REVIEW: DEAD AND BURIED

"Dead & Buried" opens with a scene of the worst flirting I have ever witnessed, and bear in mind I have seen me flirt.  But this is the sort of, "Hey - THAT'S a pretty name" flirting that makes you wonder how people ever breed.  It is toe-curlingly bad and I began to worry.  But then the girl stops flirting with the bloke. She invites a group of strangers to beat him mercilessly, torture him, tie him up and set him on fire.  I didn't see THAT coming.

It's the start of a disturbingly off-kilter horror film, in which the town of Potter's Bluff is struck by a series of brutal, senseless murders, committed by random townsfolk who appear - in all other ways - completely normal.  Small-town sheriff James Farentino investigates, and slowly uncovers a terrifying conspiracy lead by a practitioner of the Dark Arts.  But who IS the small-town witch behind it all...?

I can't say this is a great film.  It is 30 years old and looks it.  The acting is just ok, and it plays like a half-decent tv movie.  But the plot is essentially good, and the mystery is intriguing enough to keep you watching.  It's the sort of film that makes me wish those plonkers at Platinum Dunes would stop remaking the horror films we all know, and instead take the time to uncover hidden gems like this.  In the right hands, this could be truly nightmarish and scary - for example, the scene where a family falls into the hands of the residents has real power and the final revelation is pretty devastating.  It could have been another "Rosemary's Baby" or "Stepford Wives" - but due to pedestrian direction and a dull script never quite makes it.

"Bury me.... please... bury me...."