At the Ravenscroft Institute, an all-girl school for juvenile delinquents, several girls go missing as they are assaulted by a man in a Ronald Reagan mask, who drags them to the basement of the school and immures them into darkened chambers to die a slow and agonizing death by way of entombment.

Buried Alive was John Carradine's final film, who died in 1988.

[2] As with the other three Harry Alan Towers productions inspired by Poe, Buried Alive was released direct-to-video in the United States.

In a contemporary review, Variety described the film as browsing through several themes of Edgar Allan Poe with "dull results".

"[1] The review noted that audiences may be disappointed that Karen Witter remains clothed throughout the film, while noting that former porn actress Ginger Lynn "has one of her best mainstream jobs as a tough-talking inmate who proves to be an excellent screamer.