The Curse of the Living Corpse
| The Curse of the Living Corpse | |
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| Directed by | Del Tenney |
| Produced by | Alan V. Iselin Del Tenney |
| Written by | Del Tenney |
| Starring | Helen Warren Roy R. Scheider Margot Hartman Robert Milli Hugh Franklin Candace Hilligoss |
| Music by | Bill Holmes |
| Cinematography | Richard L. Hilliard |
| Edited by | Gary Youngman Jack Hirshfeld |
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Production
company |
Deal Films
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| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Curse of the Living Corpse is a 1964 low-budget American horror film written, directed, and produced by Del Tenney. In the film, a series of murders haunt the family of a man who died leaving extensive instructions in his will to avoid his being buried alive. The film marked the feature film debut of actor Roy Scheider. It was originally co-billed with The Horror of Party Beach (1964). Both movies were filmed in black-and-white in Stamford, Connecticut by Iselin-Tenney Productions, a short-lived production company the director formed with Alan V. Iselin, the owner of a chain of drive-in theaters.
In 1892 New England, Rufus Sinclair suffers from catalepsy and lives in fear of being pronounced dead and buried alive. To prevent this, he leaves detailed instructions to the family and his staff, but when he is found, his greedy family—eager to claim their inheritance—have him quickly interred. Rufus leaves specific instructions on how to be buried, which are violated and the family lawyer, while reading the will, lets them know they will die from what they fear most:
Bruce will have his face disfigured; the widow Abigail will die by fire; asthmatic and alcoholic son Philip will suffocate; Philip's frustrated wife Vivian will drown; faithful manservant Seth will "join me in my tomb"; and all-around-nice-guy nephew James will lose that which is most dear to him, his pretty wife Deborah.
Abigail reveals she left a diamond brooch on Rufus's coffin, Bruce, needing the money, and family maid and lover Lettie recover it, though Bruce is perturbed to find it on the floor. He leaves Lettie at the crypt against her wishes, saying they need to return separately—and she is beheaded by a masked killer—seemingly Rufus returned from the grave. He leaves the head to be discovered by Bruce and others on a dinner tray. Bruce vows to stop Rufus while forcing Vivian to help him.
Bruce is maimed in the face by the masked killer—who then drags him to his death behind a horse. Vivian reveals that Lettie was murdered; Seth tells the remaining family members that Bruce's corpse is at the stable. Phillip finds Abigail's diamond pin on Bruce's body, and Abigail runs away in tears. The family lawyer sends Robert into town for the police. Phillip is named the new family patriarch and vows to do his best. Abigail says she's glad Rufus is alive so he can pay for the two murders. Seth feels he's in the clear, until Phillip reminds Seth that he violated the terms of the will and is "one of them now."
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