Review of Buried (2010) by Darren C — 19 May 2012

One of the many fears I'm sure many people have is being buried alive, which is the only thing that we see in this ninety-four minute movie; one man and his struggle to escape the coffin he's buried alive in. Ryan Reynolds plays Paul Conroy, a truck driver and family man who has been buried alive with no idea how he got there and no idea who buried him. With only a lighter and a mobile phone, he only has a limited time to piece together who has done this to him and where he is before he suffocates. By me saying you only see one actor in a wooden box for the duration of the movie, it might have put you off watching it but make no mistake, Buried is one of those little gems that everybody should see before they die. I will happily admit that I found this quite scary to watch because this is actually one of my fears and it works very well on your fear as it's very atmospheric and is actually very realistic. You also have this sense of being trapped in there with him throughout the movie and Ryan Reynolds boasts his acting ability as we feel the anger, frustration and hopelessness that his character feels. Although it takes place in a coffin all the way through the movie, the direction and the camerawork were brilliant and used very well as it added to the effect of making you feel like you were trapped in there with our hero. Rodrigo Cortes and Chris Sparling have done an amazing job in making this movie, even if the movie is only just one guy in a coffin, sometimes less is more and in this case, there's plenty.

The writing for Buried is great, using a brilliantly-crafted script along with a storyline that's gripping and will have you feeling a range of emotions throughout the movie. It's surprising how Buried doesn't switch to any other locations or any other characters and only focuses on one location and one character and still manages to keep you engaged and wanting to see what happens next. I can't praise Ryan Reynolds enough on his magnificent performance as his character. Through his character, you were able to feel everything his character felt at the time and I believe that if any actor can make you feel like that, then they are one of the best so to Ryan Reynolds, congratulations! This movie is not only one of the best movies of the year but it's also one of my favourite movies of all-time.

To all of the recent horror movie creators, THIS is how you make a great horror movie, you should be taking notes! Forget bucket-loads of blood and guts or torture scenes that make you feel sick or predictable jump-scares, that's not scary at all! True horror lies within your fears and phobias and makes you feel them and Buried is definitely one magnificent horror movie and it doesn't use a lot of blood and gore either and yet it still manages to scare you. I personally can't think of anything more scarier than being buried alive. Most people would call this a thriller but I also think it's a horror. From start to finish, Buried is non-stop brilliance. Admittedly, there are some people out there who may find this very boring as there's no action and the only thing you see is Ryan Reynolds trapped in a coffin for ninety-five minutes straight but I really would recommend that you give this a chance and you watch it in the dark. If you like horrors that don't have mindless violence, blood and gore and truly scares you by using your fear alone, this is one to watch.