The House on Tombstone Hill (1989)

   

Produced, Written & Directed by: James Riffel

Starring:


Mark Zobian .... Ron
Sarah Newhouse .... Jamie
Victor Verhaeghe .... Bob
J.D. Cerna .... Steve
Naomi Kooker .... Jamie
Rob Moretti .... S


Release Date:
Limited Theatrical: October, 1989

 

 

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 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 the undead as well as locking themselves in the house so the rest won't escape either.

One of them discovers a newspaper clipping on what happened there as they struggle to try and kill off the undead before they are next as well as trying to find a way to escape this twisted haunted mansion.

 

A very brief beginning involves a prologue as to what happened at the home which looked corny and a little confusing. Doesn't explain an awful lot.

Then it's present day with the gang going to the home and starting to unpack as well as having discussion. This looked a little fair to watch and passable within what goes on in this scene.
One of the friends Bob spots a tombstone which you could tell was made out of foam. He smashes it and then a moment with the Old Lady rising up in her home. Looked slightly cheesy than creepy. However done in a fun low budget horror taste.

When everyone starts to refurbish the home one of the friends Bob sends Joey out for beer as well as being demanding towards others. Seemed to work well into the story wondering if he will get violent when crossed. The situations looked rather cheesy to watch the interactions due to the low budget of this feature.
Suddenly everyone spots the Old Lady staring at them as they ask her what she's doing there. Instead of this looking creepy seemed to look rather too cheesy within the setting for this moment.

The one who lead the group of friends Mark goes to find where she went but hasn't returned as this was supposed to keep you in suspense but doesn't seem to do the trick at all.
His girlfriend Jamie goes looking for him as she spots a bloodied wall while walking up some stairs as this had a nice low budget effective moment.
A carefully moment situation when she goes to the door and turning the knob which left a decent chilling feeling that she is in for some terror. However, it's a bit disappointing.

Things looks creepy when Mark is a walking corpse slowly approaching Jamie and getting creepy with her as it looks cheesy but impressive. Alot of intense situations between the two of them. Yet it's just in fair taste. Not terrible by any means.

Suddenly, the house becomes evil and alive in which the window shutter open and close as well as the friends trying to break the windows to escape but this home is way too powerful. Seemed necessary to have a scene like this. Yet with what happens here it seemed mildly corny to watch all of this.

Joey returns with beer but sees all the shutters closed on the windows which there's good dark shots on him looking frusterated.
Then one of the shutters opens on the top floor of the home in which he gets a ladder to climb up. This looked effective while trying to get into the home.
While this is happening a neat shot on the Old Lady inside the room is holding a machette. Certainly a creepy feel to it all as I had a bad feeling on this poor fellow. Even if these moments were quite trashy and cheesy.
His ladder falls and he is holding on to the window ledge with the Old Lady standing there in which he cries for her to help him up. With her answer refusing it was kookie as to how she answers especially with her cackly laughter. At the same time this looked extremely suspenseful. This I found to be the most memorable scene in the flick.

More of these victims became the undead in which they terrorise the others in great gruesome fashion and so fourth. Campy fun moments within all of this happening even if some of the performances and writing is cheesy.

Linda approaches Steve with him looking down in which she tries to talk to him and he answers very strangely. This looked good and dark while these moments unravel. Definitely knowing that she is going to be the next one as the moments with the two of them adds up to this.

Ron hears Jamie screaming as he goes to see if she's okay in which she replies she's okay as this moment was well concentrated. I got a feeling that things are not fine in which this looked cleverly done knowing that she is not the same anymore. A better moment in the story for sure compared to the previous scene's so far.

A couple of the last survivors Ron and S are sitting and hiding while one of their undead friends is whistling nearby. This scene took way too long as I wondered if this was an excuse to kill time or not. Or the filmmaker didn't cut it to being shorter as this scene lags.

However some okay powerful moments with Bob as the undead terrorising them in which they try to get away from him including locking the door on him. He chops it down but the door looked fake as you could tell. Almost seemed to pay a tribute to a scene from The Shining.
The struggling moments looked fairly decent though with this bully making sick jokes while trying to do in these two.

The terror really happens when the Old Lady is attacking and trying to do away these people. I had to admit apart from her cheesy speaking this looked well done. Alot of great takes as well as violent moments here. It made me wonder if they will manage to get away from all this. Looked fairly powerful within all that is happening.

Bottom line is that this was somewhat like a ripoff to Night of the Demons.
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 an average flick as well as a phony looking evil old lady.

The acting is quite stale but full of virtual unknowns. Yet they do their best with their work. Yet only certain one's worth mentioning so I will try to did some up here.....

Mark Zobian (Ron) seemed to have the brawny guy next door looks and appeal to his role. He was okay in his performance with his serious attitude. Also shows some okay energy when trying to survive the terror. He was fairly powerful when performing the intense struggling moments. Did the best he could and deserved some okay credit.

Sarah Newhouse (Jamie) was fairly sharp in her role as she reacts well to stuff along with having a no nonsense attitude. Acted tough when necessary. However when she cries or gets anxious she seems to slide just a bit. Seemed to show off her personality pretty well within her presence onto the camera.

Victor Verhaeghe (Bob) certainly showed it off with his demanding and arrogant behavior. Had the right big guy looks for portraying the bully of the bunch. Almost seemed like someone not to mess with but when he tries to come across like that he was a bit stiff. However when he becomes the undead really packs a punch while attacking and so fourth.

J.D. Cerna (Steve) had the right inncoent type of appeal as well as coming across as a smart type. Reacts well in shock in a certain scene. Also does a terrific job screaming in pain when he is being attacked. Offers a fair versality when acting goofy when he becomes the undead. Especially when he tries to go in for an attack during a certain moment. Yes he was a fair versatile actor. Not the best by any means but can do the job in an okay fashion.

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

William B. Riffel seems to compoase this piece in a fair low budget horror fashion. Does well with spacey sounds as well as wavy type of music. Also offers some icy music too. Offers nice chasing and energetic sounds for the real terror in the flick. High screechy sounds were a good plus as well. All done with a synthesizer of course.

Bob: Ow, my guts! You son of a...