Not only did Del Tenney write, produce and direct The Curse of the Living Corpse, he was the Living Corpse. Made with drive-in theater tycoon Alan V. Iselin, this ran on double bills with The Horror of Party Beach, which is an odd couple, except that they were made by the same people.

When Rufus Sinclair dies, he has a will that takes into account his fear of being buried alive. To gan their inheritance, his family must follow his instructions. They don’t, they get doomed to death from their greatest fears and we have a film.

The curse proclaims that Bruce will lose his looks, Abigail will burn alive, Phillip (Roy Schneider in his first movie) will be suffocated, Vivian (Tenney’s wife Margot Hartman) will drown, his servant will join him in the grave and his nephew James (Hugh Franklin, who was married to Madeleine L’Engle) will lose his wife Deborah (Candace Hilligoss, Carnival of Souls).

A masked killer is working on making those prophecies into reality and one by one, everyone pays the price. But who is it? Is Rufus still alive? Or someone else trying to take the inheritance for themselves?

It’s not great, but man, the poster sure is. And sometimes, that’s all it takes.

Here’s a drink to make this movie better.

Drowned Vivian

• 1.5 oz. Kraken
• 2 oz. orange juice
• Mountain Dew

1. Pour the rum and orange juice over ice. Stir, then top with Mountain Dew.