Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Premature Burial (1961)
Director: Roger Corman
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The third of Corman's generally impressive Poe cycle suffers from the fact that Milland, rather than Vincent Price (lead in most of the other entries in the series), stars as the cataleptic medical student haunted by fantastic fears of being buried alive like his father before him. Needless to say, nightmare becomes reality and revenge is meted out; indeed, the predictability of the plotting clearly led Corman to focus his attention, somewhat decoratively, on conjuring up a gloomy Gothic atmosphere that, while effective, too often seems an end in itself, rather than a means of creating horror. The film does have its macabre moments, however, notably Milland proudly showing friends around a tomb he has devised for himself, complete with a variety of exits should his worst dreams come true.Author: GA
Cast & crew
Director: Roger Corman
Producer: Roger Corman
Cast: Ray Milland, Hazel Court, Richard Ney, Heather Angel, Alan Napier, Dick Miller full cast
Genre(s): Horror
Duration: 81 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now