Horror in Connecticut

THE CURSE OF THE LIVING CORPSE-1964-Somewhere in the 1800's, the Sinclair family gathers for the reading of the recently deceased father's will. The old boy had a fear of being buried alive and leaves intricate details on how to make sure he's dead. The will states that if the greedy ones do not follow his instructions they will all die in the way the fear the most (drowning, burning, smothering, etc.). Later a mysterious masked killer in hat and cape does away with them (it's easy to figure out who it is). This leaves some of the nervous relatives to cry that dad is still alive. Roy Scheider (in his film debut) plays the sarcastic drunken second son and CARNIVAL OF SOUL's Candace Hilligoss has a mostly wasted role until the climax. The highlight is a severed head served on a dinner plate.

CURSE OF THE LIVING CORPSE was shot in Connecticut by Del Tenney, the director behind the much more entertaining HORROR OF PARTY BEACH. But CURSE is a funny period piece with outrageous dialogue and some early gore. Much of it seems to be  a parody especially with the arrival of an inquisitive detective and his stupid policeman assistant.

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