Twice Dead - Du stirbst nur zweimal

As I'm writing this, in 2025, there's still a huge 80s horror-revival going on. Since several years already, in fact, and it looks as if it's becoming a subgenre on its own. Either the movies and TV-series supposedly take place in this great decade, OR the style and themes pay tribute to the wild & glorious horror flicks of the era. Many of these movies are great, or fun at least, but when I then see a genuine effort of the 1980s - like "Twice Dead" - I realize that nothing beats the real thing!

Some typically 80s guff can never be equaled, like an allegedly "tough" LA street gang of which the leader has a Flock of Seagulls haircut. Another member is a complete weirdo, and yet another one is a fat and clearly overaged guy who never steps off his bike. And, of course, there's the ravishing babe who gratuitously takes her top off for casual sex. Only authentic 80s movies can provide real 80s entertainment; - and that is that.

Okay, enough whiny nostalgia and misplaced romanticism, because "Twice Dead" obviously isn't a big masterpiece. It's a forgettable but more than fun enough combo between slasher, supernatural horror, and street gang action. A financially struggling family is relieved to move into an old and dilapidated mansion in Beverly Hills, which they inherited from an uncle. The house has a dark and more sinister family background, though, as we witnessed in the intro. Stage actor Tyler Walker committed suicide here in 1935, because the love of his life chose to be with another man, and his tormented - and excessively theatrical - ghost still haunts the place. But hey, since a violent gang of street thugs claimed the house as their own and terrorize the new owners, the bloody help of a vengeful ghost might even be useful!

There's zero tension, atmosphere-building, or plausibility. However, this gets widely compensated via a few brutal deaths, the presence of the cherubic Jill Whitlow (in love with her since "Night of the Creeps"), the perfect breasts of Charlie Spradling, and - once again - the authentic 80s vibes.

I had the chance to get to sit down to watch the 1988 movie "Twice Dead" for the very first time here in 2021, just 33 years after the movie was released. I hadn't heard about it prior to watching it, so I didn't know what I was in for here, aside from it being a late 1980s horror movie.

And boy was it a late 1980s horror movie in every meaning of that phrase. This movie was so stereotypical for a horror movie from the end of the 1980s in every way. But hey, if you enjoy the movies back then, then you should feel right at home when you sit down to watch "Twice Dead" from writers Bert L. Dragin and Robert McDonnell.

The storyline told in "Twice Dead" was pretty straight forward, sort of thing "Return of the Living Dead", except you exchange the zombies with a vengeful ghost, and replace the cemetery and factory with an old, run-down mansion. Then you have a delinquent band of miscreants hellbent on wrecking havoc upon the new youngsters that just moved into town.

Visually then the movie was definitely a late 1980s product, and the passing of time has not been overly kind to the effects in the movie. I am sure that back in 1988s then the effects here were adequate, but today, well, not so much.

The acting in "Twice Dead" was adequate.

My rating of this stereotypical late 1980s horror movie settles on a mediocre five out of ten stars, as the movie doesn't really bring anything to the horror genre that hadn't been done already back in the day, and more often than not, done better even.

One of the better examples of the 80's on how to mix the horror and comedy genres successfully. This film is about a family moving into a house that is haunted by the ghost of a once great actor. A few neighborhood punks cause trouble though and eventually try to take the house over and kill the family, but the ghost helps them out and dispatches of the punks in violent and creative ways.

Very low budgeted, but fast paced thriller with only average to poor performances and ok direction. It is extremely entertaining though with some very good f/x and an especially exciting finale.

Rated R; Graphic Violence, Nudity, Sexual Situations, and Profanity.

Sometime around the depression, film star Tyler Walker is dancing in his home with a lifeless-seeming woman. Two policemen and a man in furs arrive to take his home. While in good shape, the house is largely empty due to Tyler selling most of the contents. The three men burst into the third-story room Tyler is in, finding that he has stuck a knife in the woman, who is just a mannequin, and Tyler has hung himself.

Years later, a couple with a son, daughter and cat named "Meow" are moving into a house they've inherited from their Uncle. The neighborhood is not so nice, and as they arrive there's a gang hanging out on their front lawn. The cops chase them off, but it's clear they'll be back and that one of them has an unhealthy attraction to the daughter. The cops call the house the "old Tyler place," which is a bit odd; usually people call a house by the *last* name of the owner. It's now in pretty bad shape, and they set about fixing it up. It had at some point over the years been used as a funeral home, and there is an empty casket in the basement, and a broken-down hearse.

The son and daughter have several run-ins with the gang, who are pretty set on hurting people for fun. One of the women in the gang isn't too bad, and two of the members are mainly interested in making out with each other, but the rest would be perfectly happy to even kill someone.

The son and daughter glimpse Tyler in mirrors in the house, but aren't sure what they saw. Tyler's noose snakes itself around the son, but later in the movie Tyler helps protect the two from the gang.

The gang stages a couple assaults on the house. One time, the siblings scare them off with a combination of booby traps and special effects. Another time, Tyler starts killing people, including using a dumbwaiter.

There are a couple false ends to the movie, and it is unclear what might happen next. Pretty good movie, though.

Scott (Bresnahan) is an FX genius (as opposed to an actor) who needs to call upon all his skills and more upon when he and his sister find themselves in their home at the mercy of a group of scumbags who have obviously watched STRAW DOGS once too often!

Further help comes courtesy of a resident ghost in this low rent piece of garbage that barely saw a theatrical release. A few fleeting laughs at the occasional fx employed but the highlight of the flick remains the electrocution scene. Warning folks: don't try this at home, it may be dangerous!

Mega bomb!