In this early slasher film, a rich old creep apparently dies of natural causes. Fearful of being buried alive, he put a clause in his will that his family must take precautions for this not to happen. If they do as they’re told, they’ll get his money in a year. If they don’t and he ends up buried alive, he swears he’ll somehow come back and kill all of them by way of their deepest fears.
Guess what? They don’t. Guess what? They then start dying off one-by-one in grisly fashion.
Director Del Tenney made this immediately after he made The Horror of Party Beach with much of the same crew. The Horror of Party Beach is a trashy monster movie full of bikinis and a hoppin’ rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack, while this is a slower paced period piece set in a Gothic manor at the turn of the century. Nevertheless, they frequently showed on the same double bill in the swingin’ drive-ins of ’64.
This is Roy Scheider’s first movie. He plays the family drunk who likes to hear himself talk.