The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964)

The Curse of the Living Corpse: Directed by Del Tenney. With Roy Scheider, Helen Waren, Robert Milli, Margot Hartman. Relatives gather in an old house for the reading of a will, but the “dead” man comes back to life and starts killing.

“While this film is by no means a thriller on par with anything Mario Bava directed or anything Edmond Ou0026#39;Brien starred in, it still is a pretty decent watch. The acting is overdone, the comic relief (if one can call it that) is so pitiful that I was seriously hoping the Constable (the u0026quot;funnyu0026quot; character) was the next beheaded.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTHe story surrounds a New England family of status and money. Their abusive and controlling father dies, leaving an inheritance for each member of the family provided they fulfill the stipulations of the will. Upon the first reading of the will, we learn that everyone has already violated the terms, wow. Way to cut out a lot of story. The murders are pretty predictable and leave little tension. The killings each pertain to said victimsu0026#39; fear (drowning, fire, etc) and are admittedly pretty graphic for 1963/1964. The beheading, the drowning scene, etc are very violent and there is no sparing the gore. That isnu0026#39;t to say that it looks completely realistic, but nonetheless at the time it mustu0026#39;ve caused quite a stir.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe murderer is allegedly the dead father returned from the grave to revenge his disobedient family. I wonu0026#39;t spill the beans but you can probably guess the twist about a half and hour into the film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRoy Scheider makes his screen debut and chews the scenery with vigor. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAt the end of the film the explanations donu0026#39;t really justify the u0026quot;howu0026quot; and if youu0026#39;ve scene the film, and know the character Iu0026#39;m talking about, his u0026quot;disabilityu0026quot; wouldnu0026#39;t have allowed him to do what he did. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThrough and through there are points of interest, itu0026#39;s not complete fodder but I wish the police men had been cut from the film. They made the viewing less pleasurable for me. Itu0026#39;s not complete fodder and OK for a double feature (as itu0026#39;s released with Horror of Party Beach) when you just want a bit of u0026quot;funu0026quot; and non-introspective entertainment,”