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House on Tombstone Hill (1989) - Blu-ray Review

5 beers

Who needs booze when you have practical gore effects as nasty as the ones on display in this nonstop party?!

Writer/director James Riffel (Night of the Day of the Dawn of the Son of the Bride of the Return of the Terror) made a masterpiece for Troma in 1989.  Released as Dead Dudes in a House, it seems obvious that Troma had no idea what to do with this tale about teenagers locked inside a house they are hoping to restore for their party headquarters. 

The poster art was hilarious – featuring none of the actors in the movie and looking like the cover for a New Kids on the Block album – and the film got retitled in an effort to cash in on the pop music craze.  Who knew that this film’s legacy as Troma’s unsung and underappreciated horror masterpiece would carry it onto blu-ray BY ANOTHER LABEL?

"This film is all sorts of fun as it bakes up a haunted and atmospheric slice of gooey horror."


Apparently, Vinegar Syndrome did. Releasing this horror film as The House on Tombstone Hill, they have succeeded in embracing what Troma never did.  This film, complete with a creepy old lady who stalks the boys (or ANYONE) in the house, is all sorts of fun as it bakes up a haunted and atmospheric slice of gooey horror.  Low in its budget but high in its ambition, the film is certain to gain a bigger following with this release.

The House on Tombstone Hill begins in the 1940s.  There is a teenager on a couch, enjoying a refreshing beverage, she’s not even blinking as she sucks down some more cool goodness.  As the camera slowly pulls back, we see the murder scene around her.  An old man is dead on the floor and an even older woman, hunched over, walks back and forth beside the body.  She has a cane in one hand and a knife in the other. Gulp. {googleads}

The old woman, looking all sorts of ragged, is actually quite adept at handling all sorts of tools.  From hand saws to butcher knives and beyond, this old lady knows how to leave an impression…and a body trail.  And only the unluckiest of people get to meet her.  But that was in the 1940s.  She’s not still alive, right?!

When a group of teenagers, all unprofessional actors, pull up to the old woman’s house some 40 years later, they have no idea what they will find inside.  They came to party.  She’s still in killer mode.  And, once inside, these teens discover that they cannot leave.  The house won’t let them.  Seven go in.  An hour later, there is but one left. 

House on Tombstone Hill (1989) - Blu-ray Review

To make matters worse, the old woman doesn’t just kill, she turns the kids against each other – after they are dead – so that the stalking and the practical effects, thanks to Ed French and Bruce Spaulding Fuller, are unending.  Talk about a revenge fuck, man, because these teens, no matter how many times they are beaten on the head or dismembered, get screwed time and time again.

Teens trapped in a haunted house?!  Awesome!  And, yes, even its execution, this film simply rocks, creating a killer thriller that is full of windows that cut bodies in half and an old woman that cuts everything else up.  Even dead, there simply is no escape from the haunted hell that is this house.

It’s a nonstop bloodbath in The House on Tombstone Hill!

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House on Tombstone Hill (1989) - Blu-ray Review

MPAA Rating: Unrated
Runtime:
95 mins
Director
: James Riffel
Writer:
James Riffel
Cast:
Mark Zobian, Victor Verhaeghe, Sarah Newhouse
Genre
: Horror
Tagline:
Where trespassing is a matter of life or death!
Memorable Movie Quote: "Hey man, you really put a down payment on this thing?"
Theatrical Distributor:
James Riffel
Official Site: www.troma.com/movies/deaddudes/
Release Date:
October, 1989
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
September 25, 2018
Synopsis: A group of friends have decided to repair and renovate an old house located in the middle of nowhere in the hope of turning it into their ‘cool’ crash pad. But shortly after arriving, a strange and seemingly senile old woman is found to be lurking around the premises. Uncertain of her intentions, the group of trendy homesteaders go about their business but soon find themselves up against a very unexpected geriatric evil, hell-bent on keeping them as permanent residents in ‘her’ house, dispatching them in a series of creatively gruesome ways. But to make matters even worse, shortly after meeting their demise, their mutilated corpses return from the dead, determined to help their elderly assassin and her fiendish daughter finish off the others ...

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

House on Tombstone Hill (1989) - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Vinegar Syndrome
Available on Blu-ray
- September 25, 2018
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles
: English SDH
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit); English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set; Blu-ray copy
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A, B

Newly scanned and restored from the original 16mm camera negative, Vinegar Syndrome gives fans of this little shocker something BIG to celebrate.  Simply put, the images presented here have NEVER looked and sounded better.  The details in the house are crisp and detailed and the shadows retain their edges.  Framed in a tight 1:85:1 aspect ratio, this 1080p transfer is good, good stuff.  Colors are bold.  Shadows run deep and the crisp textures in the walls and in the backgrounds of this haunted home are focused.  The DTS-HD soundtrack is perfectly suited for the film.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • None

Special Features:

The supplemental material is pretty awesome, too.  We get a new featurette with THREE of the dead dudes Mark Zobian, Victor Verhaeghe and Douglas Gibson and an audio interview with director James Riffel which is moderated by Chris Poggiali.  A behind-the-scenes still gallery rounds out the collection.  Complete with a special limited edition double-sided embossed slipcover (designed by Earl Kessler Jr.) is limited to just 1,500 units.

• Three Dead Dudes

• Riffel Audio Interview

• Still Gallery

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House on Tombstone Hill (1989) - Blu-ray Review

Dead Dudes in the House(1989) - Blu-ray Review

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