Curse of the Living Corpse (1964)

In 1894, a millionaire is placed in his crypt after he is believed to be dead. At the reading of the will, his family is given instructions as to how to maintain his body in case he is not dead. They do not carry them out and he rises from his tomb to enact ghastly punishment.

The Good

Del Tenney double billed this with The Horror of Party Beach and by far is this the more stronger of the two. It is a bit of a more modern take of the Old Dark House genre that fueled most of the 30’s cheap fair. Some thing that wasn’t quite seen at the drive in at the time. It’s a very nice bridge between the two. This is also Roy Schnider’s first movie. He and a great cast he worked with also made the movie riveting. It was very well acted.

Comparing Curse with Horror, you have to wonder what went wrong. I think Del Tenney is used to directing more stage like performances and wasn’t as familiar with outside shots or how to film under a deadline at the time. Plus, I think working with a better cast helped him out a lot as well.

The Bad

The pacing was a bit awkward. It would rev up for a minute then slow down again. While sometimes it was for build up, the rest was totally unneeded. It also was getting a bit predictable towards the end.

The DVD!!!

This is the other half of the Del Tenney Double Feature disc. Like Horror, It has awesome cleanup on the visuals and audio content. The feature also comes with a Del Tenney commentary track and a trailer of the movie.

Conclusion

If you get this disc, watch Curse first before Horror. You feel a lot better if you did. Both are great in their own way. definitely for the boring day.

3 stars.

Horror of Party Beach (1964)

Radioactive waste dumped into the sea resurrects and mutates dead bodies. The living dead rise from the sea and feast on unsuspecting youths of a seaside community.

The Good

This movie’s got it all! Beaches, boobs, bikes, pajama parties, monsters, music. This film might not take itself seriously, but it’s an awfully lot of fun. This movie also gets right down the point during the first five minutes. Amazing!! By the time it’s to the fifteen minute mark, I’m really into it.

Very fun feature.

The Bad

Where to start….plot holes as big as Swiss cheese. Some one dimensional characters that disappear all the sudden. Audio tracks sometimes don’t sych up and is noticeably spliced in. Hokey science. Continuity problems, middle age folk acting as teens and Tina can’t act like a drunk slut even if her life depended on it.

Yes folks, it’s so bad, it’s good.

The DVD!!!

This is one half of Dark Sky’s Del Tenney Double Feature disc. The video and audio is really great. It surprised me how clear the movie looked and sounded. Extras include an interview with Del Tenney himself as well as commentary on the movie. You also get a trailer and some visual material as well.

Conclusion

This a fun little movie that is sort of a guilty pleasure of mine. Check it out if you have free time or you want to make a long day shorter. This is a good cheesy movie.

SODIUM!!!

2 and a half stars.