“Welcome to Potter’s Bluff!”

Visitors to the coastal town of Potter’s Bluff are being slaughtered in the most brutal and violent ways imaginable, by a group of ordinary-looking people who snap dozens of photographs as they perpetrate their heinous crimes. Sheriff Dan Gillis (James Farentino) investigates the grisly slayings with the help of quirky mortician William Dobbs (Jack Albertson). But the lawman is about to discover that the town and its residents – including his own wife Janet (Melody Anderson) – have a terrifying secret. Almost immediately after being embalmed and interred, the deceased begin reappearing in the town, alive and well.

DEAD & BURIED was written by Dan O’Bannon (DARK STAR, ALIEN, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, LIFEFORCE) and Ronald Shusett (ALIEN, KING KONG LIVES), from a story idea by one-time ABC AfterSchool Special scribe Jeff Millar and Alex Stern. Mining the same atmospheric ground as John Carpenter’s THE FOG (1980), the Gary Sherman film makes great use of misty seaside locations and diffused lighting to create a chilling ambience that is simultaneously familiar and otherworldly. Sherman shows here that his later work on inferior efforts like WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE and POLTERGEIST III does not accurately reflect his skill as a director. In DEAD & BURIED, the former TV commercial helmer expertly employs a remarkable number of creepily jarring reveal shots as the mystery of the dead-but-not-dead out-of-towners unfolds, and demonstrates an innate understanding of how to properly build tension prior to a “jump” scare. At one point our hero runs into a barn after an unseen attacker and the audience can see the obligatory “Boo!” moment coming a mile away, but the director drags out the lead-in so deliberately that when the scare comes, one can’t help but be appropriately startled.

The cast is loaded with vaguely familiar faces, actors you’ve seen in character parts and recurring small screen roles but probably couldn’t name to win a bet or a game of SCENE IT. In addition to Farentino (DYNASTY, MELROSE PLACE), Albertson (CHICO & THE MAN, WILLIE WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY), and Anderson (FIREWALKER, FLASH GORDON), sharp-eyed viewers will spot Barry Corbin (NORTHERN EXPOSURE), Michael Pataki (you name it, he’s probably been in it!), Macon McCalman (DELIVERANCE, CONCORDE: AIRPORT ’79), Christopher Allport (ANOTHER WORLD, FELICITY), and many, many more “no-name stars”. The only real genre celebrity in the bunch is future Freddy Krueger and horror convention bullshitter Robert Englund, who appears here, pre-V, as another local in on all the dark doings.

Though Albertson is great fun as the eccentric funeral home director and the bit players almost all carry their weight exceptionally well (especially the gorgeous but sinister Lisa Blount), it’s difficult to praise the acting in the film due to the uneven performance of Farentino. Those who remember him as a poor substitute for Roy Scheider in the television version of BLUE THUNDER will undoubtedly conclude that he began preparing for that 11-episode debacle by playing a cut-rate version of Chief Martin Brody from JAWS in this film. Farentino certainly goes through all of the tormented “fish out of water” histrionics of his more famous inspiration, but his performance is pretty much devoid of the everyman believability and pathos that make Scheider so likable in just about everything (except, of course, SEAQUEST DSV). The fact that it is never really explained why Sheriff Gillis came back to the town in which he seems so out of place or how long he’s been back doesn’t help matters. Still, no amount of exposition could make up for the actor’s inherent dullness or frequent, overwrought tantrums. Instead of being sympathetic, Farentino alternates between bland and ridiculous throughout. Anderson is better and looks great, but she isn’t a strong enough thespian to overcome her leading man’s shortcomings or make their unconvincing marriage credible.

The gruesome make-up for DEAD & BURIED was created by a young Stan Winston (who worked on this, THE ISLAND, THE EXTERMINATOR, THE ENTITY, THE HAND, HEARTBEEPS, THE THING, and FRIDAY THE 13TH PART III IN 3-D all in the short span between 1980 and 1982!). For the most part, the gore effects are genuinely excellent. The only weak link is a very unconvincing and unfortunate death-by-acid head prop that will draw more giggles than gasps from the audience. Still, Winston displays much of the skill and craftsmanship here that would later make him one of mainstream Hollywood’s most sought-after effects gurus. Even by today’s ultra-gory standards, the vicious kill scenes in this movie are realistic and disturbing.

For a film that has largely been ignored and forgotten by horror historians, there are a lot of truly unforgettable moments in DEAD & BURIED. The opening scene finds a photographer seduced by a beautiful, mysterious girl on a beach, only to have his fun interrupted when she and a handful of townsfolk savagely beat him and set him on fire. Later, this hapless burn victim is discovered in an overturned car, where we learn in a jump-out-of-your-seat moment that he is still very much alive. Still later, the poor bastard is paid a visit in his hospital room by the same femme fatale, who is disguised as a nurse and has come to finish what she started with a giant hypodermic needle to a very vulnerable anatomical point. This last bit is worthy of Hitchcock or Argento and alone is worth the cost of the DVD. The spine-chilling fun doesn’t end there, though, as we are treated to scene after scene of the malevolent villagers appearing out of the shadows to torment and torture one unfortunate soul after another. From their NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD-style assault on a family of passing tourists to a creepy, dialogue-laden variation on FRIDAY THE 13TH’s hitchhiker scene, the murderous marauders of Potter’s Bluff (almost all of whom are present and behave like normal, friendly folk in the more mundane scenes) are as frightening and haunting as any of their better-known ‘80s slasher franchise brethren. Almost as creepy as the kills are scenes involving the mortuary/graveyard, including a great speech by Albertson about embalming techniques and a later sequence in which he restores the youthful beauty of a female corpse whose head has been partially crushed by a rock.

There are clues to the mystery throughout the narrative - not the least of which is the clever name of the town itself. Seasoned horror fans may see the final twist coming, but the revealing finale (which predates a similar, more highly lauded M. Night Shyamalan shock ending by nearly two decades) still packs a nice wallop. Playing like a satisfying blend of THE FOG and HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH, DEAD & BURIED is one hell of a chilling, atmospheric ride, and is a must-see for everyone out there who claims to love scary movies.