This must be my favourite horror movie (it was banned by the censor for ten years). The acting is so good and so is the music. The eerie atmosphere created has never been surpassed. I have this movie on video and frequently watch it; I should like to get it on DVD.
shareThe only horror I felt was when I realized I had just wasted 71 minutes of my life watching this boring, dated, piece of crap.
Horror indeed...
It was high (#2, I think) on his list of scariest movies, and he made note of the premature burial. I'll nitpick: If you're placed in a large wooden box, above ground, and there are people around who will eventually hear you, just relax and you'll be okay. You're not "buried".
The movie held my attention. Val Lewton's use of light and shadow will make any movie watchable.
But for pete's sake, if you're subject to catatonic trances in the midst of a deadly epidemic, wouldn't you make sure everyone knew to wait a few days before assuming you were dead?
The scenes wheee Thea (Ellen Drew) hears the voices in the crypt, and sees the shadows moving - the first two instances of the shadows moving are absolutely terrifying!
"I wrote a poem on a dog biscuit;
And your dog refused to look at it..."
I have to agree with this. One scene (being buried alive) does not a movie make. Or a horror movie, anyway. It has a decent atmosphere, but all along we are told the deaths are due to a plague, and there is scant evidence that it's anything supernatural, despite the old woman's claims. So people slowing dying because of a plague is not scary or horrific in the theatrical sense. Towards the end the plot suddenly changes and we have a homicidal killer running amok, but that comes way too late to the story to save it from being anything other than mediocre.
shareI agree. It's my favorite Lewton. Robson manages the mood of the movie to evolve from melancholy to dread to horror without any ridiculous comic relief that so many movies of this ilk have a tendency to do. The cast is perfect. IMO for many of them this is the best role of their career.
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