1958 I Bury the Living

• Directed by Albert Band
• Written by Louis Garfinkle
• Stars Richard Boone, Theodore Bikel, Peggy Maurer
• Run Time: 1 Hour, 17 Minutes
• Watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHY2LvTFwaA

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

This had a Twilight Zone vibe and a dash of Alfred Hitchcock, with a poster that’s pretty sensationalized compared to the actual movie. It moves along well, and it’s very well made. Until an ending that disappointed us both. So mixed reviews. 

Spoilery Synopsis

We open in a cemetery, where two men walk into the caretaker’s office. Robert Kraft is the new administrator, the other man is McKee who has been the caretaker for decades, and they talk about him being pushed into retirement, and they can find a young replacement. Kraft says he’ll still get paid and it will be great, but McKee seems reluctant. They both admire the elaborate map of the cemetery on the wall. He uses a white pin on the map to show a sold plot, and a black one to show where the dead are. McKee shows him where a pistol is, just in case of emergencies. 

Stuart and Elizabeth Drexel drive up; they’re just married, and they got a cemetery plot there in the Immortal Hills as a requirement of Stuart’s inheritance before he can access the funds. 

Robert complains to George, his uncle, about serving at the cemetery, but the old man insists that it’s a family tradition of service to the town. It’s good for business. Plus he’s going to have to do it if he wants to inherit the department store. Mr. Watson, the undertaker, calls to congratulate Robert on his new position and to let him know that the Drexels have suddenly died. 

Mr. Jessup comes to the cemetery office; he’s a reporter and Bob’s friend. Robert looks at the map, and he may have accidentally marked the young couple for death by mistakenly putting black pins on their plots instead of white ones. Nah, couldn’t be. Ann, Robert’s fiancee, comes for a visit. Robert absent-mindedly puts a black pin on the Isham plot. Elsewhere, Mr. Isham suddenly dies. 

At the end of the week, Robert comes by to sign paperwork, and he notices the name “Isham” on the intake form. McKee points out that the map had a black pin on it already. 

Jessup assures Robert that it’s all just a coincidence. Robert has deja-vu when he hears the sound of a headstone being carved. 

George gets annoyed; when he was in charge, he put the wrong color pins on the map all the time and nothing happened. Bob actually believes he killed those people with the black pins on the map. The two go to the cemetery office and George starts to change the pins on Henry Trowridge’s plot, just to prove that it means nothing. No, Robert takes the pin and does it instead. 

That night, Robert waits by the phone, worried about Trowbridge. Robert phones the man’s wife, and she goes to get him. At almost midnight, Henry is found dead. His wife tells Robert right then on the phone. 

Robert calls Lt. Clayborne from the police. He tells them his theory, but the Lieutenant doesn’t believe it at all. All four dead people died in different, random places, and there’s no sign of any foul play with any of them. Jessup and the Lieutenant say it’s all just a coincidence. 

Robert’s not convinced. Is it the map, or is it him? George wants Robert to take a vacation for a while. George and Ann both think Bob is losing his mind. George, Charlie, and Bill, the whole Cemetery Committee, insist that Robert change all their pins to black tonight, to prove to Robert that he’s wrong. 

Robert doesn’t like it, but he does it that evening. McKee comes to him and warns him that bad things may happen; he seems to know more than he’s saying. The map seems to grow in Robert’s eyes as he sits by the phone. He calls Lt. Clayborne and Jessup to tell them what he did. He tries to call the men on the Cemetery Committee, but none of them answer the phone. 

Robert soon learns that two out of the three are dead except for George, who comes to the cemetery to look at the map. Robert picks up the gun; why hasn’t George died? George pulls his own pin out of the map and leaves. 

Robert leaves two hours later and finds George in his car, dead. He goes back inside the office and calls the police. The Lieutenant tells Robert to put a black pin on the map for Mr. Mittel, an importer. Mittel is perfectly healthy and all the way overseas in Paris right now, so he probably ought to be safe. Right? This is just a risky test. Lt. Clayborne thinks just maybe Robert has a special power to kill with the pins, something like Voodoo. 

Robert wonders. He has the power of death with the black pins. Does he have the power of life with the white ones? He switches all the recently dead people’s black pins with white ones. 

Outside, we see the graves being disturbed from underneath. Meanwhile, Robert starts a fire in the cemetery office when his heater breaks and has to run outside. He sees the empty graves and knows what’s happened. 

Robert gets the call that Mr. Mittel died in Paris. The effect has a very long range. McKee comes in and says neither the map nor Robert has any power. He has been killing all these people. McKee resented being forced to retire, even with a full pension. 

Robert says no, he caused McKee to kill those people. McKee is no killer, and Robert made him do it through the power of his mind. McKee falls over dead just as the police and everyone break in. 

Clayborne and Jessup come in. Mittel didn’t really die; they put his wife up to calling to see what McKee would do. McKee then dug up all seven bodies. Robert still believes it was the pins. 

Brian’s Commentary

It influenced Stephen King, who wrote “Obits,” a similar story about a man who kills by writing obituaries. The story has been done numerous times since, in films such as “Death Note” and others. 

It’s a very weird concept, and it’s well executed here. I wondered early on what would happen if Robert switched a black pin for a white one. Would the dead rise? Fortunately, the filmmakers wondered the same thing, and that’s where it ended up going. 

The explanation McKee gives at the end doesn’t make any sense. Actually, the whole ending doesn’t make much sense. All those men died of fright? 

It’s very much like a Hitchcock film, with the suspense building as Robert continues to learn more and more about what’s really going on. The ever-growing map is a very cool prop as well. 

It’s surprisingly good up until the last five minutes, but the ending is confusing and doesn’t really work for us.

Kevin’s Commentary

The acting, script, suspense, and cinematography were all excellent. I really, really liked this until the ending. Which made no sense. We literally saw one of the guys just keel over, not killed by McKee. The police saw no signs of anything unnatural in any of the deaths. And there’s no way McKee, an older and pretty out-of-shape looking guy, could have nearly and completely dug up seven graves in such a short time. I probably wouldn’t recommend it.