A doctor's daughter is kidnapped and buried alive, and he is given just five hours to find and rescue her.A doctor's daughter is kidnapped and buried alive, and he is given just five hours to find and rescue her.A doctor's daughter is kidnapped and buried alive, and he is given just five hours to find and rescue her.
- Nick - Chauffeur
- (uncredited)
- Man Walking in Graveyard
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe first of William Castle's "gimmick" films. In this one, admission included a $1000 insurance policy against "death by fright" issued by Lloyds of London.
- GoofsThe closing credits incorrectly place Ed Quigley among the characters who died during the movie.
- Quotes
Narrator: Ladies and gentlemen - for the next hour and fifteen minutes, you will be shown things so terrifying that the management of this theatre is deeply concerned for your welfare. Therefore, we request that each of you assume the responsibility of taking care of your neighbor. If anyone near you becomes uncontrollably frightened, will you please notify the management so that medical attention can be rushed to their aid? Please set your watches. It is 6:45 in the evening in a town called Thornton...
- Crazy creditsIn an animated closing credit sequence, characters who died during the film are borne in hearses that parade across the screen, right to left. The surviving characters follow on foot.
- Alternate versionsThis was one of a group of films for which Allied Artists prepared a special version for U.S. television syndication. The film would begin with an introductory crawl, followed by a scene from the film and then the main titles.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Adventure Theater: Macabre (1977)
Any movie that dares cast the lovable Jim "Mr. Magoo" Backus as the sort of brutish sheriff that Sterling Hayden could have done in his sleep does have something going for it. Any movie that features a slutty rich blind girl (who makes time with the pool boy AND Jim Backus AND our surly doctor hero) has a definite noir appeal. And the attention paid to clocks and the passing of time shows that the director at least has a concept of how a film might generate suspense.
But, a movie with the amount of bad, bad acting this one does, indicates a director perhaps more concerned with the promotion of his movie than the making of it. The logical flaws of the film are really extraordinary, beginning with small things, such as the distance between the small town and its old creepy graveyard, and advancing to the large, such as our hero's steadfast refusal to call the cops. And the final resolution, alas, is more disappointing than surprising. The best thing that can be said about the "promotional" aspects of the film -- mostly a rather campy opening announcement about how really truly scary all this is going to be, and a Charles Adams - like animated closing credit sequence, is that these campy things really don't get in the way.
Worth seeing, because the Jim Backus performance is the sort a revelation that can happen when a good character actor is totally cast against type. But the world won't come to an end if you miss this.
- alonzoiii-1
- Oct 30, 2012
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Macabro
- Filming locations
- 5193 D Street, Chino, California, USA(The Quigley Funeral Parlor)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $90,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 12 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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