Dead Dudes in the House (1989)

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

This movie has some solid qualities that make it stand out far from the slew of 80's horror movies. If you like campy horror films with a sense of humor, then go find yourself a copy of this movie. I think the characters are a good mix of personalities. The action is kind of lame at first but picks up towards the end and the gore is half decent. This is a classic B movie entry that I had never heard of, nor knew anyone that has seen it. Troma bought the rights to it though they did not produce it. I hope it makes its way onto DVD.For being a practically unknown movie, it definitely delivers entertainment. Even though I wouldn't consider it a serious horror movie, I think it does a lot of things better than the so called serious horror movies.

This is one of my top ten zombies/young people trapped in a mansion movie. I own a copy under its other title : "The House On Tombstone Hill", which if you ask me, I like better than "Dead Dudes In The House".Two gals and five guys (plus two teenagers who appear in the last 30 minutes) enter a big, old, creepy mansion where soon they find themselves trapped. Doors won't open, windows are unbreakable and soon they begin dying one by one. Some of the murders are off-screen, others you do get to watch happening as the old woman who haunts the mansion uses all sorts of sharp instruments to kill them.Beware of the Troma DVD release, I bought it thinking it had some kind of special feature like behind the scenes or audio commentary, it doesn't and the quality is NOT good.

After a brief prologue showing Ann Leatherbee ("1940's Girl" Leighann Belair) and her mother, Abigail ("Old Lady" Douglas Gibson), nonchalantly sitting/standing over a dead body, we move 40 years into the future, when seven feisty young adults arrive at the same house to fix it up. Mark (also played by Gibson) has purchased the home at a steal because of its disturbing past, which he isn't aware of. Of course, this is the stereotypical haunted house film set-up. Dead Dudes in the House combines its supernatural haunted house horror with a slasher plot and entities that are a cross between zombies and ghosts. The story progresses as you'd expect given those elements. Yes, it's derivative, but anyone who knows me well knows I do not subtract points for that. The "Cult of Originality"--which valued the unprecedented over all else, and which really only came to the fore in the later 1800s--was a mistake in my opinion.Still, when astute readers notice that my rating for a film like this is higher than or the same as my ratings for films like Constantine (2005), Mulholland Drive (2001), Predator (1987), Ichi the Killer (Koroshiya 1, 2001) and Donnie Darko (2001), they (maybe rightly) wonder, "What is going on? How can you say that Dead Dudes in the House is as good or better than (fill in your favorite film that you think I underrated here)?" It's important to remember that my ratings (as well as many other critics', I suspect) are not meant as comparative to other films, as if they're all on an even playing field, trying out for shortstop on the same team. My ratings are comparative, but to a number of other factors. First I consider how well the film managed to do what it set out to do, making concessions only for unavoidable limitations (these include budget constraints and historical/technological limitations); I see the film itself as defining what it wants to do. Secondly, I consider the value I got from the film--including entertainment value, other aesthetic value and so on. The last factor is importance in a historical/cultural milieu. This is given far less weight, partially because it's not so directly related to what's on the screen, and partially because this is impossible to "measure" for most newer films; this last factor also only tends to help ratings; I don't really subtract any points for cultural/historical _unimportance_. It's also helpful to remember that I begin all films at a 9 (an "A"), and then score up or down accordingly.Understanding this, I believe that Dead Dudes in the House does a very good job accomplishing what it wants to accomplish, although there are a couple small blunders--enough to subtract a point. I also got a lot of value out of it. It's entertaining, often funny (sometimes unintentionally), there is some surprisingly good cinematography, the premise is handled (meaning directed, written, and so on) extremely competently, the death scenes are well done and creative, and the performances range from bizarrely good (in this context) to entertainingly bad (often from the same actor).Writer/director/producer/coffee-maker James Riffel, who unfortunately only recently managed to complete another film, 2004's Black-Eyed Susan, knows exactly what he's shooting for and easily gets it. The goal was to create a slightly tongue-in-cheek 1980s-style (the film was actually made in the late 80s--the copyright date on the end credits is 1988, and the title of the film is given as The Dead Come Home) gore-comedy slasher, achieving the necessary isolation by locking the ten little Indians in the haunted house and gaining ghouls to enable variety by letting dispatched characters become zombie-like menaces.Partially because of this set-up, the dialogue tends to be ridiculous, well written, unintentionally hilarious and scathingly satirical, often all at the same time. Most of the major characters fit that set of adjectives as well, especially Bob (Victor Verhaeghe), the carpenter, and Abigail Leatherbee, the "old lady". Bob is usually given the best lines, and Verhaeghe turns in one of the most entertaining performances. The extended scene when the "kids" first arrive at the house and try to start fixing it is a gem. The funniest aspect, perhaps, is that Bob is not that far removed from a couple carpenters and construction workers I've known in the past.But the gore is also very well done. In a movie like this, that is extremely important. The only other important aspect that Riffel misses is gratuitous nudity, but there isn't a huge female cast, and it's not always easy to acquire gratuitous nudity for low-budget film-making like this (I'd suspect this was more akin to a "guerilla" film).As for cinematography, Riffel actually anticipates a number of more recent genre stylistic tendencies, such as monochromaticism and chiaroscuro night scenes. There's also an extremely important and attractive shot that breaks the monochromaticism in the dénouement, right before the obligatory and welcomed doom-laden "tag". This is using cinematography as symbolism in a way akin to such well-respected films as Equilibrium (2002)--something less broad minded folks act surprised to encounter in a "clichéd little shocker" like Dead Dudes in the House.By the way, Dead Dudes in the House was recently released on DVD through Troma's Toxie's Triple Terror series. It's interesting to note how many films in that series feature transvestite characters. Is it time we ask just what kind of undergarments Lloyd Kaufman is wearing? Does he have something in common with lumberjacks?

James Riffel's "Dead Dudes in the House" has to be one of Troma's best.There is plenty of gore,some scary scenes plus a lot of cheese.The plot involves a group of young people going to fix up an old secluded house and falling victim to the murderous 100 year old lady named Abigail who proceeds to slash them up and bring them back as zombie-like killers."Dead Dudes in the House" is loaded with plenty of gore and violence.The script is pretty mediocre and there are some dull spots,but overlook that and you have an enjoyable low-budget gorefest.The scene,where one guy is cut in half by window is a hoot.Check it out,if you can find it.7 out of 10.