This is yet another movie that tends to be vastly overhyped (by the eight or so people who’ve seen it), largely (I’m guessing) because of its scarcity. In other words, were it more readily available I doubt the hype would be anywhere near as orgasmic as it is.
THE HOUSE ON TOMBSTONE HILL (1989) was one of several no-budget pick-ups by Troma, who all-but buried it release-wise. It ended up going straight to video, courtesy of the short-lived Arkoff International Pictures, only to be re-released on the Troma label under the title DEAD DUDES IN THE HOUSE. The writer, producer and director James Riffel, FYI, went on to make the 1991 cult classic NIGHT OF THE DAY OF THE DAWN OF THE SON OF THE BRIDE OF THE RETURN OF THE REVENGE OF THE TERROR OF THE ATTACK OF THE EVIL, MUTANT, ALIEN, FLESH-EATING SUBHUMANOID ZOMBIFIED LIVING DEAD (1991).
Getting back to TOMBSTONE HILL, it concerns a bunch of college-age dorks looking to flip an old house on “Tombstone Hill” (so named because its former owner is buried there). They naturally get more than they bargained for upon entering the place and finding they’re not alone: the house is inhabited by an old woman, who unbeknownst to our moronic protagonists is the house’s former and eternal occupant. She’s also a murderess, and doesn’t take kindly to strangers on her turf.
The house’s intrepid occupants find themselves locked in, with all the outer doors and windows sealed shut. A guy stupidly wanders away from the rest of the group and becomes the old bat’s first victim: he’s killed and then brought back to life as a zombie who exists only to do the old woman’s bidding. When the guy’s girlfriend goes looking for him (“C’mon, stop fooling around!” she shouts), she ends up joining the ranks of the undead.
More fun is in store when another group of morons, friends of the first, turn up. One of their number notices an open window on an upper floor and climbs up to it–only to get his hands chopped off by the old lady. Back inside a guy has his hands and feet nailed to the floor, and another gets cut in half. All, of course, come back as wisecracking zombies, with the survivors making good use of a buzz saw, screwdriver and golf club in fighting off their undead adversaries (or at least trying to).
The plot? Utterly standard stalk-and-slash stuff, with people wandering around and getting chopped up. The characters? Even more irritating than most slasher movie bozos; not that it matters, as they exist only to be picked off. The look? Cheap and unevocative. The music? Of the tacky synthesizer variety that afflicts so many eighties and nineties horror flicks.
The copious gore effects, for their part, are probably the best part of the film. Unfortunately, it seems the filmmakers squandered most if not all their budget on the spurting blood and exposed viscera, because otherwise there’s just not much here. This film wants to be THE EVIL DEAD, but writer/director James Riffel is not Sam Raimi (or even Scott Spiegel). If it plays like anything it’s Ed Wood at his least inspired.
Vital Statistics
THE HOUSE ON TOMBSTONE HILL (a.k.a. DEAD DUDES IN THE HOUSE)
Troma Team/October Film
Director: James Riffel
Producers: Melisse Lewis, James Riffel
Screenplay: James Riffel
Cinematography: Mark Petersson
Editing: Valerie Schwartz
Cast: Mark Zobian, Victor Verhaeghe, Doug Gibson, Naomi Kooker, John Cerna, Sarah Newhouse, Eugene “Eggs” Sautner, Rob Moretti, James Griffith, Leighann Belair, Albert Jaccoma, Darrell Gibson, Bruce Spaulding Fuller, Pam Lewis