Dead & Buried - 3 Disc - 4K Ultra HD & Blu-Ray Review

Release Date: July 20, 2021
Format: 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Company: Blue Underground

Synopsis:
People keep dying in a series of gruesome and bizarre ways in the small, coastal town of Potter’s Bluff and the local Sheriff can’t figure out what’s happening. To make matters worse his wife has begun to act strangely. Then, the dead start returning to life and going about their routine. Could this have anything to do with the eccentric mortician?

Review:
Dead & Buried is an odd but charming, little, atmospheric, horror curio from 1981. It is directed by Gary Sherman (Raw Meat), written by the writing duo behind the Alien franchise, Ronald Shusett and Dan O’Bannon, stars Jack Albertson (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), Melody Anderson (Flash Gordon) and horror royalty, Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and features the special effects work of one, Stan Winston (Jurassic Park).

It has a very similar vibe to John Carpenter’s The Fog from the year before - and that’s hardly surprising as they were filmed in fairly similar areas of northern California - but unlike The Fog, Dead & Buried keeps you guessing for a while as it builds up its eerie and unsettling tone. It never becomes as implicit, wild or gory as say, a Re-Animator but instead feels more like a spooky and x-rated Murder She Wrote via a confused but effective ghost story one might tell on a damp night in a lighthouse. As you can tell, it’s a hard one to pin down - you just have to sort of watch it, roll with it and abandon things like logic, reason or motive.

There is definitely some clunky acting here and there, the script rarely makes a lick of sense and it’s slow in parts but it also stays with you, clinging to your neck like a midnight fog and filling your mind with memories of off kilter, unnerving set pieces and that bizarre, two in the morning “just write it down, they don’t need to understand it” twist ending.

It’s hardly a lost classic exactly but rather just another, decent piece in the jigsaw of late 70s, early 80s horror releases. It’s worth your time because it has a sensibility and a feeling all of its very own, the burgeoning talent involved, the odd creepy set piece and because who hasn’t want to see Grandpa Joe (Jack Albertson) as a nutso mortician who may or may not be dealing with an army of re-animated corpses.

4K UltraHD/Blu-Ray review:
As is with all Blue Underground releases at this point, the film looks great. They do a fantastic job of maintaining the film grain, the cinematography, the shadows and the colours of the original movie while giving it to you in the best and the closest version to what it would’ve looked like projected originally on the big screen. Whether Dead & Buried really requires an all singing, all dancing 3 Disc 4 K Box Set is a question for you and your wallet but if you do dole out the cash for this release, I can’t imagine you could ever be disappointed. The extras are phenomenal and there isn’t a dud amongst them. The little chat with Robert Englund is particularly good, as are the Behind the Scenes and Locations featurettes. I didn’t have time to check out all 4 (count them, 4!!!) commentary tracks but, a long with all the other docs and interviews, they cover every aspect of production that you could possibly want. I am surprised there’s not a discussion with the Craft Service person!

EXTRAS:

• Subtitles: English SDH, Francais, Espanol

• Audio Commentary #1 with Director Gary Sherman

• Audio Commentary #2 with Co-Writer/Co-Producer Ronald Shusett and Actress Linda Turley

• Audio Commentary #3 with Director of Photography Steven Poster, ASC

• NEW! Audio Commentary #4 with Film Historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson

• NEW! Behind the Scenes of Dead & Buried

• NEW! Dead & Buried Locations: Now & Then

• NEW! Murders, Mystery, and Music - Interviews with Director Gary Sherman and Composer Joe Renzetti

• NEW! The Pages of Potters Bluff - Interview with Novelization Author Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

• Stan Winston's Dead & Buried EFX

• Robert Englund: An Early Work of Horror

• Dan O'Bannon: Crafting Fear

• Theatrical Trailers

• Poster & Still Galleries

• Steven Poster's Location Stills

• BONUS! DEAD & BURIED Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD by Joe Renzetti

• BONUS! Collectible Booklet with new essay by Michael Gingold

OTHER DETAILS:

• All regions

• 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray

• 1981

• Run Time: 94 min

• Ultra HD Blu-ray (2160p) and HD Blu-ray (1080p) Widescreen 1.85:1 feature presentations

• Audio: Dolby Atmos (English); 5.1 DTS-HD (English); 1.0 DTS-HD (English, French)