The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964)

The Curse of the Living Corpse 84 min B&W (USA, 1964) DIR-PROD: Del Tenney. SCR: Del Tenney, Margot Hartman. MUSIC: George Burt, Wilford L. Holcomb. DOP: Richard Hilliard. CAST: Roy R. Scheider, Helen Waren, Robert Milli, Margot Hartman, Hugh Franklin, Linda Donovan, Dino Narizzano, Candace Hilligoss. (Dark Sky Films)

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One of the greatest double-bills in history, two independently produced horror films by Connecticut-based auteur Del Tenney, The Horror of Party Beach and The Curse of the Living Corpse were picked up as a double bill for distribution by Twentieth Century-Fox for a successful run in drive-ins. Both films are well-produced despite their meagre budgets, and nicely shot by Richard Hilliard: each fine examples of regional filmmaking.

Horror Oof Party Beach (also written by Hilliard) is a goofy outing about radioactive monsters terrorizing a seaside community, intended as a spoof. One suspects that beneath the surface of Curse of the Living Corpse (co-written by producer-director Tenney), there is a dark comedy at play, given the delightful absurdity of the plot and often operatic acting. When family patriarch Mr. Sinclair passes away, his rightful heirs are instructed to carry out the man’s final wishes at the reading of the will. Because Sinclair had a fear of being buried alive (shades of Poe’s Premature Burial), his requests are to leave his crypt unlocked and that the torches within remain lit at all times, in the event he is still alive. The family is informed that failure to attend to these and further postmortem demands will result in his returning from the grave and subjecting each of them to their worst fears.  

This motley bunch must fulfill his demands for the following year or lose the inheritance (assuming they stay alive during that time).  Part of the fun in the movie is pondering whether any of these people are at all deserving of any fortune. Sinclair’s son Philip (Roy Scheider) is a drunken sot who is glad to be rid of his tyrannical father, while his other son Bruce (Robert Milli) is a vain cad who romances Philip’s wife and one of the servants! Meanwhile, Sinclair’s widow wants to brick up the house out of her fear of fire! Since the wishes of the deceased had already been abused even before the reading of the will, it isn’t long before a masked killer (resembling The Shadow out of pulp magazines) starts killing them off in fashions correlating to their individual phobias.  

Horror of Party Beach is the better known film of this double bill, thanks to incessant TV airings, much coveted rock soundtrack and even a photo comic book adaptation (released by Warren Publishing). Its sister movie perhaps best known as the feature film debut of actor Roy Scheider (credited here with the middle initial “R.”), who is quite good as the souse Philip, in a rare chance to play melodrama verging on comedy. It is also remembered for a supporting role by Carnival of Souls beauty Candace Hilligoss, who could have been a major scream queen in the 1960s; alas, this was her final horror picture. Despite that Party Beach has more appeal and longevity, Curse of the Living Corpse is arguably the superior of the two films, as it is a lean, fast-moving, well-made little movie.  

It has been suggested by some that the artistic success of Del Tenney’s films is due to his cameraman Richard Hilliard, although that is only partially true. This Gothic piece, set in 1892, benefits greatly from his crisp, moody black-and-white photography. There is also inventive framing (love the opening overhead shot where Sinclair is being put into the hearse- purposefully obscuring his looks so that we can’t identify the killer later on), good staging and use of foregrounds. Richard Hilliard has also worked as a director, but I’ve only seen The Lonely Sex from that short list, and I’m not sure if that film is a proper way to assess his directorial talent. (EDIT: I’ve now seen Hilliard’s film, Violent Midnight. See below.) 

Curse of the Living Corpse loses its way a bit with the addition of two inspectors in the finale, simply because their comic relief isn’t nearly as biting as the sardonic material that precedes it. This glorious-looking, unabashedly nasty little melodrama is also a sinfully entertaining black comedy about some loathsome people who receive some retribution.    

Dark Sky Films has released both films together on one DVD in glorious anamorphic widescreen presentations, thereby preserving the original double-feature presentation on one disc! Del Tenney appears in an extra on-camera video interview, and provides feature-length commentaries for both films. If you’re a fan of either film, this DVD is a must-have. Dark Sky also released another Del Tenney production, Violent Midnight, directed by Richard Hilliard, and is also highly recommended.

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