“Buried Alive” has everything that a great horror movie of the '80s needs; cheesy music, naughty school girls, a Ronald Reagan-mask wearing killer and the great Donald Pleasance. Sadly, this movie suffers from a horrible case of schizophrenia because it can’t decide whether it wants to be a serious thriller or campy slasher movie, while not working as either. One of the biggest travesties is that Pleasance, while enjoyable and creepy, is extremely underused.
“Buried Alive” starts off strong when one of the girls of Ravenscoft Institute sneaks out in the middle of the night for unknown reasons. But if horror movies have taught us anything, it must be a boy. While the girl is out walking (by herself, of course), she is knocked unconscious by ... Ronald Reagan?! That’s something you’d expect from “Tricky Dick,” but not Reagan. No worries; it’s only a man in Ronald Reagan mask. When the girl awakens, she finds her assailant is going all Edgar Allan Poe on her booty.
Janet (Karen Witter), due to reasons that are never revealed, is in need of an easy, quiet job. Unfortunately, that isn’t in the cards for her since most of the students are quite volatile in nature. As Janet settles into her new home and job, we are introduced to the Headmaster of the school, Gary (Robert Vaughn), and Dr. Schaefer (Pleasance). Immediately, Janet begins to have mysterious visions of throbbing walls and a mysterious voice calling out to her. As the days pass, the visions only get more intense and more of the girls begin to “run away” from the school.
“Buried alive” has some very schlock-tastic deaths in the first half of the film that could rival a few of the famous deaths in the original “Friday the 13th” or “Halloween.” Just as the movie begins to be fun, it flips over to another personality. “Buried Alive” tries to become a serious thriller but still plays out like a cheesy slasher film. It was fun to see Pleasance in the movie, but his part was sadly diminished to no more than a red herring who menacingly ate food and stared at people in between his mail duties.
Viewers who are looking for a good time or a movie that will leave them on the edge of their seat should watch at their own risk because they are sure to be disappointed. The DVD lacks any special features, and it's hard to determine whether that is a good or bad thing.