The Corpse Eaters

The Corpse Eaters
Directed by Donald R. Passmore and Klaus Vetter
Produced by Lawrence Zazelenchuk
Written by Lawrence Zazelenchuk
Starring Michael Hopkins
Ed LeBreton
Terry London
Cinematography Klaus Vetter
Edited by Michelle Jones
Production
company
Maniac Productions
Distributed by Howard Mahler Films Films
Release date
  • August 16, 1974 (1974-08-16)
Running time
 57 minutes
Country Canada
Language English
Budget $36,000 CAD

The Corpse Eaters is a Canadian, English-language 1974 horror cult film produced and set in Happy Valley, Greater Sudbury, Ontario.[1]

Plot

The film begins at a funeral home where the mutilated body of a young man is being prepared. From there, the film shifts to the young man, his sister, and their companions on a wild picnic. They decide on a whim to spend the night in a graveyard where they perform a séance raising the dead. The majority of the action is conveyed through flashbacks and nightmare sequences.

Production and exhibition

According to Caelum Vatnsdal’s book They Came from Within, The Corpse Eaters was produced in 1973 by a teenaged Zazelenchuk[2] with a meagre budget of $36,000 culled from the proceeds of his drive-in located in Greater Sudbury. [3] Because his first and only feature film had such a small budget,[4] Zazelenchuk couldn’t afford his ideal star, John Carradine. Instead, Zazelenchuk brought local theatre performers and high school friends together to make what some consider Canada’s first gore film.[5] Zazelenchuk financed, wrote and produced the film. He is also credited with the special makeup effects. He left the direction to Donald R. Passmore, who was soon replaced with Klaus Vetter, who also served as the film's cinematographer.[6][7][8]

On August 16, 1974, at the 69 Drive-In, The Corpse Eaters premiered in Greater Sudbury. A successful local run followed before Zazalenchuk was offered $5,000 for distribution rights from distributor Howard Mahler under his banner Howard Mahler Films.[9][10] The distributor, however, did not inform Zazelenchuk that he was purchasing the film without any intent on releasing it. It was used as a tax write off, and declared as a loss. The film was never released theatrically elsewhere.[11][12]

The film faded into obscurity for years until Encore Home Video rediscovered it in 1993 and released it on DVD several years later, claiming to have transferred their copy from the only known surviving print. This version runs 57 minutes, and is considered incomplete, making it a partially lost film.[13]

References

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