Dead & Buried Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
The writers of alien... ...bring a new terror to earth.
A new dimension in horror...
It will take your breath away... all of it.
Potters Bluff, Rhode Island. may seem to be a sleepy little town. At least for the casual visitor and the local sheriff, Daniel Gillis. However, all of a sudden, there are a lot of strange murders where strangers or people passing through are killed by mobs of townspeople. Only Sheriff Gillis has no clue to what's going on. Fortunately, the town has an excellent undertaker, William G. Dobbs, who is happy to take care of this sudden death-wave which is good for his business. Gillis soon discovers clues that lead to many of the local inhabitants involved in the killings, including his own wife Janet.
| James Farentino | Sheriff Dan Gillis |
| Melody Anderson | Janet Gillis |
| Jack Albertson | William G. Dobbs |
| Dennis Redfield | Ron |
| Nancy Locke | Linda |
| Lisa Blount | Girl on the Beach, Nurse Lisa |
| Robert Englund | Harry |
| Bill Quinn | Ernie |
| Michael Currie | Herman |
| Christopher Allport | George LeMoir, Freddie |
| Joseph G. Medalis | The Doctor |
| Macon McCalman | Ben |
| Lisa Marie | The Hitchhiker |
| Gary Sherman |
6.50 out of 10 (1722 votes)
Visitor Reviews
One of the "best" of the "worst"...
posted on 20 Apr 2009It didn't occur to me until my later years, when I became an avid 'credit reader,' to make the connection between DEAD AND BURIED and two other low-budget gems that totally blew my mind: the earlier, gorier (but not by much) DEATH LINE, released in the U.S. under the appetizing title RAW MEAT, and a nasty-but-nifty little cop thriller called VICE SQUAD, which has the distinction of sporting quite possibly the smarmiest, most memorably evil performance that Wings Hauser ever gave in his entire career.The gore ante has been upped so much at the movies nowadays, that you literally have to take the top of somebody's head off to get a rise out of the audience, (see HANNIBAL). But there was a time, either when we were more naive, or when lower budgets demanded it, that directors of low-budget horror fare knew that if you were going for the gross-out, you had to make it effective to scare the bejesus out of moviegoers. Gary Sherman was one of the few talented directors who knew this, and he went to town on my nerves with this, which I saw for the first time on video many years ago.Some of the plot points maybe as murky as the atmospheric photography is at times, but one thing is certainly made clear: TV-friendly character actor-turned-spooky-town M.E. Jack Albertson is definitely up to no good. Travelers and transients who are innocently passing through the little, picturesque seacoast town where he plies his trade, are being found horribly murdered, only to be resurrected...as townies! Voodoo is somehow involved, as are some of the most violently graphic dispatchings commended to film for that time period.James Farentino and Melody Anderson, known mostly for TV movie appearances (and in Melody's case, FLASH...aaaa-aaahhh!) do serviceable jobs as the town sheriff and his wife, who become more embroiled in the mystery than they'd like, and Robert Englund joins the proceedings, usually making his formidably creepy presence more than welcome, (until he came into his own as Freddy). But this is definitely Albertson's baby, and he relishes breaking out of his casting niche after all those episodes of CHICO AND THE MAN. Good thing, too, since it was one of his last performances. Sadly, as it is with most talented character actors, he was never recognized for his stage work as much as what he left on film, but his D&B role is a nice antithesis to the kindly Grandpa George in WILLY WONKA.Also: Dan O'Bannon wouldn't be able to catch the lightning-in-a-bottle he captured with ALIEN again, until his severed-tongue-in-cheek rendering of RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, his playfully amped-up homage to George Romero's masterpiece.FOOTNOTE: D&B's releasing woes had nothing to do with its low-budget status. The original releasing company, Vestron, went belly-up and had to file for Chapter 11 more than once, leaving movies like this in limbo until the legal problems could be satisfactorily settled. It took a while for the video release, but it was worth the wait.Oh, and no matter how mind-boggling the gore gets, you'll still want to watch it twice, just to see how you missed being clued in on the head-spinning climax!
Before there was "The Sixth Sense", there was "Dead And Buried"
posted on 19 Feb 2009The similarities between this movie and "The Sixth Sense" are uncanny. Besides the shock ending twist, I thought this movie was a job well done.Yes it's from the 80's and yes, the picture does play 'dark and grainy'. I dare you to find a copy of this movie that plays crystal clear.It revolves around a small town where visitors and tourists go missing. They are usually killed in a brutal fashion, yet reappear later as if nothing had ever happened. The strange aura to this mystery is revealed at the end when Jack Albertson (of 'Chico And The Man' fame) explains what he has been doing as a side project of his.I thought the greatest surprise was when James Farentino discovers the shocking truth about himself. That certainly took me by surprise! For an 80's horror movie, this was pretty good stuff.8/10
Find it and see it
posted on 26 Jan 2009This one needs the DVD treatment.A nasty little zombie flick with, what my movie buddy would call, some "great kills". The photography is especially atmospheric and contributes to the overall creepiness of this horror gem.There are several moments in this film that just make me squirm but that syringe is the worst.Find it if you can and check it out.
Too Much Hype....
posted on 18 Dec 2008I've heard a lot of good things about this movie. I read that if your a big zombie fan to rent this. I heard it was also hard to find. i went to a local blockbuster and they had the 2 DVD box set. I rented it and at the end....this movie is too overrated. At the very beginning the movie catches you off guard and your at the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next, but in the end i found this movie to be lame. The zombies don't look like zombies in this one. They're normal looking people, there's no flesh eating in this one guys. The zombies walk around like normal people and kill people with weapons. the end of the movie is meant to surprise you but to me it was very predictable.3/10
Although Having Many Flaws in the Plot, A Good Entertainment for Fans of Horror Movies
posted on 09 Nov 2008Sheriff Dan Gillis (James Farentino) has a nice life with his wife, the teacher Janet Gillis (Melody Anderson), in the small coastal and friendly town of Potter's Bluff. Some mysterious crimes make Sheriff Dan investigates them more carefully, and he realizes that dead people are walking again. Dan finds a book of witchcraft and vodooism in the drawer of his wife and she becomes suspect of practicing black magic. In the end, a surprising and not well explained revelation. This story of zombies has many flaws in the screenplay, with lack of explanation for many situations. However, it is also a good entertainment for fans of horror movies, specially if the viewer does not question too much about many unexplainable points. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): `Os Mortos Vivos' (`The Living Dead')
One of the finest zombie movies ever
posted on 13 Sep 2008I have fond memories of seeing this film as a kid, it scared the hell out of me, and it's still a very effective horror film. Sherman skillfully manages to evoke the everyday ordinariness of the small town, and slowly twist it into a surreal nightmare. The zombies are just as effective as in any of George Romeros films. Very fine performances all around, and as a bonus, it has a really moody, melancholic atmosphere that stays with you long after. I'm sorry that the right material didn't seem to come mr Shermans way after this, I only remember seeing the rather dull WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE and POLTERGEIST III, none of which really showed the talent he displayed here. Dead & Buried is definitely among my top ten all time favorite horror films.
Well written and well acted chiller.....
posted on 26 Aug 2008This is one of my favorite horror movies! It was well directed (whatever happened to Gary A. Sherman?), well acted by Albertson, Farentino, Anderson and the supporting cast, and especially well written! This movie may seem slow at times, but you have to pay attention to the story! That's what makes it creepy as well! I saw this movie when I was about 10 on HBO and never got to see the end and I recently bought it at a videostore in my neighborhood that had closed! I bought it somewhat expecting to be disappointed at the end, but the end is the best (not to mention surprising, too!) If you can find this anywhere, GET IT! If you are a horror movie fan, this will make your day! Even if you are not, I'm sure you will like it as well!
A must-see for horror fans
posted on 11 Aug 2008Would one expect any less from Dan O'Bannon, the screenwriter of 'Alien'? I believe 'Dead and Buried' was his next script, but I might be wrong about that. 'Dead and Buried' is a real sleeper; the title suggests just another forgettable horror film. But what a killer flick (if you will pardon the pun)! James Farentino stars as the sheriff of the small coastal town of Potter's Bluff. When gruesome murders begin to occur in the town, he investigates.My Dad has a theory about film: he says you can tell whether a movie is going to be good just by watching the first ten minutes. Well, if the first ten minutes of 'Dead and Buried' are anything to go by, he is absolutely right! The film opens normally enough; a young, handsome photographer arrives at the beach in his van, and begins snapping shots. The audience is immediately lulled into a false sense of security: it is just an ordinary day; the wind is blowing and the seagulls are crying. The young man's camera lens happens upon an attractive young woman, portrayed by Lisa Blount, who would star in 'John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness' six(?) years after 'Dead and Buried' was made. They begin to chat casually... nothing new here, right? Suddenly, the film takes an horrific narrative u-turn; to say more would be to spoil the surprise.I am a huge fan of James Farentino and wish he would make more films (preferably not the direct-to-DVD dreck he has been doing of late), and he gives a terrific performance as the sheriff. Watch out for a pre-'A Nightmare on Elm Street' Robert Englund as one of the townsfolk. Nancy Locke Hauser also puts in an appearance as a decidedly luckless tourist; is she any relation to Wings Hauser? And Lisa Marie shows up about three quarters of the way through the proceedings as a hitchhiker named Chance. Is this the Lisa Marie who is now dating Tim Burton and appears in his deliciously macabre 'Sleepy Hollow'?'Dead and Buried' reminds me of the thriller 'Angel Heart' and the more recent Japanese horror film 'Ringu' in that all three of these films centre around a mystery which slowly unfolds as the film progresses. The denouement of 'Dead and Buried' is sheer genius; what a stunning twist!This is the last film actor Jack Albertson made before his death. He plays Dobbs, the town's eccentric mortician who listens to jazz records while he works! Albertson, who was Charlie Bucket's grandfather in 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory', steals every scene in which he appears in 'Dead and Buried'. His enthusiasm for his job is a trifle chilling, to put it mildly!'Dead and Buried' was directed by Gary Sherman, who would go on to helm the actioner 'Wanted Dead or Alive' and 'Poltergeist III: The Final Chapter' (R.I.P. Heather O'Rourke - 'Suffer the little children to come unto me'). And the splendid special makeup effects are provided by Stan Winston, who would go on to become one of the most famous and respected specialists in his field, working on both 'The Terminator' and 'Aliens', as well as designing the creature for 'Predator' (the idea for the beast's exterior mandibles was, Winston stated, provided by James Cameron).What can I say? Ya just gotta see this!
"Welcome to Potter's Bluff--A new way of life."
posted on 18 Jun 2008"Welcome to Potter's Bluff-a new way of life." They sure ain't kidding either. Dead and Buried is an interesting tale to say the least. It's one of the best horror films no one knows about. Dan O'Bannon has to be one of my favorite writers. He has yet to disappoint me. This is also an early effort for one effects master known as Stan Winston and one horror icon who calls himself Robert Englund. This films offers us quite a different spin on the zombie genre and has a very unexpected end. This is one of those " the less you know the better it is" situations. So, I'll leave you with three words: "New England" and "creepy." Good luck trying to find this classic.
First-class horror film
posted on 28 May 2008This is the creepiest movie I've ever seen. There is one segment with a lost family that still gives me nightmares if I think about it before going to sleep.The others are right that it's gory, and that's too bad. This movie would have been just as creepy without it.It's a great example of how you don't need Neve Campbell and CGI to create an atmosphere of fear and mood of dread. Written by Dan O'Bannon (writer of "Alien"), and his skill shows here.Worth a rent, if you can find it.
One of the coolest early Eighties horror outings
posted on 04 May 2008I was impressed by the credits for this one, for I loved Gary Sherman's Death Line when I was younger and I'm always fond of the work of Dan O'Bannon. With effects from (mostly) Stan Winston, how could this fail. After watching, I'm thinking this was pretty much ace. The storyline and the manner in which it unfolds is gripping and mysterious with intrigue punctuated by some quality and fairly mean gore. A minor problem is that the lead is a bit colorless and the film at times feels closer to a quality Twilight Zone or Outer Limits affair than truly scary. Also, the ending, though cool is slightly dubious from a film making sense point of view. Acting wise the only standout is a wonderfully weird and creepy performance from Jack Albertson, otherwise everybody is reasonable. Robert Englund appears, which is always fun to see. All in all, I highly recommend this, as a horror film its far superior to much of the others from the time and gives good shocks, fun times and an endearingly crazy ending.
One of the most disturbing and shocking thrillers you'll ever see...
posted on 22 Apr 2008A professional photographer is taking some pictures in the small town of Potter's Bluff, ME. A woman catches his eye and he offers to take some pictures of her. She tries to seduce him by removing her shirt and bra. As he approaches her, a group of townspeople appear out of nowhere and tie him up. As his captors watch, he is burned to death. Or is he? Later he shows up working at the diner. What is going on here? Coincidentally, Dan, a policeman, is assigned to a grave robbery case. His search leads him to the town mortician, a man named Dobbs (Jack Albertson). Meanwhile, more innocent people get killed in VERY graphic ways (I'll explain in a minute) and eventually we find out that Dobbs isn't just a mortician. He is a voodoo priest that cuts out the hearts of his victims so he can control them. These dead people, in turn, kill outsiders or newcomers to continue the cycle. When confronted towards the end by Dan, Dobbs' explanation is that "dead people don't get sick and they don't age. They stay beautiful forever". I won't explain the rest but we are treated to not one, not two, but THREE plot twists, all within the last 10 minutes of the movie. The ending will blow you away, guaranteed. This movie plays like a really violent mystery. The first hour of the movie will have you scratching your head, but in the last 20 minutes everything will start to make sense, believe me. Oh and did I mention the ridiculously violent death scenes? I saw stuff on this movie that I didn't know they could get away with showing on an "R" rated movie. Sure other movies like Hellraiser or Dead Alive are probably much gorier than this, but there's no demons or otherworldly forces in this film, just humans. This is a very serious, very believable horror film. So, for the gore lovers, we have a man being burnt alive while the camera zooms in and out to show us just how much this guy is suffering. A bum's throat is slashed, the burn victim's eyeball is skewered with a hypodermic needle while he waits in the hospital in a full body cast, a man's face is injected with sulfuric acid and his skin begins to melt off, a family is brutally beaten to death, and in the most shocking scene in the movie a beautiful girl's face is smashed into pulp with a boulder. AND THEY SHOW IT!!! Lord have mercy, they show it! The camera zooms in on her face when she's at the morgue like it's nothing! And needless to say, it's VERY, VERY nasty. It always seemed like they couldn't ever show anything really graphic happening to a female, moreso a YOUNG female. But this one did, and it's probably the most graphic death scene I've ever scene in a movie. If Grandpa Joe's character on Willy Wonka warmed your heart, DO NOT see this movie! But if you like your horror films to have a little bit of substance and thought along with extreme violence, watch it today! Anyways, a very graphic and disturbing mystery. One of my favorites! 8 out of 10.
Disappointing movie with a decent concept but ultimately makes no sense...
posted on 14 Mar 2008Not a bad movie here - kind of reminded me of "Phantasm" with a great deal of "Wicker Man" influence. "Dead & Buried" has a very solid approach and several moments of gripping tension, though what I just couldn't get past were the underlying plot-holes that muddled most of the attempted logic and "twists" into a constant haze. It's about a small town sheriff trying to make sense of a series of brutal murders occurring, which just so happens to be a mob of fishermen targeting tourists for a very bizarre and... artistic cause. Apparently, the local mortician has a penchant for restoring horribly disfigured corpses and people in the town just aren't dying fast enough to keep him happy. What caught my eye was make-up artist Stan Winston's involvement, which I never would have suspected without his name in the credits. Can't say I saw any effects here that really dazzled me like I expected. I wouldn't say I "disliked" this flick, since the performances are strong and the concept is amusingly grotesque, though like I mentioned, the "twists" just didn't have as much impact as they were assuredly suppose to. You know right off the bat the crazy coroner is involved and the "Twilight Zone" ending conflicted with any intended logic, plus that brief taste of bare breasts at the beginning wasn't enough quench my "hunger" for gratuitous toplessness. Sorry... And nobody has entered the town of Potter's Bluff and noticed missing tourists pumping gas under a new identity? Wouldn't there be some kind of investigation surrounding this? Yeah, just too many convoluted aspects to call "Dead & Buried" a great film...
Excellent!
posted on 22 Feb 2008This horror/thriller about strange murders in an American town, but everything is not what it seems. Wow! This movie was original when it came out and it has a surprisingly high number of scares in it, some of which are still effective today. Dead And Buried should have been given much more exposure than it got. It was banned in England for years and years, luckily I had a Thorn/Emi rental copy in my collection!
One of the best horror movies ever made
posted on 06 Dec 2007Welcome to Potters bluff,the sign says in the beginning of the film,then starts one of the smartest horror scripts ever written by Dan O´Bannon come alive.What can i say it´s Fulci brutal,it´s got Oscar winning performances by first of allJames"the low budget tv-actor"Farentino,is he he still alive? Gary Sherman:Director ot the 1972 masterpiece Death line A.K.A Raw meat with Donald"The god"Pleasence god rest he´s soul. The direction is superior,i´t gives chills and twists from beginning to end.If you havn´t seen this movie,you must be the happiest person in the world,when you get your hands on it.
"The creepy small town with a secret"
posted on 31 Oct 2007SPOILERS Will most likely follow... A friend of mine came up with a collective noun for nice little movies like this. "The creepy small town with a secret", and when you think of it...many ( especially 80's ) horror flicks fall under this description. Dead & Buried is like the perfect representation of this sub genre. It's a really enjoyable horror from the early eighties that got forgotten a bit over the years, like so many other decent films. The stuff that is going on in the little town Potters Bluff is peculiar to say the least. Tourists or just people who're passing by are getting murdered and buried by the local mortician, but they don't seem to stay in their graves!!! The local Sheriff tries to solve the mystery, but doesn't really know where to start. After all, who can he trust? Even his old friends and his wife are not acting like their old selves lately... Dead & Buried is surely recommend to anyone who can appreciate a low-brained horror experience. The movie has a pretty solid plot ( from the hand of Don O'Bannon - the overtalented writer who also brought us Alien, Lifeforce and The Return of the Living Dead ), and it manages to keep up a macabre atmosphere during the entire movie. The acting is pretty decent and the crew contains a few familiar faces...Like Robert "Freddy" Englund and the unforgettable Jack "Grandpa Joe" Albertson from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!! Dead & Buried is a refreshing and creepy tale, but it remains horror in the first place! The film has a few wonderful gruesome sequences that'll satisfy the most trained horror fans. Highly recommended !! Note: This review is dedicated to IMDb-user FilmFatale...One of the greatest assets when it comes to horror-criticism ;-)
A supremely eerie and excellent early 80's horror winner
posted on 31 Oct 2007For some inexplicable reason this splendid, compelling, atmospheric little zombie mystery thriller took a while to be rediscovered (it received a spotty theatrical distribution when first released and got mixed reviews from critics), but thankfully with its being reissued on DVD it's been widely acknowledged and rightly heralded as an off-beat minor masterpiece of early 80's cinematic small town perversity ala "Blue Velvet" and "The Stepfather." No question about it; the plot's a real whopper: friendly, dependable sheriff James Farentino investigates a troubling rash of brutal murders which upsets the drab tranquility of the heretofore sleepy seaside hamlet Potter's Bluff. The premise may sound a little thin, but there are several socko surprises deftly delivered throughout the picture as it ambles along at a deceptively leisurely clip towards a great, jarring, truly unpredictable conclusion.Director Gary ("Raw Meat," "Vice Squad") Sherman keeps the ambiance wonderfully tense and creepy, expertly milking the rundown and uniquely unsettling coastal community setting for maximum skin-crawling eeriness (in this respect "Dead & Buried" takes its honorable place alongside Curtis Harrington's fine "Night Tide," the stand-out sexy Euro chiller "Daughters of Darkness," Matt Cimber's deeply upsetting "The Witch Who Came From the Sea," and John Carpenter's supremely spooky "The Fog"). The murders are shockingly graphic and sadistic, but never gratuitously so (Stan Winston did the excellent grisly make-up f/x, which are highlighted by an especially nasty hypodermic needle in the eye gag). Joe Renzetti supplies a beautifully lilting, dolorous score. Steve Poster's misty, shadowy, all faded dingy colors cinematography greatly enhances the potently blood-chilling gloom-doom mood. The clever and original script by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shussett (who previously collaborated on "ALIEN") stacks the deck with a few crackerjack plot twists and an agreeable amount of quietly hilarious black-as-midnight gallows humor (e.g., one crazed local yokel repeatedly exclaims "Welcome to Potter's Bluff!" before killing someone). And the tip-top cast really hits the spot: "Flash Gordon" 's Melody Anderson, underrated B-movie ingénue Lisa Blount, Barry Corbin, the ever-sleazy Michael Pataki, a pre-Freddy Krueger Robert Englund, Tim Burton's onetime main squeeze Lisa Marie in a bit part as a doomed hitchhiker, and Jack Albertson, who in his final film role gives a lovely, touching, gracefully understated performance as a sweet, doddering old mortician. A real dandy sleeper.
Low budgets are the best budgets
posted on 07 Oct 2007When it comes to good Horror, a big budget can be a disaster. With rare exception, (Most being sequels that managed to be good) it's the low budget Horror that scares us the most. This is because there is no budget to 'buy' a SFX shortcut. This is very true of 'Dead and Buried'.I remember seeing this on cable (HBO, I think) and being totally creeped out. I couldn't look away, the dark and forboding mood reached right out of the TV and kept me in it's thrall. When I saw it on tape many years later (And finally saw the first 15 minutes) it had lost nothing over time. It had still managed to keep me interested, jaded on Horror that I was.The film is essentially a Zombie flick, or could be. It's never really clear, nor should it be. Things start off weird and then get weirder, and doesn't stop till the shock ending. (No, I didn't see it coming the first time.)Fine performances were turned in by James Farentino (About half of what's on TV, not counting guest spots) as the Sheriff, Melody Anderson (Flash Gordon, Manimal) as his beautiful wife, Robert Englund in a Pre-Freddy (C'mon, EVERYBODY knows HIM) role and Jack Albertson (The other half of what's on TV, most notably Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Chico and the Man) as the Mortician.I give it a full 5 stars.Steelblade
Underrated and creepy!
posted on 01 Oct 2007WOW! What an excellent and creepy horror thriller. I was truly surprised by how well this film was. The plot is eerie and unique. Vacationers and people passing through are being butchered by the "people" of Potter's Bluff", except their not staying dead. They return to life as zombie residents of the small coastal town. It's up to the sheriff(James Farentino, who gives an amazing performance) to solve the grizzly murders and figure out who is the leader of the vodoo occult responsible for bringing the slained back to life. The film gave me chills and had a wonderful, atmospheric tone. It reminded me of John Carpenter's "The Fog" and Joesph Zito's "The Prowler". It's a slasher/zombie movie that features a great twist ending that will leave you blown away. The soundtrack is also excellent. A must rent for horror fans.
Underrated Horror
posted on 14 May 20091981's Dead and Buried is not the kind of story you normally think of when you think about 1980's horror films. This one is very good and much underrated. If you have read other reviews you know that not everyone agrees with me.This one was scripted by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, the same team that wrote Alien (1979). Stan Winston did the make-up effects, and the film starred James Farentino and Jack Albertson, starring as the eccentric Hobbs in his last role shortly before his death. If you feel this film is not very good, I hope you agree that with this talent it should be.A sleepy New England town experiences a number of gruesome murders. Throughout the film we get the feeling that Dan the sheriff (Farentino) is not getting at what is really going on. Several surreal scenes affirm this but, even so, Dead and Buried has a nice surprise ending. I'm getting close to offering a spoiler here, but can say that Hobbs, the town undertaker who has a passion for 1940s swing music, also has a well-developed passion for his work. Jack Albertson was wonderful in this part. One wonders, had he lived, if he would have enjoyed a second career in horror films, much as Leslie Nielsen did shtick comedy after 1980's Airplane.This was very much Albertson's film, but Farentino complemented him nicely as the over-educated small town sheriff whose marriage is not quite perfect. Indeed, nothing in this story is as it should be and the unease is felt by the viewer from the first few minutes onward. Certain scenes are dark, frightening and cause the viewer to really think about what is happening. 1980's slash gore is understated but very much present and is combined with the emotion it spawns in the viewer. The first time I viewed Dead and Buried, I was surprised by the ending, but in subsequent viewing it makes sense. The scene in which all is explained should be a classic, but again, not all feel as I do about this film and in the 25 years since its release, has never received its due.Catch this one late on Friday or Saturday night, if for no other reason to catch comedian Jack Albertson out of character being a likable creep. I believe you will enjoy it even if you are not a die-hard horror fan. Can a 1980s horror film which offers big band music be all that bad?