Customer Reviews

Thriller: The Premature Burial [VHS]

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True fans of Horror who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s love this show. Even Stephen King, in his book DANSE MACABRE (p. 216 of the oversized paperback), calls this "the best horror series ever put on TV." The show's host, Boris Karloff, is obviously no stranger to the horror genre, and he co-stars in this particular episode, "The Premature Burial."

With only a vague resemblance to the Poe story of the same name, this story concerns a man who suffers from catalepsy and consequently becomes obsessed with ensuring that he is never buried alive during a seizure. But unbenknownst to him, his cuckolding young wife has other plans. Karloff appears as a medical doctor who is good friends with the cataleptic gentleman and who eventually uncovers the truth about the wife's sinister doings. All in all, it's an entertaining little horror story with an interesting and suspenseful climax.

This is the E. A. Poe story with a twist. I liked it alot, had me guessing what would happen next. Clever pop-open coffin setup. The specter's face was very effective. Well done twist to a classic Poe story.