::DON'T PERFORM THE AUTOPSY! I'M NOT DEAD!::

THE GIST OF THE LIST: "They're not dead! They're just paralyzed/drugged/cataleptic! For the love of God, don't perform that autopsy!"

Surprisingly, throughout the history of the thriller, this premise of someone not dead but waiting on an autopsy slab (or operating table) has been used quite often.

Other examples not filmed:

• Fear on Four's "A Routine Operation"
• Nightfall's "Where Do We Go From Here?"
• Dennis Etchison's "Calling All Monsters"

Here's a Stephen King quote on this particular sub-genre: "At some point I think every writer of scary stories has to tackle the subject of premature burial, if only because it seems to be such a pervasive fear. When I was a kid of seven or so, the scariest TV program going was Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and the scariest AHP—my friends and I were in total agreement on this— was the one starring Joseph Cotten as a man who has been injured in a car accident."

[LISTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER]

OTHER LISTS:

CAMMANDO (MEN-ON-A-MISSION) THRILLERS CON THRILLERS COURTROOM THRILLERS CULT EUROPEAN SUPERHERO MOVIES DARK COMEDIES WITH PESKY CORPSES, BOTCHED KIDNAPPINGS, MURDEROUS BLUNDERS & ACCIDENTAL DEATHS DEALS WITH THE DEVIL DINNER PARTIES FROM HELL DON'T PERFORM THE AUTOPSY! I'M NOT DEAD! GOTHIC HORROR HEIST THRILLERS HEROIC BLOODSHED + BULLET BALLET + GUN-FU HOLLYWOOD GIALLO (+ ITS OTHERS) INNOCENT FUGITIVE ON-THE-RUN THRILLERS ITALIAN GIALLO (+ ITS OTHERS) LOCKED ROOM MYSTERIES + IMPOSSIBLE CRIMES LO-FI SCI-FI ONE ROOM THRILLERS PARALLEL UNIVERSES, ALTERNATE REALITIES, FEVERISH DREAMS POLICE PROCEDURALS PRISON ESCAPE THRILLERS RURAL-COUNTRY THRILLERS THEOLOGICAL FILMS THRILLING SHORT FILMS THRILLING TV EPISODES THRILLING TV MOVIES UNKNOWN + UNAVAILABLE THRILLERS VANISHED PERSON THRILLERSTHRILLERS[/link]