MovieChat Forums > Creepshow (1982) Discussion > Was Richard's murder plan plausible?

Was Richard's murder plan plausible?

posted 14 years ago by redskiesmaxx
28 replies | jump to latest

I am curious as to how plausible the premise of "Something to Tide You Over" is. If you buried someone up to their neck in sand, would they really be totally immobilized and unable to move at all? I mean, surely you could still move your arms and pull yourself out of the sand.

I think that Richard Vickers' murder plan would only work if he first took the precaution of binding the arms and legs of his victims before burying them on the beach.

[–] Littlebitsofgaming 14 years ago

If you buried someone up to their neck in sand, would they really be totally immobilized and unable to move at all?

Yes.

I mean, surely you could still move your arms and pull yourself out of the sand.

No, it would be pretty much impossible.
Sand is pretty heavy stuff...try it yourself.

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he is God.

[–] redskiesmaxx 14 years ago

Well, at the beginning of the story, Ted Danson's character boasted of being able to bench-press 300 lbs. If that's true, then, wouldn't he be strong enough to claw his way out of a lot of heavy sand heaped on top of him?

Also, is it possible, as Leslie Nielsen's character suggested, that the undertow of the tidal current might pull him out of the sand if he could hold his breath long enough?

[–] Thebobo. 14 years ago

I mean, surely you could still move your arms and pull yourself out of the sand.

No you would be totally immobilized. And don't call me Shirley!.

It's all fun and games 'till somebody gets hurt!

[–] redskiesmaxx 14 years ago

Ah ha! You fell into my little trap!

[–] Thebobo. 14 years ago

I had a hunch you were being coy and even if you weren't I was surprised no one else noticed.
It's all fun and games 'till somebody gets hurt!

[–] cav3 14 years ago

wasn't there a tv on the beach too? how did that work?

[–] monty39 14 years ago

Far more implausible than the victims being able to free themselves from the sand is working out the timetable. How long is the period between low and high tide, and how was Richard able to bury Becky, go to Harry's house to bait him out to the beach, bury *him*, and set up his video equipment to record the demise of both of them? Even for a young man, that's a lot of busywork to do with the clock ticking. What would Richard have done if he'd turned on his TV to show Harry what he'd done with Becky, and she was *already* underwater?

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Koosh_King01 11 years ago

A really long cord.

"I mean, really, how many times will you look under Jabba's manboobs?"

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Danomera 14 years ago

Seriously it's like being buried in cement. Plus the way he had them kneel gave them no leverage. Wet sand is HEAVY, plus being at the tide line like that, the sand would just compress and keep compressing, till you were in a pretty good pickle, as we see.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] monty39 13 years ago

Re: Was Richard's murder plan plausible?
by - craterofstink on Tue Mar 22 2011 10:12:30

I think they both would have died of compressive asphyxia before they drowned when the tide came in.

There's a deleted scene from the movie with Richard burying Harry, and Harry pleading, "C'mon, man, not over my chest, I won't be able to breathe!", and Richard replying, "You'll be able to breathe...with some difficulty, of course."

[–] BigEasy1203 14 years ago

If you buried someone up to their neck in sand, would they really be totally immobilized and unable to move at all?

I have seen this film many times and I have always wondered the same thing myself.

A lot of the responses you have gotten are saying that the sand is like cement and you would not be able to move at all. However, I am guessing that most, if not all of the people responding have themselves never been buried to their neck in sand, so they can't definitively make that case.

Of course, I have never been buried in sand either, so I will have to speculate some myself. I would say that an able-bodied person probably could free themselves, given a fair amount of time. I base that on being able to move your hands. You could start by using your hands to dig and loosen the sand around them, until you have a small amount of space. From there you would continue until you could move your arms a bit, and eventually dig your arms free. From that point it would be a simple escape.

[–] TheFatDruidofNacyl 14 years ago

I suspect even if you could move your body like that in just being burred higher up in the beach, the fact that he had to hold and save his breath. I don't think he could really use that much effort to free himself when he could hardly catch a breath.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] TheFatDruidofNacyl 13 years ago

If you want to bring back zombies all you need to do is play Michael Jacksons Thriller.

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[–] LadyDi4476 13 years ago

No you would be totally immobilized. And don't call me Shirley!.

It's like Richard explains in the movie. It's like being buried in quick sand. There's no leverage and he can't move. Pretty frightening when you think about it.

-Di

[–] KingKurupt1979 13 years ago

Richard said it's like being buried in wet cement. Not quicksand. If you get buried in quicksand, you're going under.

BTW my buddy and I were at the beach one summer after we rented this movie and decided to see if being buried up to your neck in sand would make it impossible to move. It does. I panicked my butt off thinking about the movie while I was in the sand and pleaded for my friend to dig me out of there quickly.

[–] jstover07 12 years ago

What's even scarier is real-life cases of people being buried in the sand up to their necks...like kids do at the beach in play...and then being on top of a sinkhole, which sucks them down to their death! : (

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] MettaQueensbridgeWarfare 12 years ago

When he returns to the beach he unplugs it from the generator he set up.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] Mandingo609 9 years ago

It's absolutely plausible. After seeing this film as a kid, I used "The Harry Technique" on a dog. I did it at Asbury Park in NJ. It worked just fine.

[–] SlickySlixta 9 years ago

I used "The Harry Technique" on a dog. I did it at Asbury Park in NJ. It worked just fine.

That's pretty *beep* cruel.

Don't put the devil in the picture, cause' the religious groups won't wanna see it.

[–] Prismark10 8 years ago

Did the dog send you his greetings from Asbury Park NJ?

It's that man again!!

[–] Mandingo609 8 years ago

I dug him/her up and sent him/ her on their way. I didn't kill the bastard.