There's no denying that Roger Corman knew how to put a picture together. His series of Poe adaptations with Vincent Price are classics of their kind while his White Supremacist picture "The Intruder" is one of the best, if least known, American films of its time. "The Premature Burial" isn't in that class and with Price contractually unable to take the lead Corman cast Ray Milland playing, with a very straight face, the man obsessed with being buried alive; underplaying, in fact, in a way that Price probably never could have managed.
Of course, it's totally daft but very stylish, superbly shot as ever by the great Floyd Crosby and designed by Daniel Haller. As Milland's wife British scream-queen Hazel Court is quite effective and the supporting cast includes 'old-timers' Heather Angel and Richard Ney. Unlikely to give anyone the frighteners these days it's still good old-fashioned entertainment of the kind we seldom see anymore.
No comments:
Post a Comment