It don’t matter if you’re black or white…
But it does if you’re talking about the colour of the flag on your reserved plot in the map of the local cemetery.
Supermarket exec Richard Boone takes over management of the boneyard (apparently civic leaders take it in turns!) and finds that when he swaps the coloured flags on the map, people drop dead.
That’s the unusual premise of ‘I Bury The Living’ (1958), a film that bares more than a passing resemblance to a feature length ‘Twilight Zone’ episode. Stephen King has a soft spot for this one and it’s not hard to see why; it’s an original idea, there’s a genuinely creepy atmosphere and Boone gives a committed, convincing performance. The supporting cast aren’t up to much but it’s difficult to breathe life into roles that are so generic. On the other hand the story treatment is refreshing; instead of Boone taking revenge on everyone who has slighted him, he is tortured by guilt and remorse.
Eventually, the film descends into the realms of surreal nightmare as his sanity begins to collapse. Then everything comes unglued in the last ten minutes with one of the stupidest endings you’ll ever see. It’s not quite as tragic as ‘they were dead all the time but they just didn’t know it’ but it’s close.
The Tate Modern had already shown an interest…
Apparently, the filmmakers had a choice of two ways to finish the picture. Whatever the other one was, I think it’s fair to say they made the wrong call. It’s a real shame because up to then the movie has all the makings of quite the little classic but someone lacked the courage of their convictions to see it through to the end.
I’d suggest a remake but we all know how those usually turn out!
When it comes to ‘bad endings’ my personal favourite is: ‘he woke up and it was all a dream so that’s ok … but then the dream starts coming true…!’
What’s your favourite ‘bad ending’?
Mark David Welsh 