True, this is very similar to the first "Buried Alive" as in the storyline, direction, characters and basic results. I will say this though: It's not as bad as people say. Tim Matheson does a good job at establishing the characters right off the bat- Ally Sheedy as the heroine who has ties to the characters from the first film, Stephen McCaffrey as the immature, cheating husband, Tracey Needham as the sexy b*tch who convinces McCaffrey to kill his wife, and Tim Matheson himself is great as a much older and hardened Clint Goodman who (ten years after the events of the first film) now is tormented by a bad heart and nightmares on a daily basis. There is a real bond between Sheedy and Matheson's characters, which I really wish could have been explored more in the film and helped made it better. But all in all, this is pretty good- not first-rate, but how many sequels are? When you watch it, don't hold any expectations that this will be better than the first (because it's not) and you'll have a better time enjoying it as a movie separate from the original. I did, and I found that the storyline is easy to follow, the characters and actors are great, and the film ends on a delightfully creepy ending as you wonder how long before the boat containing the husband and his lover will stay together before collapsing!
16 Reviews
Buried Alive II
HorrorFan19845 June 2020
A man tries to murder his wife for her money, but she may not be as dead as he thinks in Buried Alive II, a follow up sequel to a very successful film from 1990.
We first meet Laura Riskin, the niece of the sheriff Sam from the first movie. She is mourning the recent death of Sam which has devastated the town. At his funeral, we see Clint from the original film show up mysteriously to pay his respects. In Sam's will, it is revealed that he had $250,000 worth in stocks which seems to spark a lot of interest in Laura's husband Randy.
Randy is an unhappy man who wants to buy a boat with the inheritance and leave town, while Laura wants to stay and have children. He begins engaging in an affair with a pretty blonde woman named Roxanne. They eventually decide to murder Laura with poison and take all of the money she got in Sam's will. He poisons her wine one night at dinner, and she has a massive stroke which seems to have killed her. However, the drug didn't finish her off and she is buried alive! Once out of the grave, she exacts revenge against Randy and his mistress.
It's interesting to me that Buried Alive got a Made for TV sequel seven years later considering it was a 90's made for TV film that wasn't all that heard of. Buried Alive II is pretty much a remake of the first movie with the genders of the bad guys and good spouse reversed. Ally Sheedy does however bring something to this movie that Matheson couldn't for me in the first Buried Alive, and that is that I felt really bad for her. She makes her character very likeable and it's hard to imagine why her husband would want to kill her.
Buried Alive II isn't a bad movie. I like that they continued some characters from the original movie including Sam and having Clint come back to town. It is a retelling of the first movie, but there are some differences. Randy is a way worse person than Jennifer Jason Leigh's murderous chatracter was in Buried Alive. I think this hurt the sequel actually because of how one dimensional our main villain was. It also seems like the main villain is just going through a mid life crisis and wanting to buy a yacht, and his main motivation for killing his wife is because she is boring and acts like an old person and because she doesn't want to invest the inheritance into a boat.
Overall, Buried Alive II is a pretty good movie and follow up to a solid first film. But I felt this was unnecessary, especially 7 years after the fact. It adds little to the series other than a good performance by Ally Sheedy who always delivers. Sadly, this is impossible to find. I luckily got the VHS at a yard sale years ago.
5/10
We first meet Laura Riskin, the niece of the sheriff Sam from the first movie. She is mourning the recent death of Sam which has devastated the town. At his funeral, we see Clint from the original film show up mysteriously to pay his respects. In Sam's will, it is revealed that he had $250,000 worth in stocks which seems to spark a lot of interest in Laura's husband Randy.
Randy is an unhappy man who wants to buy a boat with the inheritance and leave town, while Laura wants to stay and have children. He begins engaging in an affair with a pretty blonde woman named Roxanne. They eventually decide to murder Laura with poison and take all of the money she got in Sam's will. He poisons her wine one night at dinner, and she has a massive stroke which seems to have killed her. However, the drug didn't finish her off and she is buried alive! Once out of the grave, she exacts revenge against Randy and his mistress.
It's interesting to me that Buried Alive got a Made for TV sequel seven years later considering it was a 90's made for TV film that wasn't all that heard of. Buried Alive II is pretty much a remake of the first movie with the genders of the bad guys and good spouse reversed. Ally Sheedy does however bring something to this movie that Matheson couldn't for me in the first Buried Alive, and that is that I felt really bad for her. She makes her character very likeable and it's hard to imagine why her husband would want to kill her.
Buried Alive II isn't a bad movie. I like that they continued some characters from the original movie including Sam and having Clint come back to town. It is a retelling of the first movie, but there are some differences. Randy is a way worse person than Jennifer Jason Leigh's murderous chatracter was in Buried Alive. I think this hurt the sequel actually because of how one dimensional our main villain was. It also seems like the main villain is just going through a mid life crisis and wanting to buy a yacht, and his main motivation for killing his wife is because she is boring and acts like an old person and because she doesn't want to invest the inheritance into a boat.
Overall, Buried Alive II is a pretty good movie and follow up to a solid first film. But I felt this was unnecessary, especially 7 years after the fact. It adds little to the series other than a good performance by Ally Sheedy who always delivers. Sadly, this is impossible to find. I luckily got the VHS at a yard sale years ago.
5/10
If You've Seen The First One, There's Nothing New Here
jacobconnelly-476814 October 2020
7 years later, someone decided to make a sequel to Buried Alive, but it doesn't seem like they had any major ideas for the story since this is nothing more than a gender swapped retread of the original film with a few forced connections to the first film so that it can feel comfortable calling itself a sequel.
This time around, Laura (Ally Sheedy) discovers a strange man (Tim Matheson who returns as Clint and directs the film) at her uncle's funeral and, at the same time, she's going through the same issues he went through in the first film as her husband Randy (Stephen Caffrey) plots with his mistress, Roxanne (Tracey Needham) to kill her.
Just as in the original, this poison doesn't work, Laura gets buried alive, breaks out, and gets revenge on her husband and his mistress.
If you haven't seen the original, Buried Alive II might work better for you. It's not a poorly made movie and the acting is fine, but it pales in comparison to the original, especially when you realize it's not bringing anything new to the table.
This time around, Laura (Ally Sheedy) discovers a strange man (Tim Matheson who returns as Clint and directs the film) at her uncle's funeral and, at the same time, she's going through the same issues he went through in the first film as her husband Randy (Stephen Caffrey) plots with his mistress, Roxanne (Tracey Needham) to kill her.
Just as in the original, this poison doesn't work, Laura gets buried alive, breaks out, and gets revenge on her husband and his mistress.
If you haven't seen the original, Buried Alive II might work better for you. It's not a poorly made movie and the acting is fine, but it pales in comparison to the original, especially when you realize it's not bringing anything new to the table.
Holds the interest - just about
chriskh29 April 2001
Though the situations and characters are fairly banal, they are mixed together in a sufficiently surprising way that I, at least, felt obliged to stay with it and see how it all turned out. That plus a performance of a certain class from Ally Sheedy, who gets about all there is to be got from a not especially interesting part.
Very poor story
Mark-II7 November 1998
warning
lynsin_869 July 2007
seriously, what a load of sh*t. i mean really. really. this is a bad film. bad, really bad. don't watch it DON'T please it's terrible and funny...... to laugh at. ho-ho-ho is what you will say whilst watching this appalling film or, wow this film really is bad. Think about it. are you intrigued? has my bad review of this film only inspired you to watch it? if so this has been a total waste of time. i rated this film 1 out of 10. that means the film is awful. AWFUL! it's honestly really stupid. almost definitely the stupidest film a have ever had the displeasure of watching. some films are so bad they're good. but not this one.
Why bother...
nugirl7 August 1998
Garbage sequel - go watch the first instead
Leofwine_draca19 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Saddled with one of the most boringly unimaginative movie titles that I can think of, BURIED ALIVE 2 is a bitter (as a blowfish) disappointment. The original 1990 movie was surprisingly good for a TV film, with quality performances, an interesting plot and plenty of creepy moments. This sequel is a poor rehash of the first film, with the sole difference that the wife is the one being poisoned and the husband is the adulterer instead of the other way round. Everything else is exactly the same, including the poisoning by blowfish, even the drilling and trap at the end, but it's just not as effective this time around. The only fun parts are those which directly follow on from the first film, like the unexpected exhumation of the two bodies in a coffin and the character of Clint Goodman, but these are played down to a mere sideline in the movie.
Ally Sheedy (MAN'S BEST FRIEND) is frankly one of the most unattractive actresses I've seen, and her unconvincing performance doesn't help much. The rest of the cast is even worse, with the unknown Stephen Caffrey and Tracey Needham to blame for most of the bad acting in the movie. The only good performers are Tim Matheson, who has an excellently creepy role as a man with an unholy connection to death having been buried alive himself in the first, it's just a shame his direction isn't so inspired this time around. Brian Libby also has fun as an enbalmer with a black sense of humour.
The plot is often contrived (the enbalming machine going haywire is just plain dumb) and over-emphasises plot developments so that they become laughable. The final image, of two people trapped in a boat at the bottom of the ocean, is mishandled, turning a potentially horrific image into a laughable one thanks to the over-acting of the aforementioned Caffrey and Needham. Give this worthless flick a miss and rewatch the first movie instead, as it's about ten times better than this unoriginal garbage.
Ally Sheedy (MAN'S BEST FRIEND) is frankly one of the most unattractive actresses I've seen, and her unconvincing performance doesn't help much. The rest of the cast is even worse, with the unknown Stephen Caffrey and Tracey Needham to blame for most of the bad acting in the movie. The only good performers are Tim Matheson, who has an excellently creepy role as a man with an unholy connection to death having been buried alive himself in the first, it's just a shame his direction isn't so inspired this time around. Brian Libby also has fun as an enbalmer with a black sense of humour.
The plot is often contrived (the enbalming machine going haywire is just plain dumb) and over-emphasises plot developments so that they become laughable. The final image, of two people trapped in a boat at the bottom of the ocean, is mishandled, turning a potentially horrific image into a laughable one thanks to the over-acting of the aforementioned Caffrey and Needham. Give this worthless flick a miss and rewatch the first movie instead, as it's about ten times better than this unoriginal garbage.
Lacked Originality
Uriah434 February 2021
Having taken revenge upon his wife for her conspiracy to murder him "Clint Goodman" (Tim Matheson) has returned to his small home town to pay his respects to his best friend who has recently died. Naturally, needing to conceal his identity he avoids people to a great extent but is spotted from a distance by his friend's niece "Laura Riskin" (Ally Sheedy). Although she doesn't recognize him at first she finally discovers the truth after a chance encounter later on. She also learns more details concerning why her uncle's good friend committed the actions that had been only rumors before. On that note, being her uncle's only living relative, she has inherited a sizeable amount of money which her husband "Randy Riskin" (Stephen Caffrey) wants all for himself--and his new mistress "Roxanne" (Tracey Needham). So taking his cue from those exact same rumors about how Clint was poisoned he has decided to use the same methods on Laura as well. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film borrowed much too heavily upon the same plot as its predecessor and as a result lacked originality. That said, although both Ally Sheedy and Tracey Needham performed quite well, the movie itself wasn't nearly as good as it could have been and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.
This is a fairly decent sequel, however, it's predecessor was far better.
SentraWagon198216 August 2001
Warning: Spoilers
*This contains spoilers*
Buried Alive II is a half way decent sequel, but nothing close to saying it's a fantastic movie. What makes it a half way decent sequel is the fact that it picks up where the first one leaves off. Laura (Ally Sheedy) and Randy (Stephen Caffrey) have just inherited a large sum of money from the sheriff, Sam, from the original movie who had just passed away. Randy wanted to buy a new boat with the money and Laura didn't want to waste the whole inheritance on it. While at the same time, Randy was seeing Tracy (Tracy Needham). They come up with a plot to murder Laura by poisoning her with fish toxon. Randy would then be able to get his hands on Laura's money so that he would be able to buy the boat he wanted. Randy follows up with his plans and poisons Laura in a restaurant. Laura, of coarse, does not die, and after she wakes up from her coma, she takes her revenge out on Randy and Tracy.
Though this is a decent sequel, it left a lot to be desired. In general, the acting by Clint and Laura was very well done; however, the acting by Randy and Tracy seemed very stale. In the first place, poisoning somebody in public doesn't seem like a very well thought out plot by the writers. They also could have found another way to prevent Laura from being embalmed instead of showing the fluid injection system going haywire, which seemed cheesy and fake. The scenes with Randy and Tracy at the end were rather funny. While Laura was sinking the boat Randy and Tracy was on, Randy says to Tracy "What would you like me to do, call 911?". Overall, this movie is worth seeing, but don't expect anything spectacular.
Movie rating: 6 out of 10
Buried Alive II is a half way decent sequel, but nothing close to saying it's a fantastic movie. What makes it a half way decent sequel is the fact that it picks up where the first one leaves off. Laura (Ally Sheedy) and Randy (Stephen Caffrey) have just inherited a large sum of money from the sheriff, Sam, from the original movie who had just passed away. Randy wanted to buy a new boat with the money and Laura didn't want to waste the whole inheritance on it. While at the same time, Randy was seeing Tracy (Tracy Needham). They come up with a plot to murder Laura by poisoning her with fish toxon. Randy would then be able to get his hands on Laura's money so that he would be able to buy the boat he wanted. Randy follows up with his plans and poisons Laura in a restaurant. Laura, of coarse, does not die, and after she wakes up from her coma, she takes her revenge out on Randy and Tracy.
Though this is a decent sequel, it left a lot to be desired. In general, the acting by Clint and Laura was very well done; however, the acting by Randy and Tracy seemed very stale. In the first place, poisoning somebody in public doesn't seem like a very well thought out plot by the writers. They also could have found another way to prevent Laura from being embalmed instead of showing the fluid injection system going haywire, which seemed cheesy and fake. The scenes with Randy and Tracy at the end were rather funny. While Laura was sinking the boat Randy and Tracy was on, Randy says to Tracy "What would you like me to do, call 911?". Overall, this movie is worth seeing, but don't expect anything spectacular.
Movie rating: 6 out of 10
Roxanne if it were raining brains you wouldn't get wet
sol-kay24 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
**SPOILERS** Somewhat inferior sequel to the original 1990 made for TV movie "Buried Alive" that has it's star Clint Goodman, Tim Matherson, come back to town to pay his respects to the late Sheriff Sam Eberly. Sheriff Sam is the only person who knows Clint's secret, that he in fact is alive, and took it to the grave with him.
It just happens that Sheriff Sam's niece Laua Riskin, Ally Sheedy, is having trouble with her cheating husband Randy, Stephen Caffrey, in that the no good heel wants her out of the way an out of both his and, literally, her life. Randy has been having an affair with Roxanne, Tracey Needham, and the two are planning to off her the same way that Clint was; with the poison extract from the Japanese blow fish.
Sick and tired of living in the same hick town all his life and wanting to pursue adventure on the high seas, by getting himself a yacht, Randy sees his ticket to ride in that Laura is to get some $250,000.00 from the her late uncle's, Sheriff Sam, estate. It turns out that Clint, looking like he was just exhumed, is on to both Randy & Roxanne and tries in vain to get Laura, who at first doesn't recognize him, out of harms way but like in his case, who was also poisoned, to no avail.
With a nervous Randy spiking her drink, a glass of wine, with the blow fish extract or poison Laura goes into convulsions and literately drops dead right in front of Randy and about a dozen witnesses at a local restaurant. Just before Laura lost consciousness she realized, by finding the vile where the poison was in, that Randy had in fact murdered her! Or did he!
The film "Bruied Alive II" follows the very same storyline as it's predecessor "Buried Alive" with Laura coming back to life after she was buried. Not getting embalmed since the embalming machine at the local funeral home conked out Laura's vital functions were not effected as she was later able to get herself resurrected. It's then that an outraged Laura plans to exact vengeance on both her husband Randy and his lover Roxanne who both planned but, fortunately for Laura, didn't go through with her murder; Not that they didn't get an "A" for effort in trying.
Coming back from the dead Laura plans to get both Randy and Roxanne alone on Randy's yacht and then, by both sealing and sinking it, have them pay for their crimes. The problem is how can she being weak and almost unable to walk, by being entombed and buried in a air-tight copper coffin for some three days, be able to pull all this off? ****SPOILER ALERT****It there that Clint comes into the picture, and to Laura's rescue, but at the cost, being that Clint is suffering from an acute heart ailment, of his life.
Nowhere as good as "Buried Alive" but still worth watching with both Stephen Caffrey & Tracey Needham, as Randy & Roxanne, so badly overacting in their roles that for a time you think your watching a laugh a minute comedy not a tense and nail biting murder/suspense drama.
It just happens that Sheriff Sam's niece Laua Riskin, Ally Sheedy, is having trouble with her cheating husband Randy, Stephen Caffrey, in that the no good heel wants her out of the way an out of both his and, literally, her life. Randy has been having an affair with Roxanne, Tracey Needham, and the two are planning to off her the same way that Clint was; with the poison extract from the Japanese blow fish.
Sick and tired of living in the same hick town all his life and wanting to pursue adventure on the high seas, by getting himself a yacht, Randy sees his ticket to ride in that Laura is to get some $250,000.00 from the her late uncle's, Sheriff Sam, estate. It turns out that Clint, looking like he was just exhumed, is on to both Randy & Roxanne and tries in vain to get Laura, who at first doesn't recognize him, out of harms way but like in his case, who was also poisoned, to no avail.
With a nervous Randy spiking her drink, a glass of wine, with the blow fish extract or poison Laura goes into convulsions and literately drops dead right in front of Randy and about a dozen witnesses at a local restaurant. Just before Laura lost consciousness she realized, by finding the vile where the poison was in, that Randy had in fact murdered her! Or did he!
The film "Bruied Alive II" follows the very same storyline as it's predecessor "Buried Alive" with Laura coming back to life after she was buried. Not getting embalmed since the embalming machine at the local funeral home conked out Laura's vital functions were not effected as she was later able to get herself resurrected. It's then that an outraged Laura plans to exact vengeance on both her husband Randy and his lover Roxanne who both planned but, fortunately for Laura, didn't go through with her murder; Not that they didn't get an "A" for effort in trying.
Coming back from the dead Laura plans to get both Randy and Roxanne alone on Randy's yacht and then, by both sealing and sinking it, have them pay for their crimes. The problem is how can she being weak and almost unable to walk, by being entombed and buried in a air-tight copper coffin for some three days, be able to pull all this off? ****SPOILER ALERT****It there that Clint comes into the picture, and to Laura's rescue, but at the cost, being that Clint is suffering from an acute heart ailment, of his life.
Nowhere as good as "Buried Alive" but still worth watching with both Stephen Caffrey & Tracey Needham, as Randy & Roxanne, so badly overacting in their roles that for a time you think your watching a laugh a minute comedy not a tense and nail biting murder/suspense drama.
Wasn't any good the first time round...
bob the moo6 November 2001
Following on from the first film Sheriff Sam has died and his niece, Laura (Ally Sheedy) mourns his passing with her husband Randy (Stephen Caffrey). She also meets a shadowy figure at her uncle's grave who may be Clint (Tim Matheson)- a man who many thought died years ago. Meanwhile Randy hears the story of Clint and his murderous wife and plots with his girlfriend Roxanne (Tracey Needham) to carry out the same deviousness on Laura.
Was the first film so good that it justified a sequel? I've seen both so I can tell you no! This is not even a sequel but a lazy rehash of the first movie. The situation is reversed from the treacherous wife of the first to the husband here, but the poison is the same, the plot is the same, the problems are the same, the revenge is essentially the same. There is a slight change due to the involvement of Tim Matheson's character but he only floats around for a bit before vanishing, and anyway his character only confuses the issue rather than adding to the film. All the same problems with the first film are repeated here. Tim Matheson tries to copy Frank Darabont's direction, in many cases just copying the first shot for shot, but he's flogging a dead donkey and can't inject any tension into this.
The actors are C-rate versions of the first film's B-rate stars. Sheedy doesn't really convince as the vengeful wife while Caffrey doesn't seem like the sort to say boo! to a goose much less murder his wife. Matheson seems to exist in his own little film - halfway in you find out why he's in it at all but until then he just confuses the thing.
This is a pointless remake posing as a sequel. No one cares that all the old characters are tied back into the second film or that Matheson's back. It's all a bit pointless and the fact that it happens in the same town to people familiar with what happened last time round make it even less believable than the first film. the only upside is that the revenge is a bit more believable that the whole "building a massive wooden maze in a house" deal in the first film but it's still not great.
The film would have been better as a pure remake with the sexes switched and set in a new town with new people. The attempt to pass it off as a follow-on from the original with the same characters turns this poor film into a pointless, boring rubbish film.
Was the first film so good that it justified a sequel? I've seen both so I can tell you no! This is not even a sequel but a lazy rehash of the first movie. The situation is reversed from the treacherous wife of the first to the husband here, but the poison is the same, the plot is the same, the problems are the same, the revenge is essentially the same. There is a slight change due to the involvement of Tim Matheson's character but he only floats around for a bit before vanishing, and anyway his character only confuses the issue rather than adding to the film. All the same problems with the first film are repeated here. Tim Matheson tries to copy Frank Darabont's direction, in many cases just copying the first shot for shot, but he's flogging a dead donkey and can't inject any tension into this.
The actors are C-rate versions of the first film's B-rate stars. Sheedy doesn't really convince as the vengeful wife while Caffrey doesn't seem like the sort to say boo! to a goose much less murder his wife. Matheson seems to exist in his own little film - halfway in you find out why he's in it at all but until then he just confuses the thing.
This is a pointless remake posing as a sequel. No one cares that all the old characters are tied back into the second film or that Matheson's back. It's all a bit pointless and the fact that it happens in the same town to people familiar with what happened last time round make it even less believable than the first film. the only upside is that the revenge is a bit more believable that the whole "building a massive wooden maze in a house" deal in the first film but it's still not great.
The film would have been better as a pure remake with the sexes switched and set in a new town with new people. The attempt to pass it off as a follow-on from the original with the same characters turns this poor film into a pointless, boring rubbish film.
Poor research...
audreydog4 May 2002
If you like this watch "Goldeneye"?
richardbradbury200128 August 2004
The summary says it all really? I'm just looking this up as I watch it on ITV and a bit puzzled by the link. Does anyone else actually understand what the two films have in common - apart from being distinctly average? I haven't really got much more to say, but apparently I need to make this ten lines long in order to submit it, so bear with me while I babble a bit in between breaks to watch her eat the poisoned blowfish...well, that was fun - but still no sign of James Bond,high budget stunts, SMERSH, SPECTRE, or even Pussy Galore. I suppose that this is just one more of Life's great mysteries that I will have to live with. Anyway, that's my ten lines up. Any clues anyone?
Tracey Needham was excellent
prettyface6 April 2004
The story line for Buried Alive II and the first version of Buried Alive was about the same. In the first part, Tim Matheson was known as Clint Goodman who has a very beautiful wife Jennifer Jason Leigh as Joanna Goodman. Jennifer Jason Leigh was not satisfied with her husband therefore, she killed him.
This version is the same case. Stephen Caffrey is Randy Riskin and he had an unattractive wife Ally Sheedy as Laura Riskin. The obvious better choice is to have an affair with Tracey Needham as Roxanne.
But, script writers have not destroys beautiful woman like Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tracey Needham. They can't seem to understand that attractive woman want something more and all men love to be with attractive woman.
Tracey Needham's acting was extremely good.
This version is the same case. Stephen Caffrey is Randy Riskin and he had an unattractive wife Ally Sheedy as Laura Riskin. The obvious better choice is to have an affair with Tracey Needham as Roxanne.
But, script writers have not destroys beautiful woman like Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tracey Needham. They can't seem to understand that attractive woman want something more and all men love to be with attractive woman.
Tracey Needham's acting was extremely good.
Totally incoherent
JKpplger31 March 1999
This movie, unlike the first part (Buried Alive), has a totally illogical and practically impossible plot. First of all, it attempts to include many of the elements (main actor, part of the old plot) of the first one. This badly achieved relation makes the movie even more illogical.
Also, the whole movie seems to be based only on a small idea for a sequel, and no attention is paid to the supporting story-line: there are many plot-holes; thus the story makes no sense.
Not as thrilling as (and harder to believe than) its predecessor.
Also, the whole movie seems to be based only on a small idea for a sequel, and no attention is paid to the supporting story-line: there are many plot-holes; thus the story makes no sense.
Not as thrilling as (and harder to believe than) its predecessor.
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