The Curse of the Living Corpse

This is an obscure little film that is more atmospheric than anything else. It's certainly not original, in fact it's a loose remake of a much earlier film called "Secret of the Blue Room"...which, in itself, was remade as "Murder in the Blue Room". Confused yet?

Here we have a stereotypical rich megalomaniac whose death brings out the worst in his surviving relatives. He threatens to come back to life and murder each of them if they do not conform to the minute details of his burial. Of course they blatantly disregard the orders, and soon they are all being picked off as promised. Not that any of them have the sense to just leave the old manor.

This is particularly interesting for its photography, which makes excellent use of light and shadow. Faces loom out of darkness, small objects are illuminated by tiny shafts of light, and the confines of the gloomy mansion are utilized to the hilt. This takes place in an indeterminate time period, with a glaring lack of modern technology, which adds to the gothic feel of the film.

Candace Hilligoss from "Carnival Of Souls" is our heroine, which is another intriguing aspect of the movie. Truthfully, I wasn't aware that Roy Scheider was even in this film, which makes me want to go back and watch it again just out of curiosity. I musn't have been watching the credits.

If you can find this one, you may enjoy it for the aforementioned reasons, but don't expect any real chills or thrills. If you can't figure out the conclusion ahead of time, you're just not paying close enough attention.