"Dead and Buried" had been just that, sitting in my watchlist for years. I finally decided to take the plunge and it turned out to be a more entertaining watch than I'd thought it would be. The opening scene was a real shocker and the last half of the movie kept my interest, which is sometimes a problem for older movies.

The cast was lackluster other than Jack Albertson, who was very entertaining. But James Farentino and Melody Anderson were so odd, especially Farentino. He plays a local sheriff that comes unglued in a hurry. I'm not sure how all of the clues eluded him for so long, but his town is a mess. There's no time frame given about the length of his tenure as the sheriff, but the mob killings would have been hard to miss had he been around for any length of time. Anyway, he screams and grabs his face, mouth gaping and wide-eyed at the horrors that are occurring. Geesh...great cop.

I wouldn't call this gory but it's pretty bloody. There are a couple of traumatic moments here including a how-did-they-do-that eye stabbing. It's pretty amazing (and cringe-inducing). Actually, the special effects are really good. Almost all of them are done by Stan Winston and they are very convincing for an early '80s movie. There is one kill featuring a doctor and some kind of acid. It is the only poorly done effect in the movie and rumor has it, it was NOT done by Winston.

This isn't a scary movie, but it is very atmospheric. There are some creepy moments, including several moments where we see shadows lurking in the background and fog that occludes your view. I watched the Blu-Ray and the transfer is very grainy. It wasn't distracting, though. It was actually beneficial.

"Dead and Buried" is a little disjointed with some odd casting, but it had good effects and set a claustrophobic mood.