Curse of the Dead (1974)
"House of the Living Dead" (original title)

On a South African plantation, a maniac is on the loose, first killing the estate's animals, then starting on the human members.

Director:

Ray Austin

Writers:

Marc Marais (screenplay), John Brason (original story)

Stars:

Mark Burns, Shirley Anne Field, David Oxley

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview:
Mark Burns	...	Sir Michael Brattling / Dr. Breckinridge Brattling
Shirley Anne Field	...	Mary Anne Carew
David Oxley	...	Dr. Collinson
Margaret Inglis	...	Lady Brattling
Dia Sydow	...	Lina
Lynn Maree
Bill Flynn	...	Simeon
William Baird Clark
Ronald France
Don Furnival
Pieter Geldenhuys	...	(as Peter Geldenhuys)
Ben Dekker
Limpie Basson
Amina Gool

Storyline

A mad scientist (Mark Burns) is conducting hideous occult experiments at the family estate of Brattling Manor, monkeying about with things man was not meant to know, including the transfer and containment of living souls. It's only a matter of time before he begins to experiment on the souls of human beings - including his own family.

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Plot Keywords:

experiment | animal | scientist | haunted house | south africa | 

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Taglines:

The once-human horror waits in the attic...for you to open the door!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

South Africa

Language:

English Afrikaans

Release Date:

12 August 1974 (South Africa)

Also Known As:

Doctor Maniac

Filming Locations:

South Africa

Company Credits

Production Co:

Associated Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore (2010)

User Reviews

Phantom meets Quasimodo

While the title isn't strictly a misnomer as some reviewers have remarked, it remains misleading - this isn't a zombie movie per se but concerns a wealthy scientist, demented following a brain injury caused by a fall from an apparently primeval steed, conducting experiments on creatures in an attempt to capture their soul and transplant it into other beings. His aristocratic family run a farm in South Africa where the other son (Burns) is set to marry his English lass (Field), much to the chagrin of his fiercely protective mother (Inglis). A series of strange murders and rituals force Field to re-consider her commitment, as the enigma of the demented brother (locked away in the upper floor of the family mansion), becomes too much for her to ignore.

It's pure tripe wasting Field's considerable talents, and those of supporting actor Oxley as a concerned doctor whom Field befriends on the journey from England. Initially an affable character, Burns quickly becomes an arrogant aristocrat and borderline Oedipus complex to mother Inglis, who plays the family matriarch with all the usual pomp you'd expect. It's a relatively small cast lacking depth and familiarity beyond the three leads (Burns, Field and Oxley).

While the twist ending might leave some surprised, the revelations are lost potential, poorly executed and lacking suspense or thrills. Austin's movie relies on old-fashioned motifs like the club footed nut jobs who only come out at night and play the pipe organ, witch-doctors proffering sinister incantations that no one believes and chemical experiments that involve dozens of test tubes filled with colourful, smoky potions that make monkeys go berserk. Worse than dull, it promises a great revelation, then fails to deliver.