The Curse of the Living Corpse
1964 film by Del Tenney
The Curse of the Living Corpse is a 1964 American horror film produced, written and directed by Del Tenney. The film is about a series of murders that haunt the family of a man who died leaving extensive instructions in his will to avoid him being buried alive. The film marked the feature film debut of actor Roy Scheider. It was originally co-billed with The Horror of Party Beach (1964). Both movies were filmed in black-and-white in Stamford, Connecticut by Iselin-Tenney Productions, a short-lived production company the director formed with Alan V. Iselin, the owner of a chain of drive-in theaters.
Plot
In 1892 New England, Rufus Sinclair suffers from catalepsy and lives in fear of being pronounced dead and buried alive. To prevent this, he leaves detailed instructions to the family and his staff, but when he is found, his greedy family has him quickly interred, eager to claim his inheritance. Rufus leaves specific instructions on how to be buried, which are violated, and James Benson, the family lawyer, while reading the will, lets them know they will die from what they fear most:
Bruce will have his face disfigured; Rufus's widow, Abigail, will die by fire; his asthmatic and alcoholic son Philip will suffocate; Philip's wife Vivian will drown; the family servant Seth will "join me in my tomb"; and Rufus's nephew Robert will lose that which is most dear to him, his wife Deborah.
Abigail reveals she left a diamond brooch on Rufus's coffin, Bruce, needing the money, and family maid and lover Lettie recover it, though Bruce is perturbed to find it on the floor. He leaves Lettie at the crypt against her wishes, saying they need to return separately—and she is beheaded by a masked killer—seemingly Rufus returned from the grave.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “The Curse of the Living Corpse” as 1964 film by Del Tenney. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1964 film by Del Tenney. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4380306. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1964 and 1892.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Curse of the Living Corpse”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Curse of the Living Corpse primary sources, The Curse of the Living Corpse archive and Curse research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Curse of the Living Corpse”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The Curse of the Living Corpse” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.