House on Tombstone Hill (1991)

   
Produced, Written & Directed by: James Riffel

Starring:

Mark Zobian .... Ron
Victor Verhaeghe .... Bob
Douglas Gibson .... Mark / Old Lady
Naomi Kooker ....  Linda
J.D. Cerna .... Steve
Sarah Newhouse .... Jamie
James Griffth .... Ricky

Release Date: Made-for-Cable: 1991


Rating:

 

 

A group of young adults try to rent out an old mansion that's been abandoned for decades due to some murders to live and party out.
However, the head one of the group named Bob (Victor Verhaeghe) disturbed the dead of a silver haired maniacal matriarch by smashing her tombstone and wanders around the mansion as she was the original owner of the house who does not like uninvited guests.
This then costs these people their lives as she kills them off with deadly devices like a machette, screwdrivers and a saw, then turns them into zombie's as well as locking themselves in the house so the rest won't escape either.
One of them named Linda (Naomi Kooker) discovers a newspaper clipping on what happened there as they struggle to try and kill off these zombies before they are next as well as trying to find a way to escape this twisted haunted mansion.

 

Some good camera shots on Jamie going up the stairs spotting a bloody wall as well as her wandering around looking for her boyfriend as well as a good close up shot on her hand slowly opening the knob of a door as you would think something creepy would happen.
There is a corny discussion between Jamie and the ghost of the evil old lady as it was supposed to look scary but it doesn't do the trick.
Things looks creepy when Mark is a walking corpse slowly approaching Jamie and getting creepy with her as it looks cheesy but impressive.
There's also good shots on the some of the main characters trying to break open some windows with logs etc and the logs breaking which leaves off to the horror of the plot to the film as well as cheesy effects on the shutters to the windows opening and closing.
A good shot on someone named Joey climbing up a ladder to the house leading to an open window as well as a shot on the old lady pacing where the window is with a machette. Good shot with his hands climbng up to the window as well as him losing his balance with the ladder falling. Then theres a good camera shot looking up on the old lady standing where the window is as well as Joey crying to help him up. The Old Lady seemed to have a cheesy wicked reply saying no and then there's a terrifying moment I won't give away which was gruesomely well done.
We have a nice dark setting with both Steve and Joey in a den when Joey himself is resurrected as a corpse acting outgoingly evil.
There's also good shots on Mark slowly coming up to Steve and him backing up as well as being attacked.
A good shot on Steve resurrected into a corpse looking down and talking when Linda comes up to him showing good concerns.
We have a good shot on Linda sitting as a resurrected corpse with an evil grin and her words showing that she's not the same anymore when others try to talk to her telling her there's a way out of the house.
A perfect shot on Jamie trying to attack Ron with some scissors pinning him to the ground and he is holding her back.
We have good shots on both actors Ron and
Ricky sitting down near a wall trying to hide from the madness.
A good moment with
Bob breaking down a door with an axe but the door looks obviously fake.
There is also a good struggle with old lady battling Ron.
Bottom line is that when I discovered that this film was released by Troma Team Entertainment I was expecting a bad made for video flick and I was right. But there are some dark horror touches in this film throughout the story and other interesting stuff. It's sort of a party type flick to bring your friends over to watch and make fun of and just worth watching the graphic gore in it and the dead coming back to life.  However, the story doesn't go anywhere which makes it below average as well as a phony looking evil old lady. On Cable TV it was titled Dead Dudes in the House

The acting is quite stale but full of virtual unknowns. Yet they do their best with their work.
An actor that stands out is
Victor Verhaeghe (Bob) as the head one of the group with his rebellious and arrogant attitude.

J.D. Cerna (Steve) seems to prove his point with his character acting too especially when he turns into a corpse. A good shocked expression by him not knowing what to think about a deadly situation which looked descent enough. He does well by screaming in pain when being stabbed by objects. There is some good goofy and evil actions with him when he tries to get to two of his onscreen friends and going into battle.
Mark Zohian (Ron) seemed to come across well with his energetic performance in the film as well as his blocking too.
Supporting actor
Eugene "Eggs" Sautner (Joey) really knew how to pull some weight with his role as the latecomer at the house even if it wasn't too big.

Many bloodied bodies
Hands are chooped off
A steel pipe is stabbed through a guys chest and blood being spat out
Sharp objects like a screwdriver is impaled in a man's arms and legs with blood gushing out
A man's body is split in half by a broken window constantly cut down on him
Scissors are stabbed in a woman's back
The odd head is bashed
A saw is chopped in a guy's head
Guts are revealed through a walking corpse
A piece of leg is ripped off
A screwdriver is stabbed through an old lady's head
A head is chopped off an old woman
Plenty of blood galore

There is some fast cheesy synthesizer pacing as well as some cold sounding music on the keyboards too composed by Remote Control Music and Thrush.