‘Alien’ Screenwriter’s Forgotten Horror Gem Deserves a Second Look 45 Years Later

(SeaPRwire) –   When you reflect on horror movies from the late 1970s and 1980s, your mind naturally turns to some of the genre’s all-time greatest works. The 1980s alone brought us classics like Poltergeist, The Shining, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Fog—plus many more. That decade is arguably the most beloved period for horror filmmaking, building on the bold impact of earlier films to shape the direction of horror for the following four decades.

Taking a collective look at these films reveals a pattern. The slasher craze hit its peak in the 1980s, but even beyond traditional slashers, numerous works focused on the fear of corruption within neighborhoods, families, and close-knit communities. Back then, the media’s sensational coverage of serial killers and violent urban crime fostered the belief that small towns were safe havens from such chaos—and the horror genre made it its goal to destroy that sense of security. Many films addressed this theme head-on, but one almost-perfect film laid bare the evil hiding in the core of America’s charming ghost towns, only to fade into obscurity over time.

Just two years after screenwriter Dan O’Bannon redefined horror and sci-fi with Alien, his next film, Dead & Buried, takes a more understated approach. Set in the coastal town of Potter’s Bluff, the movie quickly shatters viewers’ warm perceptions of small-town life. Photographer George LeMoyne (Christopher Allport) meets a lovely local named Lisa (Lisa Blount) and starts taking her pictures, but right as their session shifts from professional to romantic, a group of townsfolk brutally beats George and burns him alive—while Lisa looks on.

This shocking, unanticipatedly violent opening scene sets the tone for the rest of the film, as Sheriff Dan Gillis (James Farentino) and local mortician William Dobbs (Jack Albertson—famous for playing Grandpa Joe) look into George’s death and other ritualistic killings by townspeople. Though Dead & Buried has a central mystery, the opening makes it clear that Potter’s Bluff residents are the culprits, leaving audiences to wonder why the town’s picture-perfect facade contrasts so sharply with the horror its people inflict.

This contrast echoes other iconic works—like the bloodthirsty former townsfolk in Stephen King’s classic Salem’s Lot or the twisted suburban secrets uncovered in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. Today, four decades of 24/7 news and the internet’s obsession with true crime have largely ended America’s romanticization of small, close communities. But back then, the film’s opening was a startling rejection of the idea that violence only came from immoral outcasts in big cities.

On the topic of violence, Dead & Buried’s brutality is shown with raw, graphic straightforwardness that still feels intense decades later. Stan Winston—who created effects for classics like Alien, The Thing, and Jurassic Park—handled the special effects, and his work shines. Whether it’s the gut-wrenching sight of a hospital patient being killed with a syringe to the eye or a time-lapse of Dobbs fixing a mangled corpse’s face, Winston’s artistry is captivating. Even at its most repulsive, you can’t tear your eyes away.

As more people die, a pattern in the murders emerges: each one is recorded by a group taking photos and videos, as if they’re making their own horror movie. Even though small towns were supposed to be safe from evil, there’s an obsession with those dark ideas—an ironic urge to document them as a warning of what goes on beyond Potter’s Bluff. At points, it seems like Dan O’Bannon and director Gary Sherman wanted to challenge viewers, asking why they’re so eager to experience violence through others.

Broadly speaking, Dead & Buried is about unearthing the decaying core of a perfect-looking community, but it also explores the tragic closeness between Sheriff Gillis and his wife—whom he thinks might be part of the crimes. The mystery of Potter’s Bluff’s killings mirrors the quiet fear of not knowing your spouse: who are they when you’re not around? Many horror films of that time tried to make audiences doubt the safety of their close-knit neighborhoods, but few did so by focusing on personal relationships with such chilling precision. If your neighbors can kill, what about the person you share your bed with?

The film is filled with an oppressive sense of fear, from George’s tragic death to the explosive twist ending. But along with that fear comes an odd, strong feeling of inevitability—a slow realization of a horror you’ve always known but never faced. Dead & Buried questions our ideas about where danger exists; even though it doesn’t say anything new, it reveals dark truths about the communities we turn to for safety—truths we might have always known deep down.

Dead & Buried is available to stream on Shudder.