Hugely effective, 50's B-horror from one of Hollywood's most prolific genre producers. Suspenseful, paranoiac and downright eerie, 'I Bury The Living' is everything one could wish for from a modestly budget horror quickie. Basic premise has Richard Boone's character discovering he literally has the power of life and death, via the implausible, but fun conceit of sticking pins into a well-worn cemetery schematic. It's the film's palpable sense of hysteria and claustrophobia that leaves such a deep and lasting impression; and while, Albert Band is clearly no Jacques Tourneur, Band still manages to eek out maximum mileage from such a simple, yet eerie premise.

Richard Boone plays Robert Kraft, the newly elected director of a cemetery who finds himself involved in a morbid mystery when people who have plots in the cemetery begin mysteriously dying, especially when Robert realizes that he mistakenly put a black pin(for dead) in place of a white pin(for living) on a big map representing all the burial plots in the cemetery, for people who subsequently died. This doesn't seem to be a coincidence, since every time he does it, someone else dies... Can Robert stop this jinx, or is something else going on here? Theodore Bikel costars as the retiring caretaker Andy McKee. Despite a good score and direction, this film is ruined by the revelation at the end, which is simply not credible, as if it was thought of at the last minute. Too bad, because this could have been good.

On a map of the graveyard on the wall, black pins mean the plot is already "occupied", shall we say. White pins mean the plot is sold, but not occupied. For a laugh one night, the newly appointed cemetery caretaker sticks a black pin into an unoccupied plot. When its owner dies .....Believing it to be coincidental, he does it again: he sticks a black pin into a random unoccupied plot on the map, belonging to W. Isham. We are then introduced to Isham, as he is sticking pins into a stuffed teddy bear, sewing it back together. Creepy, he seems to enjoy it a bit too much, even creepier is when Isham drops dead immediately after that. Surreal images, and tilted and swirling camera-work show the pressure getting to Boone's character, he starts to blame himself for the deaths, and wonders how he can make amends. He decides to remove the black pins and replace them with the white ones.Big mistake.Lack of special effects require the film to focus more on lighting and mood. Zero-budget sets actually help the film, they make the film seem like it could be taking place in any small town, and give the movie a more gritty look. Unique plot hadn't really been done before, or since. This movie is something like The Twilight Zone meets Alfred Hitchcock, harmed only by its ridiculous, cop-out ending, marring an otherwise first class horror.

Though he resists, businessman Richard Boone (as Robert "Bob" Kraft) accepts a managerial position for the Immortal Hills Cemetery. Visiting elderly caretaker Theodore Bikel (as Andrew "Andy" McKee), Mr. Boone observes a map indicating the status of burial plots. White pins are placed in the plots which are empty, as they are being saved for living persons. Black pins are placed in the closed plots, where the dead are buried. Boone finds that when he inadvertently places black pins in white pinned places, the people die. People thinks this is a coincidence, but your opinion will be tested. Veteran player Matt Moore, primarily an actor in "silent" films, appears for the last time as the victim named Bates.***** I Bury the Living (7/58) Albert Band ~ Richard Boone, Theodore Bikel, Peggy Maurer, Howard Smith