This movie could never be overrated. And you got that quote wrong. It is, and I quote: "Rick! You're alive!!" "No, I'm dead! Take a look..." The film is a masterpiece (except for some lightly misread dialogue in the opening and not very ambitious actors). And what you said about half the movie being about opening doors... Was a horrible mis-statement of the film. Everyone - don't listen to this guy. The film wasn't that slow, it's atmospheric and takes it's time for the purpose of building dread / suspense. The film is a little murky for it to be suspense, so I say dread more than suspense. And it is MASTERFUL in it's execution of the tension of the 20-something's trapped in the house. It sets up their being trapped in the 2nd stage of the opening of the film. If you were confused about why so much time was devoted to doors, let me tell you - you are a pretty thick person. How many people do you think would accept that these people are actually Totally trapped in this house? That's why they keep looking for a way out! Would you just say, "oh, no way out, let's just find the zombies/whatever they are, and let them kill us because it's easier than trying to escape"? No, you'd freaking try to keep looking for a way out. So the film uses them trying to get out to build more dread, because we know there's no way they're getting out but they have to keep trying because it's a part of human survival.
And - you have a problem with a plot involving people locked in a house trying to get out? They are trapped in the house but they don't want to be. What would you rather have happened? They have a freakin' tea party? Yeah that would have been appropriate, any kind of party is smart, they're going to die and they should just accept that and have fun??? How about car chases, in the house? That would have been equally appropriate, let's get cars in the house and have them high-speeding, crashing, and exploding all within the house because that would have been different from opening doors and windows. Anything to please you, right. It's THE PLOT for them to be trying to escape. You can't tell us that the film's problem is them trying to get out. What the hell was their alternative??? Watch the film again, I think maybe on the 2nd viewing, you'll get what it was about.
It's about a very classic horror scenario - One By One isolation and destruction of characters. The film brilliantly uses the HAUNTED HOUSE part of it's plot to isolate 1 character from the rest of their group, the SLASHER part of the film to kill them, and the ZOMBIE part of the film to bring them back from the dead to present a threat to the remaining people. This movie could never be overrated. It's TOO good.
"Carol, one word of advice: send Cindy to a special school"
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DeliciousFires
18 years ago
I agree with Angry Scientist. This movie is a classic and one of my all-time favorites. I've seen it countless times and know the whole thing inside out. Too bad it's so obscure because it definitely should be seen and appreciated by fans of the horror genre.
Hey, have you seen any other films by James Riffel? I've been wanting to check out some of his work, but his movies are so damn hard to find.
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insomniac_rod
18 years ago
Amen Angry-Scientist! You couldn't say it better. Your defense for the movie is brilliant. There is no way Dead Dudes... is overrated. I believe it's on it's way to become a B-cult movie.
"Hate is baggage, life's too short to be pissed off all the time".
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eugenehug
17 years ago
Opening Doors takes up the first 1/5 of the movie and is central to most very scene in the flick. I second the "door" comment !! What saves the movie is "MOST" of the flick is not about opening doors. On the down side just a good bit of it is about opening stuck doors and windows!!! How many times did a character say " here let me try to open the door ?". Mebbe 30 times, 40 tops, OK certainly no more than 50 times.
SILL, it is a cool movie for a low budget gore fest. Good use of some supense and the monsters never die, they just keep coming back. They do get imaginative about stuck doors. It is definately in my top 1097 all - time top horror movies I can remember for sure.
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fuggedaboudit
17 years ago
I liked this movie. My only complaint is they made the characters really stupid. That guy hangs half in and half out of the window for like 5 mins while the glass very slowly starts to lower. Dam he could have been on the ground long before that. Other than that I enjoyed it and will probably watch it again.
"What an excellent day for an exorcism"
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Skibz777
17 years ago
Okay. I won't argue with that; everyone's entitled to their own opinion, and it's fine with me if you like it, it's just that I didn't much care for it (I've seen much worse films than this one, however). I just didn't find it to be very..."suspenseful". But, hey...different people look at different things in different ways. I might have been misled, however, by the cover and the fact that it was a Troma film into thinking that it was supposed to be an over-the-top, wacky gorefest, which, of course, it wasn't. The point is, I didn't like the film, you did, and that's what makes the world go arouuuuund....
Well, actually the REAL point was my question of whether or not the version on the Toxie's Triple Terror set was edited or not...because it seemed like it...was...
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smerd_70
17 years ago
" and the fact that it was a Troma film"
It's not a Troma film, Troma had no involvement in the making of the film, just its distribution on DVD.
I feel more like I do now than I did when I got here.
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Skibz777
17 years ago
Well, yes, I know that; the majority of the Troma library aren't in-house productions. Regardless, just the fact that it was distributed by Troma would lead one to believe that it was a wacky, over-the-top gorefest.
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evilzombie20
16 years ago
So...is anyone going to answer his question about the DVD being edited or is everyone going to insist on jumping on him for posting his opinion?
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Incredible_Brightness
16 years ago
Well, I made my post about the movie almost 2 years ago.
THE ANSWER about whether the DVD was cut, edited, or not...
Absolutely NOT. I just watched it all the way through, having owned the movie both on Troma's VHS, and having recorded the Cinemax broadcast of the film. I know the movie inside and out. Not a single frame was removed, shortened, or edited in any way, shape, or form.
But did anyone else notice that you can hear things in the audio of the DVD that you never heard before. There were about 2 lines of dialogue that I noticed seemed new. And unless you turn the volume up really loud, you can't hear Bob's "AIYEEEEE" before he opens his mouth.
"Carol, one word of advice: send Cindy to a special school"
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