Funkhouser's Horror Movie Countdown to Halloween: <em>Buried</em>

7 DAYS TO HALLOWEEN Spanish director Rodrigo Cortés' Buried is not a typical horror film. And yet it's absolutely terrifying. Not only is Ryan Reynolds the only person shown on-screen in the entire film, the Green Lantern-to-be is trapped inside a rickety wooden coffin for the duration of the film. Reynolds plays Paul Conroy, a contracted civilian truck driver buried in a rickety wooden coffin somewhere in the desert of Iraq after an ambush sees him kidnapped and held for ransom. Armed with only a lighter, a flask, glowsticks, a pen, a knife and a Blackberry, Conroy must not only preserve his own life but direct rescuers to his precise location, which he has know earthly way of knowing. The entirety of Buried takes place inside Paul's collapsing coffin (and, to Cortés' credit, that schtick surprisingly never gets old) as cinematographer Eduard Grau places the audiences squarely there with him. While Paul's dying cellphone battery leads him to increased frustration as he's transferred from office to office, trying his damndest to navigate government red tape and reach a voice who can (and is willing to) help him, the natural elements of his prison begin to creep in as well: a tiny leak of sand here, a perhaps-deadly snake there. Before long Buried's Hitchcockian race to the finish is pitting Paul against time, the sadistic captors on the other end of the line and the inefficiency of bureaucracy; sure, the cavalry's on the way, but will they make it in time? Buried's effectiveness comes from the psychological fear of being buried alive and Reynold's surprisingly intense performance. And it works. Watch Buried in a dark room at night and tell me it doesn't. Say what you will about Van Wilder, but dude stretches his acting legs here and shows his stuff. Buried is a tightrope act from beginning to end; this type of movie could have been a miserable, boring failure. The fact that it's not only a success but a truly frightening one is a testament to Reynolds and Cortés. To say anything more would give away the fun in being scared by Buried, but I can honestly say that the film left my nerves wildly shot. Buried Gore factor: 4 (of ten) Why it's scary: C'mon. It's a man buried alive in a coffin for 95 minutes. Didn't you see Serpent and the Rainbow? That movie's TERRIBLE and the "buried alive" sequence is still good. Who it will scare: Claustrophobes, truck drivers, Entertainment Tonight reporters