Dead & Buried: Small Town Horrors and Brain-Fried Confusion

Okay, so last night I stumbled upon "Dead & Buried" from 1981. Man, what a trip. I honestly didn't know what to expect going in, other than some low-budget gore, but it totally delivered on the weird factor. That opening scene with the photographer getting torched? Holy crap. It pulls NO punches. Like, zero. And then the dude SHOWS UP LATER. That's when the real head-scratching starts, and it barely lets up. Seriously, the whole vibe of Potter's Bluff is deeply unsettling. Everyone's just a little too friendly, a little too normal. And William Finley as the coroner, Ernie, is just PERFECT. He's got this creepy, avuncular thing going on that made my skin crawl. I kept waiting for him to break out into maniacal laughter but he never does, which makes it even WORSE. And the sheriff (James Farentino), trying to figure out what's going on? You just feel his mounting frustration as the bodies pile up (literally and figuratively). The scene when he discovers the 'truth' in Ernie's place is just fantastic. The ending... well, let's just say it's a doozy. I'm still not entirely sure I understand HOW everything works, but I think that's kind of the point? It's all nightmare logic. Some of the special effects are a little cheesy by today's standards – that melting face, LOL – but given the budget, it's surprisingly effective. Plus, the practical effects are way more chilling than anything CGI could produce. Overall, "Dead & Buried" is a seriously messed-up little piece of horror cinema. If you're looking for something off the beaten path and don't mind a bit of ambiguity (and a LOT of gore), I'd say give it a watch. Just don't expect to understand everything perfectly, and maybe avoid visiting small coastal towns for a while afterwards. Man, I need some coffee! I'm totally gonna be thinking about this movie all day. Did I miss anything or do you all love this movie as much as I did?