Buried Alive II on AllMovie

This made-for-cable sequel to the 1990 TV-movie thriller Buried Alive picks up where the earlier film leaves off, with the death of the sheriff who solved the mystery in the original. Old Sam has left his money (a hefty sum indeed) to his niece Laura (Ally Sheedy), who is married to a no-account named Randy (Stephen Caffrey). Hoping to get his mitts on all of Laura's dough, Randy conspires with his mistress Roxanne (Tracey Needham) to arrange an "accidental" demise for his unwitting wife. On cue, Laura dies after consuming a poisoned meal, the authorities are satisfied that no foul play has occurred, and the girl's body is shipped off to the embalmer. Thanks to a power outage, the embalming process is halted and Laura is buried "intact" -- and of course, still alive! Once she's dug herself out of her grave, Laura embarks upon a campaign of vengeance, aided and abetted by a shadowy stranger who turns out to be the "murder victim" from the earlier Buried Alive, Clint Goodman (played again by Tim Matheson, who also directed this film). Entertaining in its own "they liked it once, they'll love it twice" fashion, Buried Alive II premiered February 4, 1997, on the USA network.