Home - Review Index - Ratings - Content Icons - Links

Shadow's Title: "The Premature Catnap"

Quick buy:

We start off in a mist shrouded graveyard at night. Gathered around a grave are a group of men who watch while two more guys go about the business of digging up a grave. We see that Guy Carrell, Miles Archer and Dr. Gideon Gault are part of the gathered men. Soon enough the two gravediggers, one of who is whistling an annoying tune, reach the coffin. They pry loose the lid and hand it off to Guy and Miles, who both notice that the interior side is covered with scratch marks and dried blood. The gravediggers then begin to freak out, barreling their way out of the grave with all the expediency of a sailor running for the local red light district after a year at sea. Looking into the open coffin, the assembled men see that the body – that of an older man, is sporting a horrified expression…the kind usually reserved for men who have just been told that their mother-in-law is coming for a six month stay. The camera zooms in on the corpse and we realize that this poor old bastard had been buried alive, and had clawed desperately at the coffin before giving up the ghost (still beats six months with the mother-in-law IMO).

We now see a carriage making its way through a spooky landscape that seems to have two distinct features: sporadic trees and lots of fog. The conveyance pulls to a stop before a really creepy house that is surrounded by…you guessed it – mist and fog. Inside the carriage is Emily Gault, who now exits and walks to the front door. She insists on seeing Guy Carrell and after some delaying tactics by Guy’s sister Kate, she breezes past, intent on finding Guy.

She finds Guy, who tells her she should not have come. We learn that they were once engaged to be married, but Guy called it off. She says that she knows "what happened" and that her father told her. He talks about his decision and says something about not running away from what was inside "that coffin" but rather, what he knew to be inside himself. I’m guessing that he is referring to that opening scene in the graveyard.

Am I the only one who is lost? Ok…they were engaged, or at the very least courting, I get that. But something about seeing a dead guy changed his mind about marriage? Was the dead guy holding a sign that said, "don’t do it?" Did the stiff sit up and proclaim his ardent support of the bachelor life? Did his headstone say "killed by marriage?" What?!

So Guy now leads Emily to the family crypt. He talks about how death has affected his family…his father suffering the worst death of all. Kate appears and reminds him to take his medicine. Emily wants to know what medicine he is taking and he explains that without it, he cannot sleep. Guy now reveals that for years now, he has been afraid of being buried alive.

She asks him how his father died, and he tells her it was due to catalepsy. She is unfamiliar with such a condition, so he describes it for her: how the victim gives every outward sign of being dead, but in fact is not (Republicans!). He goes on to say that he was thirteen when his father died of a supposed heart attack. After the elder Carrell was entombed, the young Guy heard his father crying out from within his coffin, begging for release. Guy pleaded with everyone to let him out, but no one believed him.

Kate says how the story is not true. She believes that he only heard their father’s voice in his mind. He insists that he knows the truth of the matter. He tells Emily that in addition to his father’s money, he has inherited his catalepsy condition…and this is why he called the marriage off.

Ya know, I have heard some weak excuses in my time, but that one really takes the cake.

Emily is persistent. She tells him that she loves him and that she wants to be his wife.. She looks at Guy and tells him that if he truly loves her, he won’t shut her out of his life. Guy seems to think it over and chooses to marry her. Kate looks extremely unhappy, and says of his decision, "then let it be upon your own head." What a killjoy! I think the old maid is jealous.

Now some time has passed. We see lightning streak across a cloudy sky. Indoors, Guy and Emily are gettin’ hitched! I don’t know about you, but getting married on a dark and stormy night is not the most positive way to start things off. What is really funny is that when the priest gets to that part where he asks if anyone objects to the union between these two people and should speak now or "forever hold his peace," thunder and lightning instantly erupt. Not a good sign, people!

A short time later at the reception, Guy’s good friend Miles Archer makes a toast in their honor. Guy convinces Emily to play something on the piano to entertain the guests. As she plays, Guy chitchats with her father, a Dr. Gideon Gault while Miles approaches Emily and compliments her on her playing. It's quite obvious that his "admiration" for her is more than just that.

Guy walks up to where his new wife is at the piano and asks her what she is playing. She gives him the name of the tune and he asks her to please stop playing it. She asks why and he responds with a much louder and adamant, "please stop playing it!" The whole room stops and takes notice. The guests are concerned for Guy but he just wants everyone to leave him alone. He runs up the stairs and while leaning against the banister, gets a vision of that dead guy they exhumed at the beginning of the flick. Then he runs to his room and collapses on the bed.

He is awoken by Emily who is decked out in her nightie and tells him that all the guests have left. Hey! This is the wedding night! It’s time for the traditional wedding night Boom-Boom! Emily asks her husband what happened to him earlier and he tries to explain that there was something about the music she was playing that reminded him of that annoying tune the gravedigger was whistling during that opening scene. Man, this dude sure is developing some major neuroses over that incident! Emily assures him that it is just the two of them now and firmly plants a long kiss on his lips. The smooch is interrupted by what sounds like a scream coming from outside.

Guy jumps up to investigate. He makes his way through the house and outside, where it is raining pretty good. He wanders through the trees and mist, eventually coming face to face with a horrid creature stalking the night! No, it’s not the Wolfman, but his sister Kate! She is standing over the body of a Collie. She says the lightning must have killed the animal. Guy says that he will bury the dog. Kate agrees but for now she ushers Guy back towards the house where it is dry. They’ve barely taken a few steps when a dog’s whimpering can be heard. They stop and turn around to see the dog picking itself up off the ground. Kate remarks that the lightning must have only stunned the animal. Guy is horrified…but not at dogs coming back from the dead. Nope, he is spazzing out because he realizes he almost buried a living dog. Fade out.

Fade in. Guy is standing in the graveyard, drawing up plans. Emily brings up the topic of their honeymoon. She was expecting a trip to Venice and so far Mr. Romance here has not produced. He tells her to be patient with him, so she dedicates herself to brightening up "that dreary old house." She plucks a few wild flowers and when she shows them to Guy, he violently pushes them away. She is confused, so he explains that he loathes flowers and wants her to promise that she will never bring those sickly "funeral decorations" into the house.

More time has passed by now. Dr. Miles Archer has arrived at Emily’s request. She wants help in dealing with Guy. She leads Miles to the new crypt that Guy has constructed. Emily and Miles want to know how he is doing inside, so Guy invites them in to show them.

Inside is the homiest crypt I have ever seen. It even comes stocked with a liquor cabinet! Guy now proceeds to show Emily and Miles all the upgrades he has made to the crypt. Fearing that he may fall victim to catalepsy and be buried alive, Guy has installed all sorts of neat features into the place to ensure his survival which includes a coffin that has a flip top that pops open and is activated from within, tools inside just in case the flip top mechanism fails to work, a rope that activates a bell, a device that unlocks and opens the crypt door, a rope that releases a rope ladder and opens a small doorway in the ceiling, a chest of tools nearby that he can use to gain egress, dynamite sticks to blast his way out and one last course of action to stave off a slow lingering death: poison. Now, raise your hand if you think that in spite of all these precautions, Guy here will find himself buried alive and trapped. Ok, hands down.

Returning to the house, Emily and Miles discuss the situation. Miles believes that the incident at the cemetery (you know…the one at the very beginning) has caused Guy to become obsessed with this one particular fear. Miles mentions a new line of thinking amongst the medical crowd – that the body and mind are not the separate entities previously thought, but are in fact connected. He thinks that Guy’s constant fear may manifest itself in catalepsy-like conditions through sheer belief, despite no such ailment having existed before. Miles then remembers that there is a laboratory downstairs that Guy once offered the use of to him – if he were to accept the offer, it would give him an excuse to drop by more often. Miles then leaves, but not before giving "Dear Emily" a chaste kiss on the hand.

Now we see Miles working in that lab, the usual mad-scientist trappings filling the place. Miles is working with a dead frog, demonstrating to Guy how applying electricity to the body causes its muscles to contract.

Next we see Guy and Emily walking outdoors. Guy is saying that getting outside has made him feel somewhat better and Emily says that all they need in order to be happy is each other. In the midst of all this happy talk, Guy freezes. He tells Emily to listen, but she claims to hear nothing. He, on the other hand, can clearly hear the sound of whistling…but not just any whistling. Yep, it’s that same damned annoying as hell tune that the gravediggers were whistling at the very beginning. Guy freaks out and runs away through the trees and mist, the whistling becoming louder and louder as well as increasing in tempo. He stumbles around for a bit, panicking and then pauses by a tree. He turns to move on and comes face to face with the very same gravediggers that were responsible for belting out the tune at the beginning. Guy then promptly passes out.

What follows next is every LSD user’s worst nightmare – a really bad trip through surreal images and sounds. Guy finds himself trapped in his crypt. None of the gizmos he has prepared to ensure his escape from a premature burial will work for him. There is only one course of action available to him – drink the poison. He takes the cup and lifts it to his lips, but it only contains squirming maggots. He lets out another silent scream and things begin to fade…

…Miles and Emily are trying to get Guy to wake up. He is sitting under the tree where he passed out and he tells them that he saw the two "filthy grave robbers" coming for him. Guy is convinced the grave robbers were coming to get him, but Miles thinks it was his imagination.

Back at the creepy Carrell house, Miles thinks the grave robbers did not exist, except in Guy’s mind. He begins talking again about how the Human mind can create something out of nothing, which makes Emily fear that her husband is going mad. Upstairs, Guy is jolted out of his peaceful rest by that same whistling again. He begins stalking the halls, eventually finding an open window letting the wind blow in, creating a soft whistling sound as it enters. He approaches the open window and when he looks out, there is the one of the grave robbers staring back at him. Guy is startled and jumps away. Kate calls to him and he tells her that "he is there!" Naturally, when Kate goes and looks she doesn’t see a thing.

Some time later, Emily and Miles are talking about Guy’s condition. She says that ever since that night on the moors, he has changed and she hardly knows him any more. Miles suggests that she ask Guy to go away with her, but she says that he won’t leave the crypt he has constructed and will not allow her inside. Miles confesses that there isn’t much they can do, as treating mental conditions isn’t exactly a science yet, as it will be someday. He does have an idea for one approach they have not tried and Emily eagerly asks what she needs to do.

Emily gives Guy an ultimatum. She is tired of Guy’s obsessive brooding over his fears and tells him to either put them behind him and move on with her, or stay hidden away in his self imposed tomb without her. She then says that if he does choose to move on with her, then he must destroy this crypt he has built for himself. He says nothing and just walks away. A pained expression on her face, she leaves him to his solitude. However, once she has gone, Guy comes to his senses and calls out to her. He runs after her and makes it clear that he chooses her. They express their love and devotion to each other once again.

Next we see Guy’s crypt going up in flames. Miles says that now they can finally get to that long overdue honeymoon. Guy agrees but before that, he is holding a party on the forthcoming Friday night and wants Miles to attend.

It is night now and we see a black-clad figure making its way down the stairs to the family crypt and then removing a key from a storage cabinet. The figure unlocks the tomb where Gideon Carrell is interred and then enters, closing the door behind it. The family butler comes down the stairs and sees the key compartment open. He calls out but no one answers. He closes the key compartment and heads back upstairs.

Now it is Friday night and Guy’s little shindig is going strong. Everyone is seated around the dinner table finishing up their meal when Guy makes a toast to life. He then invites Dr. Gault and Miles to have cigars. Gault congratulates Guy on his recovery, but Guy credits both Emily and Miles with lifting him out of his funk. Guy suddenly hears something odd. Emily says that it is just the cat, but Guy wonders why it would be crying like that. He asks where the cat is at but Emily doesn’t know. Kate says that the sounds are coming from near the wall. Miles thinks the animal is stuck. He knocks on some wall panels until he finds which one the cat is trapped behind. He works loose a panel and frees the cat, whose plaintiff cries are starting to affect Guy. In fact, the whole affair seems to be affecting him oddly.

Miles realizes that guy has not put his fears of being buried alive behind him. He tells Guy that his fear of catalepsy is rooted in his belief that his father was buried alive. Guy sticks with his story on how he heard his father calling for help on that night. Miles asks him to prove it. He wants Guy to take him down to the family crypt and show him his father’s body. Emily tries to stop him but Guy says he has put this off long enough.

So the whole gang heads on down to the family crypt. Guy opens the key compartment and realizes the key to his father’s tomb is missing. Guy decides to break the tomb open. He begins prying open the door. He gets it open and a spring loaded skeleton jumps out at him. Guy collapses in shock, his eyes frozen open but unseeing.

Dr. Gault looks him over and pronounces him dead from a heart attack. Miles wants to hook Guy up to his gizmo contraption that shocks dead frogs (actually a galvanic battery), hoping to get certain proof that Guy is dead. By what, zapping the shit out of him and making sure he’s dead? Unbeknownst to any of them, Guy is still alive and in a cataleptic state. His cries for help are heard only by the audience and within his own mind. Miles zaps him with his gizmo but there is no change. Miles is convinced that Guy is dead and closes his friend’s eyes.

Now we see the funeral services for Guy. Inside the coffin, Guy is still talking within his mind, but no one can hear him. They close up the coffin, which has a small glass window situated right over Guy’s face and carry it to the burial site. Along the way, Guy manages to get his eyes open. He can see through the coffin window that he is not being taken to the crypt. No one notices that Guy’s eyes are open and eventually they all leave. Then the gravediggers begin to fill in the hole, while Guy screams "I’m alive!" within his mind.

Back at the house, Kate asks Emily if she will be leaving soon after the reading of the will. Miles now speaks up and says that what happened in the crypt, along with everything else, was obviously planned by someone. He thinks it was Guy himself who did it, operating under some strange desire to die.

Note - It is at this point that the movie enters its final segment, so if any of you really feel the need to watch this film and not know the ending ahead of time, skip the rest of this section.

Out at the graveyard, the two creepy gravediggers/robbers are hard at work digging up Guy’s grave. Sure as shit, one of them is whistling that damned annoying tune. It becomes clear that the person responsible for sending them out here to dig up Guy’s body is none other than Dr. Gault himself. They finally unearth the coffin and one jumps out of the grave to retrieve a crowbar. The other manages to get the coffin open, but two hands lunge forth, startling him and grabbing him by the neck. It seems good old Guy has gotten his movement back. The other grave robber is looking through some tools, trying to find the crowbar when Guy approaches him. Guy grabs the crowbar away from the frightened man, and as the poor shmuck pleads for his life, Guy impales him with it.

We see a single figure moving through the darkness, a body draped over its shoulder. It enters the Carrell house and the laboratory where Dr. Gault is working. The Doctor sees the figure and assuming it’s Sweeney, one of the grave robbers he employs, he chastises him for bringing the body there instead of to his own place. The figure dumps the body in a corner and steps back. Dr. Gault bends over to look at it and sees that the body is that of Sweeney himself, dressed in Guy’s clothes. He turns to look at the person behind him and realizes that it is Guy, now decked out in Sweeney’s clothes. "You’re dead!" he cries out. He tries to get away, but Guy chases him down and knocks him unconscious. Then he hooks the old guy up to Miles’ nearby dead frog zapper and looks on in morbid glee as the older man’s body begins to spasm from the electricity.

Upstairs, Emily is lying in her bed with Miles nearby. He thinks that she should leave the Carrell house. She invites him to come sit on the bed, which he does. Then she launches into a speech about how she is in need of someone to give her solace in this time of mourning. She mentions how she and Miles were very close once and they recall their younger days. She suggests that it may not be too late for them, unaware that her supposedly dead husband, Guy, is watching from the window.

Their butler arrives to fetch Miles. He takes him to the lab where Doctor Gault’s body is located. The butler points out a body that is lying nearby and Miles sees that it belongs to Sweeney the gravedigger. In her room, Emily hears the door open and close and calls out to Miles, thinking it is him. Alas, it is not Miles but rather, Guy who has entered. She stares in shock and then faints.

Out on the moors, Guy is carrying an unconscious Emily through the foggy trees. Back in her bedroom, Miles shows up and stays just long enough to verify that she is gone, but not before finding the late Sweeney’s hat, which Guy must have dropped. Eventually Guy brings Emily to the very same grave in which he was deposited earlier in the evening. He drops her on the ground and binds her hands and feet. She comes to and calls out to him. He accuses her of lies, deceit and treachery but she denies it all. He talks about how clever she was in her plans. She asks if he is going to kill her and he says no. Just as she did not kill him, but had him buried alive, he will now bury her alive and let the earth claim her. With that he dumps her into the grave and begins filling it with dirt, her screams are quickly muffled…and a good thing, as she was really starting to belt them out like a heavy metal singer.

Along about now, Miles comes running up. Guy tells him to stay back, as he does not wish to harm him. Miles is not deterred and tries to take the shovel from Guy. A lame ass fight ensues. Guy eventually gets the upper hand and is about to plunge the raised shovel into Miles, who is laid out on the ground, when a gunshot pierces the night air and Guy collapses...dead. Standing a short ways away with a gun is his sister Kate.

Kate drops the gun and goes to her brother while Miles works feverishly to uncover Emily. He pulls her from the dirt but it is too late...she has suffocated and is now dead. "Thank god," Kate responds, which greatly puzzles Miles. Kate shows Miles a necklace hanging around Emily’s neck. On it is the missing key to Carrell family crypt. Kate explains that it was "sweet, beautiful" Emily that was behind everything all along. Once she had learned how easy it would be to use Guy’s fear to kill him, she went to work. First she hired the grave robbers to torment him, then she purposely trapped the cat behind the wall and finally desecrated the tomb of Gideon Carrell.

Kate breaks down and begins talking to the deceased Guy, saying that she knew what Emily was doing and wanted to tell him, but she knew he would never have believed her. She had to wait for proof, but ended up waiting too long and was too late. Miles helps the crying Kate to her feet and the two walk off into the mist.

The End.

This is another film for which words seem to fail me. Not that such a situation is a bad thing. It is just that I really do not know what to say about this movie. Is it good? Well…yeah. Is it bad? Not really. Is it slow and potentially boring? Definitely. It seems to hit all its marks, accomplishes the task of telling its story in a mostly satisfactory manner and visually looks great. Yet, there is still a vague empty feeling left in the viewer when it is over, as if something was left out. The problem is, I haven’t got a clue as to what that something may be. It just feels like a five thousand piece jigsaw puzzle that once completed, is missing a mere handful of pieces. Not enough to ruin the overall image, but enough to be a distraction.

I will confess that it has been at least twenty years since I read Edgar Allan Poe’s The Premature Burial, and over the course of those two decades I have retained nothing from the story. Hence, I have no idea at what point and with what elements the movie differs from the original. I know that the film must have taken some liberties, as even at barely eighty minutes, the movie is far too long for a literal adaptation, thus something was added to help pad out the running time. I do know that the story on display isn’t that bad. We all know that despite his best efforts, Guy is going to end up buried alive. We all know that such a condition cannot represent the end of the film, as that would be supremely disappointing. Therefore we simply wait until the movie reaches that point by watching what leads up to it. To be fair, the movie does do a good job of keeping things on track and interesting.

With very little in the way of onscreen action, the film must rely on its characters to keep the audience engaged. While some of them may be perceived as super duper annoying, and may conjure up the desire in some viewers to reach into the TV and smack the hell out of them, they still manage to keep the audience watching. In some cases this is because the viewer may empathize with them while in others it is because the character is so screwed up (Guy), we watch simply to see where the poor bastard is going to bounce next. Ray Milland does a good job at bringing Guy’s torments to life. I don’t know about any of you, but I could totally believe that this guy was royally screwed up and in no mental condition for marriage. Despite a few fleeting moments of happiness, Milland plays Guy as a man who is constantly on the verge of going insane. On the other hand, Hazel Court turns in a great performance as Emily. Her emotional pain at seeing Guy so tormented is very real and her concern seems so genuine. The revelations at the end only serve to strengthen both the character’s and the actress’s job.

The original music by Ronald Stein and Les Baxter (uncredited), both of whom were AIP regulars, is really great is some spots, barely noticeable at other times and downright annoying at still others. The latter is definitely represented by that annoying whistling that pops up numerous times. On the flip side of that coin, the opening theme – which itself uses an orchestral version of that same whistled tune, is really quite outstanding.

The look and "feel" of the film is spot on when trying to capture the macabre atmosphere evoked by Poe’s tale. The sets are gorgeous, illuminated well enough to see the detail that went into creating just the right look, yet with enough shadows and dark corners to help convey that feeling of gloominess. The costumes are striking, reminding us that this is a different time but are not flamboyant like some period piece films tend to showcase. Overall, both elements combine to create a believable world for the story being told. The use of color really aids in this and I just cannot see how a black and white film could have managed to convey the same sense of darkness and dread. It is almost as if the film is reminding us that beneath the bright colors of life, there is the eternal darkness of the grave, and this is why the film achieves a "drab" look on occasion, despite the color film stock. This is accented in a scene near the end when a character meets their demise via Miles’ Dead Frog Zapper. The person’s spasms are only seen as a shadow on the wall, which makes for an eerie middle ground between darkness and light, life and death. The only drawback to this whole feeling of the macabre are the sets used for outdoor scenes. While the dreary trees and low-lying fog look really cool, one cannot help but notice that these are obvious sets.

While not exactly bursting with chills and thrills, the film still has plenty of style. This slick look and feel compensates for what is basically a rather tame story. It is easy to see why American International Pictures enjoyed so much success with their Poe-inspired series of films. They may have been cheap in comparison to big Hollywood studio efforts, but good old James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff were masters at stretching a budget and getting the most bang for their buck. They hired young directors eager to prove their talent and it shows time and again in their Poe series. The Premature Burial may get overlooked because it did not star perennial AIP favorite Vincent Price, but in this Shadow’s opinion, Ray Milland turns in an excellent performance, adding to a film that may prove taxing to some, but rewarding to others.

Body count: 9 including 1 Dog and 1 Frog
Total deaths: 6 including 1 dog
Times death was prematurely diagnosed: 2 including 1 dog
Times that damned annoying tune is heard being whistled: 4
Percentage of movie actually filmed outdoors: 0%
Times Mile’s Galvanic Battery (AKA the Dead Frog Zapper) is used: 3
Times that we hear cataleptic Guy’s thoughts: 9
Bats on strings: 2
Spring loaded skeletons: 1

Shadow's Drinking Game: Any time a dead body is seen - from any species - take a drink.

Miles explains a new theory amongst witch doctor…er…physicians.

Miles: "You see, most people tend to think of the body and the mind as being totally different. Two separate entities. Whereas in point of fact, they’re actually linked."

Shadow’s comment: Based on this theory is the method by which the doctor stomps on your foot to relieve your headache pain.

Guy prepares to bury Emily alive.

Emily (screaming): "Guy, no, not that!!"
Guy: "Yes, my beautiful, my perfidious, my treacherous love…THAT!"
Emily: screams

Shadow’s comment: Women ALWAYS react that way to back-door love.

• Grave robbing is a spectator sport.
• Deceased family members should be buried directly beneath your house.
• When a woman makes up her mind to get married, nothing can stop her.
• Dogs are lightning proof.
• The sun never shines in Italy. In fact, the entire country is covered in a perpetual fog.
• Crypts should be well stocked with food, and more importantly, booze.
• Bad scares can induce LSD-like nightmares.
• Cats should be stored within a wall.
• Nineteenth century therapeutic techniques included busting into your own father’s tomb.
• Coffins should always include a viewing window installed in the lid.

Up until recently, I have made an unconscious decision to steer clear of AIP’s Poe inspired films from the 1960’s. I’m not sure why that is. I can hypothesize that it originates from viewing a couple such movies as a kid and being sorely disappointed with them. Hey, I was a kid! I wanted to see giant monsters, not people talking endlessly in period costumes. Whatever may be the reason, I have managed to go until quite recently without watching any of those films. In fact, The Premature Burial is only the second such movie I have watched in the last twenty years, the other being The Tomb of Ligeia…and both of those were viewed within the last few weeks. Needless to say, I have no history with this film that stretches back to when I was Lil Shadow. My first time seeing it was within the last month while preparing for this review.

Shadow's rating: Six Tombstones

The Good

• Great performances
• Beautiful set design
• Cinematography really brings out sets and colors
• Great atmosphere
• Good music
  

The Bad

• No real outdoor locations at all - everything is shot indoors
• Somewhat slow moving
• That damn annoying tune
• Guy is a whiny bitch
  

The Ugly

• Rubber bats on strings
• Spring-loaded skeleton
  

This review is part of the Rogue Reviewers Matinee of the Macabre Roundtable:

Review Round-Up
Check out other reviews for this film!
- -

Home - Review Index - Ratings - Content Icons - Links