A wealthy artist , Ray Milland , suffers paranoia about being buried alive and causing his worst fears to come true . Soon after , he marries a beautiful woman : Hazel Court , but his horrible nightmares go on haunting him and things go wrong . As he devises a peculiar tomb , complete with a variety of exits should avoid his worst dreams come true .
This is a nicely macabre Edgar Allan Poe rendition with thrills , chills , plot twists and gloomy Gothic atmosphere , though it seems too serious , at times. This is Roger Corman's only Edgar Poe-derived movie without Vincent Price , being well starred by Ray Milland . Although lacking Price's hammy and playful performance style , however Ray MIlland -who subsequently played Corman's The Man with X Ray Eyes- gives a fine acting as the Englishman's worst fears come true when he is buried alive . As Corman made a generally breathtaking Poe cycle in which Vincent Price lead in most of the other outings in the series. The movie does have its sinister and creepy moments , notably Milland proudly showing relatives and friends about a especial tomb he has designed for himself , including several exits to escape from death . Ray Milland is well accompanied by a good main and support cast as Hazel Court , Heather Angel , Richard Ney and brief appearances from Alan Napier , John Dierkes and Dick Miller who is Corman's fetish secondary actor .
It displays a thrilling and frightening musical score by Ronald Stein . As well as colorful and foggy cinematography by Floyd Crosby , Corman's regular cameraman . Produced in medium budget by Gene Corman, Roger's brother , the picture was competently directed by Roger Corman . This great producer and director has made lots of movies of all kinds of genres , outstanding in Poe cycle and other Terror films, such as : Frankenstein unbound, Masque of the Red Death , Tomb of Ligeia , The Haunted Palace , The Raven, The Terror , Tales of Terrror , Tower of London, The Pit and the Pendulum , The Fall of the House of Usher , A Bucket of Blood , among others . Rating : 7 , Notable . The motion picture will appeal to Ray Milland fans .
This is a nicely macabre Edgar Allan Poe rendition with thrills , chills , plot twists and gloomy Gothic atmosphere , though it seems too serious , at times. This is Roger Corman's only Edgar Poe-derived movie without Vincent Price , being well starred by Ray Milland . Although lacking Price's hammy and playful performance style , however Ray MIlland -who subsequently played Corman's The Man with X Ray Eyes- gives a fine acting as the Englishman's worst fears come true when he is buried alive . As Corman made a generally breathtaking Poe cycle in which Vincent Price lead in most of the other outings in the series. The movie does have its sinister and creepy moments , notably Milland proudly showing relatives and friends about a especial tomb he has designed for himself , including several exits to escape from death . Ray Milland is well accompanied by a good main and support cast as Hazel Court , Heather Angel , Richard Ney and brief appearances from Alan Napier , John Dierkes and Dick Miller who is Corman's fetish secondary actor .
It displays a thrilling and frightening musical score by Ronald Stein . As well as colorful and foggy cinematography by Floyd Crosby , Corman's regular cameraman . Produced in medium budget by Gene Corman, Roger's brother , the picture was competently directed by Roger Corman . This great producer and director has made lots of movies of all kinds of genres , outstanding in Poe cycle and other Terror films, such as : Frankenstein unbound, Masque of the Red Death , Tomb of Ligeia , The Haunted Palace , The Raven, The Terror , Tales of Terrror , Tower of London, The Pit and the Pendulum , The Fall of the House of Usher , A Bucket of Blood , among others . Rating : 7 , Notable . The motion picture will appeal to Ray Milland fans .