THE PREMATURE BURIAL (1962)

THE PREMATURE BURIAL, also known as Premature Burial, is a 1962 American horror film directed by Roger Corman and starring Ray Milland, Hazel Court, Alan Napier, Heather Angel and Richard Ney. The screenplay by Charles Beaumont and Ray Russell is based upon the 1844 short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe. It was the third in the series of eight Poe-themed pictures, known informally as the "Poe Cycle", directed by Corman for American International Pictures.

PLOT:
In the Victorian era, British aristocrat Guy Carrell is consumed with the fear of being buried alive. His fear becomes so overwhelming that it nearly prevents him from marrying his fiancée, Emily. He tells her that he, like his father, suffers from a cataleptic disease which can make one appear to be dead. Guy then takes Emily down to the family catacomb and claims that when he was a boy, he heard his father scream from his tomb after being interred, even though his sister, Katie, insists it was all in his mind. Despite all this, Emily tells Guy that she still wants to marry him.

After the wedding ceremony, Emily plays the melody to "Molly Malone" on the piano, which seems to send Guy into a state of abject misery, finally causing him to pass out. After regaining consciousness, Guy becomes even more morbid, obsessed with the idea of being buried alive. He soon builds an elaborate burial vault equipped with several safeguards in case of his premature burial, including a poisonous elixir to be used as a last resort. This latest project causes Emily and his colleague, Miles Archer, to become concerned about his mental health.

In an effort to change his mood, Guy goes for a walk in the moors with his wife when he suddenly hears a gravedigger whistle the same Irish tune that was played after his wedding. The music causes him to pass out again, and he experiences a horrific dream where he finds himself trapped inside his burial vault; however, none of his safeguards work. When he finally wakes up from his dream next to his wife, he asks her about the whistling gravedigger, but she insists that she heard no one.

Finally, Emily becomes unable to deal with Guy's behavior and tells him that either he rids himself of this obsession with death, or she will leave him forever. This ultimatum seems to work. He destroys the burial vault he constructed and slowly starts to become more amenable. As a final step of his treatment, Miles suggests that Guy open his father's tomb to prove that he was never buried alive. But when he does, it causes him to go into another cataleptic state, and this time, he is unable to wake.

After an examination by Emily's father, he is declared dead. Guy's family concludes he suffered a heart attack, and upon Emily's request, he is buried in the cemetery. It appears Guy's biggest fear is about to be realized when he is miraculously dug up by a pair of grave robbers just as he regains his mobility. Now in a state of madness, Guy returns to his home to seek revenge on those who conspired for his demise.

Guy promptly kills Emily’s father in the laboratory by electrocuting him. While this is occurring, Emily tells Miles she has feelings for him and that she made a mistake marrying Guy. A servant comes to retrieve Miles after finding Emily’s father's body. Guy goes to Emily’s room, where the sight of him causes her to faint. Guy takes her to the graveyard, places her into his burial plot, and covers her with dirt. Miles approaches and begs for Guy to stop, and a fight ensues. Guy is stopped by Katie, who shoots him dead on the spot.

Miles retrieves Emily from the grave only to find that she has died. Katie shows Miles that Emily had the key to Guy's crypt. Katie reveals that once Emily discovered Guy's fear of being buried alive, she worked hard to have him meet his end. Emily hired grave robbers to torment him, only to pretend not to hear or see them when Guy questioned himself. Emily also hid a cat in the walls of their home and had Guy’s father's tomb desecrated, all to make Guy’s fears grow. Katie confesses to Guy’s corpse that she knew what Emily was up to but that she did not have enough proof and needed to wait, only to have waited too long. Katie and Miles exit the graveyard as the camera pans over to a grave that says “rest in peace.”

CAST:
Ray Milland as Guy Carrell
Heather Angel as Kate Carrell, Guy's Sister
Hazel Court as Emily Gault, Guy's Wife
Alan Napier as Dr. Gideon Gault
Richard Ney as Miles Archer
John Dierkes as Sweeney
Dick Miller as "Mole"
Clive Halliday as Judson
Brendan Dillon as Clergyman