dead & Buried. The money-shot is the scene in-which a victim is stabbed-in-the-eye with a hypodermic-needle, and it goes DEEP. You can have gallons-of-blood, but THIS is really effective! Robert Englund also has a small-part, and the cast is pretty good overall. The film also has a great cinematography, and Sherman is no slouch as a horror-director--he really should be doing a Masters of Horror Episode, since he is one. Dead & Buried is a film heavy with atmosphere, and dread, and is a must-see for true fans of horror. It even has a touch of Lovecraft, and the setting is supposed to be New England (probably O'Bannon's addition). The fact that the movie doesn't entirely explain everything is why it's so weird and unsettling, not just because of the gore.
SPOILER: As the film reaches its end, it becomes clear that the Coroner Dobbs has been practicing some form of necromancy, and derives a power from resurrecting the dead. Sheriff Gillis, unknown-to-himself, was murdered-earlier by his undead-wife (this is revealed in Super- 8mm footage shown by Dobbs, the wife stabs Gillis in the back, nice). Dobbs controls all the dead in Potter's Bluff, and has chosen Gillis as the instrument of his own demise--so he can "live" eternally with his zombies. This, then, is a story of a lust for power! When I first saw this film in 1982 on HBO, it completely freaked-me-out, so I had to inflict it on my brother and some friends. It's so creepy and freaky, they were angry with me for months...
PS: The Blue Underground 2-DVD set is the best! I got it as a promo when it hit, and it is incredible. As-usual, their transfer is excellent, widescreen, and has three-commentaries. The second-disc has some great interviews with Stan Winston and Dan O'Bannon that have to be seen. You must own this film, if-only to anger your family, heheh! A really great horror-film leaves one feeling violated. Score!