Dead Dudes in the House

aka The House on Tombstone Hill

Director - James Riffel (Mass of Angels)
Starring - Douglas Gibson (Midnight Mass), J.D. Cerna, and Naomi Kooker
Release Date - 1991
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "This house wasn't repossessed...It's just plain possessed"

Rating (out of 5):

     While watching movies from the Toxie's top Ten box set I decided to watch this one, like Space Zombie Bingo, before the movie I had actually purchased the set for.  The cover art shows a group of white twenty-somethings dressed like an early 90's boy band holding weapons and from the tagline I was under the impression that it was a haunted house scenario.  A sort of a more modern version of Amityville Horror but with a Troma twist.  I'm sure I'm not the only one that thought that either and was suckered in by the look of artwork alone.

     The film follows a group of twenty-somethings, a different crew than the dvd artwork, as they move into a home.  Their plans are to renovate the home and have it in move in condition as quick as possible.  Unbeknown to them, that the houses former occupant, an elderly woman that murdered her assumed husband in the 1940's, is still roaming the house.  As each members of the group venture off on their own they find an unfortunate demise at the hands of the elderly lady.  That individual then returns to life as an undead servant for grandma.  The group has to learn to fight together in order to survive, but who can they trust when their friends are undead fiends?

     I was surprised by this flick.  It was a pretty decent little movie.  I figured from looking at all the films in this set that all of them would be pretty shitty.  I honestly purchased this set for the movie mentioned before and to have it in my collection of Troma films.  According to Lloyd Kaufman, owner of Troma, this film is considered a masterpiece among himself and Troma fans.  I can see why.  However, the movie is deceiving.  The artwork makes the impression that the movie was a boy bandish type haunted house flick when it is not.  The stars in the movie are not that kind of people.  They're your typical early 90's everyday folk and that makes you wanna watch Saved By the Bell or Full House.  The acting is pretty decent and the effects are ok for the budget and the type of film it is.  The dvd transfer is very grainy and resembles vhs quality which I love because it  brings nostalgic feel.  This is the type of movie I loved watching late at night during the weekend with my brother.  I highly recommend this little gem.