ominously. Joanna then finds the fish poison syringe and realizes that Cortland was going to kill her. Cortland reveals that there never was a clinic. They fight, and just as Cortland is about to use the syringe on Joanna, the basement door opens. Exiting the basement, the pair finds that most of the house is now blocked off by wooden panels. While trying to find a way out, they are led through a maze and separated. At the end of a passage leading to an unblocked window, Cortland sees a shadowy figure and, thinking it's Sam, tries to bribe him. Clint reveals himself; a stunned Cortland tries to flee, but trips on the briefcase of money and falls on the syringe. Shortly afterwards, Joanna is trapped between Clint and a small hatch. She crawls through the hatchway along a low passage to where it suddenly dead-ends, allowing Clint to shut her inside. Clint reveals himself to her and mentions their aborted child, asking if it was a boy or a girl. He dumps the dead Cortland and money inside what is now a large wooden coffin and nails it shut. He then loads it onto his truck and sets fire to the house. Sam arrives at the house. After the fire is extinguished, no bodies are found inside. Returning to the cemetery, Sam sees a man standing at Clint's filled-in grave. Realizing it is Clint, Sam tells him to never come back, obliquely promising to keep his secret. Clint and Duke drive away, and the final shot reveals that the still-alive Joanna, the dead Cortland, and the money all now occupy Clint's grave, with Joanna hopelessly screaming for help. Cast Tim Matheson as Clint Goodman Jennifer Jason Leigh as Joanna Goodman William Atherton as Dr. Cortland 'Cort' Van Owen Hoyt Axton as Sheriff Sam Eberly Jay Gerber as Quintan Wayne Grace as Bill Scorby Donald Hotton as Reynolds Brian Libby as Earl, The Embalmer Peg Shirley as Helen Eberley David Youse as Billy Milt Hamerman as The Coroner Production The film's budget was $2,000,000 and had the working title of Till Death Do Us Part. John Carpenter stated in the audio commentary for his film Vampires that Darabont (his close friend, who also had a cameo in that film) asked Carpenter to play a truck driver in Buried Alive. Carpenter stated that he turned the offer down because he only