Twice Dead

The Cates family inherited an old mansion in Beverly Hills from their late uncle Tyler Walker, who was a well-known stage actor. When they get there, they find the rundown place to be overrun by some street punks who want nothing but trouble. After the Cates' teenagers make fools of those punks, they want to make their lives living hell. But also their uncle Tyler's spirit still hangs around the house, and doesn't seems to like the street punks' intrusion.

Roger Corman's Concorde churns out an uneven, but well intended low-rent b-horror film that stage an entertainingly weird mixture, where it has the story criss-crossing into campy fields of supernatural and revenge, and then finally combining the two. Everything about it is stereotypical with the usual shenanigans, but director Bert Dragin does a well enough job with his pacing and makes the twisty style unpredictable and always engaging. Limitations don't hold it back, as the competent make-up and special f/x generates some creative and effective moments. It slowly builds itself up, for a crackerjack closing half. Some demented scenes towards the end, are well worth the attention. Sure the technical side of the production might not be perfect (with the boom mike constantly becoming visible), but it was surefooted. Zoran Hochstatter's murky camera-work sometimes had a neat frenetic touch and dreary colour use, and David Bergeaud's simmering music score stewed up some spooky cues to add to the atmospheric urban setting of the grand looking mansion. The gimmicky screenplay by Bert Dragin and Robert McDonnell seems to work, but if you don't take it for what it is. The ludicrous, and somewhat illogical and loose nature might be hard to shake. Also its change in moods, from being broodingly dark to suddenly comically light might be an inconsistent turn off. The script feels one-note for most part, but weaves in some amusing flourishes of dark humour; jaw-dropping dialogues and an oddly unforeseeable twist here and there. The performances are well suited and come across fair. Tom Bresnahan and Jill Whitlow are likable as the siblings. Christopher Burgard chews it up as smarmy gang leader and Todd Bridges shows up in a little part.

Junky entertainment, but I wasn't expecting the modest quality that it dished up. Fans of low-budget horror should give it a try.

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.

You have to like a movie that has a good plot, this is one of them but very confusing. Not bad considering it was one of many 1980's, direct-to-video, shown late at night on Cinemax, horror flicks. It starts out in the early 1930's and actor Tyler Walker dancing with a woman who is stiff as a board, then three men(one in a fur coat) come by to get Tyler out of his home. THe next thing you see is Tyler stabbing his dance partner that turns out to be a mannequin, then he hangs himself. Fast Forward to the present where a family of four moves into the house. Turns out the fur-coat guy became the new owner of the home that fateful night, then turned it into a funeral parlor and it was then left to a relative and his family. The family is forced to move in after going bankrupt in Colorado. But upon arrival they're greeted by a gang who use the place as a hangout. One gang member "Crypt" seems to act very weird, talking in a slow, low voice and pre-occupied with the family daughter Robin. Of course, the usual ensues where the son Scott hears bumps in the night, then the family is tormented by the bikers, Robin and Scott get back at them, then the gang returns to get revenge. All comes to a very quick conclusion, with the help of Tyler's ghost, who can be seen in the mirror. The ghost helps kill the bikers except for one, who re-creates Tyler's fateful night back in the 30's with Robin. In the end, instead of Tyler's ghost in the mirror, it's Crypt since he hung himself too. By the movie's end we learn that Tyler and his dance partner/co-star Myrna were in love.They had a love child, Tyler left the home to Myrna but she ended up marrying the fur coat guy who is the family's great uncle. Myrna bares a striking resemblance to her niece, Robin.

Now for the confusing parts: 1) We see Tyler in the beginning, dancing with a real woman then in the next shot it's a mannequin. Are we getting a peek into his depravity or is it all part of a hoax on the filmmaker's to make us think we see a woman? If the later, then why? 2) Tyler tries to kill Scott by wrapping a noose around his neck. Then it's only when the biker's grab Robin that Tyler shakes the bed to wake Scott up. Why did Tyler go from scaring the brother to helping him? It's obviously because Robin reminds Tyler of his former love, but why go through that one scene of scaring the son, to me it was unnecessary to the plot. 3)The fur coat guy had the deed to the home in the beginning of the film, yet we learn Tyler left it to his love and she had died in 1987 in a sanitarium. Who left the house to the family? Fur coat guy or Myrna? Maybe she signed it over to her husband? 4)Tyler is seen stabbing a mannequin in the beginning and even appears in Robin's mirror looking like he wants to stab her, yet he never hurt her or his first love. Why the stabbing set up? Is it to show that he was so angry with her new marriage that he acted out his anger on a dummy but never hurt her? That's fine, but why show him in Robin's mirror with a knife if he wants to protect her? 5) Crypt, we learn is Tyler and Myrna's grandson, who relives his grandad's last night. We even see Crypt trying to stab Robin but Tyler retract's the knife. Did Tyler know this was his relative? Is that why Crypt was spared? and why was Crypt so intent on killing Robin when his grandfather didn't kill Myrna? AGain, if anything, Tyler was trying to protect Robin from any harm. Tyler was nuts, but not violent and it's obvious his love Myrna spent her last years in an institution. Maybe this made Crypt's dad twice as unstable? 6)Crypt is haunting the place at the end, what happened to Tyler and why is he letting Crypt try to attack the girl?(at the end Robin has a dream that Crypt tried to stab her and when she wakes up, she doesn't notice but there's a knife in her pillow). 7)Robin and Scott, at one point, lure the biker's in the house and knock them out one at a time then. After one his knocked out, Scott and Robin make it look like the gang member was murdered by the ghost so that the other gang members would run away. The next day, Robin and Scott drop the gang members off in different areas yet we never see how they got Crypt down and what they did with him.

Great movie if you can find it on ebay

I recently watched Twice Dead (1989) on Tubi. The storyline follows a family that moves into a haunted house once owned by a deceased actor-or is he really gone? Meanwhile, a local gang takes a disliking to the kids in the family. When the parents leave the kids home alone, the gang breaks into the house to harass them, possibly with worse intentions. However, the gang doesn't realize they've intruded into a haunted house with a ghoul that might be deadlier than they are.

This film is directed by Bert L. Dragin (Summer Camp Nightmare) and stars Tom Bresnahan (The Kingdom), Jill Whitlow (Weird Science), Jonathan Chapin (Sixteen Candles), and Christopher Burgard (Border).

Twice Dead saves all the "good parts" for the end. It features classic 80s horror characters, attire, dialogue, and circumstances. The gang's outfits are hilariously fun. The acting is just okay, but the film makes good use of lighting, shadows, and colors to create intensity. For most of the film, kills and gore are limited, often showing someone about to die, then cutting to a corpse with blood. The motorcycle scene is hilarious and fun, and there's a memorable sex sequence kill. The film includes classic 80s horror nudity, and the absolute final scene is the best part of the movie.

In conclusion, Twice Dead is a fairly cliché and straightforward 80s horror film that doesn't stand out in the genre but is a must-see for fans of horror from this era. I would score this a 5/10 and recommend it only with appropriate expectations.

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!