Just perfect...

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

This is by far my favorite zombie/ghost film. The whole tone/atmosphere is just sheer creepy. The soundtrack is flawless and adds to the ambiance.This movie is about 5 friends who decide to fix up an old house. For some reason they hire a carpenter who seems to be an alcoholic and a jerk to all of them and his carpenter friend. They come across an old lady (played by one of the males in the movie) who starts killing them off. Whoever she kills off then comes back as a ghost zombie who then attack other people (accept for the jerk carpenter's friend who, dead or alive, always seems to be pretty mutual no matter what). Due to the house's history, it apparently is a legend in the town, because two more teens come to join the household for even more fun!!! I was fortunate enough to have recorded this on VHS back in '91. The tape got a lot of usage so once DVDs became all the rage, I was excited to have found in in one of the Troma 3-packs. I believe it was the 3rd 3-pack, which everyone needs to go out and get one, borrow one, obtain one in someway. And, no, I had nothing to do with the filming, production of this movie. It just happens to be one of my all time favorite movies of all time and not enough people have heard about it, but every other horror fan I've shown it to has loved it. The only bad thing I would say about this movie is some of the acting is sub par. I also wish that I had been lucky enough to have been able to have obtained one of the earlier copies because now the cover has all characters who aren't in the movie, and it's even billed as a bunch of "hipsters" buying a house. I've never met anyone who knew why. I'd try to ask Lloyd Kaufman himself, but I doubt he even know. In fact, LK and Troma had nothing to do with the film. It was created independently and then Troma just produced it.

When a group of constantly-squabbling young adults drive out to a creepy old house for an attempted renovation job, they don't realize they are in for a night of horror. It turns out the house was owned by the Leatherby family, the matriarch of which was a cold-blooded murderess back in the 40's. When one of the moronic kids breaks her tombstone which lies on the property, the malevolent old lady comes back to life and begins not just killing the kids, but turning them into some sort of zombie that will do her diabolical bidding. And, they're trapped in the house. Will any of these one-dimensional house-flippers make it out alive? Dare to find out...The House On Tombstone hill is a nice low-budget regional effort that's a little bit better than you probably think it is. It was released around the time when AIP had some sort of deal going with Troma. So the tape under this title was a joint release from the two companies. Later, when it was wholly owned by Troma, they changed the name to Dead Dudes In the House and found a picture of unrelated homies to put on the front cover. Just why they thought misleading people into thinking there are homies involved in this movie when there clearly aren't any remains a mystery. Where are the promised homeboys today? Were any viewers disappointed when said homies never materialized? Why did they think that (of all approaches) was superior to the movie as it was? All unanswered questions. But back to the movie at hand...So despite being an AIP/Troma co-release, the whole venture feels very CITY LIGHTS, and anyone who has seen their horror output such as Epitaph (1987) or Hollow Gate (1988) would likely agree. One of the main highlights of THOTH are the makeup and gore effects. They were created by Ed French and his team, well-known in the practical effects world. And they are indeed effective. Without these high-quality gore effects, the movie as a whole would greatly suffer. So while the whole "Old Dark House" theme is certainly well-worn ground, French spices up the proceedings sufficiently enough. Director Riffel does pull off some intense moments, but the pace overall is slow, and there are way too many scenes of characters banging on doors and windows attempting to get out of the house.The fact that the entire movie was shot at one location - the house - does provide some claustrophobic moments, but it also leads to unneeded repetition. A couple other settings would have been welcomed. As for the cast, they get absolutely no character development or backstory whatsoever. For those keeping track, Bob is the jerk who smokes and drinks and isn't likable, Mark is the blonde nerd, Steve is the redhead nerd, Jamie is the dark-haired girl, Linda is the blonde girl, Ron is the "normal guy", and Joey goes out on a beer run. That's literally it as far as character development goes. If we knew these people just a bit better, we might care about their plight more than we do. But the moments of horror are what THOTH is all about, and they are duly delivered.The House on Tombstone Hill is not a bad little horror movie and worth picking up if you can find it cheap. But where are the missing homies...? For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com

Way back when Troma would release anything (okay...they've ALWAYS released anything), this film came out of their vault o'horror with an interesting premise: dudes renovate haunted house, some get possessed by evil spirits, end up trying to kill each other. ...as if you couldn't guess the plot from the title.Yep, "Dead Dudes in the House" is about as low budget as possible and makes no apologies for what it is. In fact, it revels in its origins and goes for the shock, gross-out and gore from frame one to frame last. Gotta appreciate that; not all movies have that kind of conviction.But in the end, it all is just kind of left there on the screen. Having seen multitudes of similar films in my day, I hadn't seen anything here that I hadn't before. What I did appreciate, however, was the fact that a bunch of guys with cameras, little money and an idea got something filmed, produce and distributed.Bless 'em. And bless Troma, too.Six stars for the "Dudes", plus a star extra for making it this far. Way to go, blood!

This is how low-budget horror movies should be made. While the story could have used a bit of tweaking for the most part the film was creepy and suspenseful. The old lady is particularly effective. One drawback is the acting, it is a bit below par and detracts from the suspense as does much of the dialogue. There are a few plotholes, some of the dead that return don't go on the hunt for the living humans while most do...why? Also a bit of reason as to why anybody comes back could have been added. Other then that for the budget involved it's quite enjoyable. A silly 30 second introduction to the old lady at the beginning of the movie could have been left out as it does nothing for the film and only made me laugh. If you are looking for a film to scare you this just might do it, but don't expect anything too glossy. Especially good to watch with your girlfriend as she will be clinging to you almost right from the beginning. Rating 6 out of 10. Not too bad.