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Del Tenney
Updated 3/31/2008. Del Tenney's The Horror of Party Beach, The Curse of the Living Corpse, and Violent Midnight (aka Psychomania) are all available on DVD!
biography
Low-budget horror director and producer Del Tenney is responsible for bringing several cult classic films to the screen in the early 1960s, including The Curse of the Living Corpse, I Eat Your Skin (aka Voodoo Blood Bath), The Horror of Party Beach, and Violent Midnight (aka Psychomania).
Cult favorite Del Tenney in an early 1960s photo
Born in Iowa in 1930, Tenney moved to California with his parents as a child. In college he took an interest in the dramatic arts and later took roles in theatre and appeared as an extra in a number of 1950s films. With his Hollywood career in the slow lane, Tenney relocated to New York in the late 1950s; however, initially he found little stage work but did find a wife, actress Margot Hartman. Eventually, however, Tenney did appear on Broadway in the early 1960s. Deciding to move behind the camera, Tenney took on the role of assistant director of the low-budget exploitation flick Satan in High Heels (1962; with Meg Myles and Grayson Hall). Tenney also has a role in the film as the male lead. The following year, Tenney served as assistant director for the low-budget nudie Orgy at Lil's Place (1963; with Davee Decker). This film featured Kari Knudsen, who had been Playboy Playmate of the Month in February 1962.
the films of del tenney
Tenney's first effort as producer resulted in the 1964 horror film Violent Midnight, aka Psychomania, an axe-murder thriller made in Connecticut for about $40,000, an amazingly low figure given the quality of the film. This film stars Lee Phillips, Jean Hale, James Farentino, Sylvia Miles, Margot Hartman, and even Tenney himself appears in some scenes. Hartman, Del Tenney's wife, also appears in The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964; with Roy Scheider and Candace Hilligoss) and in Peter Bogdanovich's US/Russian science fiction film Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1966; with Mamie Van Doren. She has also worked in television and on Broadway.
In 1963, Del Tenney decided to produce, direct, and write his own films in the community of Stamford, Connecticut, during the spring of that year. The Curse of the Living Corpse and The Horror of Party Beach were made in Stamford, shot back-to-back in two weeks, and initially released in Alan Iselin's chain of drive-in theaters, with Curse leading the double bill. Coming up with the titles first, he got theater-owner Alan Iselin to back the two films, which cost a combined total of $120,000 to film. The screenplays were written immediately before film production began, which became a problem when Tenney became ill at the end of filming Curse and ultimately was too sick to write the screenplay for The Horror of Party Beach. Voodoo Blood Bath, was made in the spring of 1964 and shot in Miami, Coral Gables, and Key Biscayne, Florida. However, distribution problems shelved the film until late 1970, when producer Jerry Gross bought the rights to the film, changing its title to I Eat Your Skin for the second feature of a double-bill with Gross' picture, I Drink Your Blood. While prints of nearly all his films are available and in fantastic condition, seemingingly all copies of I Eat Your Skin are from a poor print and suffer from video and sound glitches.
del tenney today
After more than 35 years away from the film business, Tenney and his wife, Margot Hartman, recently returned to filmmaking with the 1999 release of Clean and Narrow, directed by and starring William Katt. Tenney served as producer and also appeared in the film along with Margot Hartman-Tenney. In March 2001, Do You Wanna Know a Secret? was released, starring Joey Lawrence and Jeff Conaway, and again featuring Del Tenney and Margot Hartman-Tenney in small roles. Del Tenney again served as producer.
tenney crew member rhoden c. streeter remembers the filming of the horror of party beach and the curse of the living corpse
In 1998, Rhoden Streeter, who served as a crew member on two of Tenney's films, reflected on the making of The Curse of the Living Corpse and The Horror of Party Beach:
I had just dropped out of college when I went to Tenney to get a job. I said, 'Exploit me.' His response was, 'That's just the kind of talk I like to hear! I worked on Horror of Party Beach and Curse of the Living Corpse, first in set construction, and then as assistant editor, sound boom man, extra, etc. (I was the
blond's body thrown in the quicksand in Curse and the smallest monster in Horror). I left before the editing was finished on Curse to get a better film editing job in Boston. I told Tenney he hadn't bought my loyalty. He understood---$50 a week wasn't that much even in 1964. (I'd had a $10 raise up from $40.)
There are two different sets of monsters in Horror. The first set is three guys in shapeless rubber suits with sponges glued on. The second was just a mask used for close-ups when the first set didn't seem to cut it. We didn't have any flash powder for effects to blow up the monsters in Horror, so I went to the local pharmacy and bought the ingredients for gunpowder that I mixed up. There was a Horror of Party Beach comic book put out with stills from the film instead of drawings.
Horror of Party Beach magazine from 1964
rhoden streeter remembers curse of the living corpse
In Curse of the Living Corpse, when the mother is burning in the four-poster bed, in the high-angle long shot, you can just catch me crouched down pumping the smoke machine like crazy!! Thirty-four years ago? Heck I'm still smiling!"
When I last heard from Rhoden Streeter, he was happily working for the State of Kentucky. Hopefully, Streeter will send more information and anecdotes in the future.
del tenney film pages at brian's drive-in theater
Click on the images to go to these specific pages:
Del Tenney's best directing effort, The Curse of the Living Corpse is notable for being Roy Scheider's first film. And horror trivia buffs will recognize Candace Hilligoss as the star of Herk Harvey's drive-in classic Carnival of Souls (1962).
Tenney's best-known film, The Horror of Party Beach was featured in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 during season eight.
Probably my favorite Del Tenney film, I Eat Your Skin (aka Voodoo Blood Bath) was shot in 1964 but did not find a distributor until 1970, when producer Jerry Gross bought the rights to Voodoo Blood Bath. Gross changed the name of the flick to I Eat Your Skin to coincide with the title of his film, I Drink Your Blood, and sold the two movies as a drive-in double bill.
The Del Tenney Collection [DVD] DVD
Two-disc set includes "The Horror of Party Beach," "The Curse of the Living Corpse," and "Violent Midnight."
The Horror Of Party Beach (1964)/The Curse Of The Living Corpse [DVD](1964) DVD
Frankie and Annette never had problems like the kids in "The Horror of Party Beach," as toxic waste, sea slime and dead sailors combine near a seaside resort to create aquatic monsters eager to prey on surf daddies and beach bunnies. Features the hit song "Zombie Stomp" by The Del-Aires; John Scott, Alice Lyon and Eulabelle Moore star. Next, a deceased millionaire in late 19th-century New England returns from the grave to personally bestow upon his horrified family a bloody bequeathal. "The Curse of the Living Corpse," from "Party Beach" director Del Tenney, stars Helen Warren. Candace Hilligoss and (in his film debut) Roy Scheider. 162 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English.
I Eat Your Skin [DVD](1964) DVD
Originally paired with "I Drink Your Blood," this gory goodie about a mad doctor who uses radioactive snake venom to help manufacture disgusting zombies stars William Joyce and Heather Hewitt; directed by Del Tenney ("Horror of Party Beach"). AKA: "Voodoo Blood Bath." 82 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English mono. Plays All Regions.
The Child (1973)/I Eat Your Skin )1964) [DVD]
In the 1930s, a woman travels to a remote area where she plans to live with a widower and his 11-year-old daughter, who has supernatural powers. The young girl visits her mother's grave regularly and uses her powers to summon ghouls from beyond to help avenge her death. Rosalie Cole, Frank Janson and Laurel Barnet star. AKA: "Kill and Go Hide." 82 min. Also contains the bonus feature I Eat Your Skin. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; theatrical trailer; bonus shorts; radio spots; art gallery; more.
Violent Midnight (Psychomania) [DVD](1964) DVD
From the people who gave you "The Horror of Party Beach" comes this shocker filmed in Stamford, Connecticut, about an artist who likes to work with nude models who becomes a suspect in murders that occur at a girls' college. Lee Phillips and Jean Hale star. 93 min. Soundtrack: English.
Psychomania(1963) VHS
From the people who gave you "The Horror of Party Beach" comes this shocker filmed in Stamford, Connecticut, about an artist who likes to work with nude models who becomes a suspect in murders that occur at a girls' college. Lee Phillips and Jean Hale star. 90 min.
Satan In High Heels [DVD](1962) DVD
A carnival stripper takes some cash from her drug addict hubby, heads for New York and gets a job at a nightclub, where she carries on an affair with her new lover's son and gets her former husband involved in a murder plot. Meg Myles, Grayson Hall, Sabrina and Del Tenney star in this seedy sexploitationer. 89 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; bonus shorts; bonus feature "The Wild and the Naked" (1962); photo gallery.
Do You Wanna Know A Secret? [DVD](2001) DVD
While on spring break, a group of fun-loving college students is targeted by a mysterious murderer. As the killings mount, the survivors race to figure out who the madman is and how they can escape before there's no one left to do Jello shots. Thrilling horror in the tradition of "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" stars Joey Lawrence, Jeff Conaway, Chad Allen. 95 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital stereo.
del tenney links
The Astounding B-Monster
The Astounding B Monster web site offers an interview with producer/director/writer Del Tenney.
Click on the logo to go back to Brian's Drive-In Theater
This page premiered March 20, 1998.
Counter reset March 1, 2001.
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